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Great Science-Fiction
& Fantasy Works

science-fiction & fantasy literature:
a critical list with discussions

Science-Fiction & Fantasy Books For Younger Readers

And then we'd travel very far
To where the magic countries are
That you and I will never see,
And choose the loveliest gifts for you, from me.

--The Phoenix and the Carpet (from the dedication),
E. Nesbit

Who Are "Younger" Readers?

"Younger" readers can include anyone from those so little they must be read to on up to those in late adolesence. Put another way, they are all readers whose passage through life has not yet fully equipped them with such experience as to allow them to rightly grasp the significances and perspectives in certain sorts of complex situations and relationships.

Readers from perhaps roughly puberty and up are, if they be wise and perceptive for their ages, probably capable of handling even the gravest and grimmest of fictions without harm, but the question arises as to how much of the real juice of the heavier works they can extract to their profit. Perhaps the worst thing that can happen between a young reader and a given book is a reading that stamps the book as mediocre in that young reader's esteem because she or he has not that depth of experience needed to properly appreciate what the author is doing and conveying--such that that reader will not again return to that book for many a year, if ever, and so lose its adult potential. That is, I think, the chief reason we need to have some care about what books we offer to "young adult" readers, not some fear that their wee little minds (as too many condescendingly see it) might be polluted or corrupted by some solid understanding of the real world they are going to have to live in for a good many years to come.

Most if not all of the books listed here are, I reckon, suitable for pre-adults at one or another level. I have not tried to make fine distinctions in the manner of publishers, who have the stupifying gall to class books by exact and narrow age ranges. Use your common sense if you know the book, and look through it a bit if you don't.

Remember that these are all books culled from this site's master list of books, all of which are books I think rewarding for sophisticated adults. None of these, in my opinion, is a book "just for children".

(A useful page I ran across is Recommended Children’s Books - Novels (a PDF file), by Todd Klein, that has a heavy focus on fantastical works; it includes many from these lists, but a lot more as well, not all of which I would recommend as top-flight, but none of which is dreadful; a nice, thoughtful resource.)

Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books Nominally For "Younger" Readers

• Adams, Richard ***
  
  
  • Watership Down
  
  
  
• Aiken, Joan *
  Actually, just about anything by her, but especially any of her story collections, could be listed here, and probably most soon will.
  
  
  • A Necklace of Raindrops *
  • Not What You Expected *
  • Up the Chimney Down *
  • The Last Slice of the Rainbow *
  
  
  
• Andrews, Allen *
  
  
  • The Plantagenet Duo:
    
    • The Pig Plantagenet
    • Castle Crespin
  
  
  
• Barker, Clive ***
  
  
  • The Thief of Always
  
  
  
• Barrie, J. M. # **
  
  
  • The Peter Pan Tales:
    The character "Peter Pan" first appeared in an 1902 adult novel by Barrie titled "The Little White Bird", in which Peter Pan is described in a story told to a child. In 1904, Barrie wrote the famous play, "Peter Pan"; in 1906, a prose text--like the original description but quite unlike the play--was published under the title Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens; in 1911, he turned the play into a book called Peter and Wendy, which is now usually just called Peter Pan and is the widely known form of the tale. As with most "children's books", publishers repeatedly show their veneration for a classic by chopping it up or dumbing it down, or both; don't ask me how, or why, you "dumb down" a book meant for, and very successful with, small children--ask a publisher.
    
    
    • Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
    • Peter and Wendy aka Peter Pan
      (There is a preferred edition omnibus collecting both the works listed above.)
  
  
  
• Bauer, Steven # ****
  
  
  • Satyrday
  
  
  
• Baum, L. Frank *****
  
  
  • The Oz Books:
    (There are preferred editions of all of these work.)
    
    
    • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz aka The Wizard of Oz
    • The Marvelous Land of Oz aka The Land of Oz
    • Ozma of Oz
    • Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
    • The Road to Oz
    • The Emerald City of Oz
    • The Patchwork Girl of Oz
    • Tik-Tok of Oz
    • The Scarecrow of Oz
    • Rinkitink in Oz
    • The Lost Princess of Oz
    • The Tin Woodman of Oz
    • The Magic of Oz
    • Glinda of Oz
    • Little Wizard Stories of Oz *
    Other authors carried on the Oz tradition; see Ruth Plumly Thompson below, and Oz, others, also below.
    
    
  • The Trot & Cap'n Bill Books:
    
    • The Sea Fairies
    • Sky Island
    
    
  • # John Dough and the Cherub
  • Queen Zixi of Ix
  • The Magical Monarch of Mo
  • The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
  • A Kidnapped Santa Claus
    (There is a preferred edition combining this and the book above.)
  • The Enchanted Island of Yew
  
  
  
• Beagle, Peter S. ****
  
  
  • Tamsin
  
  
  
• Bellairs, John ****
  
  
  • The House With a Clock in its Walls
  • The Figure in the Shadows
  
  
  
• Benary-Isbert, Margot # **
  
  
  • The Wicked Enchantment
  
  
  
• Bradbury, Ray ***
  
  
  • Switch On the Night
  • The Halloween Tree *
  
  
  
• Carroll, Lewis *****
  
  
  • The Alice Duo:
    (There is a preferred edition of these works.)
    
    
    • Alice in Wonderland aka Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
    • Through the Looking-Glass
    
    
  • The Hunting of the Snark
    (There is a preferred edition of this work.)
  
  
  
• Chabon, Michael # ****
  
  
  • Summerland
  
  
  
• Collodi, Carlo *
  
  There are countless bastardizations of the original tale; seek out only an authentic translation of Collodi's actual work--no more, no less. (There is an incomplete but useful list of some acceptable versions on the preferred editions page--I will do more later.)
  
  
  • Pinocchio
  
  
  
• Cooper, Susan *
  
  
  • The Dark is Rising Pentalogy:
    
    • Over Sea, Under Stone
    • The Dark Is Rising
    • Greenwitch
    • The Grey King
    • Silver on the Tree
    
    
  • The Boggart Duo:
    
    • The Boggart
    • The Boggart and the Monster
  
  
  
• Dahl, Roald *
  
  
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  
  
  
• Dickinson, Peter **
  
  
  • The Blue Hawk
  
  
  
• Gaiman, Neil **
  
  
  • Coraline
  • The Wolves in the Walls
  
  
  
• Grahame, Kenneth ****
  
  
  • The Wind in the Willows
    (There are several preferred editions of this work.)
  
  
  
• Gray, Nicholas Stuart **
  
  
  • Grimbold's Other World
  
  
  
• Jacob, Max # *
  
  
  • King Kabul the First and Gawain the Kitchen Boy
  
  
  
• Jones, Diana Wynne *
  
  
  • Hexwood Witch's Business
    
    
  • The Chrestomanci Series:
    
    • Charmed Life
    • The Lives of Christopher Chant
    • The Magicians of Caprona
    • Witch Week
    • Conrad's Fate
    • The Pinhoe Egg
    
    
  • The Dalemark Quartet:
    
    • Cart and Cwidder
    • Drowned Ammet
    • The Spellcoats
    • The Crown of Dalemark
    
    
  • A Sudden Wild Magic
  
  
  
• Kingsley, Charles # *
  
  
  • The Water Babies
  
  
  
• Le Guin, Ursula K. ***
  
  
  • The Earthsea Books:
    
    • A Wizard of Earthsea
    • The Tombs of Atuan
    • The Farthest Shore
    
    
  
  
  
• Lee, Tanith ****
  
  
  • Dark Castle, White Horse
  • The Unicorn Trio:
    
    • Black Unicorn
    • Gold Unicorn
    • Red Unicorn
  
  
  
• Lewis, C. S. **
  
  
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  
  
  
• Lively, Penelope ***
  
  
  • The House in Norham Gardens
  
  
  
• MacDonald, George ****
  
  
  • The Princess and the Goblin
  • The Princess and Curdie
  • At the Back of the North Wind
  • Complete Fairy Tales *
    MacDonald's various fairy tales--many independently famous--have been published in numerous editions, sometimes standalone and sometimes several to a volume; it seems silly not to acquire the complete collection in one volume.
  
  
  
• McKillip, Patricia ***
  
  
  • The Throme of the Erril of Sherill
  
  
  
• Miéville, China **
  
  
  • Un Lun Dun
  
  
  
• Milne, A. A. ****
  
  There are countless bastardizations and chop-ups of the original tale; seek out only an authentic, unedited version of Milne's actual works--no more, no less. (There is an incomplete but useful list of some acceptable versions on the preferred editions page--I will do more later.)
  
  
  • The Pooh Books:
    
    • Winnie-the-Pooh
    • The House at Pooh Corner
  
  
  
• Nesbit, E. **
  
  Much of Nesbit's work is not truly fantasy but reads much like it; her several delightful mainstream "children's" works were omitted here with regret.
  
  
  • The Five Children Trio:
    
    • Five Children and It
    • The Phoenix and the Carpet
    • The Story of the Amulet
    
    
  • # Whereyouwanttogoto and Other Unlikely Tales
  • The Enchanted Castle
  • The Magic City
  • Deliverers of Their Country
  • Wet Magic
  
  
  
• Nichols, Ruth **
  
  
  • Song of the Pearl
  
  
  
• Osborne, Mary Pope *
  
  
  • Haunted Waters
  
  
  
• Oz, others
  
  These are "canonical" Oz books by authors other than L. Frank Baum or Ruth Plumly Thompson; there are numerous further Oz works that are "non-canonical" but close to the canon, plus a host of others ranging from well-meant but ill-made tributes to outright travesties.
  
  
  • Cosgrove, Rachel R.: # The Hidden Valley of Oz
  • Neill, John R.: # The Wonder City of Oz
  • Neill, John R.: # The Scalawagons of Oz
  • Neill, John R.: # Lucky Bucky in Oz
  • Snow, Jack: # The Magical Mimics in Oz
  • Snow, Jack: # The Shaggy Man in Oz
  • Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren McGraw Wagner: # Merry-Go-Round in Oz
  
  
  
• Peake, Mervyn *****
  
  
  • Letters From a Lost Uncle
  • Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor
  
  
  
• Pearson, Edward ***
  
  
  • Chamiel
  
  
  
• Pinkwater, Daniel **
  
  These are all I've read so far, but I'd guess all his work to be of comparable quality.
  
  
  • Yobgorgle
  • The Worms of Kukumlima
  • The Snarkout Boys & the Baconburg Horror
  • Borgel
  
  
  
• Pratchett, Terry ****
  
  
  • The Bromeliad Trilogy:
    
    • Truckers
    • Diggers
    • Wings
    
    
  • The Johnny Maxwell Trio:
    
    • Only You Can Save Mankind
    • Johnny and the Dead
    • Johnny and the Bomb
    
    
  • The Discworld Saga:
    These are the Discworld tales especially meant to be accessible to younger readers; there are, of course, vastly more Discworld books.
    
    
    • The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
    • The Wee Free Men
    • A Hat Full of Sky
    • Wintersmith
    • # I Shall Wear Midnight [forthcoming]
  
  
  
• Rushdie, Salman ****
  
  (yes, that one)
  
  
  • Haroun and the Sea of Stories
  
  
  
• Saint Exupéry, Antoine de **
  
  
  • The Little Prince
    (nominally a children's book)
  
  
  
• Shinn, Sharon **
  
  
  • Summers at Castle Auburn
  
  
  
• Stoddard, James **
  
  
  • The Books of the House:
    
    • The High House
    • The False House
  
  
  
• Thompson, Ruth Plumly ****
  
  After Baum's death, Thompson continued the Oz series past his 14 titles, writing 19 herself; they are closely comparable to the originals in flavor and quality. (There are 7 more Oz books, written by a total of seven authors other than Baum & Johnson, considered by fans to be "part of the canon," plus a host of "non-canonical" others; see the Oz, others listing farther above.)
  
  
  • The Oz Books:
    
    • The Royal Book of Oz
    • Kabumpo in Oz
    • The Cowardly Lion of Oz
    • Grampa in Oz
    • The Lost King of Oz
    • The Hungry Tiger of Oz
    • The Gnome King of Oz
    • The Giant Horse of Oz
    • Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz
    • The Yellow Knight of Oz
    • Pirates in Oz
    • The Purple Prince of Oz
    • Ojo in Oz
    • Speedy in Oz
    • The Wishing Horse of Oz
    • Captain Salt in Oz
    • Handy Mandy in Oz
    • The Silver Princess in Oz
    • Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz
  
  
  
• Tolkien, J. R. R. *****
  
  
  • Mr. Bliss
  • Farmer Giles of Ham
    (There are preferred editions of this work.)
  • Letters From Father Christmas
    (There is a preferred edition of this work.)
  • Roverandom
    
    
  • The Middle-Earth Works:
    
    • The Hobbit
      (There is a preferred edition of this work.)
    
    
  
  
  
• Travers, P. L. *
  
  
  • The Mary Poppins Books:
    
    • Mary Poppins
    • Mary Poppins Comes Back
    • Mary Poppins Opens the Door
    • Mary Poppins in the Park
    • # Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane
    • # Mary Poppins and the House Next Door
  
  
  
• White, E. B. # *
  
  
  • Stuart Little
  
  
  
• White, T. H. **
  
  
  • The Master
  
  
  
• Wilde, Oscar **
  
  I list here the works by Wilde that lie in our fields; but it seems to me quite silly to look for these individually when omnibus volumes of Wilde's entire wonderful spectrum of writings are available at modest cost, and I much recommend to you such an "all-in" omnibus (the Collins edition is the gold standard).
  
  
  • Complete Fairy Tales *
    Wilde's several excellent and deeply moving short "fairy tales" are too often broken out into two individual volumes, The Happy Prince and The House of Pomegranates, which is ridiculous; see the comment above about omnibus editions.
    
    
  
  
  
• Wolfe, Gene ****
  
  
  • The Devil in a Forest
  
  
  
• Wrede, Patricia C. *
  
  
  • The Enchanted Forest Quartet:
    
    • Dealing with Dragons aka Dragonsbane
    • Searching for Dragons aka Dragon Search
    • Calling on Dragons
    • Talking to Dragons
    
    
  • The Mairelon Duo:
    
    • Mairelon the Magician
    • Magician's Ward
    
    
  • Snow White and Rose Red
  • Book of Enchantments
  
  
  

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