If you’re picking out books for kids, it’s common to turn to tried-and-true classics. Sharing favourites from your childhood can be a great way to connect with young readers, and many great stories still resonate today. But if you’ve run out of old favourites or feel like they aren’t hitting the same way anymore, how do you find their next favourite read in the ocean of new books published each year? Here are some recent books to try based on three classic stories.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
If you love high-stakes adventures about travelling to a magical world, try Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell. Sent to live in the Scottish countryside with his grandfather, Christopher finds a portal to the Archipelago, a group of hidden islands filled with magical creatures. After helping a young girl, Mal, escape a murder attempt, the two embark on a quest to discover why the Archipelago's magic and the magical creatures it sustains are dying.
In The Unicorn Quest series by Kamilla Benko, sisters Claire and Sophie stumble upon the entrance to the magical world of Arden while staying at an old manor. When Sophie disappears, Claire follows her into Arden, where her quest to find her sister leads her to the legend of Arden’s last unicorn.
Anne of Green Gables
The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson is about an orphaned Ojibwe-French girl who goes to live with a lighthouse-keeper’s family on Lake Superior. Like Anne Shirley, she has an active imagination and a deep desire to fit in with her new family, but her good intentions sometimes lead to trouble.
In Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O’Shaughnessy, Mo enters foster care after her Nan’s death. Mo is a colourful, lovable character who starts a new hobby of collecting other people’s family recipes, hoping to find a family recipe of her own someday. Set in modern day New York, this is a heartwarming story of discovering family where you least expect it.
The Giver
In The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera, the world is ending. Petra and her family escape on a spaceship to another planet and are put into a centuries-long sleep. When Petra wakes up, the ship has been taken over by the Collective. They believe that the best way to avoid the problems of Earth, like war and hunger, is to erase all memories of Earth and embrace unity. A thought-provoking read about the dark side of creating a “perfect” world.
True Colors by Abby Cooper takes place in the town of Serenity, where everyone is always happy and has agreed to follow the town’s rules of staying positive.Mackenzie works hard to stay happy because she has a haze around her that shows her emotions through its changing colours. But in a moment where she is too overwhelmed to suppress her emotions, her haze explodes onto the town, giving other residents their own colourful hazes and showing the true emotions hidden behind their smiles.
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