Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink: Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series will also enjoy Carol Ryrie Brink’s story about the Woodlawn family, pioneers living in Wisconsin in the 1860s. The book, based on the life of Brink’s grandmother, follows the adventures of Caddie and her siblings as they get into scrapes, make friends, and learn life lessons. As a tomboy and free spirit, Caddie struggles with learning to be a lady when all she wants to do is have adventures like her brothers.

Through the Wardrobe by Lina Maslo: This book acquaints a new generation with C.S. Lewis and the experiences that shaped his beloved Narnian world. Lewis’ childhood imagination—fueled by books and heroic characters—influenced how he handled loss, hardship, wartime horrors, and career highs and lows. Maslo helps readers see parallels between Lewis’ own journey and Narnia’s “battles between good and evil, where one learns things like courage and love and forgiveness” and where a person’s worst moments shape his future.

Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford: Poet Weatherford tells in a series of poems the true Job-like story of Henry Brown, a slave who shipped himself in a wooden box to freedom.

Watership Down by Richard Adams: Before becoming a full-time author, British war veteran and civil servant Richard Adams invented this tale of talking rabbits for his two daughters. In 1972, he published it in book form, soon selling more than a million copies and earning a Carnegie Medal. The story of rabbits seeking a new warren will appeal to tweens and teens, but even mature readers can appreciate the skillful storytelling. Winsome characters like Hazel, the leader, and his muscle, Bigwig, display a complex view of human personality and politics.

The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan: All year long a quaint blue cottage on the bay sits unoccupied until a little girl and her family arrive in the summertime, filling the house with the smells of pancakes, bacon, and sunscreen. Each year, the girl boats, fishes, flies kites, and shelters from summer storms inside the little cottage.

Monument Maker by Linda Booth Sweeney: This extended picture book profiles American sculptor Daniel Chester French and tells the story of the Lincoln Memorial’s construction. From the time he was a small boy, French loved observing and drawing the natural world and later showed an uncanny ability to carve and sculpt. When he was 20 in 1870, the city of Concord, Mass., commissioned him to create the Minute Man statue. His career ultimately would culminate with the beloved statue of a seated Lincoln.

Three Little Kittens by Barbara McClintock: McClintock updates a well-worn nursery rhyme, adding personality and humor. Three little kittens find mess and trouble as they lose, find, soil, and wash their mittens to appease their finger-pointing mother—and of course to eat some blueberry pie. Speech bubbles and interjections—as when the kittens all shout in unison, “Watch out pie, here we come!”—are interspersed with lines following the original tale’s formal language, adding humor and unique flavor.