Narnia is one of those stories, one of those worlds that really has stood the test of time (and finding books like Narnia is harder than it sounds).
I certainly remember being lost in the world of fur coats and fir trees and hoping that there was something similar waiting at the back of my mum’s wardrobe.
Turns out there wasn’t anything interesting back there and parents don’t really like you rooting around in their wardrobes especially when that’s often the hiding place for birthday and Christmas presents. (oops!)
But when you’ve made it to the end of the seventh book, there’s a bit of a Narnia-shaped hole in your life.
And as magical as the films are, readers who enjoy books like Narnia are often seeking to be lost in another incredible universe like this one.
Which is probably how you’ve found yourself here, right?
I’m sorry to say that there’s truly nothing quite like Narnia.
But five books on our fantasy shelf for 9 year olds (and the shelves either side of it) definitely get close to that feeling. The Unicorn Quest, The World Behind the Door, Everdark, A Wrinkle in Time and Wildwood. Ages 8 to 10, in that order, and I’ll say which is which.
What makes a book feel like Narnia
Most lists of children’s books similar to Narnia go along the route of fauns or deep fantasy. But I’m not sure this is quite right.
I think that it’s more about the magic of turning an ordinary place (a wardrobe, a fireplace, a clock) into an unimaginable world with its own rules.
It should also be said that one of the very special things about these books is the sibling bond and companionship as well as the talking animals of course. And how the combination of these things leads to the inevitable (and long-trodden path) of good vs evil.
Every book below has at least some of these things and hopefully you’ll spot them as you go.
If they’ve only read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first answer is the other six. There are seven Narnia books and they’re all in the library. Come back here when those are done.
Five books like Narnia for children
The Unicorn Quest by Kamilla Benko
Unicorn Quest 1 – The Unicorn Quest
This is probably the closest match of the five and great for age 8.
Claire still worries about her older sister Sophie, who battled a mysterious illness last year. Then the two of them climb a strange ladder inside a fireplace at Windermere Manor and come out in Arden, a land where the four guilds of magic no longer trust each other, the unicorns have gone and wraiths roam free. Scared, the girls go home. But when Sophie vanishes, Claire has to climb back up the ladder alone.
The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson
The World Behind the Door
There’s a door in London with a whole green world behind it. I’d give this to a 9 year old.
Daisy Thistledown has escaped from boarding school and has a mystery to solve. Her search for her missing mother leads her across London and through a hidden doorway into the Greenwild, a world filled with plants and bursting with magic. Something dangerous is threatening green magic on both sides of the door, and Daisy has to band together with a botanical genius, a boy who can talk to animals and a cat with an attitude to put it right.
It’s recent and British, and the door is in a real place your child might have visited. And it’s the first of a series, which is great at this age.
Everdark by Abi Elphinstone
Everdark
A boy who hates adventures gets a whole kingdom inside a clock. Best at 10, I think.
Casper Tock hates risks and is allergic to adventures. So it comes as a nasty shock when he hides from bullies in an ancient grandfather clock and finds an entire world inside it. Rumblestar is one of the four Unmapped Kingdoms that control the weather in Casper’s own world, and it’s in trouble. All Casper wants is to get home. Instead he ends up teaming up with a strange girl called Utterly and her miniature dragon Arlo to free both their worlds from the harpy Morg.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
A Wrinkle in Time
A classic, older and stranger than Narnia, and one to save for 10.
It was a dark and stormy night (really, that’s the first line). Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace and their mother have come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when a most disturbing stranger arrives, blown off course, who mentions in passing that there is such a thing as a tesseract. A tesseract, in case you’re wondering, is a wrinkle in time.
It’s the book most often recommended next to Narnia, and it’s only a few years younger. It is harder going than the others here, though, and I’d leave it until 10.
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles
A baby brother carried off by crows into a wood nobody talks about. This one’s a 10 as well.
Prue McKeel is keeping out of trouble. Or trying to. Then her baby brother is abducted by crows and hauled off to the woods beyond the city, and it’s up to Prue to bring him back. On her mission she is plunged into the world of Wildwood, where there’s more trouble (and more magic) than she ever thought possible.
Of the five, this is the one that feels most like a whole hidden country next door. It’s long (a proper doorstop), which is either the best news you’ve had all week or a reason to save it for the summer holidays.
A few more if they’ve read those
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson has a door under King’s Cross that opens once every nine years (age 9). Nevertell by Katherine Orton is the one for the child who loved the White Witch, with a snowy wilderness, a vengeful sorceress and a pack of shadow wolves (age 10). The Stones of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston is an old English house with ancient stones that carry a boy back and forth in time (age 8, and old-fashioned in the best way). And for a 10 year old who’s ready for something knottier, the Land of Ingary books by Diana Wynne Jones start with Howl’s Moving Castle.
What age are the Narnia books for?
While you’re here, a quick word on age. The Chronicles of Narnia read aloud well from about 6 or 7, and most children read them alone from about 8, which is where we put them. The Last Battle is the one that reads differently, and an 11 year old will get a lot more from it than an 8 year old does.
If they’re ready for something bigger
There are two I’d hold back until they’re properly ready. Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (age 10) has the other-world, the talking animal companions and a much bigger argument underneath. The Hobbit (age 11) is the one Lewis’s own friend wrote, and the one every “books like Narnia” list ends on.
If they’ve done Narnia and Harry Potter both, my what to read after Harry Potter list is the next stop. For dragons specifically, books like How to Train Your Dragon. And for the 11 year old who wants it darker and funnier, books like Skulduggery Pleasant.
Just so you know…
Every book on this page (all seven Narnias included) is in Little Reads, which my husband and I built for the child who has run out of books again. 3,000+ hand-picked books, £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime. On a free account you get 100+ free books, The Hobbit among them.
We’re a library, not a reading scheme, so if reading itself is still the job you’ll want something else. But if your child has just come out of the wardrobe and wants another door, that’s exactly who we built it for.