6 Fantastic Kids Books by Authors Who Usually Write for Adults
by Tom Burns
While “children’s book authors” and “adult book authors” are normally separated by both their subject matter and their placement on bookstore shelves, there are authors who have bridged that gap and released books that fall decidedly outside of their usual wheelhouse. Case in point, here are six excellent children’s books — written for kids of various ages — that all come from authors best known for their more adult offerings.
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Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Available from:It might sound odd to read your child a fairy tale written by the author of The Satanic Verses, but Haroun is just too beautiful not to share with your young reader. This surprisingly funny literary fable — one part Phantom Tollbooth, one part Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — sends its protagonist on a surreal adventure in which he travels to a mythical ocean, made up of pure inspiration, that is the source of every story ever told. It’s lyrical, magical fun.
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Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer
Available from:Kid detectives are a dime a dozen. You know what’s much more rare? A kid lawyer. And who better to bring to life a little litigator than arguably the most successful author of legal thrillers of all time? Grisham brings the spark he brought to The Firm to this middle school mystery about a 13-year-old aspiring lawyer who finds himself caught up in a high-stakes murder trial.
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Who’s Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper?
Beloved author Toni Morrison created several picture books for children with her late son Slade and acclaimed artist Pascal Lemaitre, but Who’s Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper? is one of their best. The poetic tale brings a fresh new perspective to the classic fable of the hard-working ant and the “lazy” grasshopper, transforming the grasshopper into a far more complex and sympathetic character than Aesop ever imagined.
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The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case
Available from:This charming whodunit, perfect for elementary school readers, acts as a prequel of sorts to Smith’s vastly popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. We meet young Precious Ramotswe — eventual proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency — during her school days in Botswana as she tries to solve the mystery of who stole a piece of cake from her school classroom. Kids will love Smith’s captivating characters (not to mention Ian McIntosh’s engagingly ingenious illustrations).
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The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: A Pop-Up Book
The idea of handing your child a Stephen King book might sound like a recipe for a long month full of night terrors, but this pop-up book — yes, that’s right, POP-UP BOOK — version of King’s 1999 novella is an ingeniously designed, creepy classic. A 9-year-old baseball fan finds herself lost in the woods, struggling with exposure, exhaustion, and fear, and imagines that she’s accompanied through her travails by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon. The original novella might be too scary for kids, but older children looking for thrills will love this hard-to-find pop-up gem.
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Up in the Tree
The author of The Handmaid’s Tale shows her softer side in this impish picture book from 1978 that she not only wrote, but also illustrated and hand-lettered. Two children decide that they’d be happier living in a tree, but after beavers eat their ladder, they get curious about what they’re missing back down on the ground.
