Narnia Read-Alikes
(Note: This is a list of suggestions for fantasy lovers. These books may not be in your school library!)
Alexander, Lloyd. Chronicles of Prydain
Series.Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young
readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper
and
his quest
to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of characters that
includes Eilonwy, the strong-willed
and sharp-tongued princess Fflewddur Fflam, the hyperbole-prone bard the
ever-faithful Gurgi and the curmudgeonly Doli--all of whom become involved
in an epic struggle between good and evil that shapes the fate of the legendary
land of Prydain.
Augarde, Steve. The Various. David Fickling
Books, (Grades 5-7)While staying on her uncle's rundown farm in
the Somerset countryside, twelve-year-old Midge discovers that she has
a special connection to the Various, a tribe
of "strange, wild—and sometimes deadly" fairies struggling
to maintain their existence in the nearby woods.
T. A. Barron. The Ancient One. (Grades 5-9)While
helping her Great Aunt Melanie try to protect an Oregon redwood forest
from loggers, thirteen-year-old Kate goes back five centuries through a time
tunnel and faces the evil creature Gashra, who is bent on destroying the
same forest. Also in the series:.
Baum, L. Frank The Wizard of Oz. Series. (Grades 4-8)
After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy must
seek out the great wizard in order to return to Kansas.
Black, Holly. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale.
Sixteen-year
old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city
to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces
Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, bluecollar New
Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient
power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms – a struggle that
could very well mean her death.
Black, Holly. Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie.
When
seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she’s
trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity,
she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city’s labyrinthine
subway system. But there’s something eerily beguiling about Val’s
new friends. When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking
down the hidden lair of the creature for whom
Luis and his brother, David, have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into
service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honorable. And as
Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an
honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.
Brennan, Herbie. Faerie Wars.
When Henry Atherton
helps Mr. Fogarty clean up around his house, he expects to find a mess and
a cranky old man. What he doesn’t expect to find is Pyrgus Malvae,
crown prince of the Faerie realm, who has escaped the treacherous Faeries
of the Night by traveling to the human world through a portal powered by
trapped lightning. Enlisting the help of
his sister, Holly Blue, and his new friend, Henry, Pyrgus must get back to
the Faerie world alive before one of his many enemies gets to him instead.
Brennan, Herbie. The Purple Emperor: Sequel to Faerie
Wars.
Henry Atherton, his faerie prince friend Pyrgus, and Pyrgus’ fearless
sister, Holly Blue, return in this fantastic adventure to save the Faerie
Realm from the evil Hairstreak and his henchmen, Chalkhill and Brimstone.
With the help of forest faeries, some silk mistresses, a sewer-dwelling creature
of unknown dimensions, and additional creatures magical and otherwise, the
three intrepid young friends find their way from exile to the home they all
would die to preserve and protect.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland and Through the
Looking-Glass.
When Alice tumbles down, down, down a rabbit-hole to
find a White Rabbit she finds herself in Wonderland. That is where her fantastical
adventures begin. She will experience extraordinary changes in size, swim
in a pool of her own tears and attend the very maddest of tea parties. Wonderland
is no ordinary place and the characters that populate it are quite unlike
anybody young Alice has ever met before. The violent Queen, the Lachrymose
Mock Turtle, the laconic Cheshire Cat and the hookah-smoking Caterpillar,
each as surprising and crazy as the next.
Chabon, Michael. Summerland.
Ethan Feld, the
worst baseball player in the history of the game, finds himself recruited
by a 100-year-old scout to help a band of fairies triumph over an ancient
enemy. (Grades 5-up)
Collins, Suzanne. Underland Chronicles.
Eleven-year-old
Gregor follows his two-year-old little sister, Boots, who has disappeared
down an air vent in the
basement of their New York City apartment building and wind up in the
Underland, a strange place of translucent-skinned humans and giant talking
vermin, where
they find that ancient prophecies have somehow foretold that they will
be heroes in this subterranean land.
Cooper,
Susan. Dark is Rising Sequence.
Five children join forces with heroes from the tales of King Arthur and other,
even more ancient, legends to stand with the forces of the Light as they prepare
for their final battle against the Dark.
Bruce Coville. Into the Land of the Unicorns.(Grades
4-6)
Having
jumped into the fantasy land of Luster, Cara joins Lightfoot the unicorn in the
search for Queen Arabella Skydancer. Sequel: Song
of the Wanderer. (Grades 5-8)
Dean, Pamela. Secret Country Trilogy.
Five cousins
have a special magic role-playing game called “
The Secret” – but somehow they find themselves actually pulled
into a world where their game is real, their once-imaginary land is at war,
and they themselves must play out their roles no matter the consequences.
DePaola, Tomie Fin M'Coul: The Giant of Knockmany
Hill
Fin's M'Coul, the Irish giant, is afraid of Cucullin, another giant with
a terrible temper. Fin's wife, Oonagh, outwits the bully by disguising Fin
as
a baby! (C. S. Lewis was originally born in Ireland)
DiTerlizzi, Tony and Holly Black. Spiderwick Chronicles.
It
all started with a mysterious letter left at a tiny bookstore for authors Tony
DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Its closing lines: "We just want people
to know about this. The stuff that has happened to us could happen to anyone." Little
could they imagine the remarkable adventure that awaited them as they followed
Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace and a strange old book into a world filled
with elves, goblins, dwarves, trolls, and a fantastical menagerie of other
creatures.
The oddest part is in entering that world, they
didn't leave this one! (publisher’s description)
Duey, Kathleen Moonsilver (and other books in
The Unicorn's Secret series)
Heart, a young orphan girl, leads a hard life
until she finds a unicorn. But can she keep it safe from the townspeople? Ideal
for young readers just starting
on chapter books.
Clare B. Dunkle. The Hollow Kingdom. (Grades
6-9)
In nineteenth-century England, a powerful sorcerer and King of the Goblins
chooses Kate, the elder of two orphan girls recently arrived at their
ancestral home, Hallow Hill, to be his bride andqueen. Sequels: Close
Kin; In the Coils of the Snake.
Evans, Dilys. Fairies, trolls & goblins galore :
poems about fantastic creatures
A collection of poems by a variety of authors about all sorts of faerie folk,
including trolls, gnomes, ogres, pixies, and many others.
Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart.
Translated from the German by Anthea Bell. Meggie lives a quiet life alone
with her father, a book-binder. But her father has a deep secret – he
possesses an extraordinary magical power. One day, a mysterious stranger arrives
who seems linked to her father’s past. Who is this sinister character
and what does he want? Suddenly, Meggie is involved in a breathless game of
escape and intrigue as her father’s life is put in danger. Will she be
able to save him in time?
Funke, Cornelia. Inkspell (sequel to Inkheart).
Translated from the German by Anthea Bell. Although a year has passed, Meggie
is always thinking of Inkheart, the book whose
characters came to life. But the fire-eater Dustfinger, desperately needs to
return to the tale. When he finds Orpheus, a crooked storyteller with the magical
ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid
and dives into the medieval world of the past. Worried, Farid goes in search
of Meggie and both end up caught inside the book.
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. (Grades 6-8)
Looking for
excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is
similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge
a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three
others.
Gibbons, Gail Behold...the Dragons!
Explains
how myths about dragons developed, the different types of dragons, and how
different cultures portray dragons.
Gibbons, Gail Behold...the Unicorns!
Introduces the origins, mythology, and folklore of the unicorn.
Jacques, Brian. Redwall (and other books in the
Redwall series)
The mice of Redwall Abbey fight to defend their home. This isn't a cutesy animal
story, though, but a true epic tale.
Jones, Diana Wynne. Chronicles of Chrestomanci Series.
In all of the parallel universes, those filled with magic and those where it
remains hidden, the nine-lived enchanter Chrestomanci is the only one powerful
enough to make sure things don’t get completely out of hand.
Juster, Norton. Phantom Tollbooth.
Milo is almost
always bored, until the day he drives a toy car through a tollbooth and into
a strange land which has lost all rhyme and reason, where
a talking watchdog (with a real watch) is his guide on a quest to end the war
between words and numbers.
Le Guin, Ursula. Earthsea Series.
Sparrowhawk
is a wizard in training in the island world of Earthsea. When he overestimates
his powers, he sets a terrible evil free – and must take on the responsibility
of tracking it down and bringing it back under his control. (Margaret A. Edwards
Award, 2004.)
L'Engle,
Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time.
When an atomic physicist disappears on a secret mission, his son,daughter and
their friend search for him, going on an interplanetary journey through time
and space (Grades 5-9) Sequels: A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Grades
5-9); A Wind in the Door (Grades 5-9)
McKinley, Robin. Blue Sword.
When Harry Crewe’s father dies, she leaves her Homeland to travel to
Istan, the last outpost of the Homelander Empire, where her older brother is
stationed. Harry is drawn to the bleak landscape of the northeast frontier
where the last of the old Damarians, the Free Hillfolk, still live. The king
of the Free Hillfolk comes to Istan to ask that the Homelanders and the Hillfolk
set their bad feelings aside to fight a common enemy, the Northerners. Harry
will ride to the battle with the North in the Hill-king’s army bearing
the Blue Sword, Gonturan, the chiefest treasure of the Hill-king’s house
and the subject of many legends of magic and mystery. 1983 Newbery Honor Book;
Best Young Adults Books citation, 1982
Lurie, Alison. Fabulous Beasts
Describes the habits and characteristics of the unicorn, griffin, phoenix,
basilisk, and other strange creatures, some of which became part of Narnia,
which people once believed inhabited the distant parts of the world.
McDonald, George. The Light Princess
C. S. Lewis admired the books of George MacDonald. In this story, a princess
is born but an old witch places a spell on the princess so that she has no
gravity. What can you do with a princess that floats to the ceiling?
McKinley, Robin. The Hero and the Crown.
Aerin's story is just beginning as she strives to become the hero who would
claim the Blue Sword. Aerlin is the only child of the king of Damar, and should
be his rightful heir. But she is also the daughter of a witchwoman of the North,
who died when she was born, and the Damarians cannot trust her. But Aerlin’s
destiny is greater than her father’s people know, for it leads her to
battle with Maur, the Black Dragon, and into the wilder Damarian Hills, where
she meets the wizard Luthe. It is he who at least tells her the truth about
her mother, and he also gives over to her hand the Blue Sword, Gonturan. But
such gifts as these bear a great price, a price Aerin only begins to realize
when she faces the evil mage, Agsded, who
has seized the Hero’s Crown, greatest treasure and secret strength of
Damar. 1985 Newbery Medal; Notable Book citation (ALA)
Nesbit, E. The Book of Beasts.
C. S. Lewis loved the stories of E. Nesbit. In this one, young King Lionel
turns the pages of his magical book and finds that a hungry dragon and other
creatures in the illustrations come to life.
---. Five Children and It. (Grades 4-6)
"
It" is a Psammead, a sand fairy which gives the children a wish a day.
And their wishes bring much excitement but often a lot of trouble too. Sequels:. The
Phoenix and the Carpet. (Grades 3-6);.The Story
of the Amulet.
(Grades 3-6)
Nix, Garth. Abhorsen Trilogy Series.
This award-winning series is a thrilling tale of necromancers, mythical creatures,
magical bells, and power over evil.. Sabriel; Lirael:
Daughter of the Clayr; Abhorsen.
Nix, Garth. Keys to the Kingdom Series.
Seven days; Seven keys; Seven virtues; Seven sins. A
boy is about to seek and discover many fantastical secrets of a very mysterious
world.
Nimmo, Jenny. Children of the Red King Series (planned
quintet).
Charlie Bone discovers at the age of 10 that he has the power to read the thoughts
of people in photographs. This special talent enables him to attend Bloor’s
Academy, a special boarding school for the magically gifted descendants of
the mysterious Red King, where he is launched into a life of enchantment, adventure,
and sometimes danger.
Pierce, Meredith Ann. Firebringer Trilogy.
Jan, a young unicorn, and his mate, Tek, are caught up in the wars that ravage
their land.
Pope, Elizabeth C. The Perilous Gard. (Grades
5-8) In 1558 while imprisoned in a remote castle, a young girl becomes
involved in a series of events that leads to an underground labyrinth
peopled by the
last practitioners of druidic
magic.
Posner, Pat. Fantastic Creatures From Greek Myths
A
collection of stories from ancient Greece, featuring some of the good
and bad mythical creatures that live in Narnia.
Pullman, Philip . His Dark Materials trilogy.
In the epic trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman unlocks the
door to worlds parallel to our own. Dæmons and winged creatures live
side by side with humans, and a mysterious entity called Dust just
might have
the
power to unite the universes--if it isn't destroyed first.
Rodda, Emily. The Charm Bracelet.
(Grades 1-4)
When Jessies searches for her ill grandmother's missing charm
bracelet, she is led into a magical world and finds she has a
reason and
right
to be there. Sequel: The Flower Fairies.(Grades
1-4)
Smith, Sherwood. Wren to the Rescue.
(Grades 6-10)
With the help of a prince and an apprentice wizard, Wren strives
to rescue her best friend, a princess named Tess, from the fortress
of
a wicked
king. Sequels: Wren’s Quest.
(Grades 4-8); Wren’s
War (Grades 4-8).
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. The Unseen.
(Grades 5-8)
Feeling angry and out-of-place in her large family, twelve-year-
old Xandra finds a magical key to a world of ghostly, sometimes
frightening,
phantoms
that help her see herself and her siblings more clearly.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit
Tolkien (a close friend of C.S. Lewis) wrote this classic story
of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his quest with twelve dwarves
to reclaim
their
treasure
from the dragon Smaug.
Wrede, Patricia. Dealing with Dragons
Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off
to live with a group of dragons but soon becomes involved
with
fighting
against
some disreputable
wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom.