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Fiction by Genre

Fiction is good. It's not just lies—lies are the dishonest things we tell other people out of selfishness, while fiction is (or should be) those stories used to reveal truth. Not that all stories have to be tied up with a neat moral at the end. Truth wears many faces, and our favorite stories are as varied, and often as unresolved, as life itself.

A good book always has something to say, however. Even if the message is as simple as "it's good to have friends" or "growing up is difficult no matter who you are," there is a message and it can be understood. There are books that are all plot....but they aren't good books. There are books that are all blatant morality and character-building....also not good books, at least in the sense we mean here.

For those of you about to stop reading, know this: we aren't promoting immoral books. Just because there isn't an obvious "and Johnny was happy because he knew that stealing was bad" ending doesn't mean we support kids reading about worldly characters doing worldly things as though this was normal and healthy. But we also don't think Pathway Readers are the only appropriate fiction available to children.

What we mean by "good book" is one which accurately depicts human nature, demonstrates an engaging style, displays a consistent worldview, and doesn't use cheap tricks to get readers interested. That excludes a lot of books. It also includes a lot of books, and they typically aren't the ones filling the new release racks at Barnes & Noble.

We emphasize classic fiction at Exodus Books. That's not to say we shun all modern fiction, but typically good writing survives for years and years and years on its own merits, and those books that fit that description can be trusted more than those still in their infancy. Genres we find particularly problematic are those built around cheap formulas and plots with little to say (fantasy, sci-fi and mystery series come immediately to mind).

Books that rely on non-stop action and thrills are also avoided by our charming and discerning book-buying staff. Kids need to learn to enjoy reading because it's good for them and offers new ways to look at the world, not simply for a book's entertainment value. It's not enough just to read—if you read a steady diet of trash or sub-standard fiction you're really no better off than watching hours of television.

There is a difference between children's and adult literature. Kids shouldn't be sheltered, but they also aren't prepared to deal with the themes and darker elements adults must confront. Most of the titles in this section are "safe"—not a lot of extreme violence, sexual content, profanity, etc. here (though there is some overlap with the adult and children's genres).

Along the same lines, we don't encourage letting kids read abridged versions of classics or advanced material. Everything we offer is unabridged unless explicitly stated—it's far better to have kids read stories at their level than to have them read edited and often misrepresented versions of books not intended for children. If they read Charlotte's Web and Rufus M. as kids, they'll be ready for Great Expectations when they're older.

Nowhere in the Bible does God say "Read fiction. It'll make you a better person." But neither does He say "Have a time set aside for daily devotions. It's the only path to true spirituality." Simply because there's no command in Scripture doesn't mean a particular activity isn't a really good idea. Not that reading the Bible and reading fiction are in any way on the same level. Reading God helps us understand Him better—reading fiction helps us understand ourselves.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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Parent Categories
Fiction by Genre
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235 Items found Print
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Active Filters: Preschool (Ages 4-5), Trade Paperback
Adelita
by Tomie DePaola
Reprint from Puffin Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Adventures of Paddy the Beaver
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #19
by Thornton W. Burgess
Unabridged from Dover Publications
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00
Aesop and Company
by Aesop, prepared by Barbara Bader and illustrated by Arthur Geisert
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Alfie and the Big Boys
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$13.99
Alfie and the Birthday Surprise
by Shirley Hughes
Reissue from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alfie Gets in First
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alfie Gives a Hand
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$13.99
Alfie Weather
by Shirley Hughes
New from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alfie Wins a Prize
by Shirley Hughes
Reissue from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.99
Alfie's Alphabet
by Shirley Hughes
from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alfie's Christmas
by Shirley Hughes
from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alfie's Feet
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Alfie's Numbers
by Shirley Hughes
from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
All Those Secrets of the World
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock
by Eric A. Kimmel
Reprint from Holiday House
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Angel in the Waters
by Regina Doman; illustrated by Ben Hatke
from Sophia Institute Press
Realistic Fiction for Preschool-Kindergarten
in Pregnancy & Infant Care (Location: PRE-INF)
$9.95
Angus Lost
by Marjorie Flack
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Animal Realistic for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Annie and the Old One
by Miska Miles, Peter Parnall
Reprint from Little, Brown & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
1972 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Ant and the Elephant
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Apple Picking Time
from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Armadillo from Amarillo
by Lynne Cherry
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Arthur's Honey Bear
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Babushka
by Charles Mikolaycak
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Babushka Baba Yaga
by Patricia Polacco
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Beauty and the Beast
by Jan Brett
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Bed for the Winter
DK Readers Level 1
by Karen Wallace
1st edition from DK Children
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$4.99
Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook
by Shirley Hughes
from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.99
Big Bad Bruce
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Big Frank's Fire Truck
by Leslie McGuire
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Biggest Frog in Australia
by Susan L. Roth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.99
Black Horse
by Marianna Mayer
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bony-Legs
by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Dirk Zimmer
from Scholastic Inc.
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bracelet, The
by Yoshika Uchida
from PaperStar Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
by Verna Aardema & Beatriz Vidal
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Buford the Little Bighorn
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Carrot Seed
by Ruth Krauss & Crockett Johnson
from HarperCollins
Humorous Book on Botany for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (5 in stock)
Chester the Worldly Pig
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Chester's Way
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Chick & the Duckling
by Mirra Ginsburg
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Word Books for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (8 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from William Morrow & Company
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes
by Dubose Heyward
from Sandpiper Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cowardly Clyde
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Crane Wife
by Odds Bodkin
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.00
Curious George
by H. A. Rey
36th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Curious George Flies a Kite
by Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Curious George Gets a Medal
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Curious George Goes to the Hospital
by H. A. & Margret Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Curious George Learns the Alphabet
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Curious George Rides a Bike
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Curious George Takes a Job
by H. A. Rey
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
by Trinka Hakes Noble, Steven Kellogg (Illustrator)
from Puffin Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Day the Goose Got Loose
by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
First Scholastic Printing April 1993 from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Days of the Blackbird
by Tomie dePaola
from Puffin Books
for Prescool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Desert Is Theirs
by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-2nd grade
1976 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Each Peach Pear Plum
by Allan & Janet Ahlberg
from Puffin Books
Rhyming Story for Preschool-Kindergarten
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Edward the Emu
by Sheena Knowles
Reprint from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Egg Tree
by Katherine Milhous
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-2nd grade
1951 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Eli
by Bill Peet
from Sandpiper Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Ella
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Enchanted Wood
by Ruth Sanderson
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Encore for Eleanor
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Evening at Alfie's
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.99
Everybody Cooks Rice
from First Avenue Editions
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Farewell to Shady Glade
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Feast for 10
by Cathryn Falwell
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Feelings
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Emotions for Kids (Location: BIB-CHEM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Fin M'coul
by Tomie dePaola
from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
First Book of Fairy Tales
by Mary Hoffman
from DK Publishing
Fairy Tales for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Fish is Fish
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the Big Red Hen
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the Little Dog
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the New Dotted Dresses
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the Strawberries
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the Three Kittens
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the Three Kittens
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and Their New Friend
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and Their New Friend
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Bake a Cake
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Bake a Cake
by Maj Lindman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Flower Garden
by Eve Bunting
from Sandpiper Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.00
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
by Jan Brett
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Frog and Toad Collection
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$17.97
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Gingerbread Baby
by Jan Brett
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Gingerbread Boy
by Paul Galdone
from Clarion Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Gingerbread Man
by Jim Aylesworth
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Gnats of Knotty Pine
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
Gregory's Shadow
by Don Freeman
from Puffin Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Gullywasher (bilingual)
by Joyce Rossi
from Luna Rising
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.95
Hanna's Cold Winter
by Trish Marx & Barbara Knutson
from Purple House Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$11.95
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