What's it like to be a child?

Books from all genres that provide a reflection about childhood and what it's like to be a child. Expect coming of age stories, early ages memoirs, and more far-fetched novels depicting childlike wonder! Let yourself be taken away on an adventure to rediscover what childhood is through real stories, invented ones and metaphors of childhood!

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created by lucepuce

last updated January, 2026

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Comments

Such a great list, I have added some new books on my list! Special as I think that a good child perspective is so hard to achieve. As this is one type of book that I really enjoy, I can recommend a few more titles, if you are interested in them:

  • Q&A (also known as Slumdog Millionaire) by Vikas Swarup (partially from the voice of an Indian orphan growing up)
  • The child of Noe by Eric Emmanuel Schmitt (the perspective of a jew kid that hides in a catholic orphanage during the German occupation of France in WWII)
  • Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (the perspective of a child from a poor neighborhood in India where kids start disappearing, so Jai, the main character, in love with a detective TV show, starts investigating)
  • Zabor or the psalms by Kamel Daoud (from the perspective of a kid that lives in a Algerian village with his aunt once his dad started a new family)
  • I hid my voice by Parinoush Saniee (the perspective of a kid that can but does not speak)
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (partially from the perspective of a kid that lives in Kabul before the Russian attack on Afghanistan)
  • Anielka by BolesĹ‚aw Prus (the story of a noble polish family before WWI, from the point of view of the young daughter)
  • Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice (a story about brothers in Australia, in a mining city)
  • Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley (detective/mystery series where Flavia, the youngest daughter of a minor English noblemen, with a strong passion for chemistry, resolve crimes)
  • Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong (the story of a North Korean refugee, partially from a child perspective)
  • 2 books from Jostein Gaarder, The orange girl (from the perspective of a child that gets a letter from his dead dad, written for him before the dad died from cancer) and The Christmas Mystery (perspective of a child that gets a special Advent calendar)
  • Kinderland by Liliana Corobca (from the perspective of a young girl in Moldova that needs to take care of her brothers because her parents needs to work in other countries)
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Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it! I'm adding all of this right now

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