Literature by Genre

Since Aristotle, man has been busy classifying things. Adam was the classification pioneer (naming the animals), but it was the Greek philosopher who turned it into an art form, an obsession, and an intellectual sport. We've had 2300 years to get better at it, and today a book isn't just a "book": it's a novel, or a treatise, or a poem, or a drama. But it isn't even just a novel, anymore—it's a satire, or historical fiction, or science fiction, or a philosophical novel, or an autobiographical collection of short stories set in a dystopian near-future.

There may be no examples of the last type, but genres (rather than being confusing, as some claim) are invaluable guides to navigating the endless stream of books that flows through our bookstores, libraries, and online distribution centers. For instance, you know just by hearing the phrase "romance novel" there won't be much quality in any section so named, and if the normal romance novel is to be shunned, you can be certain the growing field of paranormal romance fiction will be even more useless.

I will not take this opportunity to describe each and every genre we've included in our selection; that's what the sidebar is for. However, before you dismiss the genre distinctions as useless generic terminology, consider what they can do. If you've just finished a book by Jane Austen, or Tim O'Brien, or Rudyard Kipling, and want to read similar books but don't know where to start, you could start by looking at other books included in their respective genres.

Some of the genres are pretty basic. Obviously, if you want to read poetry you aren't going to look under Novels. Well, you might, but you'd be mostly out of luck. Others, like Epic & Saga, can be much more helpful for more specific searches—our Epic & Saga category includes 42 items; our Literature & Adult Fiction includes 2,397.

Most of the books found here are for older students or adults (though that doesn't mean younger readers can't enjoy most of them as well, as long as you preview and discuss each title with them). For kid-oriented reading, check out our Fiction category. The genres there are even more specific, partly because there are more obvious distinctions beween different kinds of children's literature, and partly because we've spent more time bringing in specifc titles for young readers. That in no way means we've ignored our selection for adults and high schoolers.

In fact, we're pretty proud of it. Not every book is worth reading; we've tried to limit those on our shelf to ones that are. To make it easier for you to find the sort of book you want to read, we've given most of the titles genres. Sure, it's often fun to lazily browse bookstore shelves or websites, but let's face it—somtimes you just need to find the next book that's going to provide your fiction fix, and you don't have time to research the whole broad genre that happens to be your favorite. Reader, we salute you, and offer you: Literature by Genre.

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.
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80 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Harry Rountree
from Gallery Books
for 3rd-9th grade
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Another Book of Verses for Children
by E.V. Lucas (editor), illustrated by F.D. Bedford
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$19.50 (1 in stock)
Apple Blossoms and Other Stories
by Edmund Stanley and A. R. Taylor
from Scott, Foresman & Co.
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose
by Arnold Lobel
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Babar the King / Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Jean de Brunhoff (Babar); Rose Dobbs (reteller, Grimm), Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott Espensheid
from Random House
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.25 (1 in stock)
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
by Fred Rogers, illustrated by Luke Flowers
from Quirk Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Americans
by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet, illustrated by Charles Child
from Farrar & Rinehart
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Book of Verses for Children
by E. V. Lucas
1st THUS from Popular Culture Ink
for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Christopher Bing
1st edition from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Book of Poems
by Gyo Fujikawa
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.99 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Child's First Steps to Virtues
by Emily Hunter
from Harvest House
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Simon and Schuster
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99 $14.50 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Cooper Edens
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
Arcadia
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Princess House Books
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Thomas Kinkade
First Edition, Thus from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Weathervane Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Juanita C. Bennett
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
Popular Edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to Poetry
Books for Young Explorers
by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
from Macmillan
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Book of Marvels
by Richard Halliburton
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$22.50 (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 $15.00 (2 in stock)
Drat These Brats!
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Enchanted Book
by Janina Porazinska, translated by Bozena Smith, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for 2nd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales and Stories
by Hans Christian Andersen, Edited by Signe Toksvig, Illustrated by George and Doris Hauman
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.75 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Kay Nielsen
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Hansel and Gretel
by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader
from Weiser & Weiser
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Here There Be Angels
by Jane Yolen, illustrated by David Wilgus
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
I Saw Esau
by Iona & Peter Opie
First U.S. Edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
If: A Poem by Rudyard Kipling
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Giovanni Manna
from Creative Editions
for 3rd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Kaleidoscope of Fairies & Fables
by Hans Andersen, Aesop, Kipling & the Brothers Grimm, retold by Robert Mathias
from Hamlyn
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
King and the Green Angelica
by Isabel Wyatt and Joan Rudel
from Lanthorn Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Kingdom Tales
by David & Karen Mains
from My Father's World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$34.95 $21.00 (5 in stock)
Legend of El Dorado
by Written & Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, Adapted by Nancy Van Laan
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving
from Philomel Books
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lessons from Nature
by John Bunyan
from Back Home Industries
Lyrical Poems for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$24.00 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Little Prince - Russian language edition
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Eksmodetstvo
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in Russian (Location: FL-GEN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lives of the Artists
by M. B. Goffstein
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
Caldecott Medal Winner 1990
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lullabies & Good Night
by Stephen Elkins (editor), illustrated with paintings by Mary Cassatt
from Ideals Children's Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mirror, Mirror
by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josee Masse
from Dutton Children's Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Night Before Christmas with DVD
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
from Putnam Juvenile
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen; retold by Stephen Mitchell and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Nursery Friends from France
from Book House for Children
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$14.25 (1 in stock)
Odin's Family
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Maryclare Foa
from Orchard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Odyssey of Homer
by Alfred J. Church (reteller), illustrated by John Flaxman
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Once Upon a Poem
by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Peter Bailey, Sian Bailey, Carol Lawson, Chris McEwan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Colin West
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Katherine Tegen Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Oxford Book of Poetry for Children
by Edward Blishen (editor), illustrated by Brian Wildsmith
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Patrol
by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vietnam War (1957-1975) (Location: HISA-20VIE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Piper, Pipe That Song Again
by Nancy Larrick
from Random House
for Preschool-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Poems to Learn by Heart
by Caroline Kennedy; illustrated by Jon J. Muth
from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman
Poetry for Young People
by Walt Whitman, edited by Jonathan Levin, illustrated by Jim Burke
from Sterling Publishing Co.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Poetry Speaks to Children w/CD
by Elise Paschen (editor), illustrated by Judy Love, Wendy Rasmussen, Paula Zinngrabe Wendland
from Sourcebooks
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Poland's Noble Son
by Daughters of St. Paul & Maxine Mayer, illustrated by Maxine Mayer
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Prayer for a Child
by Rachel Field
1957 Printing from Macmillan
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.38 (1 in stock)
Rainbow Gold
by Sara Teasdale
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$14.25 (1 in stock)
Rainbow in the Sky
by Louis Untermeyer, illustrated by Reginald Birch
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$11.25 (1 in stock)
Random House Book of Poetry for Children
by Jack Prelutsky
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Real Mother Goose
by Blanche Fisher Wright
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Saint Therese and the Roses
by Helen Walker Homan, illustrated by George W. Thompson
Book Club Edition from Vision Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.75 (1 in stock)
Silver Pennies
by Blanche Jennings Thompson, editor; illustrated by Winifred Bromhall
1935 Printing from Macmillan
for 1st-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sing a Song of Popcorn
by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sounds Around the Clock - Teacher Edition
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Sounds of Laughter
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 3rd-4th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$3.75 (2 in stock)
Stars to Steer By
by Louis Untermeyer
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages
by Harold Bloom
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-8th grade
in Short Stories (Location: LIT-ANTH)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
This Year's Book for Boys
by Harold Avery et al.
from Hodder & Stoughton
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.75 (1 in stock)
Treasury of Verse for School and Home
by M. G. Edgar and Eric Chilman, editors
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Two Brothers
by Eugene Schwarz, illustrated by Gabriel Lisowski, translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood
from Harper & Row
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Visit to William Blake's Inn
by Nancy Willard
1st edition
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
1961 Redesigned from E.P. Dutton & Co.
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Who's Zoo
by Conrad Aiken, illustrated by John Vernon Lord
from Jonathan Cape
for 2nd-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Yoshiko Uchida
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Julian Messner
for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)