Realistic Fiction

Realistic fiction is kind of a newcomer to the long list of literary genres. Primarily aimed at children and adolescents (the corresponding genre in adult literature is usually just called "literary fiction"), realistic fiction is recognizable by its relatable characters and situations. What sets it apart from historical fiction is that the stories do not center around an actual historical event or person, though they may be set in a very real time period.

Characters deal with the things everyone else deals with—death, friendship, loneliness, embarrassment, first love—and they don't get transported to a make-believe island as a solution to their problems. They have to work it out, which is one of the main appeals of this genre; kids like to read about other kids (real or imaginary) going through the typical young person's trials and how they deal with it.

Not that all realistic fiction is sad and gloomy. It's just what it sounds like—stories about real-life from a fresh perspective. Also, we aren't suggesting there are no realistic elements to a fantasy like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: there are, which is precisely what makes reading that book so rewarding. It's just that real kids don't fight literal dragons, they fight bullies, or their own insecurities, or ferocious acne.

A lot of the best and most-loved stories fall squarely within the limits of realistic fiction. Huckleberry Finn wasn't a real pirate, but he really rafted the Mississippi; Anne Shirley wasn't a Medieval princess, but she really became Matthew and Marilla's daughter; Anna and Caleb Witting aren't big on imagination, but they are big on really accepting Sarah into their family (at least, eventually).

The full range of human experience is explored in these stories, its darkness, its light, its sorrow, its joy. This is the purpose of literature, after all: to show us true life, and in showing us, to better prepare us for it. These books are some of the best at doing just that.

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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307 Items found Print
Active Filters: Kindergarten (Ages 5-6)
Adèle & Simon
by Barbara McClintock
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Adèle & Simon in America
by Barbara McClintock
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Adventures of Obadiah
by Brinton Turkle
from Dutton Juvenile
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Adventures of Tim
by Edward Ardizzone
from Chancellor Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Book Treasuries (Location: PIC-TRE)
Akiak
by Robert J. Blake
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
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 Gets in First
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Trumpet Club
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)
$11.89
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, illustrated by Leslie Baker
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah
by Emily Jenkins
from Schwartz & Wade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14
Andrew Henry's Meadow
by Doris Burn
from Philomel Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
Exodus Books 5-Star Rating
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14 $8.40 (1 in stock)
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)
$8.46
Angus Lost
by Marjorie Flack
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Animal Realistic for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
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)
$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Annie and the Old One
by Miska Miles; illustrated by Peter Parnall
Reprint from Little, Brown & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
1972 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Annie and the Old One
by Miska Miles; illustrated by Peter Parnall
from Little, Brown & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
1972 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Apple Picking Time
from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
April's Kittens
by Claire Turlay Newberry
from Troll Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
April's Kittens
by Clare Turlay Newberry
from Harper & Brothers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1941 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Armadillo's Orange
by Jim Arnosky
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Babushka
by Charles Mikolaycak
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Babushka
by Charles Mikolaycak
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bambi's Children
by Felix Salten, adapted by Allen Chaffee and illustrated by Phoebe Erickson
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.16
Bears on Hemlock Mountain
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94
Bears on Hemlock Mountain
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Beaver Pond
by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from Unknown Publisher
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook
by Shirley Hughes
from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.29
Big Tree
by Mary Buff, Conrad Buff
1st Edition from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.19
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Blossom Comes Home
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey
from Puffin Books
Realistic Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1949 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1949 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.84
Bluewater Journal
by Loretta Krupinski
1st edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bracelet, The
by Yoshika Uchida
from PaperStar Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Brave Irene
by William Steig
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
from Henry Holt and Company
Word Books/Animal Stories for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$7.64
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
Second Edition, 25th Anniversary Edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
Second Edition, 25th Anniversary Edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Bufo
by Robert M. McClung
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-1st grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Chair For My Mother
by Vera B. Williams
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1983 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
Child's Calendar
by John Updike
from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
2000 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
Child's Calendar
by John Updike
from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
2000 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Children of the Northlights
by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire
Reprint from University of Minnesota
for Preschool-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$14.41
Children of the Northlights
by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire
1962 Reprint from Viking Press
for Preschool-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
Christmas Cat
by Efner Tudor Holmes, Tasha Tudor (Illustrator)
from HarperCollins
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Christmas in Noisy Village OSI
by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Ilon Wikland
from Puffin Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Coming On Home Soon
by Jacqueline Woodson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Coppertop
by Bob Hunt, illustrated by Jeanne Manget
from Coward McCann
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
Reissue from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-6th grade
1955 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.09 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Cow Who Fell in the Canal
by Phyllis Krasilovsky
from Doubleday & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Coyote Raid in Cactus Canyon
by Jim Arnosky
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cranberry Christmas
by Wende & Harry Devlin
First Edition from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cranberry Christmas
by Wende & Harry Devlin
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$13.59
Cranberry Halloween
by Wende & Harry Devlin
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Days Before Now
by Margaret Wise Brown
Library Binding from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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)
Dick King-Smith's Animal Friends
by Dick King-Smith, Anita Jeram (Illustrator)
from Candlewick Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Double Birthday Present
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, illustrated by Elinore Blaisdell
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Down, Down the Mountain
by Ellis Credle
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.74
Eddie's Menagerie
by Carolyn Haywood
1st edition from Troll Associates
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Egg Tree
by Katherine Milhous
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-2nd grade
1951 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Elf Owl
by Mary & Conrad Buff
3rd Printing from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Evening at Alfie's
by Shirley Hughes
Reprint from Red Fox
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.99
Everett Anderson's Goodbye
by Lucille Clifton, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi
from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1984 Coretta Scott King Award
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Everybody Cooks Rice
from First Avenue Editions
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Farmhouse
by Sophie Blackall
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14
Finders Keepers
by Will and Nicholas
Reissue from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
1952 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.95
Fire Engine Book
by Tibor Gergely
1st edition from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Little Golden Books (Location: PIC-GOLD)
$5.09
Fish Head
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Marc Simont
2nd Edition, 1972 from Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
for Preschool-1st grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Five O'Clock Charlie
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$11.89
Five O'Clock Charlie
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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 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 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 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 and Their New Skates
by Maj Lindman
Updated 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)
$5.95
Fox Eyes
by Margaret Wise Brown
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
by Jan Brett
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.49
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