Children's Book Suggestions | Classics

Are you a parent or grandparent looking for a childhood favorite to share with kids in your life? Here are a few of our most frequently-requested classic children's books for readers in Grades 3-7.

If you're looking for picture books for younger readers, check out the Classics shelf in our Picture Book Topics section.

A note for caregivers: Some adults are surprised when they return to old favorites and discover forgotten elements that are out-of-step with their modern values. It's often helpful to revisit classic books by re-reading or doing a little research online before sharing them with your child, so you're prepared to answer questions any questions they may have and provide historical context when necessary.

Updated August 21, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County)Oregon City Public Library
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Tuck everlasting
Babbitt, Natalie
Paper Book
The beloved children's classic with more than more than 10 million copies sold. From Newbery Honor and E. B. White Award-winning author Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting is a spellbinding modern-day masterpiece about immortality, friendship, and growing up that's...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The wonderful Wizard of Oz : the classic tale
Baum, L. Frank
Paper Book
This Courage Classic is reformatted into a smaller trim size and a lower price sure to make them necessities in any library. Beautiful, rich, and vibrant illustrations accompany this classic tales and makes it a treasures for all to read. Illustrator Greg Hildebrandt has done it again in...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The secret garden
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Paper Book
Celebrate an unforgettable classic with this gorgeously repackaged edition, featuring the timeless art of Tasha Tudor. Just in time for the movie adaptation starring Colin Firth and Julie Walters! This beautiful hardcover edition includes Tasha Tudor's iconic illustrations in...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Alice in Wonderland ; and, the hunting of the snark
Carroll, Lewis
Paper Book

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The mouse and the motorcycle
Cleary, Beverly.
Paper Book
In this imaginative adventure from Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary, a young mouse named Ralph is thrown into a world of excitement when a boy and his shiny toy motorcycle check in to the Mountain View Inn. When the ever-curious Ralph spots Keith's red toy motorcycle, he vows to...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Charlie and the chocolate factory
Dahl, Roald
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of Matilda and The BFG!  Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Harriet the spy
Fitzhugh, Louise
CD
It's no secret that Harriet the Spy is a timeless classic that kids will love! Every day can be an adventure if you just look carefully enough! Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Misty of Chincoteague
Henry, Marguerite
Paper Book
On an island off the coasts of Virginia and Maryland lives a centuries-old band of wild ponies. Among them is the most mysterious of all, Phantom, a rarely seen mare that eludes all efforts to capture her--that is, until a young boy and girl lay eyes on her and determine that they can't live without...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Konigsburg, E. L.
Paper Book
When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation.  And she would live in comfort-at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  She invited her brother Jamie to go, too, mostly because he was a miser and would...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe
Lewis, C. S.
Paper Book
Don't miss one of America's top 100 most-loved novels, selected by PBS's The Great American Read. A mass-market paperback edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, book two in the classic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. This edition features cover art by Cliff Nielsen and...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Pippi Longstocking
Lindgren, Astrid
Paper Book
 The beloved story of a spunky young girl and her hilarious escapades. "A rollicking story."--The Horn Book Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Longstocking. She has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Shiloh
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Paper Book
There's nothing eleven-year-old Marty Preston enjoys more than spending time up in the hills behind his home near Friendly, West Virginia. But this time is different. This time Marty sees a young beagle on the road past the old Shiloh school-house. Marty feels sure the dog is being abused by his...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The Borrowers
Norton, Mary.
Paper Book
A enchanting and enduring children's classic, The Borrowers is the award-winning tale of three tiny people who are big heroes. The Clock family--Homily, Pod, and their fourteen-year-old daughter, Arrietty--are tiny people who live underneath the kitchen floor of an...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Island of the Blue Dolphins
O'Dell, Scott
Paper Book
Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine
Paper Book
The 40th anniversary edition of the classic Newbery Medal-winning title by beloved author Katherine Paterson, with brand-new bonus materials including an author's note by Katherine herself and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Kate DiCamillo.  Jess Aarons has been...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Where the red fern grows
Rawls, Wilson
CD
A beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man's best friend.   Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he's finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own--Old Dan and Little Ann--he's ecstatic. It doesn't...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The little prince
Saint-Exupřy, Antoine de
Paper Book
In the exquisite imagery of this fairy tale, the poet-writer shares with children something of the mystic's vision and wisdom of life.--New York Public Library.

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

The boxcar children
Warner, Gertrude Chandler
CD
Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny, four orphaned brothers and sisters, suddenly appear in a small town. No one knows who these young wanderers are or where they have come from. Frightened to live with a grandfather they have never met, the children make a home for themselves in an abandoned red boxcar...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Charlotte's web
White, E. B.
Paper Book
Don't miss one of America's top 100 most-loved novels, selected by PBS's The Great American Read. This beloved book by E. B. White, author of Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, is a classic of children's literature that is "just about perfect." This paperback edition includes...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Little house in the big woods
Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Paper Book
Based on the real-life adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the award-winning Little House series, which has captivated generations of readers. This edition features the classic black-and-white artwork from Garth Williams.  Little...

Children's Fiction (Grades 3-5)

Little women
Alcott, Louisa May

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The black cauldron
Alexander, Lloyd
Paper Book
The Newbery Medal-winning second book in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain series, The Black Cauldron--the inspiration for Disney's 1985 cult animated film. In the land of Prydain, evil is never far away. Arawn, Lord of the Land of Death, has been building an...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

A wrinkle in time
L'Engle, Madeleine.
Paper Book
NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER * TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME * NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM DISNEY Read the ground-breaking science fiction and fantasy classic that has delighted children for over 60 years! "A Wrinkle in Time<...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, L. M.
Paper Book
Read the timeless classic about the beloved Anne Shirley, a red-haired orphan with a fiery spirit, before the new NETFLIX series premieres and don't miss the forward by Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, celebrating the 100th anniversary of this children's favorite! ...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
CD
ALONE Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane in which he is flying crashes. Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered Windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present-...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Holes
Sachar, Louis
Paper Book
A darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment Stanley Yelnat's family has a history of bad luck, so he isn't too surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to a boys' juvenile detention center, Camp Green Lake. There is no lake - it has been dry for over a hundred years - and it...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

Roll of thunder, hear my cry
Taylor, Mildred D.
CD
Mildred D. Taylor's Newbery Award-winning masterpiece with an introduction written and read by Jacqueline Woodson, just in time for its 40th Anniversary!  Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)


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