Why Must You Talk So Loudly When I Am On Your Mind?

[snurri]

For those of you who do not know, I am struggling with writing a children's book at present. One thing about my process is that I need to be reading in the form I'm working in while I'm doing it, i.e. when I'm doing short stories I need to read a lot of short stories, when I'm doing novels I need to be reading them. I think this is because I internalize form and such things, and I need to have them constantly reinforced for the work in progress.

With that in mind, I was hoping that y'all could recommend me some books in the 8-12 range that I can read while I'm working on this, as I'm running out of the ones I've got in the house. Do not assume that I have read the classic stuff of that age group, 'cause there's a good chance I haven't. Ironically, I've done the bulk of my kidlit reading in my thirties.

Thanks in advance.