Historical Fiction - Over 100 books for Kids Arranged by Date

Historical Fiction is the best way to get kids excited about history. Vivid stories make the sights, sounds, and feelings of that moment in history come alive. Kids won’t even realize they are learning because they will be having so much fun enjoying a really great story!

Have you discovered historical fiction?

They are actually my favorite books! Not only will you get engrossed in an amazing story, but you will end up learning a lot too!  [Here is one of my favorite historical fiction author for adults.]





Historical Fiction makes learning about history exciting for kids because they will relive the time period through a fun and exciting story.  Although the characters are fictional, they are based on people who could have existed based on historical data. The stories will be filled with interesting, factual information that help paint a picture of what life was like for those who lived at that moment in history.





Whether they are learning about Ancient Egypt, the Revolutionary War, World War 2, or September 11th – there is an exciting historical fiction book to make it come alive for those that find it.

Historical Fiction Books

Whether you are a teacher, homeschooler, or a parent looking for some fun, educational books over break – I challenge you to read something worthwhile!



The following list contains over 100 of the best historical fiction:

• 4th-6th graders to read themselves 


• Read Aloud to Kindergarten-3rd grade 


• Arranged chronologically - no matter what you are studying or what your child’s interests are at the moment, there’s a book for that.

Please remember that although I’ve done my best to list only the best, please be sensitive to your particular child when picking a book. All these books are also highly rated on Amazon by hundreds and hundreds of others who have enjoyed them as well.



If you are looking for a historical fiction series, I suggest the I Survived Series (written as if first hand from a child observer) and the An Interactive History Adventure where you choose your own ending books. Not only do kids love that they get to pick elements to how the story turns out, but these books are routed in history. You will be amazed by the historical facts woven throughout.

Ancient Civilizations

• Ancient Egypt: An Interactive History Adventure by Heather Adamson (3100-32 BC)


• Ancient China: An Interactive History Adventure by Terry Collins


• Building the Great Wall of China: An Interactive Engineering Adventure by Allison Lassieur (220-206 BC)


• Ancient Greece: An Interactive History Adventure by William Caper (800-146 BC)


• Ancient Rome: An Interactive History Adventure by Rachael Hanel (753 BC – 500 AD)


• Life as a Gladiator: An Interactive History Adventure by Michael Burgan

Middle Ages Historical Fiction

• I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii by Lauren Tarshis (79)


• The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli (500-1500)


• The Middle Ages: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (500-1500)


• The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle (800s)


• Life as a Knight: An Interactive History Adventure by Rachael Hanel (500-1500)


• Life as a Viking: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (793-1066)


• Life as a Samurai: An Interactive History Adventure by Matt Doeden (1100-1600)


• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (1170s)


• The Aztec Empire: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1427-1521)


• Life as a Ninja: An Interactive History Adventure by Matt Doeden (1467-1700)


• The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood (1601)

Explorers & the New World

• Exploring the New World: An Interactive History Adventure by Melody Herr (1492-1682)


• Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 by Elisa Carbone (1607)


• Colonial America: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1607-1776)


• The Golden Age of Pirates: An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple (1650-1733)


• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1687; no witch or witchcraft!)


• The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds (1756)


• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1760)

American Revolutionary War

• The Boston Massacre: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1770)


• Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons by Ann Rinaldi (1770)


• Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes (1773)


• The Battle of Bunker Hill: An Interactive History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1775)


• The Revolutionary War: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (late 1775-1783)

1800s  (Early American Historical Fiction & Stories from Around the Globe)

• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (1775-1783)


• Westward Expansion: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1807-1912)


• The Oregon Trail: An Interactive History Adventure by Matt Doeden (1811-1840)


• The Wild West: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur –(1775-1912)


• Trapped between Lash and Gun by Arvella Whitmore (1800s)


• There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around by Vivian Vande Velde (1800s)


• The Child Labor Reform Movement: An Interactive History Adventure by Steven Otfinoski (1800s)


• The Town that Fooled the British by Lisa Papp (1812)


• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (1832)


• The Battle of the Alamo: An Interactive History Adventure by Amie Jane Leavitt (1836)


• Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (1843)


• Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (1845-1852)


• Irish Immigrants in America: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1846)


• German Immigrants in America: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1840-1914)


• Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the Donner Party by Ms. Rachel K. Laurgaard (1846)


• Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kristiana Gregory (1847)


• The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1848-1855)


• Sounder by William H. Armstrong (1850-1900s)


• Chinese Immigrants in America: An Interactive History Adventure by Kelley Hunsicker (1850s)


• Orphan Trains: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1850-1929)


• Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan (1850s)


• The Underground Railroad: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1850s)


• The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson (1854)


• Boston Jane: An Adventure by Jennifer L. Holm (1855)


• The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation by Patricia C. McKissack (1859)


• Old Yeller (Perennial Classics) by Fred Gipson (1860)


• The Civil War: An Interactive History Adventure by Matt Doeden (1861-1865)


• Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder (post Civil War)


• The Battle of Bull Run: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1861)


• Building the Transcontinental Railroad: An Interactive Engineering Adventure by Steven Otfinoski (1863-1869)


• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (1864)


• I Survived the Great Chicago Fire by Lauren Tarshis (1871)


• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (1872)


• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1874)


• White Fang by Jack London (late 1800s)


• Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter (late 1800s)

1900s  (World War 1, World War 2, The Great Depression, and more)

• Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (early 1900s)


• Ellis Island: An Interactive History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1900s)


• The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City by Kathryn Lasky (1903)


• I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake by Lauren Tarshis (1906)


• The Orphan Of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff (1908)


• The Titanic: An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple (1911)


• World War I: An Interactive History Adventure by Gwenyth Swain (1914-1918)


•  I Survived The Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis (1916)


• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (1917)


• Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (1918)


• Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan (1918)


• Witness by Karen Hesse (1924)


• The Great Depression: An Interactive History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1929-1940)


• A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck (1929-1942)


• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (1930)


• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1930)


• Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin (1930s)


• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (1931)


• The Dust Bowl: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1932-1934)


• When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (1933)


• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (1935)


• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (1936)


• Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli (1939)


• World War II: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1939-1945)


• Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli (1940)


• Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata (1941)


• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (1942)


• World War II Naval Forces: An Interactive History Adventure by Elizabeth Raum (1939-1945)


• Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian (1939-1945)


• The Attack on Pearl Harbor: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1941)


• World War II Spies: An Interactive History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1939-1945)


• The Island on Bird Street by Uri Orlev (1939-1945)


• The Japanese American Internment: An Interactive History Adventure by Rachael Hane (1939-1945)


• World War II Pilots: An Interactive History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1939-1945)


• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1943)


• Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff (1944)


• When the Soldiers Were Gone by Vera W. Propp (1945)


• Journey Home by Yoshiko Uchida (post WW2)


• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (1947)

Semi-Modern History (1950-2000)

• The Korean War: An Interactive Modern History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1950-1953)


• The Race to the Moon: An Interactive History Adventure by Allison Lassieur (1950-1960)


• The Civil Rights Movement: An Interactive History Adventure by Heather Adamson (1955-1968)


• The Vietnam War: An Interactive Modern History Adventure by Michael Burgan (1955-1975)


• The Red Rose Box by Brenda Woods (1958)


• The Berlin Wall: An Interactive Modern History Adventure by Matt Doeden (1961-1989)


• Countdown by Deborah Wiles (1962)


• War in Afghanistan: An Interactive Modern History Adventure by Matt Doeden (1979-1989)

Modern History (2000+ )

• I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis (2001)


• Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai (2001)


• I Survived Hurricane Katrina by Lauren Tarshis (2005)


• I Survived the Japanese Tsunami by Lauren Tarshis (2011)

Got a GREAT Historical Fiction Book I’ve missed? 

Tell me about it in the Comments!!

Hands on History Units

If you are looking for some fun history games, more book recommendations, free printables, or complete 4-6 week units – you are going to love our history units on:

• Ancient Egypt (coming soon)


• Medieval Times


• Early Explorers


• Native Americans (coming Sept 2015)


• Colonial America


• Revolutionary War


• Westward Expansion


• 50 States (coming soon)


• President's Day Mini Unit

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