Each month a kid is chosen to curate a display in The Trove with some of their favorite books. Are you interested in being next month’s kid librarian? Fill out a submission form available at The Trove Desk!

Name: Layla

Age: 10

Favorite type of books: Fantasy Novels

Why do you like to read? You can escape from the real world, and each book is a portal; from whodunits, to good witches, to documentaries about gorillas.

Check out Layla’s recommended reads!

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
All Available Formats

Having spent twenty-seven years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Regan Barnhill
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Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the Forest, Xan, is kind. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna's thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge–with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth's surface. And the woman with the Tiger's heart is on the prowl.

Heidi Heckelbeck by Wanda Coven
All Available Formats

Join Heidi Heckelbeck and her friends at Brewster Elementary on their charming adventures as they deal with everyday childhood challenges…with a bit of help from Heidi’s magical Book of Spells in this bewitching chapter book series.

Middle School and Other Disasters by Wanda Coven
All Available Formats

It's goodbye, Brewster Elementary and hello, Broomsfield Academy when Heidi starts middle school at the only school in the country that has secret classes for witches in training! Heidi is excited but nervous about living on her own and making new friends (and new crushes)! Her first day takes a turn for the worse when Heidi discovers her roommate is none other than her old rival, Melanie Maplethorpe!

Melanie is also less than thrilled, and the two find themselves engaged in an epic prank war. But when magic enters the mix, will the reluctant roommates go too far?

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo
All Available Formats

In a time of war, a mysterious child appears at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. Gentle Brother Edik finds the girl, Beatryce, curled in a stall, wracked with fever, coated in dirt and blood, and holding fast to the ear of Answelica the goat. As the monk nurses Beatryce to health, he uncovers her dangerous secret, one that imperils them all–for the king of the land seeks just such a girl, and Brother Edik, who penned the prophecy himself, knows why.

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
All Available Formats

It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book “Terrible Things Can Happen to You!,” is just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry, and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.

Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo
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To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig — she's a porcine wonder. And to the portly and good-natured Mercy, the Watsons are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons' bed. BOOM! CRACK! As the bed and its occupants slowly sink through the floor, Mercy escapes in a flash – “to alert the fire department,” her owners assure themselves. But could Mercy possibly have another emergency in mind — like a sudden craving for their neighbors' sugar cookies? Welcome to the wry and endearing world of Mercy Watson — an ebullient character for early chapter-book readers in a series that's destined to be a classic.

A Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
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Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. And what happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
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But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
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How James escapes from his miserable life with two nasty aunts and becomes a hero to his new insect family, including Miss Spider, the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the Centipede (with his 21 pairs of gorgeous boots), is Dahl-icious fantasy at its best.

Matilda by Roald Dahl
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Celebrated for fighting for what is right and for standing up to bullies and injustice, Matilda is a five-year-old genius with horrible, mean parents. Fortunately, she has a great time giving them what they deserve. But at school she meets Miss Trunchbull: two hundred pounds of kid-hating headmistress. Giving Miss Trunchbull what she deserves will take a superhuman genius! Readers will delight in seeing Matilda become the hero of her own story.

The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein
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Finally off the tough streets, Aldwyn thinks he's got it made. He just has to convince the other familiars–the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert–that he's the telekinetic cat he claims to be. But when Jack and two other wizards in training are captured by the evil queen, Aldwyn will have to use all of his street smarts, a few good friends, and a nose for adventure to save the day!

Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey
All Available Formats

Naomi, Melvin, Pedro, and Poppy are just a few of the twenty-one rambunctious, funny, and talented baby frogs who share their stories in the Cat Kid Comic Club. Can Li'l Petey, Molly, and Flippy help the students express themselves through comics? The adventures in class and on paper unwind with mishaps and hilarity as the creative baby frogs experience the mistakes and progress that come with practice and persistence.

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
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George and Harold have created a new breed of justice. With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound digs into deception, claws after crooks, rolls over robbers, and scampers after squirrels. Will he be able to resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?

Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
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Percy and his friends Grover the satyr, and Annabeth, the demigod daughter of Athena, must find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. They travel cross country to the gates of the Underworld in Los Angeles, facing a host of enemies determined to stop them.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
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Harry Potter spent ten long years living with Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, an aunt and uncle whose outrageous favoritism of their perfectly awful son Dudley leads to some of the most inspired dark comedy since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But fortunately for Harry, he's about to be granted a scholarship to a unique boarding school called The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will become a school hero at the game of Quidditch (a kind of aerial soccer played high above the ground on broomsticks), he will make some wonderful friends, and, unfortunately, a few terrible enemies. For although he seems to be getting your run-of-the-mill boarding school experience (well, ok, even that's pretty darn out of the ordinary), Harry Potter has a destiny that he was born to fulfill. A destiny that others would kill to keep him from.

Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell
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The New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries series follows Nikki Maxwell as she chronicles her life through text and art—her move to a new school, her battles with queen bee MacKenzie, and her zany adventures with her BFFs Chloe and Zoey by her side.

Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling
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First-generation Filipino siblings JJ and Althea struggle to belong at school. JJ wants to fit in with the crowd, while Althea wants to be accepted as she is. To make matters worse, they have to help their parents run the family food truck by dressing up as a dancing pig and passing out samples. Ugh! And their mom is always pointing out lessons from Filipino folklore — annoying tales they've heard again and again. But when witches, ogres, and other creatures from those same stories threaten their family, JJ and Althea realize that the folklore may be more real than they'd suspected. Can they embrace who they really are and save their family?

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner
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Thirteen-year-old Moth Hush loves all things witchy. But she's about to discover that witches aren't just the stuff of movies, books, and spooky stories. When some eighth-grade bullies try to ruin her Halloween, something really strange happens. It turns out that Founder's Bluff, Massachusetts, has a centuries-old history of witch drama. And, surprise: Moth's family is at the center of it all! When Moth's new powers show up, things get totally out-of-control. She meets a talking cat, falls into an enchanted diary, and unlocks a hidden witch world. Secrets surface from generations past as Moth unravels the complicated legacy at the heart of her town, her family, and herself.

The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker & Stacy Davidowitz
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Thirteen-year-old Nat Beacon loves a lot of things: her dog, Warbucks; her best friend, Chloe; and competing on her wheelchair racing team, the Zoomers, to name a few. But there's one thing she's absolutely OBSESSED with: MUSICALS! From Hamilton to Les Mis, there's not a cast album she hasn't memorized and belted along to. She's never actually been in a musical though, or even seen an actor who uses a wheelchair for mobility onstage. Would someone like Nat ever get cast?

But when Nat's family moves from California to New Jersey, Nat stumbles upon auditions for a kids' production of Wicked, one of her favorite musicals ever! And she gets into the ensemble! The other cast members are super cool and inclusive (well, most of them)–especially Malik, the male lead and cutest boy Nat's ever seen. But when things go awry a week before opening night, will Nat be able to cast her fears and insecurities aside and “Defy Gravity” in every sense of the song title?

A Wolf For a Spell by Karah Sutton
All Available Formats

Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans–especially witches–but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf's keen nose for a secret plan she's brewing . . . Before Zima knows what's happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and runs off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga's hut–and Baba Yaga's body!

Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch's help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga's form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.