The most recommended books about the Walt Disney Company

The fact that it is set in a highly recognizable franchise makes kids very excited to read it. But the text itself is great.

The story follows the rules of the game, staying true to the ‘universe’ in which it is set, and making the text relatable to children worldwide. It contains great humor for the K through 6th grade age range, and honestly, I got a real Disney sense when reading it before giving the book to my son. It swirls with happy-laugh energy, a key element in books these days since they must compete with video games and screen time.

You can’t help but root for thirteen-year-old social underdog and theater nerd Nate Foster as he sneaks away from his “boring” hometown of Jankburg, PA, and takes a bus to New York City to audition for the lead role in a Broadway production of E.T., the Musical. Of course, things don’t go according to plan, but Nate’s spunk, humor, and fearlessness somehow get him through his longshot adventure in the big city. Federle’s warm and vivid characterizations and witty writing style make this one a winner for the whole family. (One caveat: Parents bothered by gay themes in middle-grade books—even understated ones, as here—might want to skip this one. Your loss.) Followed by two more: Fix, Six, Seven, Nate! and Nate Expectations. 

I love a book set in a work setting, especially as I’m a full-time author, so I no longer have dodgy colleagues! The Flatmate follows Ria, who has returned to work following an enforced sabbatical after the shocking death of her colleague and best friend, Livvy.

Enter Amanda, her new flatmate, and Livvy’s replacement. When Ria starts receiving messages and gifts from dead Livvy, her colleagues think Ria is losing her mind.

Author Gemma Rogers is great at pacing and creating believable and sometimes unpleasant characters. I loved the believability of this story and read the book in one sitting.

Legacy is an imaginative fable and simultaneously a narrative poem that is beautifully constructed. It is very relevant for our times.

First, it is a gripping read of heroism, triumph over difficulties, and of confrontation with evil. As fable, it joins the ranks of the classics like Aesop’s Fables or more recently George Orwell’s Animal Farm. But part of its beauty is not only its construction but also that it can be read it to your young children - they will love it!

It is simple to follow, yet has profound depth. It’s been described as “a much-needed antidote to the moral vacuum of modern culture.” I totally agree. Reading it is great but I even more strongly recommend listening to it: the author’s voice is good enough for Disney.

I love when an author takes a character you think you know and adds layers of depth you never would have imagined. That’s what Shea does with Elle here. We all picture the Disney Belle--smart but with that feeling of needing to be rescued. This Elle is not that kind of beauty. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but I really appreciated the heartbreaking strength this woman had. She literally gives everything for her family, and once she knows his heart, Prince Severin.

Steve Huston is one of my heroes. I love his art and I love how he talks about art. Steve walks with his feet firmly on the ground and lavishes the feel of the dirt between his toes. He talks about the lofty goals of being human and creating art in the most down-to-earth, practical ways.

And that's not a side-note to his how-to-draw book, that's the central message of this how-to-draw book. See the world, be in the world, trust and love your own senses, make contributions to the world. This book is filled with gorgeous drawings and a warm invitation to ways of seeing and drawing and conceptualizing the human figure.

This colorful and joyous cover enticed me to learn about Disney artist, Mary Blair. As a child, Disneyland was a regular part of my television viewing in Australia. Had I known back then that girls could be anything they wanted, I would have been excited by the possibilities. Mary Blair created eye-popping work full of delicious colors and adventurous ideas. Seen as too unusual, Mary’s work was stymied, and she left Disney. But then Walt Disney had a special project and he knew Mary was the perfect artist for the job. I love this book for its kid-friendly vibrant illustrations and I hope children will see that each one of them deserves to shine in their own way. 

This book celebrates the artistry and legacy of Walt Disney’s key talents not only in animation but in the theme park attraction design. Mary Blair’s influence can be seen in animated classics like Disney’s Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), and Peter Pan (1953) to Disneyland’s It’s a Small World and the mural at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World, just to name a few. In a studio dominated by men, Blair rose to the top based on her talent for design and color styling. A wonderfully written book that showcases an artistic genius who brought magic to every project she worked on at Disney.   

Do Books are some of my favourite books, period. They're small, pocket size and beautifully designed by the team at Do Books who support great causes and authors. Bobette has decades of experience working with major brands and movie studios teaching core principles of storytelling to stand out in a noisy world. Filled with examples, exercises, and case studies, it's a great and quick book to get you started on your journey to tell more stories. 

Despite its garish cover, How to Read Donald Duck is not about cartoons. It's a penetrating analysis from a Marxist and nationalist perspective that helped me understand the influence of Disney in particular and U.S. entertainment exports in general in Latin America. The book was originally published in Spanish as "Para Leer el Pato Donald." The book was considered so dangerous that the Chilean Navy dumped the entire third edition into the sea during the dictatorship. 

The book was my first insight into what's known in leftist circles as U.S. cultural imperialism. A lot has changed and lot has not since the book was first written, but it makes me reflect on the role U.S. cultural products play in Latin America today.

During the golden age of the Disney studio, the “concept artists” were those who created sketches and paintings to suggest mood, theme, and atmosphere for the inspiration of the production artists. Their works were used internally, during production, and sometimes were outstanding works of art in themselves, but were never seen by the public. Now Didier Ghez singles out four of those top concept artists, documents their careers, and provides a generous gallery of their drawings and paintings, almost all of them previously unpublished. If you enjoy this book—and you surely will—there’s more good news: this volume is the first of six, all retaining the same format and the same high standard of excellence, and following the trail of Disney history well into the 21st century.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I haven’t read this entire book, but I did read the original article that the book came out of and other articles by and about the Suskinds. 

Ron Suskind did exactly what Lynn Koegel and I believe all parents should do: he observed his son’s interest and used it as a bridge for communication and connection.

Disney was a huge part of our family life when our kids were little (and still plays a role in our lives today since one of my sons is a children’s television writer and another one has his own theme park video channel), so I love that it was Disney movies that brought the Suskinds together.

Ordinarily I don’t believe in “greatest” comparisons, but this book is different. Animation historian extraordinaire Jerry Beck surveyed more than a thousand historians and animation professionals to ascertain their picks, compiled the results into a list of fifty “greatest” cartoons, and then created this book with a separate entry for each film. It’s both informative and an endless delight, with well-illustrated celebrations of classic cartoon gems from the Disney, Warner, Fleischer, and MGM studios as well as the smaller, more obscure companies. You may disagree with the rankings or the choices, but this is undeniably a deep dive into a cornucopia of treasures. And Jerry didn’t stop there; fifteen years later he followed up with a similar but more specialized volume, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

This book is one of my most recent reads that inspired me.

The unsung creator of the Creature from the Lost Lagoon received almost no recognition in her time, but we learn of her artistic passion and unwavering strength as the details of her life unfold.

I wanted to shout the name Milicent Patrick from the rooftops.

The author frames the telling of the artist’s story though her twisting and turning research process. Like Mallory O’Meara I also had to crawl down many wild and crazy rabbit holes while writing my book.

I’m still singing the praises of my amazing female architects, engineers, and landscape designers. 

Wild Minds is a wonderful and engrossing history of the early days of the animation industry. From Winsor McCay to Otto Messmer, Max Fleischer, and Walt Disney, this book twists and turns weaving a fantastic tapestry of the talented and highly competitive artists that invented animation techniques that are still being used today. Read about the choices Fleischer and Disney made that ended the former and vaulted the latter into stardom. A wild read for any animation history buff. 

This insightful book gives a glimpse into CEO Michael Eisner’s reign at The Walt Disney Company. As one reviewer put it, “Stewart assembles a withering portrait of Eisner as a grasping, self-centered, manipulative, and ultimately self-destructive executive.” Having worked at Disney during this time period, Disney War is the closest account next to actually being there during those turbulent years. A must-read for students of Disney.

This was and still remains one of my favourite books of all time.

From the age of about 8, I used to read it every year, and it remained as thrilling every time.

The pink cover and black and white illustrations are perfect. The story is funny, sad, clever, implausible, very exciting, and has some of the best characters in fiction, Cruella de Vil of course being one.

The ingenuity of Pongo and Perdita in saving their, and many many more, puppies is quite brilliant. 

Dodie Smith, who wrote it, was a genius. As well as this timeless classic, she also wrote the wonderful I Capture the Castle.

I loved this book because I had it as a child, but never had a chance to read it.

Only 40+ years later, I came across the Disney film version and recalled the fact I *had* the novel of this all those years ago. I went and bought a copy on eBay and read the book, literally for the first time!

This cat, named Jake, was stranded on Earth and needed help repairing his ship. It was comical with the cat speaking to various characters through his collar and mind. I found it quite a unique story, and his interactions with the humans were lightly unnerving, but hilarious in some parts. 

It was well worth reading it after all this time.

This is the fifth book in the epic Wheel of Time series. You should start with the first book, The Eye of the World, but I’m recommending this one because it’s when Mat Cauthon starts to come into his own as a character. Mat is incorrigible, a gambler and a rascal with a secret heart of bravery and self-sacrifice—not that he’d ever admit it! Mat makes mistakes and puts his foot in his mouth, but you can’t help loving him for it. His growth as a character throughout the series is unmatched, and he’s one of my favorite examples of the charming, flawed ne’er-do-well who ends up saving the day.

This historical novel centers around the life of a young girl called Pocahontas, who bears witness to the colonization of Jamestown. And unlike the popular Disney version, Peacemaker's Dream shows us the real life of this amazing heroine. We see her transition from a child to an adult, while getting involved with the colonists, and find out how heavy the price of peace can be. Truly, an eye-opening experience.