Great Kids' Novels that Adults Should Read (or Re-read)

Just because you're a grownup doesn't mean you have to stop reading children's books. Here's a list of books that are just as entertaining and thought-provoking for adults as they are for kids. And if you read one of these when you were younger, give it another chance. It'll hit differently through adult eyes.

*This list is limited to children's novels and doesn't include Young Adult or picture books.

Updated October 31, 2023
M
McCracken County Public Library
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Tuck everlasting
Babbitt, Natalie
Audiobook
When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles upon the Tuck family's disturbing secret, she is forced to come to terms with her conflicting emotions. She feels drawn to the loving, gentle and rather eccentric Tucks, but what they tell her is too incredible to be believed. Doomed to--or blessed with-...
Coraline
Gaiman, Neil.
Paper Book
The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring.... In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a...
Harriet the spy
Fitzhugh, Louise.
Paper Book
This special 50th Anniversary Edition of the classic and ground-breaking coming-of-age novel, Harriet the Spy, includes tributes by Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Lois Lowry, Rebecca Stead, and many more, as well as a map of Harriet's New York City neighborhood and spy route and original...
The Westing game
Raskin, Ellen.
Paper Book
For twenty-five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal-winning The Westing Game has been an enduring favorite and is now being reissued with a brand-new jacket by Kevin Hawkes and an introduction by Ann Durell. This highly inventive mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to...
Howl's moving castle
Jones, Diana Wynne.
Paper Book
This entrancing classic fantasy novel is filled with surprises at every turn. An international bestseller, this much-loved book is the source for the Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature. Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to...
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...
Danny the Champion of the World
Dahl, Roald
Paper Book
Danny's life seems perfect: his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. And when Danny discovers his father's secret, he's off on the adventure of a lifetime. Here's Roald Dahl's famous story...
The secret garden
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Paper Book
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a magical novel for adults and children alike 'I've stolen a garden,' she said very fast. 'It isn't mine. It isn't anybody's. Nobody wants it, nobody cares for it, nobody ever goes into it. Perhaps everything is dead in it...
Mrs. Frisby and the rats of Nimh
O'Brien, Robert C.
Paper Book
Some extraordinary rats come to the aid of a mouse family in this Newbery Medal Award-winning classic by notable children's author Robert C. O'Brien. Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, is faced with a terrible problem. She must move her family to their summer...
M.C. Higgins, the great
Hamilton, Virginia
Paper Book
Discover this transcendent middle grade masterpiece about a young black boy whose quiet rural live in the Appalachian Mountains begins to change--winner of the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his...
Bud, not Buddy
Curtis, Christopher Paul.
Paper Book
The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father--from Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.   It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan....
The Egypt game
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley.
Paper Book
The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for the Egypt Game. Before long...
Five children and it
Nesbit, E.
Paper Book
What would you do if you could wish for anything in the world? In E. Nesbit’s classic middle-grade tale of adventure and mayhem, five children discover a Psammead, a grumpy magical creature with the ability to grant wishes. At first, their newfound power seems exciting and full of promise, but...
The chocolate touch
Catling, Patrick Skene.
Paper Book
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Konigsburg, E. L.
Paper Book
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with E. L. Konigsburg's beloved classic and Newbery Medal­-winning novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! When Claudia decided to run away, she...
The house at Pooh Corner
Milne, A. A.
Paper Book
This deluxe edition of The House At Pooh Corner is the perfect way to celebrate the enduring popularity of A. A. Milne's classic work and a stunning companion to the Winnie-the-Pooh 80th Anniversary Edition. The interior features the unabridged text and Ernest H. Shepard's charming...
Pippi Longstocking
Lindgren, Astrid
Paper Book
Astrid Lindgren's story of feisty, red-haired Pippi has been given a sparkling new translation by award-winning Tiina Nunnally and engaging pictures by acclaimed Lauren Child.
The Little Prince
Saint-Exupery, 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.
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<...
The tale of Despereaux : being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread
DiCamillo, Kate.
Paper Book
Where the red fern grows : the story of two dogs and a boy
Rawls, Wilson.
Paper Book
Read the beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man's best friend. This edition also includes a special note to readers from Newbery Medal winner and Printz Honor winner Clare Vanderpool.   Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So...
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...
Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine.
Paper Book
The classic Newbery Award-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 practicing all summer so he can...
The phantom tollbooth
Juster, Norton
Audiobook
Milo, bored with everything, discovers a Phantom Tollbooth in his room & when he drives through he embarks upon a series of adventures that open his mind. This mischievous, magical tale is a treasure for any child who has ever struggled with grammar, spelling & mathematics
The giver
Lowry, Lois
Paper Book
The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the...

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