The Best Short Novels And Stories For Children: 7 Suggestions
Short novels and stories for children will help your little ones become avid and skilled readers. When the children are very young, choose books with illustrations and sounds. This will get you all of their attention.
Once your little ones start connecting letters and understanding sentences, it’s time for the next step. They will definitely let you know if they can understand more challenging texts.
In the first years of life, people articulate their needs using non-verbal language. More specific forms of communication then gradually develop from this.
That is why it is so important to provide the children with the right tools to give them the best possible support during the individual developmental steps. This also means that you provide your children with age-appropriate literature at every stage of their development.
Below we have put together a selection of short novels and stories that you can use to introduce your children to the wonderful world of reading.
The best short novels and stories for children
1. The little prince
The Little Prince is a real classic that children and adults alike love to read. This modern art fairy tale is beautifully illustrated and written in an easy and understandable way. It tells the story of an author and his encounter with a boy who comes from another planet.
The book was written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The story told is very interesting and written in easy to understand language. As your children develop critical thinking skills over the years and re-read this little book, they will find that this story contains informed reflections on human nature.
2. Little Thumbnail
Charles Perrault’s little Tom Thumb tells the story of a poor family who leave their children behind in the forest. There the children have to tackle some adventures and survive the dangers in this fairy tale world.
After many adventures, the little hero Thumbnail finally manages to escape. He returns home and from then on lives happily with his parents and siblings.
3. Exciting short novels: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (as a children’s book version)
Also adaptations of literary classics that appear as short novels for children, are becoming increasingly popular. Children can discover ingenious stories such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sherlock Holmes is a detective who is incredibly intelligent and has a very strong power of observation. He is also a true master of problem solving. These short novels are ideal for children as they are very exciting and stimulate their creativity and imagination.
4. The happy prince
This classic fairy tale was published in 1888 and is part of an Oscar Wilde prose collection. It tells of the statue of a prince who weeps over the pain and injustices he observes among the subjects of his city.
The prince had always believed that the world was a happy place until he saw the world of the defenseless with his own eyes. Hence, he decides to sacrifice his own life to help them. He also teaches an important lesson about values, principles, and goodness.
5. The Wizard of Oz
Another literary classic is The Wizard of Oz. Also, this is one of the best fantasy stories for children. Meanwhile, there are also numerous adaptations of this story was originally written by L. Frank Baum. If you want, you can watch this story with your children in the cinema or theater or give them the comic version as a gift.
More short novels and stories for children
6. Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots is a classic French fairy tale that can be found in many story and fairy tale books. It tells the adventures of a young miller who has a very clever hangover.
Because this pet is so astute, the miller’s life changes completely too. As the story progresses, he transforms from a poor and hopeless miller into a wealthy nobleman who ultimately marries the princess.
7. Percy Jackson
Percy Jackson is a five-part saga written by Rick Riordan that will delight children and teenagers alike. The main character is a young man who has a very close and interesting relationship with Greek mythology.
The Percy Jackson book series is ideal for introducing your children to classical literature through texts that have been written today. To get your children excited about this topic, you can also watch the film adaptations with them first. After that, you will surely enjoy reading the books with great pleasure.
As you can see, there are many interesting ways to get your children excited about reading. The short novels and stories that we have presented to you today will abduct your children into foreign cultures and let them discover the world. They also improve their own language skills while reading. Therefore, you should help them find their way around the infinite world of literature. They will thank you for it for sure!
