Literature from Around the World: The 5 Best Books for Kids & Younger Readers (10-13): Updated 2024
Our timeless picks for younger readers
The pandemic has led many of us to cancel our holidays. For younger children, this can be especially disappointing, as it takes away their opportunity to see new places, learn about other cultures and experience the thrill of travel. So here is a compilation of five books or series by female writers, which will help younger readers go on adventures and journeys from their own room.
1. Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
This charming novel follows the journey taken by Maia, a young English orphan, who goes to live with relatives in Manaus on the Amazon. She soon falls in love with the place and the people and is drawn into a plot to save her friend from being taken away from his beloved river and the jungle and sent back to his family in England. Funny, descriptive and heartwarming, this story is sure to delight readers of all ages and would be a good pick for a family book club or to have siblings of different ages read together over the summer.
2. The Diary of Anne Frank
This diary was kept by Jewish teenager Anne Frank when she was in hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. It is an incredibly powerful, humorous and observant book, made especially relevant in these times of self-isolation and discussions around racial persecution. While it deals with topics of war, hatred and loneliness, it is nonetheless written by a young girl who worries about her old clothes and her sugar rations. Anne also writes about her dream of becoming a writer and challenging female roles, a goal which she sadly never had a chance to achieve, but one which has resonated with readers in the decades since.
3. The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence
This series should keep even the most voracious reader busy over the holiday months. With 17 novels that see the four friends Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus solving mysteries all over the Roman Empire in the 1st century, there is more than enough adventure, travel and intrigue. The books are famous for their historical accuracy, their fast-paced plots and likeable characters who grow from amateur child detectives in the first book, to young adults ready to take on the world in the last. From escaping the eruption of Mt Vesuvius to swimming with dolphins in phosphorescent waters, this series is a great antidote to cancelled summer plans, while also dealing elegantly with themes of friendship, freedom and grief.
4. The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
In this exciting time-travel novel, readers are plunged into the world of Nix, a girl who has spent her whole life travelling through time and space on her father’s ship, which can go anywhere at any time period, as long as they have the right map. From mythical Scandinavia to present-day New York City, the reader will be transported all around the world. But Nix’ father is determined to return to 1860s Hawaii where he lost her mother, potentially placing Nix herself in danger. Fast-paced, exciting and original, this book is perfect for lovers of sci-fi and fantasy who want more than just your ordinary travel book.
5. The Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke
This trilogy by German-born author, Cornelia Funke, is not strictly about journeys, travelling or faraway places but rather deals with the concept of literary worlds and how we might be able to travel into them. The series revolves around Meggie and her father, who find they have the gift of being able to conjure characters and objects out of books if they read the stories aloud. But if something comes out of the book, something from our world goes in. Throughout the three novels, Meggie learns to appreciate her talent and use it to create her own world and write her own story. This is a gripping and detailed story about the power of words, books and the journeys they let us take and could be used to encourage younger readers in their own creative writing. A fourth book is expected to be published in 2021 so now is a perfect time to pick up the series.
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