Reading list · 12 books

New York for kids

Picture books, novels and histories set in the city, for readers from about four to twelve.

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1. 01

   For kids

   The Cricket in Times Square (opens Bookshop.org)

   George Selden · 1960

   A country cricket ends up in a Times Square subway newsstand and befriends a mouse and a cat. Garth Williams drew the pictures.

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2. 02

   For kids

   All-of-a-Kind Family (opens Bookshop.org)

   Sydney Taylor · 1951

   Five sisters grow up in a Jewish immigrant family on the Lower East Side in 1912, in stories based on the author's own childhood.

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3. 03

   For kids

   From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (opens Bookshop.org)

   E. L. Konigsburg · 1967

   Two siblings run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and try to solve the mystery of a statue. It won the Newbery Medal.

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4. 04

   For kids

   The Snowy Day (opens Bookshop.org)

   Ezra Jack Keats · 1962

   A boy named Peter explores a city neighborhood after a snowfall. It won the Caldecott Medal.

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5. 05

   For kids

   When You Reach Me (opens Bookshop.org)

   Rebecca Stead · 2009

   A sixth grader in 1979 Manhattan gets anonymous notes that seem to predict the future. It won the Newbery Medal.

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6. 06

   For kids

   The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (opens Bookshop.org)

   Karina Yan Glaser · 2017

   Five siblings in a Harlem brownstone try to keep their landlord from ending their lease before Christmas.

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7. 07

   For kids

   Eloise (opens Bookshop.org)

   Kay Thompson · 1955

   Eloise is a six-year-old who lives at the Plaza Hotel and gets into trouble on every floor. Hilary Knight drew the pictures.

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8. 08

   For kids

   This Is New York (opens Bookshop.org)

   Miroslav Sasek · 1960

   Sasek's illustrated tour of the city, first published in 1960, takes in the bridges, streets and neighborhoods.

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9. 09

   For kids

   ...If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island (opens Bookshop.org)

   Ellen Levine · 1993

   A question-and-answer book for young readers on what immigrants faced arriving at Ellis Island, including the inspections and the name-change myth.

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10. 10

    For kids

    The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge (opens Bookshop.org)

    Hildegarde H. Swift · 1942

    A picture book about the small lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge on the Hudson River, based on a real one.

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11. 11

    For kids

    Wonderstruck (opens Bookshop.org)

    Brian Selznick · 2011

    Two deaf children in different decades, 1927 and 1977, come to New York and find the American Museum of Natural History, in words and pencil drawings.

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12. 12

    For kids

    Harriet the Spy (opens Bookshop.org)

    Louise Fitzhugh · 1964

    An eleven-year-old on the Upper East Side keeps a notebook on her neighbors and classmates, until her classmates find it.

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Chosen by the New York Explained desk. No publisher pays for a place on this list. Updated September 2026.