Best Audiobooks for 8 Year Olds: 10 Picks from £4.39

Quick picks

• Best overall: The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, read by Gemma Arterton, £4.49 to buy. The first book in an eight-book series, and just over an hour long.
• Best budget: Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon, read by Miranda Richardson, £4.39 to buy, the lowest price in this guide, for four short stories.
• Best for families: Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, read by Adrian Lester, £6.79 to buy. A short story that works for the whole family, with sound effects according to the publisher.

The 10 audiobooks for 8 year olds in more detail

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, read by Gemma Arterton. Book 1 of 8 in the Worst Witch series on Amazon UK. Published 4 September 2014. Listening length 1 hour and 5 minutes, unabridged. £4.49 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Mildred Hubble is a trainee at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, and she is not doing well: her spells keep going wrong and she keeps crashing her broomstick. When she turns Ethel, the teacher's pet, into her worst enemy, things get even more chaotic. Puffin describes it as the original story of life at a magical boarding school, and Gemma Arterton reads it.

Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon, read by Miranda Richardson. Four stories in one audiobook (publisher description). Published 5 May 2006. Listening length 51 minutes, unabridged. £4.39 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Four complete Horrid Henry stories in one audiobook: Horrid Henry's Perfect Day, Horrid Henry's Dance Class, Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret and Horrid Henry's Holiday. The publisher says the recording includes music and sound effects, and Miranda Richardson reads all four.

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, read by Adrian Lester. Listed under Animal Action & Adventure for Children on Amazon UK. Published 8 February 2024. Listening length 1 hour and 8 minutes, unabridged. £6.79 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Mr Fox lives under a huge tree with Mrs Fox and their four Small Foxes, and every evening he creeps down into the valley to help himself from three farms run by Boggis, Bunce and Bean. The farmers finally hatch a plan to get rid of him for good, but Mr Fox has help and a clever escape plan of his own. Puffin's audio edition is read by Adrian Lester and, according to the publisher, comes with sound effects.

You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! by Andy Stanton, read by Andy Stanton. First book in the Mr Gum series (publisher description). Published 6 August 2026. Listening length 1 hour and 18 minutes, unabridged. £4.99 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Mr Gum is a horrible man who hates children, animals, fun and corn on the cob, and there is an angry fairy living in his bathtub. Polly, a little girl, and Jake the dog are caught up in the adventure that follows. The publisher describes this as a new reading by the author, Andy Stanton, of the first book in his Mr Gum series.

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, read by Ted Hughes. Listed under Classics for Children on Amazon UK. Published 7 June 2018. Listening length 1 hour and 15 minutes, unabridged. £5.59 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. A giant Iron Man appears at the top of a cliff, and nobody knows where he came from or how he was made. People set a trap to stop the damage he causes, but he cannot be kept down, and when a terrible monster from outer space threatens the planet, it is the Iron Man who finds a way to save the world. This Faber & Faber recording is read by Ted Hughes himself.

Five On A Treasure Island by Enid Blyton, read by Mel Giedroyc. Book 1 of 21 in the Famous Five series on Amazon UK. Published 4 May 2017. Listening length 3 hours and 16 minutes, unabridged. £8.09 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Julian, Dick and Anne spend the holidays with their cousin George and her dog, Timothy. George takes them to explore Kirrin Island and its ruined castle, where a discovery leads them down into the castle dungeons on a dangerous adventure. It is the first Famous Five book, read by Mel Giedroyc for Hodder Children's Books.

The Hodgeheg and Other Stories by Dick King-Smith, read by Ciaran Saward. Eight stories in one audiobook (publisher description). Published 17 February 2022. Listening length 7 hours and 57 minutes, unabridged. £6.79 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Max the hedgehog lives on the wrong side of a busy road from the Park, and after a bump on the head his words come out muddled, so he is now a hodgeheg. With help from the lollipop lady he works out how to cross safely. This Puffin collection has eight Dick King-Smith stories in total, including Poppet, The Mousebutcher and A Narrow Squeak, read by Ciaran Saward.

The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith, read by Stephen Thorne. Listed under Animals for Children on Amazon UK. Published 1 July 2014. Listening length 1 hour and 51 minutes, unabridged. £5.85 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Babe, an orphaned piglet, is won at a fair by Farmer Hogget and adopted by Fly, the kind sheepdog. He wants to learn everything he can from her, and although he knows he cannot be a sheepdog, he wonders whether he might become a sheep-pig. Stephen Thorne narrates this Bolinda recording.

Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball by Laura Ellen Anderson, read by Zoe Thorne. Book 1 of 7 in the Amelia Fang series on Amazon UK. Published 5 October 2017. Listening length 2 hours and 16 minutes, unabridged. £6.83 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. In Nocturnia, darkness rules, glitter is terrifying and unicorns are the stuff of nightmares. Amelia Fang would rather spend time with her pet pumpkin Squashy and her friends Florence the yeti and Grimaldi the reaper than go to her parents' Barbaric Ball, and when the King's spoiled son Tangine captures Squashy, they set out on a rescue. Zoe Thorne narrates this first Amelia Fang book.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, read by Sandi Toksvig. Book 1 of 4 in the Pippi Longstocking series on Amazon UK. Published 5 May 2025. Listening length 2 hours and 48 minutes, unabridged. £7.99 to buy outright on 25 October 2026. Pippi Longstocking lives in a house with a horse, a monkey and a suitcase full of gold, and there are no grown-ups to tell her what to do. The publisher describes her as wild, funny and full of ideas, and notes that she first appeared in Astrid Lindgren's books in 1945. This 2025 recording from Saga Egmont is read by Sandi Toksvig.

How we chose these audiobooks for 8 year olds

• Chapter-book level. We looked for stories of the kind many children around age 8 read or have read to them: short novels and story collections rather than picture books or teen fiction. Every pick is filed in children's categories on Amazon UK, such as Fiction Classics for Children, Humorous Fiction for Children or Animals for Children. Age fit is our judgement, so use it as a guide only.
• Different from our kids' guide. None of the 10 titles appears in our broader best audiobooks for kids guide, so you can use the two lists together.
• Out now, not pre-order. Every pick could be downloaded straight away when we checked. We left out a new Flat Stanley recording that is listed for February 2027.
• A real price. Each pick showed a price to buy the audiobook outright on its Amazon UK listing on 25 October 2026. We used the price shown in the Buy row, not the struck-through list price, and skipped anything without a price.
• Unabridged only. All 10 picks are marked unabridged on their listings. We left out an abridged recording of Stig of the Dump that we came across while researching.

How to choose an audiobook for an 8 year old

• Match the length to the moment. Horrid Henry (51 minutes), The Worst Witch (1 hour 5 minutes), Fantastic Mr Fox (1 hour 8 minutes), The Iron Man (1 hour 15 minutes) and You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! (1 hour 18 minutes) suit a single bedtime or car journey. Five On A Treasure Island (3 hours 16 minutes) is a longer listen, and The Hodgeheg and Other Stories runs to 7 hours 57 minutes because it holds eight stories that can be enjoyed one at a time.
• Start a series at book 1. Amazon UK lists The Worst Witch as Book 1 of 8, Five On A Treasure Island as Book 1 of 21 in the Famous Five series, Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball as Book 1 of 7 and Pippi Longstocking as Book 1 of 4. The publisher describes You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! as the first Mr Gum book.
• Think about the voice. Andy Stanton and Ted Hughes read their own books here. The other narrators are Gemma Arterton, Miranda Richardson, Adrian Lester, Mel Giedroyc, Ciaran Saward, Stephen Thorne, Zoe Thorne and Sandi Toksvig. The publishers say Horrid Henry and Fantastic Mr Fox include sound effects, which some younger listeners enjoy.
• Check for anything too spooky. Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball is listed under Horror & Ghost Stories for Children and Monster Stories for Children, though its description is mostly comic, and The Iron Man features a monster from outer space. Read the publisher's description on each listing if your child is easily scared.
• Try reading along. The National Literacy Trust's 2026 survey of children aged 8 to 18 found that 30.1% of audiobook listeners sometimes read along while listening, so pairing an audiobook with a printed copy is one option for children building their reading confidence.

Buy outright or use a membership?

Each title above can be bought outright on Amazon UK, and you keep it. Prefer a membership? At the time of writing, eligible new Audible members can get Audible Standard for £0.99 a month for 3 months, then it renews at the standard monthly price shown on Amazon. Offer ends 17 December 2026; terms apply, cancel anytime. See the Audible offer box near the top of this page for the details.

Prices were checked on Amazon UK on 25 October 2026 and can change at any time. Check the current price on Amazon before you buy.