Adventure Books
Adventure is a tricky genre. Usually
adventure books have action and
excitement – often the main character
goes on a journey or a quest – and
usually there is danger that comes
from nature. Adventure books are a
form of realistic fiction, but many have
elements of fantasy or history. You
will know adventure when you find it, but you may not recognize it
from the cover or the “blurb.” One thing certain about adventure
books – they are fun to read!
Picture Books
Brown, Jeff. Stanley in Space. When the residents of a far-distant
planet send a message to Earth asking for someone to meet with
them, the President of the United States asks Stanley Lambchop, an
all-American boy, to be his ambassador.
Demas, Corinne. The Boy Who Was Generous With Salt. Having
gone to sea as a cook on a nineteenth-century fishing schooner, Ned
thinks that if he uses up all the salt on board he will get to return
home in time for his ninth birthday.
DiCamillo, Kate. Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken. Longing for
adventure, intrepid Louise leaves her comfortable nest and goes to
sea.
Faller, Regis. The Adventures of Polo. Polo the dog sets out from
his home and enjoys many adventures, including sailing his boat on
top of a whale, roasting hot dogs over a volcano, and taking a ride in a
spaceship built from a mushroom.
McCloskey, Robert. Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man. Burt goes fishing,
takes refuge from a storm in a whale's stomach, and decorates a whole
school of whales' tails with striped band-aids.
Reynolds, Marilynn. Belle’s Journey. Molly rides her old horse Belle to
piano lessons eight miles each way. On one trip, they are caught in a
blizzard, and it is up to Belle to find the way home.
Younger Elementary Chapter Books
Levinson, Nancy. Snowshoe Thompson. One winter John Thompson
skis across the Sierra Nevada Mountains and creates a path upon
which mail and people may travel, thus earning his nickname
"Snowshoe Thompson."
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Roxie and the Hooligans. Roxie Warbler,
the niece of a famous explorer, follows Uncle Dangerfoot's advice on
how to survive any crisis when she becomes stranded on an island
with a gang of school bullies and a pair of murderous bank robbers.
Pullman, Philip. The Firework Maker’s Daughter. In a country far to
the east, Chulak and his talking white elephant Hamlet help Lila seek
the Royal sulphur from the sacred volcano so that she can become a
master maker of fireworks like her father.
Selden, George. Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse. A hungry mouse
and a lonely kitten become friends and seek adventure and fortune
together in the streets and subways of New York City.
Snyder, Laurel. Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains. Lucy, a
milkmaid, and her best friend Wynston, a reluctant prince, go in
search of information about Lucy's missing mother--even though
Wynston is supposed to be searching for a proper princess to marry.
Older Elementary Chapter Books
Bailey, Len. Clabbernappers. Eleven-year-old Oklahoma rodeo
champion Danny Ray is sent to the kingdom of Elidor, where he sets
sail across the Checkered Sea to rescue a kidnapped queen, despite
the enemies found there and the dubious help of the prince and
princess.
Banks, Lynne Reid. The Farthest Away Mountain. A girl embarks on
a dangerous adventure to fulfill her three desires: to visit the farthestaway mountain, to meet a gargoyle, and to find a prince for a
husband.
Corder, Zizou. LionBoy. In the near future, a boy with the ability to
speak the language of cats sets out from London to seek his kidnapped
parents and finds himself on a Paris-bound circus ship learning to train
lions.
Creech, Sharon. The Wanderer. Thirteen-year-old Sophie and her
cousin Cody record their transatlantic crossing aboard the Wanderer, a
forty-five foot sailboat, which, along with uncles and another cousin, is
en route to visit their grandfather in England.
Frederick, Heather Vogel. The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed.
Following their mother's death in Nantucket, Captain Goodspeed brings
twelve-year-old Patience and six-year-old Tad aboard his whaling ship,
where a new crew member incites a mutiny and Patience puts her
mathematical ability to good use.
George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. Escaping from an
unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl gets lost on the
Alaskan tundra and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Gutman, Dan. Getting Air. After foiling a terrorist hijacking aboard
their airplane, fourteen-year-old Jimmy, his younger sister, and two
skateboarding friends crash-land the plane and try to survive in a
forest wilderness until help arrives.
Kehret, Peg. Escaping the Giant Wave. When an earthquake creates
a tsunami while thirteen-year-old Kyle is babysitting his sister during a
family vacation at a Pacific Coast resort, he tries to save himself, his
sister, and a boy who has bullied him for years.
Napoli, Donna Jo. North. Tired of his mother's overprotectiveness and
intrigued by the life of African American explorer Matthew Henson,
twelve-year-old Alvin travels north and spends a season with a trapper
near the Arctic Circle.
Paulsen, Gary. Mr. Tucket. In 1848, while on a wagon train headed
for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee
Indians and then falls in with a one-armed trapper who teaches him
how to live in the wild.
Philbrick, W.R. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg.
Homer P. Figg escapes from his wretched foster home in Pine Swamp,
Maine, and sets out to find his beloved older brother, Harold, who has
been illegally sold into the Union Army.
Rickman, Ivy. Night of the Twisters. A fictional account of the night
freakish and devastating tornadoes hit Grand Island, Nebraska, as
experienced by a twelve-year-old, his family, and friends.
Salisbury, Graham. Night of the Howling Dogs. Eleven Boy Scouts,
their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, in
1975, find their survival skills put to the test when a massive
earthquake strikes, followed by a tsunami.
Taylor, Theodore. Ice Drift. Two Inuit brothers must fend for
themselves while stranded on an ice floe that is adrift in the Greenland
Strait.
[Book Descriptions by Titlewave.com]