Here are 65 books that The Wall in the Middle of the Book fans have personally recommended if you like
The Wall in the Middle of the Book.
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I always felt like books were mysterious and elusive works of art. When creating them occurred to me, I started to think, “What is a book, really, and what does it mean to publish one?” This over-analysis of books makes me appreciate authors who are able to step back and see books for what they really are–pages and ink. Distilling it down to that makes writing and publishing a book feel more accessible to me.
This innovative and wildly funny read-aloud will be the Must Have book of the season. You might think a book with no pictures seems boring and serious. Except...here's how books work. Everything written on the page has to be said by the person reading it aloud. Even if the words say...BLORK. Or BLUURF. Even if the words are a preposterous song about eating ants for breakfast, or just a list of astonishingly goofy sounds like BLAGGITY BLAGGITY and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY.
A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.
Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…
I read every single day without fail. So I have read a lot of books over the years. I am always so impressed with- and love- a good, twisty, surprise ending. From children’s books to middle grade to adult… surprise me at the end, and I’m in! (Extra points for making me cry a little bit!) If you, too, love a good twist at the end of a story, give these books a try!
First of all, I have always adored Sesame Street’s loveable, furry old Grover, so if he is the star of a book, I’m in! I still remember my mom reading this book to me over 50 years ago and feeling so proud that I was able to thwart Grover’s efforts to get me to NOT turn the pages. (Though, admittedly, that first time… I was totally nervous, like him, to get to the monster at the end!)
All subsequent readings, though, even when I dared to do it on my own, felt like an accomplishment, moving forward despite being afraid. And the end? Well, maybe we are not just who others think we are.
The Monster at the End of This Book is a classic, adored by toddlers and adults alike. This collectible kit includes a mini book version of The Monster at the End of this Book, featuring the full text and illustrations from the original classic story, and a plush Grover backpack clip. Journey with lovable, furry old Grover to the end of the book to discover who the monster really is!
Lovable, furry old Grover is distressed to learn that there's a monster at the end of this book! He begs readers not to turn the pages, but of course kids…
After high school, I traveled, exploring cultures beyond North America. I worked on kibbutzim in Israel for nearly two years. During the Yom Kippur War, exploding bombs drove us into underground shelters until the ceasefire. That experience made me consider the impact of war in new ways. Decades later, I wrote about the issue of "conflict" in my country: the Acadian deportation and World War Two. As a school librarian meeting Palestinian families in 2002, I decided to research and visit families in the West Bank through Christian Peacemaker Teams for my novel The Shepherd’s Granddaughter. A story children told me there inspired my picture book What the Kite Saw.
I immediately loved the structure of this nonfiction book. Each page poses an intriguing question that ignited my imagination, like the titular “What If Soldiers Fought With Pillows?” followed by a true life–interesting–story of legendary people from around the world who addressed the problem.
Each well-chosen question and answer inspired me to believe that changing the world is possible. I also admire how Camlot chooses a diverse range of terrific examples, from heroic (a WW Two fighter pilot) to funny (Clowns Without Borders) and artistic (Picasso) to video-gaming (1979 Revolution: Black Friday).
What if the impossible were actually possible? What if we turned our dreams into action? What if our imagination could help solve real-world crises, like war, famine, and human rights violations?
Through a series of seemingly whimsical questions, this middle-grade nonfiction book introduces readers to people and organizations that are subverting violence, war, and totalitarian power. What if soldiers refused to carry weapons? What if fighter pilots dropped seeds instead of bombs? What if music could be a creative force for democracy? None of these ideas are impossible―in fact, they are all true historical examples of ideas that have been…
Zeni lives in the Flint Hills of Southeast Kansas. This tale begins with her dream of befriending a miniature zebu calf coming true and follows Zeni as she works to befriend Zara. Enjoy full-color illustrations and a story filled with whimsy and plenty of opportunity for discussions around the perspectives…
I always felt like books were mysterious and elusive works of art. When creating them occurred to me, I started to think, “What is a book, really, and what does it mean to publish one?” This over-analysis of books makes me appreciate authors who are able to step back and see books for what they really are–pages and ink. Distilling it down to that makes writing and publishing a book feel more accessible to me.
I’m not usually big on celebrity authors, but this story made me feel like the author really didn’t enjoy reading when he was growing up.
It’s simple and silly and, ultimately, a great way to convince non-readers to get into reading. And hey, by the end of the book, you’ve realized you’ve read a book about not wanting to read a book…how neat is that?
I always felt like books were mysterious and elusive works of art. When creating them occurred to me, I started to think, “What is a book, really, and what does it mean to publish one?” This over-analysis of books makes me appreciate authors who are able to step back and see books for what they really are–pages and ink. Distilling it down to that makes writing and publishing a book feel more accessible to me.
This book made such a clever use of the “gutter” in the middle of the book.
I have an irrational fear of picture book gutters and margins after formatting my first self-published book and making sure all the important stuff (including the text) stays in the frame.
This book gave me the feeling of ownership over the gutter that I never knew I needed.
In this wonderfully inventive book, Bella is taking her dog for a stroll across the page but halfway across, he disappears! Unable to quite believe what's just happened Bella watches, transfixed, with changing emotions of surprise, indignation, moments of renewed hope (as the authorities arrive to take control) followed by shock (as they too succumb to the book's inexplicable behaviour) and finally action when Bella marches toward the dangerous middle of the book . . . only to disappear herself! At this point, the book has consumed its characters and it's down to the reader to step in to help.…
After high school, I traveled, exploring cultures beyond North America. I worked on kibbutzim in Israel for nearly two years. During the Yom Kippur War, exploding bombs drove us into underground shelters until the ceasefire. That experience made me consider the impact of war in new ways. Decades later, I wrote about the issue of "conflict" in my country: the Acadian deportation and World War Two. As a school librarian meeting Palestinian families in 2002, I decided to research and visit families in the West Bank through Christian Peacemaker Teams for my novel The Shepherd’s Granddaughter. A story children told me there inspired my picture book What the Kite Saw.
The Syrian refugee crisis is the largest in the world, with over 12 million displaced people. As an elementary school librarian in a diverse city, I would have loved to read this book to every class. I appreciated that the story wasn’t violent yet managed to show what the boy and his family had to escape. I think any aged child from any background could care about this Syrian boy as I did.
Told in first person, the boy misses and worries about the pigeons he raised as his family flees their town (bombed in the distance). I was struck by the illustrator’s palette choice—realistic but respectful of a child’s sensibilities. Dark smoke and flames engulf the town, but the brightly-coloured family survives.
In the refugee camp, the boy’s father plants a life-sustaining, vibrant green garden. In time, the boy feeds and cares for the birds again. When a traumatized…
A New York Times Notable Children's Books selection. The moving story of one boy's refugee experience in the Syrian Civil War and the birds who help him on the road to emotional healing
Behind Sami, the Syrian skyline is full of smoke. The boy follows his family and all his neighbours in a long line, as they trudge through the sands and hills to escape the bombs that have destroyed their homes. But all Sami can think of is his pet pigeons-will they escape too? When they reach a refugee camp and are safe at last, everyone settles into the…
An interdimensional mixer with angels and other beings brings unexpected trouble for Malachi and his friends in this smart and uniquely funny second book about the squad of teens from hell.
When an angel comes to his home to deliver a message, Malachi immediately knows what’s going on. The seraph…
After high school, I traveled, exploring cultures beyond North America. I worked on kibbutzim in Israel for nearly two years. During the Yom Kippur War, exploding bombs drove us into underground shelters until the ceasefire. That experience made me consider the impact of war in new ways. Decades later, I wrote about the issue of "conflict" in my country: the Acadian deportation and World War Two. As a school librarian meeting Palestinian families in 2002, I decided to research and visit families in the West Bank through Christian Peacemaker Teams for my novel The Shepherd’s Granddaughter. A story children told me there inspired my picture book What the Kite Saw.
This author-illustrator has a gift for creating a high-concept, wordless story that young children can follow and enjoy in bold, simple images. I love how Otoshi chooses physical play to show the development and resolution of "conflict" at a child’s level. Not so easy to do!
The story begins with two boys separately drawing lines. When they bump into each other, they don’t turn angry. They play together. What fun when the lines come to life and become one long rope!
Then, one boy gets tangled and falls, and the other laughs at him. Anger builds, and the rope magically morphs into a bad, ugly space between them that grows until one boy starts to colour on the space. The other joins him. They laugh at how messy they look before running down the wonderful road they just created.
Draw the Line is a powerful picture book about forgiveness from Kathryn Otoshi, author of the bestselling book One.
When two boys draw their own lines and realize they can connect them together-magic happens!
But a misstep causes their lines to get crossed.
Push! Pull! Tug! Yank! Soon their line unravels into an angry tug-of-war.
With a growing rift between them, will the boys ever find a way to come together again?
Acclaimed author/illustrator Kathryn Otoshi uses black and white illustrations with thoughtful splashes of color to create a powerful, multi-layered statement about friendship, boundaries, and healing after conflict.
After high school, I traveled, exploring cultures beyond North America. I worked on kibbutzim in Israel for nearly two years. During the Yom Kippur War, exploding bombs drove us into underground shelters until the ceasefire. That experience made me consider the impact of war in new ways. Decades later, I wrote about the issue of "conflict" in my country: the Acadian deportation and World War Two. As a school librarian meeting Palestinian families in 2002, I decided to research and visit families in the West Bank through Christian Peacemaker Teams for my novel The Shepherd’s Granddaughter. A story children told me there inspired my picture book What the Kite Saw.
This book is written for 10+ readers and is about two soldiers holding guns.
I enjoyed the obvious visual absurdity of two adults hiding in deep holes on opposing pages. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious they’ve been taught by a manual to believe that the other side is a monster, an enemy to be killed. Near the end, when both soldiers are fed up with the whole situation, they venture out of their holes only to discover that the other man is a human being with a family and home just like them! The other man was also taught by a manual to believe a story about someone they’d never met.
In the funny and eminently sensible ending, each of them throws a bottle containing a message into the other’s hole: "Let’s end this war."
In this moving picture book, award-winning collaborators Davide Cali and Serge Bloch present a fable for our time about two lonely soldiers facing each other across a barren battlefield. What each discovers, as the story unfolds, is that the enemy is not a faceless beast, but rather a real person with family, friends, and dreams.
I confess I was a serious little boy and used to be an excessively serious writer. Stoning the Devil, which is about desperate Gulf Arab women, was longlisted for major prizes and hailed by the feminist press. Poignant, even heart-breaking, but hardly a barrel full of laughs—though even then I couldn’t resist some black humour. But when I became a professor of Creative Writing at an American university, I found I’d fallen into a world madder than Wonderland, and realised that the best way to tackle woke insanity was through humour—as the great comedians are doing. Nearly all the best British fiction is humorous, so I started letting out my own zany side.
Is it a coincidence that the first great novel of Western civilisation is a satire? I think not. It began as a parody of the chivalric romances—of their disconnect from reality, their sentimentality, and dishonesty. I needn’t summarise the plot, since everyone knows the story, though usually from films, unfortunately. As with all the great satires, what appears to be a playful romp ends up being an investigation into what it means to be human—the purpose of our lives, and what makes them worthwhile. Initially, Cervantes wants us to laugh at the ridiculous old country gentleman who longs to revive chivalry, but he finds that Quixote makes his life meaningful by creating his quest. He becomes a hero—as does my protagonist. And as we all can.
'he thought it expedient and necessary that he should commence knight-errant, and wander through the world, with his horse and arms, in quest of adventures'
Don Quixote, first published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, is one of the world's greatest comic novels. Inspired by tales of chivalry, Don Quixote of La Mancha embarks on a series of adventures with his faithful servant Sancho Panza by his side. The novel has acquired mythic status and its influence on modern fiction is profound.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of…
A hidden curse. A thoughtful daredevil. Is this youngster’s accidental plunge into the fantastical about to unlock a wonderful surprise?
Amy is eager for excitement. On the brink of turning twelve and discovering if she’s inherited her late dad’s magic, the hard-working girl can barely wait to take a trip…
My faith is a driving force in my life. Writing and dragons are my passions after my family. When not writing I mentor young people in their own writing. I’ve taken several writing courses and continue to study and work on honing my craft. Dragons serve as messengers of God in my books. I studied dragon lore and found the dragons an excellent vehicle for sharing God’s message. The dragons play a sentient, teaching, guiding role in the books they are featured in. That doesn’t mean there aren’t bad dragons to challenge the characters and the good dragons.
The first thing that drew me to Davis’s books was that teen/dragons were the main characters. Throughout the series these teenagers with dragon abilities face many crises in faith as they battle the forces of evil. Another interesting twist is Davis used the story and characters from the King Arthur story. These characters help and hinder the teen in their efforts to save their dragon world and fight evil. The reader watches with bated breath as Billy and Bonnie fight to preserve a secret legacy and discover their place in God’s world of dragons.
“Bryan Davis writes with the scope of Tolkien, the focus of Lewis, the grandeur of Verne, and most of all the heart of Christ.” ―Jeremiah F., reader
A boy with fiery breath . . . a girl with dragon wings . . .
Outcasts Billy and Bonnie must come together to preserve a secret legacy more than a millennium in the making. They find their lives turned upside down when they are thrust into a war against evil, a war they didn’t even know was being waged. Their newly formed friendship is tested and shaped as they are forced to…
