Fantasy Books for Kids

Give your kids a love of fantasy and imagination.

Photo by Anna Gru on Unsplash

“Do you have fantasy books you recommend for young kids?” Michelle asked me. She and her husband are Lord of the Rings fans, but their kids are too young for Tolkien. They wanted books to ease their kids into the fantasy genre. I have them covered.

Bear in mind that the genre of “fantasy” is huge, including Winnie the Pooh as well as Harry Potter. Any story that can’t fit in our real world is “fantasy,” but Michelle wants “high fantasy,” a sub-genre like Lord of the Rings, with fantasy worlds that feature castles, dragons, and such. So while this list veers a little from that, I am mostly including books that reflect high fantasy.

This list also doubles as recommendations for easing sensitive kids into scarier and more serious stories. Because the perils didn’t seem quite so real, fantasy books were the best ways to help my highly sensitive kids process serious themes like danger and loss. With that in mind, this list of books is organized by age of intended reader, from youngest and most sensitive to oldest and most resilient.

• Saint George and the Dragon and The Kitchen Knight retold by Margaret Hodges are two stunningly beautiful picture books. Nerd children everywhere will love these retellings from Edmund Spenser’s The Fairie Queen and from the legends of King Arthur’s knights.

• My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett was a favorite of mine when I first learned to read chapter books. While no child should run away from home like Elmer does, this delightful adventure tells of Elmer’s quest to rescue a baby dragon.

• The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla is another easy chapter book for young readers. Young Shan must go on a quest to King Arthur to help his family and prove his right as heir after his usurping uncle takes over the family castle.

• The Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla was another favorite first chapter book for me. This is actually more historical fiction than high fantasy, but anyone who loves a call to adventure will savor this story of a young man who goes questing to become a man and to find Wineland. (Note: While the main character survives, many others in this story do not. As a sensitive child, I still loved it, but be warned.)

• The Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor and illustrated by Joe Sutphin is one of two explicitly Christian books I’m adding to this list today. While it was meant as a parable, the adventures of young Pilgrim journeying to the Celestial City are fraught with monsters, battles, and narrow escapes. This particular version is a favorite with my kids because of its excellent illustrations of anthropomorphic animals.

• The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great by Gerald Morris is so zany and silly that it is impossible for even the most sensitive readers to worry about the characters. They might, however, laugh themselves sick. For young readers who think The Hobbit is too slow-paced, this is a good, silly alternative.

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin isn’t exactly high fantasy, but it merits its reputation as an award-winning fantasy. Young Minli leaves her home at Fruitless Mountain to go on a quest to change her family’s fortune. And yes, there are dragons. This is a beautiful, sweet story that’s exciting enough for typical readers and gentle enough for the highly sensitive.

• The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald are magical children’s stories of high fantasy written by the Scotsman who profoundly influenced author C. S. Lewis. The beginning may seem like a princess fairy tale or The Secret Garden, but keep reading to discover the princess’s magical grandma and the young miner who will help her against a treacherous plot of goblins and monsters.

• The Rescuers by Margery Sharp is not high fantasy, but it’s close enough: Three endearing mice go questing to rescue a prisoner (and a poet) from the world’s most secure dungeon (and most ferocious cat). This book and subsequent series inspired two Disney movies. This is one of the first adventure book that my little highly sensitive reader truly loved.

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis is a can’t miss series for fantasy lovers. There’s a reason these are classics. In fact, they are still my husband’s and my favorite books. While the stories are fun for all ages, the rich themes still offer insight for the oldest and most learned of readers.

• Redwall and Mossflower by Brian Jacques have some of the best food descriptions of any fantasy, hands down. The characters are delightful, and the vocabulary is excellent. A few good characters die, but good always wins. These are some of the first books to help build resilience in my highly sensitive reader.

• The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green is a classic version of the many, many Robin Hood retellings available. There are fights with staves, near hangings, and battles galore.

• The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander are often overlooked nowadays, though they are justly classics of children’s fantasy literature, loosely based on Welsh mythology. I have often described these are “Lord of the Rings for kids.” We are reading these with our older children now (who are loving them). Don’t miss these fantastic books!

• The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson is a series of four books about three siblings who must fight for their survival and for good against the most evil threat their world has ever known. These are Peterson’s first novels, but his skill as a writer grows throughout the series. (Note: These books can get dark and scary, but they are powerfully redemptive. Make sure your highly sensitive readers are ready before you hand them these books).

• The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein are some of the best loved fantasy novels of all time, and for good reason. If you need an audio version, don’t hesitate to buy the ones read by actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the beloved movies.

• King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green is a slower-paced but fascinating legend, mostly compiled of strange and beautiful stories that build on one another.

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is a great piece of historical fiction, and it created pirate mythology and tropes of the black spot, peg-leg pirates, talking parrots, and buried treasure. It’s about the adventure of a young boy, Jim Hawkins, but I put it near the end of this list because Stevenson’s writing style is difficult for younger readers.

• The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson is another piece of historical, adventure fiction. If you like Treasure Island, you’ll enjoy reading about seventeen-year-old Richard Shelton running for his life during England’s War of the Roses.

• Beowulf is the very first Christian epic in literature. But Seamus Heaney’s fabulous translation didn’t come out until 2001. If you like evil monsters, battles, golden halls, and dragons, this is a can’t miss. It has the poetic beauty and power of the ancient Greek epics, but it’s much shorter and more readable. One of my favorite things about this translation is that each page has the original Old English side by side with the modern day English. (Tip: You can usually find it on EBay for about $4.)