Hello hello lovely people that are reading this, there’s a bit of a special post today because it has come to my attention that Children’s Book Day is on April 2nd. Now, I have been an avid reader since I was a kid, so today I will be sharing some of my favourite children’s books with you, some more mainstream ones, as well as, some that I’ve found based in Atlantic Canada :] These are books that I consider to be middle grade novels, and also books for those who might be a little bit younger.

American Girl Doll Books
These are the books that got me into reading chapter books, and novels. I bought many American Girl Dolls, and I still have them all. I remember reading Samantha’s novel, and I loved it very much. Then I progressively bought more American Girl Dolls and looked for these books 2nd hand and at library book sales. I still have all of them. It’s probably what I loved most about the older American Girl Dolls, that each doll has a story.

Dear America and Dear Canada Diaries
These are the books that inspired me to start writing my own stories, my own journals and diaries. I read so many of both Dear Canada and Dear America, and I owned quite a lot of them as well. It’s like a history lesson in disguise, and reading these are also where I discovered that I liked reading historical fiction.

Nancy Clancy
These are books that are for a bit of a younger audience, I read Nancy Clancy first, but then I started to seek out Nancy Drew books as well because they were mentioned a lot in Nancy Clancy. These books got me into mystery novels, detective work, and that kind of thing. I really only liked the books that Nancy was sleuthing in, and not the ones where there wasn’t any mystery. But oh well. I read them all. Haha.

Origami Yoda
These ones are probably the most unserious on this list. I vaguely remember that I watched Star Wars ep 7 when I was 7yrs old, and then I was interested in Star Wars. So, in an attempt to become a Star Wars fan, I checked out “The Strange Case of Origami Yoda” from my library and started to read it. But having seen only Star Wars ep 7 I understood none of the references or characters from the prequels or sequels. Whoops. But the books were still really really fun to read despite not understanding any of the Star Wars references.

Keeper of the Lost Cities
I loved this series when I was 12. I had a boxed set of 5 of the books, and I loved them! But the series STILL ISN’T OVER. Please Shannon Messenger, your readers are mostly college kids now. ANYWAYS. I think the Keeper of the Lost Cities series was definitely a favourite of mine when I was 12-13. I still think the first few books are good. I still re-read them to this day… but honestly, I’d like to just have the series finished by now. And no, 2025 Ariela wouldn’t recommend this series now. But 12yr Ariela 100% would have, but at this point it’s soo not worth it.

The Hunger Games
I read the Hunger Games when I was like 12 also. “But it’s a book about kids killing each other” my justification for this was that my parents took me to the cinema to see war movies where they were literally blowing up and exploding people. So I was allowed to read the Hunger Games and watch it. :3 The Hunger Games has to be the most elite series that I read when I was a kid. I read the Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes as well, and hey, now Sunrise on the Reaping is out so that’s really exciting. I’m not sure what age range I would recommend for those who are fans of the Hunger Games… I don’t recall finding it “too” graphic at the age of 12, but maybe reading it at a bit of an older age could be better.

The Wizards of Once
I just reread book 1 of this series and I still loved it. I really like Cressida Cowell’s writing style and the childish charm that comes with all of her books. I love that it also has illustrations, and that it’s just an adventure story that’s a lot of fun.

How to Train Your Dragon
Yes. I love this series. I need to own every single book in this series. It’s just so much fun. It’s silly and goofy, but it can be serious when it needs to be, it’s great. I have only read this series in it’s entirely once, but I would 100% read it again. Haha. So, I loved this series when I was 12, I think all of the other 12yr olds will love this series too.

Harry Potter
Last one, but certainly not least, Harry Potter. I don’t usually go around recommending Harry Potter to people, because it’s more of a case of you’ve either already read it or you haven’t. What actually inspired me to read Harry Potter was that I had gone to Universal Studios just about every single day, and I wanted to know what this Harry Potter thing was, so again, I read it when I was 12, and I loved it. I loved exploring the Wizarding World for myself in person as well. Overall the Harry Potter series is fun, I think my favourite one might be the Goblet of Fire or Prisoner of Azkaban.

Atlantic Canadian Titles

Now onto the part where I tell you about some less well known Atlantic Canadian books.

Swan – Sidura Ludwig
A beautiful book with a touching story, great for kids, the messaging is good and I gave this 5 stars.

Keepers of the Pact – Karen Kelloway
Solid adventure story with some messaging of saving the environment, and a lot of fun mythical creatures

Kira’s Secret Trilogy – Orysia Dawydiak
MERMAIDS. Action. Adventure. Really fun read.

Skyward – Susan White
Interesting dystopian world with messages about family, and love

The Dylan Maples Adventure Series – Shane Peacock
Another really fun adventure series! It’s quite lengthy as well because it has 5 books

The Memory Chair – Susan White
A book that feels like a fever dream, but in a really good kind of way.

The Fog of Forgetting – G. A. Morgan
More adventure/quest novels in this series! I really liked it and the fantasy world that it set up.

So that is it for my book recommendations to celebrate Children’s Book Day! I hope that maybe you’ve seen some of your favourite children’s books, or maybe you’ve been inspired to pick up some new ones! Thank you so so much for reading, and I will see you in the next post :]