10 Fantasy Literature Books to Introduce Children to Reading

A common concern among adults is how to introduce children to reading, especially with the increasing presence of AI and technology in daily life. The truth is, children can develop a love of reading if they are introduced to good stories.

Here are ten fantasy books to introduce children to reading.

1. Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (2021)

Men in Black meets Harry Potter.

Amari Peters is a kid from the Atlanta projects who believes her missing brother is still alive. Her search leads her to a tryout at the secret Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. There, she discovers a world of yetis, wizards, and alien technology—and realizes her own magic is deemed illegal and dangerous.

2. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (2023)

Narnia for a new generation, with a fierce ecological heart.

Christopher is visiting his grandfather in Scotland when he rescues a griffin and stumbles into the Archipelago—a hidden cluster of magical islands where all the mythical creatures of human legend still survive. Alongside a local girl named Mal, he must find out why the magic powering this sanctuary is suddenly fadi

3. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (2016)

A poetic, whimsical fairy tale about family and sorrow.

A kindly witch named Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the infant with potent, unstable magic. Xan raises the girl, Luna, alongside a swamp monster and a tiny dragon. But as Luna turns thirteen, her dormant magic begins to emerge—just as a man from the nearby sad city sets out to kill the witch.

4. Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi (2018)

Percy Jackson, but steeped in Hindu mythology.

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a habit of stretching the truth to fit in at her private school. While trying to impress her classmates, she accidentally lights a cursed lamp and frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon. To save her mother and the world, she discovers she is the reincarnation of one of the legendary Pandava brothers.

5. The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (2021)

A brilliant blend of dystopian science fiction, folklore, and fantasy.

Petra Peña wants nothing more than to be a storyteller (cuentista) like her grandmother. But Halley’s Comet has altered its course, and Earth is ending. Petra and her family are put on a spacecraft to continue humanity on a new planet. When she wakes up hundreds of years later, a sinister cult has wiped everyone's memories—except Petra's.

6. Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman (2022)

Ferocious, elemental unicorns like you've never seen them before.

Skandar Smith dreams of bonding with a fierce, winged unicorn and training to become a hero in the violent Sky Warfare cup. But just as his dream comes within reach, a shadowy villain steals the island's most powerful unicorn, forcing Skandar to take to the skies to stop them.

7. Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura (2023)

A funny, spirited journey through Japanese mythology.

Momo wants to be normal, but her life is upended when her mother is attacked and she discovers that Shinto myths are real. Momo turns out to be half-kami (goddess) and must team up with a sarcastic fox spirit and her former bully to save her mother and stop the forces of the underworld.

8. The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat (2022)

High-seas fantasy adventure with a Thai-inspired setting.

Sai is a 12-year-old girl hiding a secret about her low social class in a society obsessed with lineage. She secures a job as an assistant to the kingdom's most celebrated mapmaker on a royal expedition to chart the mythical "southern continent," only to find herself tangled in a web of betrayal and ancient secrets.

9. Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly (2019)

A lyrical, folklore-infused quest across a dangerous ocean.

Lalani lives on an island plagued by drought and a rigid patriarchal society. When her mother falls fatally ill, Lalani takes a small boat and ventures across the legendary, monster-infested sea to the mountain paradise of Isa in search of a cure—a journey no one has ever survived.

10. Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas (2023)

Contemporary Southern fantasy rich in African American history and magic.

Written by the author of The Hate U Give, this book follows Nic Blake, a girl living in a secret community of "Remarkables" (people with magical abilities). When her father is accused of a crime he didn't commit, Nic must use her own developing gifts to find a powerful magical tool and clear his name.