Action & Adventure Stories

If pirates, jousting and horseback chases no longer appeal to you, you're too old or too boring. Adventure stories fell out of vogue among 20th century literary types who thought serious fiction had to be boring and depressing, but to those born with fire in their bones, adventure stories are deeply serious.

Not serious like existentialism or keeping a stiff upper lip, but serious like Robin Hood—devoted to protecting the downtrodden, committed to Maid Marian, sworn to fight injustice as long as a soul is in his body, always laughing and ready for a fight or a feast.

G. K. Chesterton wrote adventure stories because they best expressed the eternal joy that supported his generous frame. For those raised on Modern Adventure Stories, joy may seem an inappropriate word for an increasingly dark genre, but the fault lies with those who think adventures are forays into evil rather than romps with Gilbert Keith.

There's nothing evil about a good adventure. There may be bad guys (there ought to be), but if the Good Guy does his job there'll be more of his exploits to talk about than theirs. Because, should he be doing his job, the Hero will be sword-fighting, being clever, wooing, chasing and laughing to the detriment of his enemies on every page.

Average people don't have the adventures Heroes in Books have—they have the adventures of Modern Men in Books. But the way through the prosaic troubles of life isn't to immerse yourself in them, it's to let the Good Guys show The Way Out of Problems, and do your best to imitate them when you meet the less dramatic, but no less real, dangers of everyday existence.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Action & Adventure Stories
328 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
"Why" Stories
by Edward W. Dolch, Marguerite P. Dolch
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
100 Cupboards - Paperback Trilogy
by N. D. Wilson
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$24.62
Abel's Island
by William Steig
from Square Fish Publishing
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-5th grade
1977 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Adam of the Road
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Robert Lawson
1962 Printing from Viking Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Adam of the Road
Puffin Modern Classics
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Adventure in Grand Canyon National Park
A Mystery Adventure in the National Parks #3
by Aaron Johnson
from Aaron Johnson
for 2nd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.99
Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Adventures of Munford: The Klondike Gold Rush
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
Adventures of Tintin - Complete Package
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
Comic Book for 2nd-6th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$241.39
Adventures of Tintin - Young Readers Collection
by Herge
for 2nd-6th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$52.76
Adventures of Tommy Blake
by Brother Ernest
from St. Anthony Guild Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #14
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #17
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #19
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
AIO Imagination Station Book #20
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #22
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
Alexi's Secret Mission
by Anita Deyneka
from School of Tomorrow
for 1st-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
All the Mowgli Stories
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Richard M. Powers
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
American Twins of the Revolution
by Lucy Fitch Perkins
from Salem Ridge Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Ancient, Strange, and Lovely
Dragon Chronicles #4
by Susan Fletcher
Reprint from Atheneum
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
Apache Gold
by Joseph A. Altsheler
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Arthur, High King of Britain
by Michael Morpurgo
from Harcourt
for 2nd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Balto and the Great Race
Totally True Adventures
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99
Bears of Blue River
by Charles Major
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Big Kerplop!
by Bertrand R. Brinley, illustrated by Charles Geer
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$18.95
Bill Bergson Master Detective
by Astrid Lindgren
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Black Buccaneer
Dover Evergreen Classics
by Stephen W. Meader
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.99
Black Star of Kingston
Tales of Old Nadia 1
by S. D. Smith
from Story Warren Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.95
Bobbsey Twins #70
Bobbsey Twins #70
by Laura Lee Hope
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-4th grade
in Bobbsey Twins (Location: VIN-SER)
Book of Boy
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
Frist Paperback from Greenwillow Books
for 3rd-7th grade
2019 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Book of Legends
by Horace E. Scudder
from Yesterday's Classics
for 1st-5th grade
$9.95
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$27.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$17.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-12th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$27.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$17.99
Borrowers Series - Boxed Set
by Mary Norton
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$34.99
Boy of Old Prague
by S. Ish-Kishor
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.99
Boy of the Pyramids
by Ruth Fosdick Jones
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Broken Blade
by William Durbin
Reprint from Lake Vermillion Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Buddy's Crazy True-Life Adventures
Buddy Davis Amazing Adventures
by Buddy Davis
from Answers in Genesis
for 3rd-6th grade
in Short Stories (Location: LIT-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon Pulse
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Kate Seredy
from Macmillan
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Caddie Woodlawn's Family
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Call it Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
1941 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
Call it Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
1963 printing from Macmillan
for 2nd-6th grade
1941 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Candy Shop War: Arcade Catastrophe
by Brandon Mull
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase
by Wendy Mass
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Canterbury Tales
by Barbara Cohen & Trina Schart Hyman
from William Morrow & Company
Medieval Literature for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$17.50 (1 in stock)
Cay
by Theodore Taylor
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Chameleon, A Boy, and A Quest
from New Growth Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.00
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Cheapest Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.99
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$21.95
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
by Ian Fleming
from Random House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Choose Your Own Adventure 04
by R. A. Montgomery
from Chooseco
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Choose Your Own Adventure 05
by R. A. Montgomery
from Chooseco
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Chronicles of Narnia - Deluxe Hardcover Boxed Set
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$139.63
Chronicles of Narnia - Mass-Market Boxed Set
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$55.00
Chronicles of Narnia - Quality Softcover Boxed Set
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$90.93
Chronicles of Narnia - Quality Softcover Set
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
Climb (Everest 2)
by Gordon Korman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Computer Nut
by Betsy Cromer Byars
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Contest (Everest 1)
by Gordon Korman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Countdown
by Ben Mikaelsen
from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboy Boots
by Shannon Garst
from Abingdon-Cokesbury Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Danger on Shadow Mountain
by Marian Rumsey, Illustrated by Lydia Rosier
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Dangerous Journey
by Oliver Hunkin (abridger)
from Eerdmans
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$25.00
Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Automatic House
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Owen Kampen
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Brinton Turkle
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Owen Kampen
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Universal Glue
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Leo Summers
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Danny Dunn on a Desert Island
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
1971 printing from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Brinton Turkle
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Discovery in Great Sand Dunes National Park
A Mystery Adventure in the National Parks #2
by Aaron Johnson
from Aaron Johnson
for 2nd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.99
Dobie Sturgis and the Dog Soldiers
by Carl G. Hodges
First Edition from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Doctor Dolittle's Zoo
Doctor Dolittle #6
by Hugh Lofting
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Doctor Dolittle's Zoo
Doctor Dolittle #6
by Hugh Lofting
1967th edition from Mayflower Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dolphin Adventure
by Wayne Grover
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-7th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99 $3.50 (4 in stock)
Dolphin Treasure
by Wayne Grover
from HarperTrophy
for Ages 8-12
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99 $3.50 (2 in stock)
Double Trouble in Bugland
by William Kozwinkle
from David R. Godine
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Down the Big River
Purple House Living History Library
by Stephen W. Meader, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.99
Dragon's Hoard
Hall of Doors #1
by Rebecca Gilleland
from Progeny Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Dragon's Milk (The Dragon Chronicles)
Dragon Chronicles #1
by Susan Fletcher
Reprint from Atheneum
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
ECL: Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Don Irwin
for 3rd-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Pinocchio
Educator Classic Library #3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Joseph Walker and illustrated by William Dempster
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Swiss Family Robinson (abridged)
Educator Classic Library #4
by Johann Wyss, translated by William H. G. Kingston and illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Virginian
Educator Classic Library #6
by Owen Wister, illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Education of Patience Goodspeed
by Heather Vogel Frederick
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Edward and the Pirates
by David McPhail
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Edward Eager's Tales of Magic
by Edward M. Eager
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
El Guero
by Elizabeth Borton de TreviƱo
from Hampton-Brown
Historical Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Ember Falls
Green Ember #2
by S. D. Smith
from Story Warren Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Ember Falls
Green Ember #2
by S. D. Smith
from Story Warren Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
1234