Children’s Books by Genre

Encouraging students to read a variety of texts can be a great way to help hesitant readers find books they love! It is also a great way to help readers who are stuck to one series branch out a bit! Doing a genre study with your class or family can be a fun way to help students branch out, while still allowing autonomy for students to choose a book that meets their interests.

Read below to find book ideas by genre for students of every age! If you enjoy this list, check out my Genre Unit Study for Anchor charts, activities, guiding questions and booklists for fiction and nonfiction books!

Realistic Fiction:

• Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

• The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes by Anne Mazer

• Double Fudge by Judy Blume

• Judy Moody by Megan McDonald

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

• With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo

• Perfect by Natasha Friend

• The Fault in our Stars by John Green

• Wonder by R.J Palacio

• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

• Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

• Rules by Cynthia Lord

• No Dogs Allowed by Bill Wallace

• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

• Amber Brown by Paula Danziger

• Pony Pals by Jeanne Betancourt

• Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall

• Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish

• When Mischief Came to Town by Katrina Nannestad

• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

• The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann Martin

Historical Fiction:

• Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne

• Dear America Series published by Scholastic

• I Survived by Lauren Tarshis

• The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Wilder

• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

• Ranger in Time by Kate Messner

• The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka

Science Fiction:

• Magic School Bus (Many different authors and reading levels)

• Aliens for Breakfast by Stephanie Spinner and Jonathan Etra

• The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

• Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson

• The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

• Dystopian Stories:

  • The Giver by Lois Lowry

  • Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld

  • Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

  • The Maze Runner by James Dashner

  • Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

  • Cinder Series by Marissa Meyer

  • 1984 by George Orwell

Well-known Fables:

• Aesop wrote many famous fables

• The Fox and the Grapes

• The Lion and the Mouse

• The Tortoise and the Hare

• The Fox and the Crow

• The Ant and the Grasshopper

• The Beekeeper and the Bees

• The Country Mouse and the City Mouse

• The Golden Touch

• The Goose With the Golden Eggs

• The Old Lion and the Fox

• The Man and the Wood

• The Two Goats

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Well Known Myths:

• Greek myths

  • Myth of Ares

  • Myth of Creation

  • Myth of Hercules

  • Myth of Jason and Argonauts

  • Myth of Narcissus

  • Myth of Odysseus

  • Myth of Pan

  • Myth of Pandora’s Box

  • Myth of Prometheus

  • Myth of Theseus

  • Myth of Zeus

• Roman Myths:

  • The Legend of Romulus and Remus

  • Jupiter and the Bee

  • Jupiter, Juno, and Little Io

  • The Baby Mercury

  • The Trouble with Oracles

  • Apollo and Cassandra

  • Pluto and the King

  • Theseus & Ariadne

  • King Midas and the Donkey Ears

• Constellations and the stories that go with them.

Well-known Legends:

• Ali Baba

• The Fountain of Youth

• Paul Bunyan

• The Kraken

• The Loch Ness Monster

• Bigfoot

• Many Myths and Fairy Tales are also legends if they may have been once based on a true story (like the Odyssey or Robin Hood)

Well-Known Tall Tales:

• Many Legends are Tall Tales if they are based on truth, but there are clear exaggerations within the story

• Many American Tall Tale Heroes include:

  • Paul Bunyan

  • Nat Love

  • Pecos Bill

  • Daniel Boone

  • Davy Crockett

  • John Henry

  • Casey Jones

  • Johnny Appleseed

  • Peter Francisco

  • Old Stormalong

  • Sam Patch

  • Annie Oakley

  • Mike Fink

• Tall Tale Heroes throughout the world include:

  • Big Bill

  • Crooked Mick

  • Big Joe Mufferaw

  • Toell the Great

  • Finn MacCool

• Modern-day Tall Tales include:

  • Urban Legends

  • Chuck Norris Facts

Mystery Books:

• A-Z Mystery Series by Ron Roy

• Who dunnit Books

• Sherlock Holmes Children’s Collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Nancy Drew Series by Carolyn Keene

• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

• From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

• Wishbone Series (many different series, by different authors)

• The Bailey School Kids by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton jones

• The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery by Graeme Base

• Dear Mrs. Larue Series by Mark Teague

• Private I. Guana by Nina Laden

• Scooby-Doo by James Gelsey

Drama and Reader’s Theater Ideas:

• There are so many different plays and reader’s theaters on www.dramanotebook.com Many of these plays are free, but you can also subscribe and pay for more choices and games.

• Many different plays and readers theater on Teacher Pay Teachers

• Find a local theater that does children’s plays and performances

Poetry Books and Authors:

• Let students pick song lyrics and study those as poems

• Shel Silverstein Books

  • Where the Sidewalk Ends

  • Falling Up

  • A Light in the Attic

  • Runny Babbit

  • The Missing Piece

  • Every Thing On It

• Dr. Seuss Books

  • The Cat in the Hat

  • Green Eggs and Ham

  • Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

• Jack Prelutsky Books

  • The Dragons Sleep Tonight

  • The New Kid on the Block

• I’m Just No Good at Rhyming by CHris Harris

• The Poetry Friday Anthology by Sylvia Vardell

• Edgar Allen Poe poems and short stories

• Poetry for Young People book Series: 14 books all focused on a different famous poet, with engaging illustrations to help readers comprehend the poems within the book. Some poets include:

  • Emily DIckinson

  • Robert Frost

  • Edgar Allen Poe

  • William Shakespeare

  • Langston Hughes

Fairy Tale Story Examples:

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

• Cinderella

• The Gingerbread Man

• Rapunzel

• Beauty and the Beast

• Sleeping Beauty

• The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids

• The Elves and the Shoemaker

• The Little Mermaid

• The Twelve Dancing Princesses

• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

• Hansel and Gretel

• The Three Billy Goats Gruff

• The Snow Queen

• Rumpelstiltskin

• The Golden Touch of King Midas

• Jack and the Beanstalk

• Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

• The Pied Piper

• The Golden Goose

• The Ugly Duckling

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears

• Pinocchio

• The Emperor’s New Clothes

• The Princess and the Pea

• The Frog Prince

• Thumbelina

• The Little Match Girl

• The Three Little Pigs

• Puss in Boots

• Little Red Riding Hood

• Alice in Wonderland

• Hansel and Gretel

• Robin Hood

• The Frog Prince

Fantasy:

• Secrets of Droon by Tony Abbott

• Diary of Doom by Troy Cummings

• The BFG by Roald Dahl

• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

• Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

• Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

• Aurella the Witch by Anni Sezate

• The Goose Girl Series by Shannon Hale

• Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

• Circle of Magic Series by Debra Doyle and James Macdonald

• Pixie Tricks Series by Tracey West

• Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

• Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda

• Lucy and the Magic Loom Series by Madeline Downest

• Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

• Leven Thumps by Obert Skye

• Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

Adventures:

• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

• Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

• Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

• Geronimo Stilton Series by Geronimo Stilton

• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

• A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Graphic Novels:

• Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

• Dog Man by Dav Pilkey

• Raina Telgemeier books:

  • Smile

  • Guts

  • Drama

  • Ghosts

  • Sisters

  • Courage

• Catstronauts by Drew Brockington

• Narwhal and Jelly Series by Ben Clanton

• Minecraft by R. Ste Monster

• Avatar by Gene Luen Yang

• Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi

• The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier

• Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

• The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown

• Hope Larson books:

  • Compass South

  • Knife’s Edge

Verse Novels:

• Sharon Creech books:

  • Hate That Cat

  • Love That Dog

  • Moo

• Little Cat’s Luck by Marion Dane Bauer

• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

• Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Stenberg

• Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston

• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

• Kwame Alexander books

  • The Crossover

  • Booked

• Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood

• House Arrest by K.A. Holt

• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

• The Red Pencil by Andrea Pinkney

• Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes

• Under the Broken Sky by Mariko Nagai

Horror/Thriller:

• The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams and Megan Lloyd

• The Pale Green Pants with Nobody Inside them by Dr. Suess

• I Want to be in a Scary Story by Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien

• The Dark by Lemony Snicket

• I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

• Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

• Goosebumps by R. L. Stine

• Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

• Edgar Allen Poe Stories

If you enjoy this list, check out my Genre Unit Study for Anchor charts, activities, guiding questions and booklists for fiction and nonfiction books!

Related Questions:

What are the different types of genres?

Genre refers to a way of grouping similar things within a given media. Genre in writing can be grouped in many different ways (one common way is fiction and nonfiction). The grouping can get more specific. The above article has listed many fictional genres in writing. Some nonfiction genres include: Essay, Textbook, Biography, Autobiography, Personal Narrative, Journalism, and Reference Books. What is a genre study?

A genre study is a method of learning about text in which students explore text of a specific genre in depth. This can be useful as a method for understanding the author's purpose, theme, text structure, and comparing and contrasting similar texts.