67 Books Like The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

I cannot stop loving this book, which graphically depicts a city growing up around a small farm country cottage. While the storyline concerns the fate of the tiny house, the thrill is watching the steady mushrooming growth of vehicles, electric lines, street cars, street lamps, apartment buildings, elevated and subway trains, and finally skyscrapers as they surround the home before it is able to make its satisfying escape back to the country. The art is warm and cozy, befitting a book that has a gutsy cottage as the main character.

We as a nation and society are on the road to truth and reconciliation. Critical to that journey are stories such as I Am Not a Number. The book tells the heartbreaking story of Irene, the author’s grandmother, and her brothers who were taken away from their home on Nipissing First Nation to live at a residential school, very far from home. At the school, names are not used. All students are known by numbers. This story will inspire important conversations that will help younger generations understand the horrors so many indigenous children endured in the residential schools. It is a dark part of our history, kept secret by past generations, that is only now coming to light through these powerful stories.

For many who have lived through war and conflict, traumatic memories are often kept buried to bury the painful memories. In Fania’s Heart, there are secrets of the tattooed number on Sorale’s mother’s arm. And there are secrets of why her mother had no sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents. This book tells the true story of the crafting of a wonderful gift, created against all odds, within the confines of a prison camp. Curiosity about this secretive gift will spark conversations that are difficult, but necessary to remind younger generations of the courage it takes to survive atrocities.

There is no greater joy than when a new baby comes into our world. We Sang You Home is a simple yet profound little book that depicts the poignant connection between a child and their parents, even before the child is born. The story also beautifully illustrates how love helps us grow and makes us all better. This is an important book that will spark sweet, gentle dialogue between parents and their child, to reinforce that every child is precious, wanted, welcomed, and loved.

If you’re a fan of reimagined classic fairy tales, you’ll love C. J. Redwine’s Robin Hood-esque take on Snow White (with dragons!)

Unlike the classic Princess Snow White of old, Princess Lorelai is no simpering miss. She’s a powerful magic-wielder with a cause. As Lorelai learns to control and develop her magic, friends (and dragon-shifters!) join the quest to rid her kingdom—and the young shifter king she loves—from its menace: her wicked aunt, who used magic to take over the land.

With some imagery loosely borrowed—and creatively adjusted!—from the classic Snow White story, this new tale features a fresh heroine who doesn’t expect anyone to rescue her kingdom for her. The Shadow Queen is a romantic and epically-reimagined fairy tale with beautiful themes of sacrificial love.

The older, wiser, and less magical Tamborel must protect Caidy. Her family and village suffer from, and do all they can to stop her from growing into her powers. Through hard work and sacrifice, Tamborel lifts Caidy out of darkness and defeats depression.

The science of music and sound play on my emotions throughout the story.

People with ADHD and Autism are similarly misunderstood. They can be hindered by neuro-typical people to “limit the damage” they may “inflict” on “normal” society. Caidy stirred my sympathy for these people. Knowledge and seeking are the basis of science, not the having of right answers. Tamborel uses his love to seek the knowledge that will set Caidy free.

Seems to be out of print. Any good second-hand store will have it.

The second of LeGuin’s Earthsea books is a story made of fantasy, adventure, horror, mystery, and myth. 

Tenar, the high priestess must choose between her lifelong training and her unexpected compassion for a thief named Ged, who she must execute in the Tombs of Atuan. Tenar leads Ged through darkness and terror to a place where she decides who she will become.

LeGuin’s prose is direct, evocative, and compelling. Read out loud, the story is spellbinding. It stays with me even though it’s years since my first reading. Each time I return to the fantastic yet entirely believable world she created, the characters I meet reveal some fresh insight into what it is to be human.

I reread Fire regularly because I love the heroine, Fire, and her conundrum: how can she love herself when her beauty is so destructive, when it inspires such terrible behavior in the people around her? We think of beauty as an asset, sure that we would be happier, more confident, more liked if we were more beautiful, and Cashore explores the limits of beauty in this novel. She also digs deep into a very problematic father/daughter relationship as Fire deals with the lessons her father, Cansrel, taught her about how to use her beauty for power, and decides to forge her own path. Like so many of these hard family relationships, Fire must reconcile her love for her father and her hatred of what he’s become. 

The Keys to the Kingdom is another oft-overlooked series, which I recommend to anyone I can.

I’ve yet to meet anyone else who’s read it. This is the series that made me fall in love with magic systems and worldbuilding. I’ve always enjoyed fantasy more than other genres—something about magic existing in the grass and little monsters hiding behind the trees just made sense to me—but it wasn’t until reading this series that I realized a fantasy world can be more than just a setting.

Magic and the way the world functions can be characters in and of themselves. Whenever I need inspiration for building an intricate, interactive world, I reread this series.