The books in this category are for children who are reading independently with confidence. You'll find some longer chapter books here, but novels form the bulk of the lists. Themes such as friendship, loyalty, separation and good vs. evil begin to emerge in these books --- many of which make great family read-alouds. From adventure to fantasy to humor, there's something here for a range of interests and abilities.

See if you agree with our selections. See if you don't. Share your opinions with us at: talkback@kidsreads.com. Your very own favorites may just end up on future versions of this list.

NEW FAVES

A Kids Reads new fave is a recently published book that has already proved a hit with kids, parents and booksellers. These books have the potential to become classics.

1. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE 
by J.K. Rowling
Scholastic, 1998
ISBN: 059035342X

Here it is, the book that started a worldwide phenomenon. Meet Harry Potter, an 11-year-old boy who learns that he has a magical heritage and, soon after, begins studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mystery, adventure, suspense, humor, and fantasy all rolled into one, this is a reading roller coaster that is likely to stand the test of time.

2. BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE 
by Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick, 2001
ISBN: 0763607762

Ten-year-old Opal faces lots of new changes the summer she moves to a new town with her preacher father. But something wonderful happens when she walks to the nearby Winn-Dixie supermarket. Opal comes home with more than groceries --- she comes home with a stray dog, a pup she names Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie helps Opal make all sorts of new friends in her new neighborhood. This special dog also helps the preacher open up and talk to Opal about her absent mother. This warm novel will touch your heart.

3. THE CHAMELEON WORE CHARTREUSE (Chet Gecko Mysteries) 
by Bruce Hale
Harcourt, 2000, Paperback 2001
ISBN: 0152024859

Chet Gecko, a fourth-grade private eye who also happens to be a lizard, narrates this first of several very funny whodunits.

4. THE CASE OF THE RAGING ROTTWEILER (Hank the Cowdog #36) 
by John R. Erickson
Puffin, 2000
ISBN: 0141306688

Erickson's beloved character --- Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security --- is still going strong in this latest humorous mystery.

5. THE GREAT GOOD THING 
by Roderick Townley
Atheneum, 2001
ISBN: 0689843240

Roderick delivers stories within a story in this clever twist on the fairy tale structure. Sophie is a spunky princess character in a storybook called The Great Good Thing. She longs to have adventures outside of her same old boring storyline (which she and her fellow "fictional" characters re-enact everytime a Reader opens their book). Sophie finally meets one of the human Readers and finds away to experience new things --- both exciting and dangerous --- via the Reader's dreams and memories.

6. THE DOLL PEOPLE 
by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin
Hyperion, 2000
ISBN: 0786803614

The Doll family --- a group of hand-crafted porcelain dolls --- have been living in the same doll house for 100 years, passed down through four generations of girls in one family. But everything changes when the Funcraft family --- shiny new plastic dolls --- moves into the doll house. Will the Dolls and the Funcrafts ever get along? Will Annabelle Doll finally have the adventures she's been dreaming of?

7. I, HOUDINI 
by Lynne Reid Banks
Avon Paperback, 1991
ISBN: 0380706490

Houdini, a hamster, has mastered the art of escape --- just like his namesake. Houdini describes how he's escaped from various cages, a refrigerator, and a dog's mouth (!) among other places.

8. LINNEA IN MONET'S GARDEN 
by Christina Bjork
illustrated by Lena Anderson
Farrar, Straus & Giroux/R & S Books, 1987
ISBN: 9129583144

Linnea wants to know more about Monet's waterlilies and finds herself exploring the gardens that inspired this great artist. Along the way she learns more about the artist and his art, too. Photographs and reproductions of Monet's work allow readers to enjoy the fact-finding as well.

9. MEET KIT An American Girl: 1934 
by Valerie Tripp
Pleasant Company, 2000
ISBN: 1584850167

Nine-year-old Kit Kittredge lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she chronicles how her family and her community are affected by the Great Depression. Kit is the newest American Girl in this very popular series.

10. FRINDLE
by Andrew Clements
illustrated by Brian Selznick
Simon & Schuster, 1996
ISBN: 0689818769

During his fifth grade English class, Nick challenges his teacher by inventing a new word for pen: "frindle."

11. SAVING SHILOH
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Atheneum, 1997
ISBN: 0689814607

After you read SHILOH or rent the Warner home video version, consider reading Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s crisp, energetic sequel which follows the dog Shiloh and his master through their next heart-pounding adventures.

12. POPPY
by Avi
Orchard, 1995, Paperback, 1997
ISBN: 0380727692

Ocax, the owl and ruler of Dimwood Forest promises to protect the mice in his realm. But when Poppy, a timid dormouse, sees him gobble up her fiancé, she vows to prove the wicked owl a phony --- even in the face of life-threatening danger.

13. I'M OUT OF MY BODY...PLEASE LEAVE ME A MESSAGE(The Zack Files Series)
by Dan Greenburg
Grosset & Dunlap, 1997
ISBN: 0448413396

Before he created THE ZACK FILES, humorist Dan Greenburg was better known for tickling grown-up funny bones. One look at these brief, tongue-in-cheek tales of the paranormal will tell you he's more than capable of entertaining kids as well.

14. THE INVASION: ANIMORPHS #1
by K.A. Applegate
Scholastic, 1996
ISBN: 0590629778

What child hasn't dreamed of suddenly transforming their human bodies into animal form? Author K.A. Applegate can tell you --- the sentiment is universal. She's wisely used that premise to create this great, suspense series for kids.

15. LIVES OF THE MUSICIANS: Good Times, Bad Times (And What The Neighbors Thought)
by Kathleen Krull
Harcourt Brace, 1993
ISBN: 0152480102

Profiles full of fun facts and dazzling, slightly caricatured paintings give kids a glimpse into the lives of famous musicians and composers. Companion volumes LIVES OF THE ARTISTS, LIVES OF THE WRITERS and LIVES OF THE ATHLETES are also available.

16. MEAN MARGARET
by Tor Seidler
illustrated by Jon Agee
HarperCollins, 1997
ISBN: 0062050907

A woodchuck couple temporarily adopts an incorrigible human toddler who challenges them at every turn. Sprightly text and drawings make this a lively woodland adventure.

17. LOVE FROM YOUR FRIEND, HANNAH
by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky
DK Ink, 1998
ISBN: 0789424924

A young girl paints a poignant and colorful portrait of life with her family during the Depression. In a series of notes and letters, she describes the goings-on in her town and at the roadside diner run by her parents.

18. THE MOORCHILD
by Eloise McGraw
S&S, 1996; Aladdin Paperback, 1998
ISBN: 068982033X

In this fantasy which was a Newbery Honor book, a half-fairy, half-human moorchild learns more about where she came from.

19. SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL
by Louis Sachar
Avon, 1989; 1998
ISBN: 0380731487

At the wacky Wayside School, all 30 classrooms are piled one on top of the other, instead of side by side, like a regular school building. Imagine how goofy the stories about the students must be.

20. A DOG CALLED KITTY
by Bill Wallace
Holiday House, 1988; Minstrel 1992
ISBN: 0671770810

Ricky, who has always been terrified of dogs, finds himself bonding with an abandoned puppy.

21. THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13
by Eva Ibbotson
Dutton, 1998, Puffin Paperback, 2000
ISBN: 0141302860

Move over Hogwarts Express. Here's another fantasy adventure that begins at a certain train station. Under Platform Thirteen at London's King's Cross Railway Station there's an old door that leads to a magical island that is home to mermaids, ogres and wizards. When the prince of the island is kidnapped by a bitter, greedy Londoner, it's up to an unusual rescue group (a wizar, an ogre and a hag) to save him. But will they blend in with the London scene?

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