One of the best activities that parents can have with their kids is reading. Doing so together provides quality family time, while also being educational and enriching the vocabulary of both parties. Today we list 5 epic books for kids, that you can read with your kids, or suggest that they read on their own.
Before we begin let us talk just a bit about what we consider to be epic books for kids. Instead of going for an academic approach and finding books that fit the literary definition of epic, we instead focused on the ordinary definition. Below we talk about books that we think have an epic story, worth immersing yourself into.
Here are 5 epic books for Kids:
1. “I am the Ice Worm”
By: MaryAnn Easley
Pages: 127
Best suited for: 5th graders and older
Goodreads score: 3.5 out of 5
This story centers around Allison Atwood. A 14 years old all american girl who ends up surviving a plane crash. As far as epic books for kids go, that’s a very pretty epic start. After the crash she ends up being rescued by an inupiat man, who shows her a completely new and different way of life.
This coming of age book shows in very colorful detail, how Allison goes from a spoiled little trouble maker into a more mature person. Seeing Allison change her entire view of the world, the book challenges our word view, at least it tries to do so for a younger audience. Allison sees some amazing development too, going from a total brat to a more mature person, with appreciation for life.
2. “The Light Princess”
By: George MacDonald
Pages: 110
Best suited for: 4 to 5th graders and older
Goodreads score: 4 out of 5
You can’t talk about epic books for kids, without including at least one fairytale. Our pick for a fairy tale is the Irish “Light Princess”. The summary of the story is simple, a princess is cursed to live her life weightless. The genius of MacDonald comes in full display as he crosses the literal and metaphorical by having the protagonist princess never be with her feet on the ground.
This fairy tale is fantastic not only as one of the many epic books for kids out there, but it serves to show you that no one is ever too old for fairy tales. Reading this together with your kids can be really fun, as the story never loses its sense of humor, making for a great, engaging and fun read through.
3. “New Kid”
By: Jerry Craft
Pages: 256
Best suited for: 4th graders and older
Goodreads score: 4.5 out of 5
Entry number three is definitely worthy of a list of epic books for kids. Not only that but, this graphic novel published in 2019 is set for greatness, and we can easily see it becoming one of the classics for the future generations. ‘New Kid’ treats some serious real life issues with the most kid-friendly tone possible. Be prepared for a lot of questions after you read this with your kids.
The story begins with Jordan Banks, the protagonist, signing into a private school. From the get go, the issues of classes are brought up front and you can’t miss it. Craft is able to critique and showcase some of the darkest aspects of our society, all while telling a neatly crafted story. Jerry Craft would go to win the Newbery Medal in 2020, with this very book.
4. “Where the Wild Things Are”
By: Maurice Sendak
Pages: 48
Best suited for: 2nd to 4th graders and older
Goodreads score: 4.2 out of 5
One of the shortest entries in our list, also happens to be one of the scariest. A quick glance of the reviews in goodread and you see a lot of people mentioning how scared they were from this book. Most of them also mention reading it alone.
Of course, our intention isn’t that, by any means. The story is so epic though, that we couldn’t help it but make a mention of this widely known and beloved masterpiece. We highly recommend reading this together.
The story for this one is very creative. Max, a young kid, gets locked in his room as punishment for his misbehavior. Only for him to find an entire forest of wild things inside his bedroom. The many interpretations of this work say that all of the story was inside Max’s head.
You know a story is epic when there are many interpretations for it. Due to the fact that the protagonist can be quite the brat, we suggest using such occurrences as bad examples, and finding the opportunity to discuss them with your kids.
5. “Anne of Green Gables”
By: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Pages: 261
Best suited for: 5th graders and older
Goodreads score: 4.2 out of 5
For the 5th and final book, we return to stories with female leads and talk about Anne of Green Gables. This novel, first published in 1908, an orphan girl who through a series of mistakes is sent to a family that wanted to adopt a boy.
We make sure to mention the year of publication, as we feel that there are some missed opportunities in the story. This isn’t a critique by any means, we just would have loved to see a challenge of the idea of male children being superior. The setting was truly perfect for such a thing… But then again, it was 1908 back then, we can’t really expect much more.
With a fantastic setting of a close-knit farming village, this epic tale is the tale of Anne. The author is able to put us in her shoes as she learns things about life, herself, the village, the two siblings that adopted her and so on. Similar to the first entry, but different enough for this book not to be your average coming of age story.
These were our 5 suggestions for epic books for kids. We hope that you found at least one of these books interesting. And to the avid book readers among you, we hope we succeeded in showing you at least one new title you can read.
In the meanwhile, if you are looking for other fun activities to do with your kids, we suggest you give this post a look!
