Here are 100 books that Julia and the Shark fans have personally recommended if you like
Julia and the Shark.
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I have been fascinated by the richness of fairy tales since I was a child. The fantasy writing offers endless possibilities to nourish my mind’s eye and pearls of wisdom that I can transfer to real life. I remember from childhood that I cried reading the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. This childhood memory never left me. Fantasy writing is interwoven with the realm of nature and beings other than humans that offer a tapestry for the tradition of storytelling and nature writing, which I found a fascinating field to explore. I hope you can find the same in the books on this list.
I love Jackie Morris’s introduction about the author of this book's life story. I found it inspiring and heartwarming to learn that it was written by a twelve-year-old girl’s prodigy child.
I understood how the girl's genius captures the natural world's mystery, fantasy, and wonder and expresses it with crystalline words.
'An enchanting book. These pages simply quiver with the beauty, happiness and vigour of forests, seas and mountains . . . I can safely promise joy to any reader of it. Perfection' Eleanor Farjeon, Winner of the Carnegie Medal and The Hans Christian Andersen Award
Discover this extraordinary lost classic of nature writing - a fable about wildness and the desire to escape - beautifully illustrated by beloved artist and The Lost Words creator Jackie Morris
'Miraculous - a fearless odyssey into a dreamtime of wildness and enchantment. Gloriously illuminated by Jackie Morris's moving art, this is a work of…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
I have been fascinated by the richness of fairy tales since I was a child. The fantasy writing offers endless possibilities to nourish my mind’s eye and pearls of wisdom that I can transfer to real life. I remember from childhood that I cried reading the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. This childhood memory never left me. Fantasy writing is interwoven with the realm of nature and beings other than humans that offer a tapestry for the tradition of storytelling and nature writing, which I found a fascinating field to explore. I hope you can find the same in the books on this list.
This book is a classic story that transported me to a realm where fairies come alive—I felt I could be there dancing with them, too.
I love the story's initial opening with the magical expression, “Once upon a time.” It’s like opening a gateway to my mind’s eye, imagining life in that country that was very close to Fairy Land, guided by the exquisite illustrations in the book.
I like also very much the simplicity of the names of the characters, like for example, “Princess Niente (Princess Nobody) and of the structure of the story divided into three chapters.
The end is sweet: “Journeys end in lovers meeting, and so do stories.” And offered me a pearl with the quote of Apuleius and the poem.
I have been fascinated by the richness of fairy tales since I was a child. The fantasy writing offers endless possibilities to nourish my mind’s eye and pearls of wisdom that I can transfer to real life. I remember from childhood that I cried reading the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. This childhood memory never left me. Fantasy writing is interwoven with the realm of nature and beings other than humans that offer a tapestry for the tradition of storytelling and nature writing, which I found a fascinating field to explore. I hope you can find the same in the books on this list.
The introduction of this book struck a chord with me because it describes in such detail the trials and tribulations of the traveler children’s way of life between the historical period of 1914 to 1955.
It was a time of poverty and suffering for the youngest born from families of an outcast minority community, considered the oldest indigenous group of the population in Scotland.
I understood that the oral tradition of storytelling to the traveler children was like a precious inheritance the children would receive from their parents.
The book offers diverse stories, including animal fables, wonder, and horror tales handed down through generations of traveling people.
I also love the cover illustration with the painting “Harvest Moon” by John Maxwell.
Duncan Williamson was a Scottish traveller who went on to become one of Britain's master story-tellers. During his lifetime he was acclaimed 'the greatest English-speaking storyteller', 'the national monument of British storytelling' and, at his death, Scotland's 'greatest contemporary storyteller'. Fireside Tales, his first book, reveals this artistry and mastery in all its glory. This new edition is edited by his wife, Linda Williamson.
Fireside Tales is narrated with an intense commitment to generations of the travelling people, who used animal fables, wonder tales and splendid horror stories to instil in their children moral judgment and a knowledge of right…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
I have been fascinated by the richness of fairy tales since I was a child. The fantasy writing offers endless possibilities to nourish my mind’s eye and pearls of wisdom that I can transfer to real life. I remember from childhood that I cried reading the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. This childhood memory never left me. Fantasy writing is interwoven with the realm of nature and beings other than humans that offer a tapestry for the tradition of storytelling and nature writing, which I found a fascinating field to explore. I hope you can find the same in the books on this list.
I love how the wonderful illustration of the tree with three children on the book's cover evoked my imagination to read this story. This feeling was reinforced when I opened the book and read the quotation on the first page: “So much world all at once” by Wislawa Syzmborska.
It is, indeed, a fascinating story that immersed me in a rich plot and introduced me to a diversity of characters who gained life in the little town of Blackbird Tree.
In this story, I could see the mastery of creating a tapestry, with the written words as the threads that bring together different worlds, feelings, and emotions, like love, friendship, and forgiveness.
In the little town of Blackbird Tree a series of curious events unfold when Naomi and Lizzie, two spirited orphan girls, meet the strangely charming new boy, Finn. Three locked trunks, the mysterious Dingle Dangle man, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy change their lives for ever. As the story alternates between their small town and across-the-ocean Ireland, two worlds are woven together, revealing that hearts can be mended and that there is indeed a gossamer thread that connects us all.
'One of those stories that stays with you long after you have finished reading.' Booksellers'…
Sometimes, the setting of a novel can stay with you long after the details of the plot and characters have faded. My debut novel, The Lindens, was inspired by my grandmother’s home in the Wiltshire countryside where I grew up. As much as the house itself, I wanted to bring to life the land and nature around it: the garden and the orchard, the meadows and the woods, the plants and the birds and the changing seasons. I hope it’s a home that readers feel they can inhabit – just like the ones on this list.
I was tempted to pick the ever-welcoming Moominhouseas my final choice – Mooninvalley is a place I return to often – but in the end, I’ve gone for one of Tove Jansson’s real-world stories.
Based on her own family’s summer house, The Summer Book is set on an islet in the Gulf of Finland, and centres around the relationship between a six-year-old girl, Sophia, and her grandmother. Almost nothing happens – but the island is a world in itself, alive with so many tiny details.
Like Jansson’s Moomin stories, it’s a book you can keep coming back to and find new depths and wisdom each time.
In The Summer Book Tove Jansson distills the essence of the summer—its sunlight and storms—into twenty-two crystalline vignettes. This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a six-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia’s grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland. The grandmother is unsentimental and wise, if a little cranky; Sophia is impetuous and volatile, but she tends to her grandmother with the care of a new parent. Together they amble over coastline and forest in easy companionship, build boats from bark, create a miniature…
Many people are intimidated by poetry. For a big part of my life, I was too. So much of the poetry I had been exposed to was either indecipherable or irrelevant to me. Then I discovered some poems that I loved—accessible poems about subjects I related to. I started collecting poetry books, by both adult and children’s poets. Eventually, I was inspired to write poetry of my own. Today, I’m a poetry advocate, recommending my favorites to anyone who shows interest. The satisfaction I get from poetry boils down to this: When I read a good poem, I think to myself, “Wow, I didn’t know words could do that.”
I love wordplay, and Douglas Florian is a master. His poems are short, fun, and well-crafted. He also illustrates his books, in a style that is sketchy, childlike, and textural. When I need a bit of lighthearted inspiration for my own poetry, Florian always delivers. He has written dozens of books, but his book about summer called Summersaults captures the essence of his style. Here’s a delicious sample:
"A Summery"
June: We seeded.
July: We weeded.
August: We eated.
What do you like about summer?Mountain hikes? Picking cherries? Curve balls? Ice cream cones?
What do you not like about summer?Blackouts? Bee swarms? Thunderstorms? Ninety degrees?
However you answered, Douglas Florian will convince you that summer is great. His poems and pictures add up to the best vacation imaginable -- and it is one you can have at any time of the year. A companion volume to the highly praised Winter Eyes,Summersaults proves that Douglas Florian is a poet for all seasons.
Friendship among three kids can be fraught, as any former kid (or current parent) knows. There’s always a chance that one member will be sidelined, and that often changes on a whim. But triangles can also be remarkably sturdy in spite or even because of the personality mix and occasional conflicts. I’ve been a member of several friendship trios, successful and not, so I’ve experienced both sides (all three sides?) of the issue. My books often feature triangular friendships because they naturally give rise to complex, personality-driven bickering, which is one of my favorite things to write.
This book had me with the title alone. Who hasn’t spent a boring school break looking for something – anything – mysterious to investigate? Paul and his two best friends live in a small town in which nothing interesting happens…until hundreds of rubber duckies appear in a nearby yard one morning. Together, Paul (the hilariously observant narrator), Shanks (tiny but tough), and Peephole (whose many fears include the sound of other people’s sneezes) figure out how all those ducks ended up on Mr. Babbage’s lawn. The friendship here is comfortable and worn in, based on fond tolerance of one another’s quirks – as the best friendships usually are.
The best mysteries can only be solved with your best friends. The perfect summer read for fans of Stuart Gibbs.
Paul Marconi has always thought that Bellwood was a strange town, but also a boring one. Not much for an eleven-year-old to do. Fires are burning nearby, Paul's parents are obsessed with winning a bratwurst contest, and his best friend, one of the founding members of their only-child detective club, the One and Onlys, is about to acquire a younger sister, sort of undoing their whole reason for existing. But then! Hundreds of rubber duckies have appeared on the lawn…
As a romance and rom-com writer, summer love stories are my favorite to read. We change during the summer months—our schedules are less rigorous, we get out and see the world, we can be a little reckless with our decisions because everything feels temporary, and we show the world a more relaxed side of ourselves. In cuffing season, we attach ourselves to another person to get through the cold months with a warm body by our side. Meanwhile, in summertime, we don’t feel burdened to get through it with another person. But the night swimming and salt air romance allows surprising love stories to ignite.
I’m a sucker for YA and love triangles, and the love triangle between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah is one for the ages!
Watching Belly come alive in Cousins is such a delight, and from the moment both boys see Belly emerge from the car that summer, I couldn’t put the book down. Belly’s crush on Conrad delivers such good teenage pining.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is now a major new TV series on Amazon Prime!
From the author of Netflix's smash-hit movie To All The Boys I've Loved Before, this is the perfect funny summer romance for fans of The Kissing Booth and Holly Bourne.
One girl. Two boys. And the summer that changed everything . . .
Every year Isabel spends a perfect summer at her favourite place in the world - the Fisher family's beach house. It has everything a girl could want: a swimming pool, a private stretch of sandy beach... and two (very cute) boys:
As a bestselling and award-winning KidLit author of more than 100 books, I’ve been blessed to specialize in writing for kids about the amazing and inspiring legacy of African Americans. From an alphabet book for even the youngest readers to biographies with hands-on activities for middle graders and up, both nonfiction and fiction as well, these stories are my passion because many of these individuals are my personal heroes as well. I want kids to love and honor these men and women who have made a difference in our world as much as I do!
I’m a big fan of the art of E. B. Lewis, especially his award-winning picture books. (He illustrated my book.) This book is one of my favorites that he’s illustrated. It’s a story about growing up. And friendship. And how kids know what’s right and wrong even if we as adults get it muddled at times.
Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature
Clover's mom says it isn't safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups' rules by sitting on top of the fence together.
With the addition of a brand-new author's note, this special edition celebrates the tenth anniversary of this classic book. As always, Woodson moves readers with her lyrical narrative, and E. B. Lewis's amazing talent shines in his gorgeous watercolor illustrations.
I’m a novelist who was first a reader. For me, books are windows, showing the world through lenses I haven’t experienced before. In difficult moments, they’ve been lifelines, proof that I’m not alone and happy endings (at least happier) are possible. What “feels good” in a book is a quality unique to each reader. Below are stories about imperfect characters who not only survive their pasts but succeed—in unwinding from the wounds, changing aspects of themselves that no longer fit who they choose to be now, and ultimately creating happier lives. That kind of success feels great to me. I hope it might for you, too.
Malibu Rising was the first book I read by Taylor Jenkins Reid. As soon as I finished, I read three more of her novels. All of them made me feel great. Hers are stories you can lose yourself in and come out feeling refreshed and optimistic.
Malibu Rising centers around the adult Riva siblings, children whose parents stopped parenting long before the kids were equipped to care for themselves. Particularly impacted is Nina, the oldest, who has spent her life making choices that prioritize the well-being of everyone except herself.
This is a book about dealing with old wounds, the kind that hide under the surface of successful lives. It’s a story that takes us on multiple journeys of self-discovery and healing. For me, a book doesn’t get more “feel good” than that.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From the author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . . .
“Irresistible . . . High drama at the beach, starring four sexy, surfing siblings and their deadbeat, famous-crooner dad.”—People
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Time, Marie Claire, PopSugar, Parade, Teen Vogue, Self, She Reads
Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours,…
