It’s that time of year when parents, friends, and neighbors turn to YOU for advice: What are the best middle grade books you recommend for gifts? And while you DO know a lot, you don’t have time to write lists for everyone.
Got you covered, boo. Just send ’em here and you’re golden. And you can go back to your holiday merrymaking. (Feel free to send any cookies my way. I love oatmeal raisin…)
(Also, as an Amazon Associate I earn a few pennies from any purchases you make on the links below. Pennies are small. But they’re also really pretty and shiny. Plus they help me keep this website going.)
Best Middle Grade Books: Classics
It’s hard to go wrong with the classics. And boy are there some stunners.
Minalima
This designing duo makes interactive versions of some of the best-loved tales.
After designing the graphics for the Harry Potter movies, they published their version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Holy toledo. You have to get your mitts on this.
These are VERY well made books. I bought both Harry Potter and Beauty and the Beast. I’m so glad I did.
What makes these books special? The design. Inside of the gold-foiled hardcovers are interactive, fold-out elements. Even beyond that, each page is a literal work of art.
Other books to collect in this series are
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
- Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie)
- The Adventures of Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi)
- The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
- The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson)
- The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling)
Classic (and non-classic) POP Up Books by Robert Sabuda
As kids, we all loved Pop Up books. Well, hold on to your large-knit hat, because Robert Sabuda has reinvented them.
Not only is the engineering impressive, each page hosts multiple smaller pages, which have their own multiple pop-ups. It’s enough to make you dizzy.
Others books in this Robert Sabuda classics series are:
Plus — pop up books attract both readers and reluctant readers. The Prehistorica book below is the most well-thumbed book in my classroom library. Got a dinosaur fan? Get them this.
Best Middle Grade Books: Classics Box Sets
Having a swanky set of beautiful books is exciting to anyone, and kids are no exception. It give them choice and a sense of possibility!
Here are two lovely lookers:
The Puffin Sets
The Puffin Classics contains A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, Huckleberry Finn, The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, and Peter Pan.
With the Puffin in Bloom collection your kids will enjoy Little Woman, Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, and Heidi.
You can also buy all the books in these sets individually.
Other Middle Grade Books That Are the Bomb!
Of course, classics are a fraction of the best middle grade books available to kids! Below, I’ve complied books that upper elementary kids (and their adults) LOVE.
Some you may know well. Others will be new to you. All of them? Unputdownable.
Click below and soon you’ll have a long list of books to get your special little someone.
You’re about to make your little reader awfully happy!
Now It’s Your Turn!
Tell us in the comments below:
- Which books did we miss that you think would make terrific gifts?
- OR … Which of these books do you plan to buy for your special little person? (or for you!)
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