Books like 'Meet the Austins'
Readers who enjoyed Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy 20th century classics realistic family children coming-of-age historical-fiction religion
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Matilda by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsMatilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren, Jens Wawrczeck]()
The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren, Jens Wawrczeck
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe Brothers Lionheart (Swedish: Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. It was published in the autumn of 1973 and has been translated into 46 languages. Many of its themes are unusually dark and heavy for the children's book genre. Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal and rebellion are some of the dark themes that permeate the story...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
![Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson]()
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsOne evening Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight. But there wasn't any moon, and Harold needed a moon for a walk in the moonlight. Fortunately, he had brought his purple crayon. So he drew a moon. He also needed something to walk on. So he drew a path...And thus begins one of the most imaginative and enchanting adventures in all of children's books...Categorized as:
children classics humor 20th-century action-adventure book children-books contemporary -
![If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff]()
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsA hungry little mouse appears on the doorstep. What can you do but give him a cookie? But then he will ask for a glass of milk, and when he’s finished it he’ll have to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milky face. Of course, he’ll then want a pair of scissors to trim his hair...Categorized as:
children classics family humor 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism -
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![Corduroy by Don Freeman]()
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsHave you ever dreamed of being locked in a department store at night? The endearing story of Corduroy paints a picture of the adventures that might unfold (for a teddy bear at least) in such a situation. When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his missing button...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism -
![Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins]()
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsJitterbug Perfume is an epic.Which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn’t conclude until nine o’clock tonight (Paris time).It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle.The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster]()
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsLibrarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.This beloved story -first published more than fifty years ago- introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond. For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different... -
![Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald]()
Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe incomparable Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves children good or bad and never scolds but has positive cures for Answer-Backers, Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders, and other boys and girls with strange habits... -
![The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter]()
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 71 ratings"Now, my dears," said old Mrs Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden."But what does Peter Rabbit do? Beatrix Potter's delightful 'Tale of Peter Rabbit' tells the story... -
![Charlotte's Web by E.B. White]()
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsA gorgeous full-colour large format edition of Charlotte's Web, one of the best-loved animal stories of our time.The unforgettable story of a girl called Fern who loves a little pig called Wilbur. It tells how Charlotte A...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor realistic 20th-century -
![A Kiss for Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik]()
A Kiss for Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsLittle Bear is so pleased with the picture he has drawn that he asks Hen to take it to his grandmother. Grandmother is so happy with it that she sends him back a thank-you kiss... -
![Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin]()
Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRussian novelist Victor Pelevin is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most brilliant young writers at work today. His comic inventiveness and mind-bending talent prompted Time magazine to proclaim him a "psychedelic Nabokov for the cyber-age...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor religion spirituality 20th-century adult audiobook -
![Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien]()
Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsLeaf by Niggle is a short story about a painter who is working on a picture leaf by leaf. Niggle, the painter, is a kind hearted soul and goes out of his way to help his friends and neighbours but eventually finds that this prevents him from completing his masterpiece. He has a hard decision to make; when engrossed in his work, his neighbour asks him to fix his roof using his art supplies... -
![Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue by Maurice Sendak]()
Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue by Maurice Sendak
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA story with a moral air about Pierre, who learned to care. Young Pierre, whose favorite line is I don't care! changes his mind after meeting a hungry lion. Three-color illustrations... -
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![Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk]()
Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSet in the mythical Polish village of Primeval, a microcosm of the world populated with eccentric, archetypal characters and guarded by four archangels, this novel from Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk chronicles the lives of the inhabitants over the course of the feral 20th century in prose that is forceful, direct, and the stylistic cousin of the magic realism in Gabriel García Márquez's One...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper]()
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe story of a train filled with toys and gifts for little boys and girls that breaks down before reaching the children. After asking several passing trains for help over the hill, a little blue train agrees to help the stranded toys. Even though she is small, the blue train tries her best to bring the toys to the children on the other side of the hill... -
![The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Amichai, C.K. Williams]()
The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai by Yehuda Amichai, C.K. Williams
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYehuda Amichai is Israel's most popular poet as well as a literary figure of international reputation. In this revised and expanded collection, renowned translators Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell have selected Amichai's most beloved and enduring poems, including forty new poems from his recent work... -
![The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle]()
The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe chameleon's life was not very exciting until the day it discovered it could change not only its color but its shape and size,too. When it saw the wonderful animals in the zoo, it immediately wanted to be like them -- and ended up likeall of them at once -- with hilarious results... -
![The Rainbow Fish Mini-Book by Marcus Pfister]()
The Rainbow Fish Mini-Book by Marcus Pfister
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsA glittering stocking stuffer that will add sparkle to any child's Christmas Marcus Pfister's international bestseller has been specially packaged for holiday giving in an attractive mini-book edition. The book contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition along with the eye-catching holographic foil stamping that has captivated Rainbow Fish's millions of fans...Categorized as:
children classics family realistic 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism -
![The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies]()
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe complete volume of Robertson Davies's acclaimed trilogy, featuring Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders, with a new foreword by Kelly Link Fifth Business Ramsay is a man twice born, a man who has returned from the hell of the battle-grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder]()
The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHans Thomas and his father set out on a car trip through Europe, from Norway to Greece—the birthplace of philosophy—in search of Hans Thomas's mother, who left them many years earlier. On the way, Hans Thomas receives a mysterious miniature book—the fantastic memoir of a sailor shipwrecked in 1842 on a strange island where a deck of cards come to life...Categorized as:
children classics family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
![The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards]()
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles was the second children’s novel ever written by Julie Andrews, the beloved star of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Perfect for young readers who love whimsical stories about magic!The Whangdoodle was once the wisest, the kindest, and the most extraordinary creature in the world... -
![Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner]()
Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsAngels in America is a play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. The play is a complex, often metaphorical, and at times symbolic examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America in the 1980s. Certain major and minor characters are supernatural beings (angels) or deceased persons (ghosts). The play contains multiple roles for several of the actors... -
![Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar]()
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsThere was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor... -
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![Wayside School Is Falling Down by Louis Sachar]()
Wayside School Is Falling Down by Louis Sachar
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsLouis yard teacher starts off 30 tales of unusual students. Comic sketches precede every chapter. Todd brings a cute adorable plastic puppy who bites back when Joy steals it. Cafeteria Mrs Mush serves Mushroom Surprise that changes Ron. When Paul falls out the window, Leslie offers her pigtails to pull him back. On 19th floor, invisible Allison finds Miss Zarves' class... -
![Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald]()
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsEveryone loves Mrs. Piggle-WiggleMrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house and smells like cookies. She was even married to a pirate once. Most of all, she knows everything about children. She can cure them of any ailment. Patsy hates baths. Hubert never puts anything away. Allen eats v-e-r-y slowly. Mrs Piggle-Wiggle has a treatment for all of them.The incomparable Mrs... -
![The Witches by Roald Dahl]()
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsThis is not a fairy-tale. This is about real witches. Real witches don't ride around on broomsticks. They don't even wear black cloaks and hats. They are vile, cunning, detestable creatures who disguise themselves as nice, ordinary ladies... -
![Father Bear Comes Home by Else Holmelund Minarik]()
Father Bear Comes Home by Else Holmelund Minarik
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsWELCOME HOMELittle Bear’s father is finally coming home from a long fishing trip... -
![One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss]()
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsOne Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish is a 1960 children's book by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel). A simple rhyming book for learner readers, it is a book with a freewheeling plot about a boy and a girl, and the many amazing creatures they have for friends and pets... -
![The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda]()
The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsA cat. A seagull. An impossible task.A worldwide bestseller and the subject of a feature film, THE STORY OF A SEAGULL... is finally out in paperback!Her wings burdened by an oil slick, a seagull struggles to the nearest port to lay her final egg. Exhausted, she lands on a balcony where Zorba the cat is sunning himself... -
![Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl]()
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 89 ratingsCharlie Bucket's wonderful adventure begins when he finds one of Mr. Willy Wonka's precious Golden Tickets and wins a whole day inside the mysterious chocolate factory...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life by Maurice Sendak]()
Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life by Maurice Sendak
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings‘A daring imagination has woven a simple rhyme into a brilliantly original tale [about Jennie, the Sealyham terrier, who seeks Experience and becomes the star of the World Mother Goose Theatre].' 'H. ‘Superb fantasy.' 'BL... -
![Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm by Betty MacDonald]()
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm by Betty MacDonald
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMs. Piggle-Wiggle's left her upside-down town house and has moved to a farm in the country. With the help of her cows and pigs and horses, she's still curing girls and boys of their bad habits. So whatever the problem-from pet forgetter-itis to fraidycat-ness-the parents all exclaim, "Better call Mrs... -
![Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman]()
Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEveryone loves the little girl who wears a red-hooded cloak, but no one more than her grandmother. One day, Grandmother gets sick, and Little Red Riding Hood sets out to visit her, carrying a basket of food as a present...Categorized as:
children classics family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook -
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![Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren]()
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAstrid Lindgren's story of feisty, red-haired Pippi has been given a sparkling new translation by award-winning Tiina Nunnally and engaging pictures by acclaimed Lauren Child.Pippi Longstocking was first published in the United States in 1950, and has been translated from the original Swedish into ninety-one languages...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor realistic 20th-century -
![A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle]()
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAfter a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys...Categorized as:
children christian classics coming-of-age family realistic spirituality 20th-century -
![The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch]()
The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHarry Mulisch's magnum opus, is a rich mosaic of twentieth-century trauma in which many themes—friendship, loyalty, family, art, technology, religion, fate, good, and evil—suffuse a suspenseful and resplendent narrative.The Discovery of Heaven begins with the meeting of Onno and Max, two complicated individuals whom fate has mysteriously and magically brought together...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Mama Day by Gloria Naylor]()
Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA fascinating novel that reworks elements of Shakespeare's The Tempest. On the island of Willow Springs, off the Georgia coast, the powers of healer Mama Day are tested by her great niece, Cocoa, a stubbornly emancipated woman endangered by the island's darker forces...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction realistic 20th-century adult afrofuturism -
![Mount Analogue by René Daumal]()
Mount Analogue by René Daumal
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel/allegory the narrator/author sets sail in the yacht Impossible to search for Mount Analogue, the geographically located, albeit hidden, peak that reaches inexorably toward heaven. Daumal's symbolic mountain represents a way to truth that "cannot not exist," and his classic allegory of man's search for himself embraces the certainty that one can know and conquer one's own reality... -
![The Castle of Adventure by Enid Blyton]()
The Castle of Adventure by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat is the secret of the old castle on the hill, and why are the locals so afraid of it? When flashing lights are seen in a distant tower, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann, and Jack decide to investigate—and discover a very sinister plot concealed within its hidden rooms and gloomy underground passages...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children-books -
![How to Become King by Jan Terlouw]()
How to Become King by Jan Terlouw
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSeventeen years after the king of Katoren dies, a boy aspires to win the crown and is tested with seven impossible tasks by six Ministers...Categorized as:
classics children historical-fiction fantasy children-books fiction young-adult action-adventure -
![LA Trompeta Del Cisne by E.B. White]()
LA Trompeta Del Cisne by E.B. White
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsLouis is a mute swan. His beloved Serena ignores him because of his handicap. To help him, his father steals a trumpet. Louis learns how to play it, not only to give his father the money to pay for the instrument, but also to win Serena's heart...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor realistic 20th-century -
![Forty Stories by Donald Barthelme]()
Forty Stories by Donald Barthelme
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThis collection of pithy, brilliantly acerbic pieces is a companion to Sixty Stories, Barthelme's earlier retrospective volume. Barthelme spotlights the idiosyncratic, haughty, sometimes downright ludicrous behavior of human beings, but it is style rather than content which takes precedence... -
![The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, Martin Jarvis]()
The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, Martin Jarvis
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWhen the Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of puppies - fifteen in all - everyone is delighted...Categorized as:
children classics family historical-fiction humor 20th-century action-adventure animals -
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![The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy]()
The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsBe terrified. It's you I love, perfect man, Greek God, my own; but I know you'll go, betray me, stray from home. So better by far for me if you were stone. from "Medusa"Stunningly original and haunting, the voices of Mrs... -
![Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl]()
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsDanny’s life seems perfect: his home is a gypsy caravan, he’s the youngest car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. And when Danny discovers his father’s secret, he’s off on the adventure of a lifetime. Here’s Roald Dahl’s famous story about a 9-year-old boy, his dad, and a daring and hilarious pheasant-snatching expedition...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor realistic 20th-century -
![The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket]()
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsDear Reader,I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe...Categorized as:
children classics family historical-fiction humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Witch in the Broom Cupboard and Other Tales by Pierre Gripari]()
The Witch in the Broom Cupboard and Other Tales by Pierre Gripari
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAbsurd fairy tales, very sensibly told There once was a good little devil - did you read that right? Yes you did: not a wicked little devil but a good one, and boy, was he in a fix! Instead of doing bad things like forgetting his homework and playing tricks on his teachers, this little devil kept trying to be good... -
![The Little Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg]()
The Little Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTony is a nine-year-old horror story addict, so he can hardly believe his luck when a little vampire called Rudolph lands on his windowsill one evening... -
![Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young]()
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"Not for the faint-hearted, Lon Po Po (Grandmother Wolf), is a tale of a menacing danger and courage....(Young's) command of page composition and his sensitive use of color give the book a visual force that matches the strength of the story and stands as one of the illustrator's best efforts." --Booklist. "Absolutely splendid." -- Kirkuse Reviews. "An extraordinary and powerful book...Categorized as:
children classics family historical-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure animals
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