Fans pick 100 books like The Adventures of Joshua and Pip

By John A Light, Jamie R Gandy (illustrator),

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

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Book cover of Bippity Bop Barbershop

Ciara L. Hill Author Of Shiloh and Dande the Lion: Embrace diversity, accept others, and courageously be yourself!

From my list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African American woman with an African-American son, on a mission to ensure that more books positively affirm black boys. Growing up, I moved every two years due to my father’s military service. Through those experiences, I grew up appreciating various cultures, diversity, and the importance of different voices having representation. As a licensed therapist in the mental health field for over 15 years, I see the incredible impact that books reflecting authentic representation can bring. I love reading and writing books featuring African-American protagonists for all children and families to read, love, and enjoy, hoping that readers will gain a new positive perspective.

Ciara's book list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences

Ciara L. Hill Why did Ciara love this book?

Bippity Bop Barbershop is a love letter and a rite of passage for black and brown boys everywhere.

It highlights the experience of a young boy named Miles as he gets his first haircut. This story is so relatable to me and others because it highlights many things that happen at the barbershop within the African-American community.

The watercolor illustrations are stunning and go hand in hand with the story.

By Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, E B Lewis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bippity Bop Barbershop as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

In this companion book to the bestselling I Love My Hair, a young boy, Miles, makes his first trip to the barbershop with his father. Like most little boys, he is afraid of the sharp scissors, the buzzing razor, and the prospect of picking a new hairstyle. But with the support of his dad, the barber, and the other men in the barbershop, Miles bravely sits through his first haircut. Written in a reassuring tone with a jazzy beat and illustrated with graceful, realistic watercolors, this book captures an important rite of passage for boys and celebrates African-American identity.


Book cover of Max and the Tag-Along Moon

Ciara L. Hill Author Of Shiloh and Dande the Lion: Embrace diversity, accept others, and courageously be yourself!

From my list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African American woman with an African-American son, on a mission to ensure that more books positively affirm black boys. Growing up, I moved every two years due to my father’s military service. Through those experiences, I grew up appreciating various cultures, diversity, and the importance of different voices having representation. As a licensed therapist in the mental health field for over 15 years, I see the incredible impact that books reflecting authentic representation can bring. I love reading and writing books featuring African-American protagonists for all children and families to read, love, and enjoy, hoping that readers will gain a new positive perspective.

Ciara's book list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences

Ciara L. Hill Why did Ciara love this book?

This is a beautifully written story highlighting young Max's tender relationship with his grandfather.

Before Max leaves to return home, his grandfather assures him that the tag-along moon will always be there and remind him of their time together, even if his grandfather is not physically with him.

Max and the Tag-Along Moon is comforting, peaceful, and a great reminder of unconditional love, acceptance, and positive familial relationships.

By Floyd Cooper,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Max and the Tag-Along Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

Experience the wonder of the moon following you home with a Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator! Great for Father’s Day and Grandparent’s Day!

Max loves his grandpa. When they must say good-bye after a visit, Grandpa promises Max that the moon at Grandpa’s house is the same moon that will follow him all the way home. On that swervy-curvy car ride back to his house, Max watches as the moon tags along. But when the sky darkens and the moon disappears behind clouds, he worries that it didn’t follow him home after all. Where did the moon go—and what about…


Book cover of No Limits: A Story Celebrating the Unconditional Love of a Father

Ciara L. Hill Author Of Shiloh and Dande the Lion: Embrace diversity, accept others, and courageously be yourself!

From my list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African American woman with an African-American son, on a mission to ensure that more books positively affirm black boys. Growing up, I moved every two years due to my father’s military service. Through those experiences, I grew up appreciating various cultures, diversity, and the importance of different voices having representation. As a licensed therapist in the mental health field for over 15 years, I see the incredible impact that books reflecting authentic representation can bring. I love reading and writing books featuring African-American protagonists for all children and families to read, love, and enjoy, hoping that readers will gain a new positive perspective.

Ciara's book list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences

Ciara L. Hill Why did Ciara love this book?

No Limits: A Story Celebrating the Unconditional Love of a Father is a rhyming story that shows the unbreakable bond and love between a father and son.

The story highlights many obstacles a child faces until young adulthood, as the father is right there to provide unwavering support, acceptance, and, most importantly, love. This book is a must-have for all father-and-son relationships.

By Ashley Finley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked No Limits as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of the heartfelt Jade's Secret Ingredients: A Recipe for Managing Feelings, comes a new story that celebrates the unconditional love parents have for their children.


With rhyming verse and statements of affirmation, author Ashley Finley shares the beautiful journey of a young boy growing from infancy to young adulthood as viewed through the eyes of his loving father.


No Limits: A Story Celebrating the Unconditional Love of a Father celebrates the ebbs and flows of growing up within the protection of a loving and supportive parent-child relationship.


Paired with beautiful illustrations by Agia Putri, No Limits: A…


Book cover of Delectable Vegetables

Ciara L. Hill Author Of Shiloh and Dande the Lion: Embrace diversity, accept others, and courageously be yourself!

From my list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African American woman with an African-American son, on a mission to ensure that more books positively affirm black boys. Growing up, I moved every two years due to my father’s military service. Through those experiences, I grew up appreciating various cultures, diversity, and the importance of different voices having representation. As a licensed therapist in the mental health field for over 15 years, I see the incredible impact that books reflecting authentic representation can bring. I love reading and writing books featuring African-American protagonists for all children and families to read, love, and enjoy, hoping that readers will gain a new positive perspective.

Ciara's book list on positively affirming African-American boys' experiences

Ciara L. Hill Why did Ciara love this book?

This is an easy-to-read story that follows a young boy named Jo Jo Bean, a picky eater.

The story is relatable to many children who avoid vegetables and are considered picky eaters. Children will be able to relate to what happens throughout the story, and you may even find that your child will try some vegetables after reading the story.

Story themes include healthy eating, parental encouragement, and helping children make positive choices. Lastly, Delectable Vegetables has a QR scan code for the book's theme song at the end.

By Trace Wilkins Francis, Hh Pax (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Delectable Vegetables as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

The mealtime struggles in households across is a classic tale. Parents want to make sure their children are eating healthy meals. This humorous book is the second edition and includes a scannable music code for the book's theme song. It is a perfect read for children in grades K through 2 and just what parents need for the picky eater. Jo Jo Bean comes up with a plan to avoid eating vegetables for good. Will Jo Jo Bean's plan work or will he decide to give vegetables a try?


Book cover of Love

David W. Berner Author Of The Islander

From my list on the essence of the Irishman’s melancholic emotions.

Why am I passionate about this?

Dugan was my grandmother’s maiden name. Her family was from County Wexford, Ireland near Rosslare on the island’s east coast. In recent years I have extensively studied my Irish heritage and have discovered much about my family, and about the DNA running through my own Irish blood. The inquiry has revealed much about my love of storytelling, good conversation, and generally about the way I move through the world. As a writer of several books of personal narrative and fiction, I have tried to write books that capture a certain emotion, and now through my own ancestral discoveries, I understand how those emotions and familial ties are so tightly linked. 

David's book list on the essence of the Irishman’s melancholic emotions

David W. Berner Why did David love this book?

What could be more Irish than two old friends meeting in a pub to tell stories?

Thing is, one of the friends has a life-changing secret to tell. He’s left his wife and kids for another woman, a woman they both know from their school days. Throughout the night, in pub after pub, and pint after pint, the story of the friend’s new love is revealed as the conversation delves deeper into each man’s version of the past they have shared—their fathers, their lovers, and even their collective memories of their Irish childhoods.

At times the story is both amusing and genuinely moving. 

By Roddy Doyle,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'A profound examination of friendship, romantic confusion and mortality' John Boyne

One summer's evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Old friends, now married and with grown-up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he has to tell Davy, and Davy a grief he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be.

As two pints turns to three, then five, Davy and Joe set out to revisit the haunts of their youth. With the ghosts of Dublin entwining around them - the pubs, the parties, the…


Book cover of The Distant Echo

Lin Anderson Author Of Driftnet

From my list on Tartan Noir and Bloody Scotland.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been a keen reader of crime fiction. A huge fan of both Agatha Christie and PD James in the Golden age of English crime fiction. I love American mystery writers too and have attended Bouchercon in New Orleans. Just after Driftnet was published and the Dr. Rhona MacLeod series launched, I was visiting a Crime Writers’ Association conference in Lincoln with my friend and fellow crime writer Alex Gray. That’s where the idea for a weekend promoting Scottish Crime writing began. When we launched it ten years ago, Ian Rankin said, "Scandinavia doesn’t have better crime writers than Scotland, it has better PR." That’s what we set out to change.

Lin's book list on Tartan Noir and Bloody Scotland

Lin Anderson Why did Lin love this book?

This is a great introduction to one of Val McDermid’s series starring young female police officer Karen Pirie. I loved this book when it came out and it is still one of my favourites. Four students at St Andrew’s university become suspects in a murder. It is a psychological thriller, examining the people they were then and those they are now 25 years later. With a wonderful twist in the tail.

Once you read Val McDermid you will always go back for more. The Queen of Scottish Crime as far as I’m concerned.

The Karen Pirie series has now been filmed for TV.

By Val McDermid,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The first novel in the bestselling Karen Pirie series

The award-winning Number One bestseller and Queen of crime fiction Val McDermid carves out a stunning psychological thriller. The past is behind them, but what's still to come will tear them apart...

From the creators of Line of Duty and Bodyguard, KAREN PIRIE is now on ITV, starring Lauren Lyle (Outlander)

Some things just won't let go.
The past, for instance.
That night in the cemetery.
The girl's body in the snow.

On a freezing Fife morning four drunken students stumble upon the body of a woman in the snow. Rosie…


Book cover of When Nietzsche Wept

Dean-David Schillinger MD Author Of Telltale Hearts: A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story

From my list on books by or about doctors that focus on our shared humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a primary care doctor who is fascinated by my patient’s stories and what they reveal about their lives, their illnesses, and their pathways to recovery. I have always been a lover of literature related to the human condition and “the big questions,” having majored in Russian Language and Literature as an undergraduate. All the books I have chosen were written by physicians who were accomplished not only in the sciences but in the arts. I hope you enjoy this hybridization of disciplines as much as I have!

Dean-David's book list on books by or about doctors that focus on our shared humanity

Dean-David Schillinger MD Why did Dean-David love this book?

I love how this unique work of fiction brings together Viennese-age psychoanalysis, a love story, a profound friendship, and the treatment of the soul, all in one neat package. I enjoyed how the plot takes advantage of historical truths to provide context.

The most entertaining piece of historical fiction I have ever read.

By Irvin D. Yalom,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When Nietzsche Wept as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the acclaimed author of Love's Executioner and Schopenhauer’s Couch, comes a “fascinating…shrewd intellectual thriller” (Los Angeles Times Book Review) about pioneering Viennese psychoanalyst Josef Breuer and his intriguing patient—Friedrich Nietzsche

In nineteenth-century Vienna, a drama of love, fate, and will is played out amid the intellectual ferment that defined the era. Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him.

When he agrees to treat Nietzsche…


Book cover of Me and Ma Gal

Brian Conaghan Author Of When Mr. Dog Bites

From my list on Scottish working class culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Brian Conaghan has written seven Young Adult novels. When Mr. Dog Bites, was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. The Bombs That Brought Us Together, won the 2016 Costa Children’s Book Award. We Come Apart - a collaboration with Sarah Crossan - won the United Kingdom Literary Award. His novel, The Weight of a Thousand Feathers, won the 2018 An Post YA Irish Book of the Year. The M Word was shortlisted for the An Post YA and Teen Book of the Year. Cardboard Cowboys, to date, has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Brian lives and works in the Scottish town of Coatbridge.

Brian's book list on Scottish working class culture

Brian Conaghan Why did Brian love this book?

A day in the life of two inseparable friends in an impoverished Scottish town where everything seems challenging. They learn what friendship truly means in the face of certain dangers. Dillon’s award-winning debut depicts the vitality and intensity of boyhood friendship, as well as painting a vivid picture of contemporary working-class Scotland.

By Des Dillon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Me and Ma Gal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A story of boyhood friendship and irrepressible vitality told with the speed of trains and the understanding of the awkwardness, significance and fragility of that time. This is a day in the life of two boys as told by one of them.


Book cover of A Prayer for Owen Meany

S. Chris Shirley Author Of Playing by the Book

From my list on exploring crises of faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up as a closeted homosexual in a fundamentalist Christian home, enduring nearly two decades in a crisis of faith. Sermons frequently warned of damnation for my natural inclinations, pushing me to fast, pray, and achieve to resist temptation. This crisis gradually resolved over the eight years I spent writing Playing by the Book, the first coming-out novel to win a National IPPY Medal in religious fiction. Although I don’t consider myself a spiritual writer, I am drawn to stories that explore existential struggles and triumphs, including those related to a crisis of faith—much like the characters in the novels on this list.

S.'s book list on exploring crises of faith

S. Chris Shirley Why did S. love this book?

I love this book because it shows that being different does not exclude one from being an instrument of God. Owen Meany, with his unusual voice and diminutive stature, is an unforgettable character who, despite seeming out of place, becomes integral to a grander plan. His story resonated deeply with me, reminding me of my journey as a closeted gay man.

Like Owen, I felt different from everyone else and struggled with feelings of unworthiness—feelings that are now far behind me. This book celebrates the unusual and beautifully illustrates that every life has meaning and every person has a role to play.

By John Irving,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked A Prayer for Owen Meany as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A work of genius' Independent

'Marvellously funny . . . What better entertainment is there than a serious book which makes you laugh?' Spectator

'If you care about something you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.'

Summer, 1953. In the small town of Gravesend, New Hampshire, eleven-year-old John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany are playing in a Little League baseball game. When Owen hits a foul ball which kills John's mother, their lives are changed in an instant.

It…


Book cover of Last Days Of Summer

Susie Finkbeiner Author Of The All-American

From my list on making you fall in love with baseball.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m intrigued by baseball. The passion and drama of the games and the way the sport is nearly always linked to a meaningful relationship with someone dear. That curiosity has only been fueled by the books I’ve read over the years and inspired me to write a baseball story of my own. The All-American is my ninth novel and I couldn’t feel more privileged to have been able to write it.

Susie's book list on making you fall in love with baseball

Susie Finkbeiner Why did Susie love this book?

My friend and fellow novelist, Allison Pittman, recommended this one to me.

It’s a story told in letters written between a goofball kid named Joey and a New York Giants player named Charlie. I laughed and cried my way through this winner of a novel, rooting for both Joey and Charlie the entire time. It’s a story about the love of baseball, yes.

But it’s also a book about ambition and friendship, heartache and dreams, disappointments and hope. And with every page I read, I fell more and more in love with baseball. It’s one of the finest novels I’ve read.

By Steve Kluger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Last Days Of Summer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A contemporary American classic—a poignant and hilarious tale of baseball, hero worship, eccentric behavior, and unlikely friendship

Last Days of Summer is the story of Joey Margolis, neighborhood punching bag, growing up goofy and mostly fatherless in Brooklyn in the early 1940s. A boy looking for a hero, Joey decides to latch on to Charlie Banks, the all-star third basemen for the New York Giants. But Joey's chosen champion doesn't exactly welcome the extreme attention of a persistent young fan with an overactive imagination. Then again, this strange, needy kid might be exactly what Banks needs.


Book cover of Bippity Bop Barbershop
Book cover of Max and the Tag-Along Moon
Book cover of No Limits: A Story Celebrating the Unconditional Love of a Father

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