Books like

Books like The Polar Express

12 books with a reading profile close to The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Practical and clear-cut; an easy read.

1

Corduroy

by Don Freeman

Also practical and clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Corduroy is a small bear in green overalls who lives on a shelf in a crowded department store.
2

The Running Dream

by Wendelin Van Draanen

Also practical and clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Jessica Carlisle, a track star who loses her leg below the knee following a bus accident, faces the abrupt end of her identity as an athlete.
3

Touching Spirit Bear

by Ben Mikaelsen

Also clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Cole Matthews, fifteen, is a violent young offender who has been sentenced to a Native-inspired form of justice called Circle Justice.
4

Maniac Magee

by Jerry Spinelli

Also clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Jeffrey Lionel Magee is an orphaned runaway with legendary athletic abilities who settles in the racially divided town of Two Mills.
5

Love You Forever

by Robert Munsch

Also practical and clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

This story follows the life of a mother and her son through the various stages of his development.
6

Esperanza Rising

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Also clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Esperanza Ortega lives a life of luxury on her family’s ranch in Aguascalientes, Mexico, until her father’s sudden death and the destruction of her home by her uncles forces a sudden escape.
7

Fish in a Tree

by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Also clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Ally Nickerson has reached the sixth grade by using distractions and bad behavior to hide her inability to read.
8

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom

inspirational, narrative

Annie is a young woman whose life was changed by an accident at Ruby Pier, the amusement park where Eddie, the hero of Albom's first novel, spent his life.
9

The Last Sin Eater

by Francine Rivers

Also clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Set in the 1850s Appalachian Mountains, the narrative follows Cadi Forbes, a young girl burdened by the guilt of her sister’s death.
10

Because of Winn-Dixie

by Kate DiCamillo

Also clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni moves to Naomi, Florida, with her father, a preacher who struggles to talk about Opal’s absent mother.
11

Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family

by Mitch Albom

Also practical and clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

When the 2010 earthquake struck Haiti, Mitch Albom was already running an orphanage in Port-au-Prince.
12

The Lorax

by Dr. Seuss

Also practical and clear-cut · inspirational, narrative

In his factory-choked wasteland, the reclusive Once-ler recounts the environmental collapse of a formerly vibrant valley.

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