Recs if you like The Tale of Despereaux...

JK Rowling is a bigot who uses her platform to hurt transfolks and other marginalized groups (plus she literally just quoted Mein Kampf on the bird site). If you're still supporting her in 2025, don't bother talking to me.

A collection of MG books with rodent MCs

Bring on those Gen Y memories! A list of books likely to give people born between 1981 and 1996 a lot of feelings.

This list is for those of us who grew up eagerly awaiting the Scholastic Book Fair, watching Reading Rainbow (or Wishbone!), and dreaming of a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

Note: these are not books published in 1981-1996, but books that had a hold on the millennial generation.

Also check out the Dear America series, American Girl series & Royal Diaries series.

Classic novels for your (inner) child, with some modern staples in the mix. For reading yourself, reading aloud to little ones, and for those learning to read. Suggestions welcome, as always!

Fairy tale and folklore-inspired narratives as well as atmospheric/quiet/light fantasy with canon aspec characters, aspec-readable themes such as rejection of relationship hierarchy and meaningful companionships, or simply excluding elements of either sexuality or romance. Limiting these to books aimed at adults but will include kidlit that may resonate with older audiences too, such as classics or kidlit with older protagonists.

because we gotta hit our reading goal 🫡 short books (around or under 200 pages) for when you need something in between longer reads or want to up your reading count 🥰 includes almost all genres and different age groups! and will definitely have some graphic novels because that’s my favourite way to speed through books hehe

titles named after the main character of the novel.

books where protagonists and/or sidekicks are mice and rats for fellow rodent lovers

(all ages included! please check individual books for age ratings)

Young readers and middle grade

The books your teacher made you read between the ages of 11-14. They changed the way you saw the world, they made you realize books were more than just goofy or sentimental stories you gobbled up before bedtime, and they stuck with you, all these years later.

Suggestions welcome, especially from non-American readers!!

Note: this list was made by a Millennial, so I'd love to hear from some different generations! What did your teachers assign you?

all books that have been adapted to another medium. mostly film and TV but other adaptations might get mixed in.

According to the ALA, "The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Just animals doing people things

Joining my younger self on a reread of all the books I was exceptionally obsessed with in elementary, middle, and high school to reread this year between heavier books (some of the series are very long so I’m only including first in a series)

All genres, all demographics, all furries. (Some of these have a bite, please research contents warnings)

A collection of books where the main characters are animals

Warning!! Pearl by Josh Malerman is considered a horror (extreme horror?) So check your triggers!

Complete as of August 2026.

masterlist of recommendations from booktuber allison paiges, THE cozy booktuber 💐 (list in progress; will be slowly adding as i rewatch their videos)

Here are many beloved and distinguished children’s novels that have won the Newbery Gold award and the silver Newbury Honor award, which were first started over a century ago in 1922. There are many choices, old and new, that have cemented their place in children’s literature for any reader to explore.