Nine Great Fantasy Books for Middle Grade Readers; February 2023

Nine classic fantasy fiction books I recommend for children. These are some of the books that shaped and inspired the popularity of the fantasy genre today. Amazon links to the books are provided below.

This is part of an ongoing series of videos providing recommendations for young readers. Other videos in this series include:

0:38 Roots of fantasy books for kids
2:11 T. H. White, book 1
3:31 T. H. White, book 2
4:50 Elizabeth Goudge
6:01 Alan Garner
7:49 Lloyd Alexander

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Links to Amazon pages for the recommended books:

T. H. White:

Elizabeth Goudge:

Alan Garner:

Lloyd Alexander:

Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.

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Artwork credits:
Aubrey Beardsley
dws4me
Gloom
Julek Heller
Justin Kunz & Jared Crossley
Tim Probert

#childrensbooks #middlegradebooks #fantasybooks #fantasy #booktube #booktubesff

[booksandocha]

Wonderful to see some love for Lloyd Alexander's books, I loved them as a young teenager and they were some of my first introductions to fantasy. Another major influence was Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence, which was probably also my introduction to fantasy in modern settings.

[eilindene]

There's also a really lovely collection of short stories in the Chronicles of Prydain, The Foundling and Other Tales. 💚 Thanks for sharing about older fantasy books. Some of my favorites are listed here!

[amiefortman]

I immediately clicked on this video upon seeing the Prydain illustrations, and I was thrilled to hear such high praise for the books that basically defined my childhood. Lloyd Alexander has such a wonderful voice as an author, able to gracefully handle very difficult topics while not talking down to his young readers. And I love the way he writes dialogue--you could show me any line from the "Prydain" series without speech tags, and I could tell you which character says it just from how vivid and distinct their speech patterns are.

[caewing]

I loved the Black Cauldron series by Lloyd Alexander. I read them over and over as a kid.

[tonyhunt]

Nice to see you recommended the Alan Garner novels. I read them as a child in the 60's and have re-read them many times since. They are my favourite kids books. I've been trying to get my granddaughter to read them recently. We'll see how that goes!
I live not too far away from Alderley Edge, and have visited the many of the scenes from the stories, so it's easy to place the stories in the real world, as well as on the map.

[helenakasper]

Thanks for this! The Prydain books were some of my favorites growing up as well as The Dark is rising and Narnia. I’ll have to add the rest of your suggestions to my tbr. I would suggest The Moomins books by Tove Jansson and the works of Astrid Lindgren for some classic nordic childrens books. Moomins was a favorite of Terry Pratchett and his family as well!

[GwydionAE]

The Chronicles of Prydain are still some of my favorite books even as an adult. Saw the Disney version of Black Cauldron in high school, and one of my friends was adamant I read the books it was so loosely based on. I hadn't known about them previous, but I devoured them in a week, and I'm thankful my friend recommended them! Trying to think of things not yet mentioned, I also remember enjoying The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, and The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop. Always looking for more that I missed!

[donaldrobers]

In the late eighties I read my daughter the Redwall series by the late Brian Jaques. The books concerned Redwall Abby, a structure apparently abandoned by humans and now housing a diverse population of mice, moles, ottars and other woodland creatures. They use diminutive implements like swords, bows, shovels and dishware - acting for the most part like humans of the Middle Ages. The books are to a degree interactive in that there are always puzzles and secrets that must be solved to resolve the plot. Those books, in concert with Tolkien and Beverly Cleary, instilled a life - long love of books in her formative years. A fitting legacy for any author to aspire to.

[ColinsCornerYT]

This is awesome! My daughter is 7 and I will be keeping some of these in the back pocket for her over the next couple of years as she grows as a reader.

[ethanwashington]

After watching this I picked up the little white horse and I love it. Thank you so much for recommending it and I’ll be checking out your other recommendations.

[AnotherBrownAjah]

I can trace my love of fantasy and reading in general to two things from my childhood. One was the choose your own adventure books i would take out of my elementary schools library. The other were the cover art for the Chronicles of Prydain.

I was young and read them out of order because I was also an idiot :p
My love for the farmboy turned hero started early and continues to this day

[oxhine]

Hey, Bridger! I, too, read the Prydain chronicles as a tweener and adored them. I've never revisited them but they left a vivid impression. I remember the death of Coll really moved me. Lloyd Alexander wrote another fantasy novel that I read and loved called "The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha".
Every time I watch one of these videos, I'm so impressed by the thorough research, the clip selection for presentation, the intelligent deconstruction and the balanced critique.
You should have a "Reading Rainbow"-like PBS show as an Alistair Cooke-type in a tufted leather wingback armchair by a roaring hearth in a mahogany-paneled den with a snifter of cognac! Your velvety voice lends itself to that! Lol.
What is your background? Do you do voiceover work? Did you work in radio? How did you acquire such a vast collection of rare books? Did you run a bookshop or work in a library? Any acting?

[RosLanta]

I didn't read a lot of Alan Garner as a kid, but I do remember enjoying Elidor. I also loved Narnia, and various books by E Nesbit and Diana Wynne Jones.

My favourite modern middle grade fantasy author is Rick Riordan. Other series I regard very highly include Starfell by Dominique Valente (the illustrated UK editions are significantly nicer than the US editions in my opinion!), Nevermoor/Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, Amari by B B Alston and Explorer's Club by Alex Bell

[nefraial]

Oh my. A trip down memory lane. I loved quite a few of these as a youngster but it was an extra delight to see all those beautiful art covers. Some art I've never seen or don't remember.

[terrystewart]

One of my favorite children's books of the era you are covering was Alan Garner's 'Elidor'. A very unusual book, the more you think about it, as what happens with the children is obviously only a rather peripheral part of a much wider story that you never really see. You never even see if the kingdom they travel to is restored in the end. In theory that shouldn't work, but then again it really does.
People have already mentioned Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series, which are some of the best fantasy books of the period.
Then there is also 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase', by Joan Aiken, a great book described as " _a tale of double-dyed villainy, with right triumphant in the end_ ", set in an alternate history of England where the Stuarts were never deposed, and King James the Third is on the throne.
For comical fantasy, you can't do worse than 'The Magic Pudding', by Australian author Norman Lindsay, with the adventures of the koala bear Bunyip Bluegum, the sailor Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff (a penguin), not to mention the walking, talking, bad-tempered Magic Pudding of the title. Well worth hunting down if you haven't read it.
Drawing of Greek mythology, as a kid I read and enjoyed Leon Garfield's 'The God Beneath the Sea', which sadly seems forgotten now, though his non-fantasy book 'The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris' is even better - comic genius,
If you want something rather creepy, there is 'Marianne Dreams' by Catherine Storr, which was badly adapted for film, but done much better as a TV series'Escape Into Night', which is all available on You Tube, and 'Tom's Midnight Garden' by Philippa Pearce, which again I first came across as a BBC TV adaptation.
Finally, for slightly younger readers maybe, there are Finnish author Tove Jansson's Moomin Troll books, with standouts 'Moominland Midwinter' and 'Moominsummer Madness'.

[eilenepatrick]

The Pyrdain books and A Wrinkle in Time were my absolute favorite books as an early teen, and are still in my top ten today.

Another commenter mentions Redwall, which I did NOT like, for many reasons, not the least of which is that the main characters are supposed to be living in an abbey, run by a brother, but have absolutely no religion or spirituality. In one book, the hero, who is studying to become a brother, has to defeat an evil snake, and instead of praying to God, or to some nature spirit, or to any spiritual being, he declares that he must "trust to luck", never thinking of trusting to a higher power. Many children's books lack the depth to include spiritual themes or beliefs, but if you put your characters in an abby, give them some sort of belief system.

[yousrat]

Thank you for directing me to The Chronicles of Prydain. Admittedly I completed the series as an adult but I loved everything about it. I hope that you can someday consider showcasing Lloyd Alexander’s other series and standalone novels. He’s growing to be my favourite author.

[MagusMarquillin]

My parents read me Narnia, The Dark is Rising, Green Knowe, the first 2 Prydain chronicles & the first 3 Wrinkle in Time books. I had abridged books on tape of the Hobbit + the Lord of the Rings radio play, Winnie the Pooh, The Jungle Book, the Wind in the Willows, the Swallows and the Amazons, 101 Dalmatians, and the Dragonlance Chronicles (not exactly for children, but my brother gave me tapes on it and I _loooved_ that story) all of which I listened to many many times - might have delayed my need to read myself, but kept my appetite for stories strong. What I eventually read by myself was most of Roald Dahl's books, Charlot's Web, Goosebumps, the Hobbit and Shanarra, the Neverending Story, Death Gate and Dragonlance (I think I was still in middle grade age then).
I really need to return to more of these, it's fun to see what memories I can unearth - but there's so many ones I missed I have on my radar, before and after Harry Potter. Thankfully I already have most of your suggestions. :)

[TalkingTorah]

7:56 okay, where do i get that exact set of "the chronicles of prydain"??? I need that lol😅

[carlosandino]

I did not read this as a child but a reading buddy shared them with me as he enjoyed them growing up, the Pendragon series. I loved the video you did on Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians.