Love Inside the Villains? Readers share 100 books like Inside the Villains...

By Clotilde Perrin,

Here are 100 books that Inside the Villains fans have personally recommended if you like Inside the Villains. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of The Bear's Song

Alison Farrell Author Of Cycle City: (City Books for Kids, Find and Seek Books)

From my list on for kids who delight in details.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the ages of 1-4, my son Finn deeply rooted himself into the detailed world of Richard Scarry. These books could be such slow reads that we only needed two of them for long airplane rides. Through Finn’s love of Scarry books, I began searching for more books that delighted with detail. And when I did not see my family’s bicycle-rich lifestyle reflected in books, I created Cycle City.

Alison's book list on for kids who delight in details

Alison Farrell Why did Alison love this book?

Just as Papa Bear dozes off into hibernation, Little Bear’s mind buzzes with thoughts about honey. A bee guides Little Bear out of his cave in the forest, and into a city. When Papa Bear realizes Little Bear is missing, he immediately searches for his son. Find Papa Bear, Little Bear, beautiful architectural spaces, and quirky characters on each detail-packed spread. The first in a series, also check out: The Bear’s Sea Escape, The Bear’s Surprise, and Little Bear’s Big House.

By Benjamin Chaud,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bear's Song as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A seek-and-find picture book about a little bear who awakes from his hibernation early to follow a bee - because where there are bees, there is honey. When the quest leads Little Bear into the big city and then a bustling Opera House, his father follows closely behind and theatrical hijinks ensue, ultimately leading to a harmonious reunion, not to mention an abundance of bees!


Book cover of The Birthday Cake Mystery

Alison Farrell Author Of Cycle City: (City Books for Kids, Find and Seek Books)

From my list on for kids who delight in details.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the ages of 1-4, my son Finn deeply rooted himself into the detailed world of Richard Scarry. These books could be such slow reads that we only needed two of them for long airplane rides. Through Finn’s love of Scarry books, I began searching for more books that delighted with detail. And when I did not see my family’s bicycle-rich lifestyle reflected in books, I created Cycle City.

Alison's book list on for kids who delight in details

Alison Farrell Why did Alison love this book?

The characters in this visual mystery can be followed on each spread in a myriad of storylines that surprise and delight. With so many complex plots, in order to truly appreciate this book, re-reading is a must! Whose birthday is it? What is the mystery? Why is it so difficult to make a cake for the party? Fiascos and disasters abound, a classic illustration style that would keep detail-loving kids reading for hours.

By The Tjong-Khing,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Birthday Cake Mystery as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Through a series of intricate illustrations, an animal village prepares for a birthday party and tries to solve the mystery of a stolen necklace.


Book cover of The Lost House: A Seek and Find Book

Alison Farrell Author Of Cycle City: (City Books for Kids, Find and Seek Books)

From my list on for kids who delight in details.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the ages of 1-4, my son Finn deeply rooted himself into the detailed world of Richard Scarry. These books could be such slow reads that we only needed two of them for long airplane rides. Through Finn’s love of Scarry books, I began searching for more books that delighted with detail. And when I did not see my family’s bicycle-rich lifestyle reflected in books, I created Cycle City.

Alison's book list on for kids who delight in details

Alison Farrell Why did Alison love this book?

The Lost House takes readers on a seek-and-find quest through Grandad’s quirky house to recover items needed for a trip to the park. A chaotic visual delight, The Lost House features a vibrant limited color palette on each seek-and-find spread. Cronin charms the reader with unique characters, delightfully complex interiors, and a painterly style. The first in a series, also check out: The Lost Picnic, The Lost Cousins, and The Lost Christmas.

By B.B. Cronin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lost House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A brother and sister want to go to the playground with their grandfather, but they can't leave until they find his socks...and his shoes...and his glasses...will they ever get out of Grandad's hodgepodge house? This treasure trove of a book by a brilliant debut author-illustrator prompts very young readers to search and find the missing object on each spread packed with Grandad's bric-a-brac.


If you love Inside the Villains...

Ad

Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it…

Book cover of The World of Mamoko in the Year 3000

Alison Farrell Author Of Cycle City: (City Books for Kids, Find and Seek Books)

From my list on for kids who delight in details.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the ages of 1-4, my son Finn deeply rooted himself into the detailed world of Richard Scarry. These books could be such slow reads that we only needed two of them for long airplane rides. Through Finn’s love of Scarry books, I began searching for more books that delighted with detail. And when I did not see my family’s bicycle-rich lifestyle reflected in books, I created Cycle City.

Alison's book list on for kids who delight in details

Alison Farrell Why did Alison love this book?

Welcome to the future in the city of Mamoko! A list of questions launches readers to discover a story about each seek-and-find character. What is strange about Otto Flash’s new jumper? Why is Amelia squeal so excited?  Inventive, cross-sectioned interiors and exteriors, a top-notch, delicious color palette. This book sparks future-curious imaginations. Also in this series: Welcome to Mamoko and The World of Mamoko in the Time of Dragons.

By Aleksandra Mizielinska, Daniel Mizielinski,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World of Mamoko in the Year 3000 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

It’s the year 3000 in Mamoko, but what does the future hold? This is the second book in the revolutionary Mamoko series, in which the reader becomes the storyteller, sharing their discoveries as they use their eyes to uncover the cosmos of characters packed into every page!


Book cover of The Path of Thorns

Jelena Dunato Author Of Dark Woods, Deep Water

From my list on folklore and fairy-tale inspired fantasy for dark winter nights.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an art historian, curator, and speculative fiction writer from Croatia, and I’ve always been in love with folklore, mythology, and all things ancient. In my work, I always try to blend real historical details with magic, and I adore secondary worlds that are immersive and solid enough to walk into yet different from our own.

Jelena's book list on folklore and fairy-tale inspired fantasy for dark winter nights

Jelena Dunato Why did Jelena love this book?

This book is a deliciously dark and devious story about a clever governess bent on revenge trapped in a haunted mansion.

The author plays with so many dark folklore elements, like witches, werewolves, and ghosts, in a masterful way. This was a page-turner for me; it was enchanting and entertaining, and it had a dark feminist bent, where women are just as bad as men.

By A.G. Slatter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Path of Thorns as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A lush and twisted dark fairy tale suffused with witchcraft, dark secrets and bitter revenge from the award-winning author of All the Murmuring Bones. Exquisite, haunting and at times brutal, readers of Naomi Novik and Erin Morgenstern will be entranced.

Asher Todd comes to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. Asher knows little about being a governess but she is skilled in botany and herbcraft, and perhaps more than that. And she has secrets of her own, dark and terrible - and Morwood is a house that eats secrets. With a monstrous revenge in…


Book cover of The Elves And The Shoemaker

Joni Hilton Author Of A Little Christmas Prayer

From my list on classic Christmas books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve written dozens of plays and books, always with heart and humor. If you love Christmas, you know that it can also be a frenzied time, so we all need to curl up on a cozy night and read Christmas stories to bring back the magic and generosity of this special holiday. I like well-told tales that reaffirm the love we know is so important, stories that will mean just as much a hundred years from now. And surprise endings are always a delight!

Joni's book list on classic Christmas books

Joni Hilton Why did Joni love this book?

Christmas is a wonderful time for magical tales that children love. In this one, a poor but good-hearted cobbler is rewarded for his honesty during the night, when clever elves sneak into his shop and make shoes for him to sell. It gives children the chance to imagine invisible helpers, and also the thrill of doing good deeds in secret.

By Grimm Brothers, Jim LaMarche,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Elves And The Shoemaker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Here is the classic tale of elfin magic, loved by generations of children and made new by an artist of international acclaim. Jim LaMarche's stunning paintings, reminiscent of his earlier work in The Rainbabies, are the perfect compliment to this favorite Grimm fairy tale.


If you love Clotilde Perrin...

Ad

Book cover of Girl of Light

Girl of Light by Elana Gomel,

A girl of Light in a world of darkness.

In Svetlana's country, it’s a felony to break a mirror. Mirrors are conduits of the Voice, the deity worshiped by all who follow Light. The Voice protects humans of MotherLand from the dangers that beset them on all sides: an invading…

Book cover of Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold

Kimberly J. Lau Author Of Erotic Infidelities: Love and Enchantment in Angela Carter's the Bloody Chamber

From my list on fairy tale adaptations with verve and edge.

Why am I passionate about this?

Long before I became a “fairy tale scholar,” I was keenly aware of the ways that fairy tales saturate our cultural landscape. Given their ubiquity, who isn’t? But my awareness was always a discomfiting one, an unnerving at the fairy tale’s insistent cheeriness; it was this unnerving that made me fall deeply in love with The Bloody Chamber, the collection that so beautifully flays the fairy tale to reveal its dark and sordid heart. In researching The Bloody Chamber, I saw ever more clearly that the fairy tale’s grim underbelly involves not only twisted ideas about gender and desire and love but also about race, and this discovery has motivated my research over the past decade.

Kimberly's book list on fairy tale adaptations with verve and edge

Kimberly J. Lau Why did Kimberly love this book?

Bolu Babalola’s Love in Color is, technically, more a collection of reimagined myths than a collection of retold fairy tales, but the stories are so richly and wonderfully rendered, so smart and edgy and beguiling, that it seems silly to privilege a strict genre definition over a powerful collection. Babalola is shameless in her embrace of love—indeed, she confesses that she loves love—and yet her contemporary takes on global myths trouble any easy ideas about love the reader might bring to the collection. Love, here, is messy, tangled, frightening, and—according to Babalola—worth the tribulations it inspires.

By Bolu Babalola,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love in Color as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Love stories by and about marginalized women . . . The heroines are strong and sure . . . Babalola’s writing shines.” — New York Times Book Review

"Absolutely intoxicating." — Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop

A vibrant debut collection of love stories from the bestselling author of Honey and Spice, retelling myths, folktales, and histories from around the world.

A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts a great…


Book cover of The Stinky Cheese Man: And Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Chris Harris Author Of My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups

From my list on kids and grown-ups will laugh, gasp, and grin at.

Why am I passionate about this?

Reading with your kid can be a delight, but it’s tough to find a book that both grown-up and child think is hysterical. I mean, I tried reading Catch-22 to my three-year-old, but for some reason the incisive social commentary just didn’t resonate with her. My kids and I both let out genuine chuckles and guffaws while reading all of these books—an experience that I treasured. These books are all giggly, snickery proof that you don’t have to dumb things down to appeal to a wide age range—a goal that I aim for myself in the children’s books and TV shows that I write. 

Chris' book list on kids and grown-ups will laugh, gasp, and grin at

Chris Harris Why did Chris love this book?

This is the book that made my kids’ heads explode (not literally—this book is perfectly safe (as far as I know)) as it helped them discover the idea of parody: taking something familiar and twisting it in a funny, unexpected way.

We rolled and lol’ed together as we read Jon’s wild, hysterical takes on old fairy tales. The non-twist twist ending to his take on the ugly duckling story is still a running joke in our family. Jon’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Real Dada Mother Goose are also great for the same reason.

By Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Stinky Cheese Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The entire book, with its unconventional page arrangement and eclectic, frenetic mix of text and pictures, is a spoof on the art of book design and the art of the fairy tale. The individual tales, such as The Really Ugly Duckling and Little Red Running Shorts, can be extracted for telling aloud, with great success. Another masterpiece from the team that created The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
-Horn Book


Book cover of The Beast's Garden

Leanbh Pearson Author Of Three Curses and Other Dark Tales

From my list on folklore retellings in fantasy & horror.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write fairy tales and folklore, dark fantasy and horror. I have an academic background in history and archaeology. I am Australian (yes, lots of scary creatures here!) but inspired by this rich, multicultural country with First Nations tales for over 60,000 years. I am fascinated by how fairy tales, folklore and mythologies can be similar and yet so intriguingly different across time and space, written and oral telling. I love the enduring power of the fairytale and how, with each retelling, it transforms it into a new story, and as people travel, new tales are retold and transformed into a new version for a new place and generation. 

Leanbh's book list on folklore retellings in fantasy & horror

Leanbh Pearson Why did Leanbh love this book?

I adored this book. I loved its clever fairy tale reimagining of Beauty and Beast set in 1940s Germany under the Third Reich. I enjoyed the transformation of this classic fairy tale into a historical novel that was rich in detail and unique characters and revealed much of the hidden voices of resistance within Germany during this time.

Forsyth is a fellow Australian fairytale, fantasy, and historical author who writes fantasy, history, fairy tale, and myth retellings reimagined into new settings that I find inspiring and the power of the fairy tale to be retold and made new and to endure. 

By Kate Forsyth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Beast's Garden as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Australian paperback edition of novel by acclaimed writer, Kate Forsyth. "Filled with danger, intrigue and romance, The Beast's Garden, a retelling of the Grimm brothers' Beauty and the Beast, is a beautiful, compelling love story set in a time [WWII Germany] when the world seemed on the brink of collapse.


If you love Inside the Villains...

Ad

Book cover of Forsaking Home

Forsaking Home by I. Graham Smith,

Forsaking Home is a story about the life of a man who wants a better future for his children. He and his wife decide to join Earth's first off-world colony. This story is about risk takers and courageous settlers and what they would do for more freedom. 

Book cover of The Light Princess

Hester Velmans Author Of Slipper

From my list on forgotten fairy tales every adult should read.

Why am I passionate about this?

At the age of seven, already a devoted bookworm, I came upon a large stack of early-20th century children's magazines filled with stories, poems, and especially fairy tales, some the classic kind, and some weird, scary or unfamiliar. I don't know where those dog-eared, well-thumbed annuals came from, or what happened to them afterward – they were lost or given away when our family moved, I suppose. But I have never forgotten them, or the effect they had on my imagination and longings. I've been searching for those long-lost tales ever since... and it finally led me to decide I would just have to write a few of my own.

Hester's book list on forgotten fairy tales every adult should read

Hester Velmans Why did Hester love this book?

The 19th-century Scottish writer George MacDonald is said to be the father of the modern fairy tale, inspiring C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and many others. I chose The Light Princess because I find it his most charming tale: it's about a princess under a wicked spell who has been made weightless, unable to obey the laws of gravity. As in all good fairy tales, a prince eventually comes along to drag her back down to earth. He must sacrifice himself for her, but in the end, it is she who rescues him – from a feminist perspective, a most gratifying conclusion.

By George MacDonald,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Light Princess as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales Lilith and Phantastes are particularly famous, much of MacDonald’s best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald’s finest short works―marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.


Book cover of The Bear's Song
Book cover of The Birthday Cake Mystery
Book cover of The Lost House: A Seek and Find Book

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,889

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in folklore, fairy tales, and wolves?

Folklore 384 books
Fairy Tales 316 books
Wolves 120 books