Chapter Books for Kids 12 and up

These books aren't just great for kids--try rereading them again yourself (or read them for the first time!). Kids books have a timeless quality than many adult novels lack, and so they stay with you forever.

  • Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women
  • Banks, Lynne Reid. Indian in the Cupboard.
  • Bunford, Sheila. The Incredible Journey
  • Burns, Ann. The Cold Sassy Tree.
  • Cook, Connie Brummel. The Hungry Year, and others.
  • Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage
  • Farley, Walter. The Black Stallion
  • Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain
  • Gilbreth, Frank and Ernestine Carey. Cheaper by the Dozen
  • Grahame, Kenneth. Wind in the Willows.
  • Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
  • Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life.
  • Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book
  • L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time, and others.
  • London, Jack. The Call of the Wild.
  • Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
  • Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Anne of Green Gables, and others.
  • Mowat, Farley. Owls in the Family
  • Rawlings, Marjorie. The Yearling.
  • Speare, Elizabeth. The Sign of the Beaver.
  • Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island, and others.
  • Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry.
  • Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, and others.
  • Wiggin, Kate. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
  • Wyss, Johann D. Swiss Family Robinson

 

Girls can't miss Anne of Green Gables, but don't worry if your daughter doesn't want to read it at 10. There's so much description in these books that they're often better once girls grow a little older. Do read all nine, too, and not just the first three. They're all worth it.

Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables

For more than a decade, the CBC television program Anne of Green Gables captured the hearts of viewers, both young and old. I...

Before Lord of the Rings comes The Hobbit, easier to read and understand than Tolkien's trilogy. If your children can't handle the trilogy, try The Hobbit first to introduce them to Tolkien's world.

The Hobbit
The Hobbit

Will Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, be able to raid the treasure hoard of the large and dangerous dragon Sm...

Follow the shipwrecked Robinson family as they live out action and adventure!

The Swiss Family Robinson The Swiss Family Robinson

"For many days we had been tempest-tossed . . .the raging storm increased in fury on the seventh day all hope was lost." From...

Meet Charles Wallace and Meg as they encounter "a wrinkle in time" that has trapped their father. A wonderful trilogy that we've just finished reading aloud to Rebecca!

A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle in Time

It began a whole new era in literature for teenagers, receiving the 1963 Newbery Medal and resulting in a new approach to sci...

No Canadian childhood would be complete without reading Jack London's classic, The Call of the Wild.

Call Of The Wild Call Of The Wild

An unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, is forcibly taken to Alaska where he eventually becomes leader of a w...

If you want an email copy of my entire booklist, click here, and then enter "booklist" in the comments section. 

Return to other book selections.