The best classics of children’s fantasy for readers of any age

Who am I?

I discovered the San Francisco library when I was seven and fell in love. When I was ten, I would spread my armload of books out on the floor and decide which to read first. I can still recall that feeling of wonder, of both anticipation and homecoming as I surveyed the array – not of books – but of worlds that awaited me. Children’s books are not just for children, although we will never again experience the world with the raw clarity and power of childhood. Now, I write books for the child in everyone. I’ve won some awards, but it’s still taking the journey that makes my heart sing. 


I wrote...

Vasilisa

By Julie Mathison,

Book cover of Vasilisa

What is my book about?

In this 2021 BookLife Prize Semifinalist, fairy tales sometimes come true. It’s 1919, but in Edenfall, Pennsylvania, the war is not over—for Vasilisa. Papa is presumed dead on the fields of Flanders, Mama is being courted by an absolute ogre, and even Babka has had a bad spell. Or has she fallen under one? Only the Russian fables of Vasilisa’s youth offer any counsel. But what if they are more than tales?

Enter Ivan, who jumps a train at midnight and finds Vasilisa in a fix. Old Rus is calling them across time and space to the ancient forest where Baba Yaga and Koschei are at war. It’s a fairy tale of their own making, a tale whose happy ending is ever in doubt.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Howl's Moving Castle

By Diana Wynne Jones,

Book cover of Howl's Moving Castle

Why did I love this book?

This classic 1986 novel is delivered with a pitch-perfect note of wry humor, never too precious, and never demeaning. Wynne Jones did it all first: the fairy tale mash-up that has become standard fare in recent decades. She calls on the familiar tropes – castles and wizards and parallel worlds – but with a freshness and originality that genuinely delights. But the real genius of the novel is in its characters, effortlessly drawn, brilliantly unique. They leap off the page and straight into your heart. I was seventeen when this book came out, so I missed reading it as a kid and only discovered it as an adult when my literary agent recommended it as an example of writing craft. It’s been a favorite ever since – both for reading pleasure and for study into the intricacies of craft.  

By Diana Wynne Jones,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked Howl's Moving Castle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now an animated movie from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, the oscar-winning director of Spirited Away

In this beloved modern classic, young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell...

Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls...

There Sophie meets Michael, Howl's apprentice, and Calcifer…


The Diamond in the Window

By Jane Langton, Erik Blegvad (illustrator),

Book cover of The Diamond in the Window

Why did I love this book?

First published in 1962, I read this book in the late 70s when I was about ten years old. Not quite as iconic as The House with the Clock in its Walls (another favorite), this novel is equally evocative and strange, with its rambling, Victorian house, mysteries unfolding in the attic, and just the right hint of menace. Secrets lurk behind doors and in dreams, but the daylight world of the book is just as compelling. I recall as a child being swept away by the charm and pedigree of historic Massachusetts with all its transcendental mystique (replete with busts in the hallway of Emerson and Thoreau). Filled to the brim with what we might now call magical realism, this book is seared into my DNA – a must-read.

By Jane Langton, Erik Blegvad (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Diamond in the Window as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Foreword by Gregory Maguire.

The Halls' house stood out like an exotic plant amidst all the neat, square houses in Concord. It had porches, domes and towers and a tiny window in the attic whose raised center pane shone out like a brilliant diamond.

There had been jewels once in the house, the gift of an Indian prince to two children, Ned and Nora. The prince had devised ingenious games so that the hidden jewels could be found. And then, suddenly, mysteriously the children and then Prince Krishna disappeared...

Years later, Eleanor and Eddy, niece and nephew of the lost…


The White Mountains

By John Christopher,

Book cover of The White Mountains

Why did I love this book?

A young adult novel from 1968 (before they called them that) this book kept me up most of the night reading when I was ten or eleven years old, running (in my mind) from the great tripod creatures that threatened to take over the world. I was rapt. Christopher drew me so thoroughly into his world that my heart literally raced, and the scenes I witnessed as I fled across the White Mountains are with me still. I read it again as an adult, and only then did I fully appreciate it as a true classic of science fiction, an incisive examination of conformity, risk, and the genius of childhood. Like so many classics of children’s literature, this truly is a book for readers of any age. 

By John Christopher,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The White Mountains as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Monstrous machines rule the Earth, but a few humans are fighting for freedom in this repackaged start to a classic alien trilogy ideal for fans of Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave.

Will Parker never dreamed he would be the one to rebel against the Tripods. With the approach of his thirteenth birthday, he expected to attend his Capping ceremony as planned and to become connected to the Tripods—huge three-legged machines—that now control all of Earth. But after an encounter with a strange homeless man called Beanpole, Will sets out for the White Mountains, where people are said to be free…


Half Magic

By Edward Eager, N. M. Bodecker (illustrator),

Book cover of Half Magic

Why did I love this book?

Edward Eager will never go out of style. Every generation of children, no matter how technologically sophisticated, discovers his books and delights in them. Half Magic, the first of Eager’s “daily magic series” (there are seven in all), is a portal book in which four siblings are transported to other places and times by means of a talisman. And yet the reader is transported to a parallel universe in another respect as well – one inhabited, shaped, and determined solely by kids, outside the orbit of adults. And isn’t that just how childhood feels? Published in 1954, set in the 1920s (the author was clearly an E. Nesbit fan), Eager’s timeless grasp of childhood infuses this book with all the wonder, fun, and sheer, ridiculous delight of those magical years. Want to become a kid again for one day? Read Half Magic and remember. 

By Edward Eager, N. M. Bodecker (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Half Magic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book one in the series called "truly magic in a reader's hands" by Jack Gantos, Newbery Medal winner for Dead End in Norvelt.

It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. Jane finds the coin, and because she and her siblings are having the worst, most dreadfully boring summer ever, she idly wishes something exciting would happen.

And something does: Her wish is granted. Or not quite. Only half of her wish comes true. It turns out the coin grants wishes—but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want.

Wishing…


A Wizard of Earthsea

By Ursula K. Le Guin,

Book cover of A Wizard of Earthsea

Why did I love this book?

Some “children’s books” are so sophisticated that they can hardly be categorized so narrowly. This classic, published in 1968, is widely recognized as a masterpiece of fantasy, a coming-of-age tale, but also a dissertation on death, power, and the humility that defines one’s true calling. It belonged to a whole generation of children, yet spoke just to me, or so it seemed, as if LeGuin had led me by the hand into the deepest caverns of experience. I understood, in the way that only a child can understand, the true horror of being hunted. So often we underestimate the child reader, forgetting what is lost in our comprehension as we become adults. LeGuin makes no such mistake, and although we adults are less equipped to fully assimilate her message, the child in each of us will respond to this book.  

By Ursula K. Le Guin,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked A Wizard of Earthsea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book of Earthsea in a beautiful hardback edition. Complete the collection with The Tombs of Atuan, The Furthest Shore and Tehanu

With illustrations from Charles Vess

'[This] trilogy made me look at the world in a new way, imbued everything with a magic that was so much deeper than the magic I'd encountered before then. This was a magic of words, a magic of true speaking' Neil Gaiman

'Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it' David Mitchell

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge,…


You might also like...

One Giant Leap

By Ben Gartner,

Book cover of One Giant Leap

Ben Gartner Author Of The Eye of Ra

New book alert!

Who am I?

I love to read a good action-adventure story. I’ve also written a few. And I know that no matter how high the stakes, if there’s no heart in the characters then there’s very little engagement to make it any more memorable than a temporary thrill. I love thrills, but the stories that stick with you after the excitement of the moment is over, those are the true gems. Besides the fun of reading that type of book, maybe you even learn something about yourself or the world and come out a wee bit wiser than when you went in. And isn’t that a fantastic use of our imaginative powers?!

Ben's book list on new action-packed middle grade with heart

What is my book about?

I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until space junk collides with the ISS, turning their epic trip into a nightmare of survival. Alone aboard the Aether starship, the kids have to work as a team to save the adults before the ISS is destroyed. Suit up, cadet, and launch into adventure with One Giant Leap!

By Ben Gartner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked One Giant Leap as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until space junk collides with the ISS, turning their epic trip into a nightmare of survival. Alone aboard the Aether starship, the kids have to work as a team to save the adults before the ISS is destroyed. Suit up, cadet, and launch into adventure with One Giant Leap!

Praise for…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in spacetime, wizards, and extraterrestrial intelligence?

9,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about spacetime, wizards, and extraterrestrial intelligence.

Spacetime Explore 52 books about spacetime
Wizards Explore 92 books about wizards
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Explore 44 books about extraterrestrial intelligence