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Recommendations based on The Twenty-One Balloonsby William Pène du Bois
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden
A friendship between a mouse, a cricket, and a cat in New York City.
The story is about a cricket from Connecticut named Chester who gets caught on a train for New York. After stumbling on the subway, Chester ends up in Times Square. Mario Bellini, who helps his ... (Wikipedia)
Henry Huggins
by Beverly Cleary
A young boy's everyday adventures in a small town, meeting friends and facing challenges.
In the first novel from Newbery Award-winning author Beverly Cleary, boys and girls alike will instantly be charmed by an average boy whose life is turned upside down when he meets a lovable puppy ... (Goodreads)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
A young man's struggle to gain knowledge and self-confidence, inspiring a revolution in navigation.
In Revolutionary War–era Salem, Massachusetts, a young Nat Bowditch, the smallest member of a sea-faring family, astounds his schoolteacher with his talent for mathematics. He dreams of someday ... (Wikipedia)
Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes
A young apprentice's journey of bravery, patriotism and heroism during the American Revolution.
The story begins on July 23, 1773, in the Boston silversmith shop of elderly Ephraim Lapham, where Johnny is a promising 14-year-old apprentice. It is understood that someday he will marry Mr. ... (Wikipedia)
Homer Price
by Robert McCloskey
An imaginative young boy embarks on a series of comedic adventures.
Welcome to Centerburg! Where you can win a hundred dollars by eating all the doughnuts you want; where houses are built in a day; and where a boy named Homer Price can foil four slick bandits using ... (Goodreads)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E.L. Konigsburg
Two adventurous children who run away from home and hide in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere — to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, ... (Goodreads)
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
A whimsical adventure through a magical land, searching for a way out of the boredom of everyday life.
Milo is a boy bored by the world around him; every activity seems a waste of time. He arrives home from another boring day at school to find a mysterious package. Among its contents are a small ... (Wikipedia)
A Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
Young girl moves to her grandmother's for a year, discovering life's hard lessons and unexpected joys.
The year is 1938, and the Great Depression has hit the Dowdel family hard. 15-year-old Mary Alice is sent downstate to live with Grandma Dowdel while her mother and father remain in Chicago. Her ... (Wikipedia)
Catherine, Called Birdy
by Karen Cushman
An adolescent girl's story of rebellion, seeking freedom in a restrictive society.
The following is a description of the novel as it appears on the cover: "[T]he fourteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, ... (Wikipedia)
The Secret of the Old Clock
by Carolyn Keene
A teenage girl uses her sleuthing skills to solve a decades-old mystery.
Nancy, unaided, seeks to find a missing will. To the surprise of many, the Topham family will inherit wealthy Josiah Crowley's fortune, instead of deserving relatives and friends who were promised ... (Goodreads)
Stuart Little
by E.B. White
An adventurous mouse embarks on a quest to find his place in a human world.
A boy named Stuart is born to an ordinary family in New York City. He is normal in every way except that he is only just over two inches high and looks exactly like a mouse. At first the family is ... (Wikipedia)
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen
Social satire exploring morality and class in 19th century England.
Fanny Price, at age ten, is sent from her impoverished home in Portsmouth to live as one of the family at Mansfield Park, the Northamptonshire country estate of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. There ... (Wikipedia)
Make Way for Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey
A family of ducks navigates the city of Boston, finding a safe home.
This classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1942, Make Way for Ducklings has been ... (Goodreads)
Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
A young boy embarks on an adventure with his beloved hunting dogs, learning valuable life lessons.
An old man named Billy Colman rescues a redbone hound under attack by neighborhood dogs. He takes it home with him so that its wounds can heal. In light of this event, he has a flashback to when he ... (Wikipedia)
The Five Chinese Brothers
by Claire Huchet Bishop
Five brothers use their special powers to outsmart an emperor and save their family from execution.
In the Imperial China of the Qing dynasty , there are five brothers who "all looked exactly alike." They each possess a special talent: one can swallow the sea, one has an unbreakable iron neck, one ... (Wikipedia)
The Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
A young girl's journey from poverty to independence as she learns the craft of midwifery.
In medieval Europe, a homeless orphan girl who has no name, and can recall being named Brat, attempts to nestle in a warm dung heap on a cold night. She wakes up to the taunts of village boys, and ... (Wikipedia)
The Maze of Bones
by Rick Riordan
An adventure to uncover the truth behind the mysterious Cahill family, and save the world from destruction.
Many of the well-known names in history are said to be part of the real-life Cahill family, making it "the most powerful family in the world." Amy and Dan, the main protagonists, currently live in ... (Wikipedia)
The Thief Lord
by Cornelia Funke
Two orphaned brothers navigate a magical world in Venice, searching for a way to be reunited with their mother.
The Thief Lord follows the story of two brothers, Prosper and Boniface (Bo), who run away to Venice, Italy. They are taken in by a group of street children who live in an abandoned movie theater, the ... (Wikipedia)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O'Brien
A mouse's quest for survival and freedom, aided by the extraordinary intelligence of laboratory rats.
Mrs. Frisby is the head of a family of field mice. Her son Timothy is ill with pneumonia just as the farmer Mr. Fitzgibbon begins preparation for spring plowing in the garden where the Frisby family ... (Wikipedia)
The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
An eccentric literary detective, in an alternate 1985, uses time-travel to save kidnapped characters from classic novels.
In a parallel universe , England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; England still has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath ... (Wikipedia)
The Magician's Nephew
by C.S. Lewis
An epic journey through time and space, exploring the origins of Narnia and discovering its wondrous inhabitants.
The story begins in London during the summer of 1900. Two children, Digory and Polly , meet while playing in the adjacent gardens of a row of terraced houses . They decide to explore the attic ... (Wikipedia)
The Sign of the Beaver
by Elizabeth George Speare
A young boy left alone in the wilderness befriends a Native American and learns survival skills.
The Sign of the Beaver tells the story of 13-year-old Matt James Hallowell, an 18th-century American settler. He and his father build a log cabin in the wilderness of Maine, then Matt is left alone ... (Wikipedia)
Half Magic
by Edward Eager
Four siblings discover a magic coin that grants wishes, but only halfway. They embark on adventures and learn valuable lessons along the way.
Four children wish on a Half Magic coin that gets their mother Alison half-way home, rescued by Mr Smith. Mark's wish zaps them to a desert without island, where half-talking cat Carrie gabbles to a ... (Goodreads)
Ramona and Her Mother
by Beverly Cleary
A young girl's journey of understanding her family dynamics and learning to grow up.
"People should not think being seven and a half years old was easy, because it wasn't." , At last, Ramona's father, Robert, has a job again, so the Quimbys host a brunch to celebrate. Ramona is ... (Wikipedia)
Ginger Pye
by Eleanor Estes
A brother and sister's adventures in search of a missing pet, uncovering a mysterious thief.
This book is about a puppy named Ginger. Jerry Pye, a resident in Cranbury, Connecticut in 1919, bought a puppy he wanted from Ms. Speedy for a hard-earned dollar he made while dusting the pews in ... (Wikipedia)
Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne
An epic journey of adventure and exploration, pushing the boundaries of the known world.
The story starts in London on Wednesday, 2 October 1872. Phileas Fogg is a rich British gentleman living a solitary life. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with ... (Wikipedia)
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
A gorilla named Ivan, who lives in a mall, finds hope and freedom through his art and the help of his friends.
The story is placed at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall by the Video Arcade. Ivan, the gorilla, has lived in captivity at the Big Top Mall for 9,855 days by his own tally. , He lives in his domain, and is ... (Wikipedia)
His Majesty's Dragon
by Naomi Novik
A Napoleonic-era naval captain and a dragon join forces to battle their enemies.
Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons, bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes ... (Goodreads)
DragonSpell
by Donita K. Paul
Fantasy adventure of a young man who discovers his true destiny and must battle an evil dragon.
One Dragon Egg Holds the Key to the Future. Once a slave, Kale is given the unexpected opportunity to become a servant to Paladin. Yet this young girl has much to learn about the difference between ... (Goodreads)
Thank You, Mr. Falker
by Patricia Polacco
A young girl struggles with dyslexia until a teacher helps her learn to read, changing her life forever.
The real-life, classic story of a dyslexic girl and the teacher who would not let her fail. A perfect gift for teachers and for reading students of any age. Patricia Polacco is now one of America's ... (Goodreads)
