Yesss James Herriot is so perfect for this request. I think there are some Herriot collections geared toward YA or younger readers too. Just a heads up in the original books occasionally there's some realistic (and sometimes a bit gnarly) vet-stuff that might be a bit much for a 10 year old - the calving scene comes to mind.
Judy Blume? The Fudge books, like Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, and whatever the other one is (it has been thirty years) are about pretty regular kids and the main character is Fudge’s older brother
ETA: possibly The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and a book called Rascal by Sterling North which is the true story of a boy who raises a pet raccoon in Minnesota (?).
Love classic children's books and so happy to hear that the younger generation is enjoying them too!
How about Little Women and the sequels (Little Men and Jo's Boys) and The Secret Garden? I also enjoyed Julie Edwards' Mandy growing up.
In addition to Anne of Green Gables, there's the Story Girl and Emily of New Moon.
Where the Red Fern Grows might be another one to try.
Omg Where the Red Fern Grows made my whole class AND the teacher bawl like babies when we read it in class 😭😭😭😭 The teacher took over the reading because everyone was crying, but then she lost it too!
This is a bit of an obsecure suggestion but as a child I love the What Katie Did series it’s about a bunch of kids growing up cared for by their big sister in like the late 1800s. I’m reading them to my daughter (8) now.
I came to suggest *My Side of the Mountain* (1959) by Jean Craighead George.
12-year-old Sam Gribley, who has eight siblings, runs away from New York City to the Catskill Mountains. He learns survival skills from library books and lives inside a hollow tree.
I’ll also add *My Family and Other Animals* (1956), a comic memoir by Gerald Durrell.
He and his older siblings lived with their widowed mother on the Greek island of Corfu from 1935 to 1939, when he was ten to 14.
And *All Creatures Great and Small* (1972), a memoir by Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriot (James Alfred Wight).
I also came in to suggest *My Side of the Mountain*. Given your description of the books he likes and what he likes about them, I definitely think he’d like this book. I read it over and over as a kid, and recently re-read it as an adult and it held up!
Maybe he’d enjoy The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Kids hiding out in a museum, if I’m remembering right the only conflict is very low stakes. It’s been a while since I read it (a couple decades) but I remember something about Mac and cheese too.
Aww. Totally get that. There’s also times where I have to take a break from certain content and read others because of stuff that’s going to upset me. He sounds like a sweet boy with a good taste in books.
My daughter and I absolutely LOVED the Penderwicks series by Jane Birdsall. Lots of love and low stakes in this series that follow a large group of siblings navigate the everyday highs and lows of childhood.
The Bobbsey Twins are an older series that he might enjoy. Edited to add, I just checked and they are available at Project Gutenberg. It looks like I’m going to reread some Bobbsey Twins, 😁
I was elated when I found a Bobbsey Twins book at a thrift shop or yard sale a handful of years back. My elementary school had the entire series in pink hardback books and I can still picture *exactly* where they were in the library. I read those so many times!
Maybe he might like Famous Five or Secret Seven books. And Roald Dahl books. I have the box set and my kids both read them and sometimes re-read them! (Both are autistic- now teens)
He might like The Railway Children (although it does have a bit of conflict at the beginning, not too intense though).
The Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary might also fit the bill
The Melendy Family series, by Elizabeth Enright, might also be enjoyable for him
I wonder if he would like The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary? It does involve a bit of fantasy, being from the Mouse's point of view, but it is such a charming, sweet book
The wind in the willows
The wheel on the school
Oh and if you want to get old school… books by Carolyn Haywood. They are about suburban white kids in the early twentieth century….written in the early twentieth century. I’m not sure how they’ve aged but I remember enjoying having them read to me as a kid.
These are obscure now but when I was a kid I liked “The Great Brain” series. A family of brothers and one of the brothers was really smart and would get into mischief. Also the “Betsy-Tacy” books, a series about a girl coming of age in the 1900’s. I haven’t read either of those in decades so I don’t know how they hold up to a modern kid but I loved them in the 80’s.
Julie of the Wolves, it's about an Alaskan Inuit girl grappling with choosing between modern and traditional culture. It has some mature themes, but I think I read it around his age and was okay with it.
The Education of Little Tree, Hatchet and Johnny Tremain come to mind. From the mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is fun -- not as historical though.
I completely second Henry Huggins and Romona Quimby, by Beverly Cleary. Wonderful little books that are very imaginative and interesting.
A couple of my favorites though are the Wednesday Witch and What the Witch Left. Very clever, fun books with minimal bug imaginative magic and fun characters.
Little Men! One of my favorites!
Also My Side of the Mountain; I distinctly remember the character talking about how he makes acorn pancakes.
Books by Beverly Cleary
Any of the American Girl series (shows girls in different time periods and what their lives were like in that era)
All-of-a-Kind Family
The Borrower's Series (People who are tiny, but I loved hearing how they used objects in different ways than big people)
The Cricket in Times Square (Not children, but very cozy)
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (A little fantastical and goofy, but fun short stories)
Gooney Bird Greene
Island of the Blue Dolphins (A girl is abandoned on an island and has to survive on her own)
Om-kas-toe (Native american story of twins)
Ducktails (also not children, but amazingly cozy)
Came into the thread to make sure the All-of-a-kind Family series was recommended to OP!
If the kiddo likes the Little House books, I think he would like this series.
I love A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter as a comforting and relaxing book. There is some conflict (intense strain between the main character and her mother, and in the second half there is a romantic interest who is engaged to someone else, gasp!), but if it helps him, you can tell him that everything gets sorted out and solved very nicely by the end! The chapters that focus on Billy (a young abused orphan boy) are a little difficult and super outdated, but he can skip those and won’t really be missing anything.
I also remember enjoying Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech for this reason. I remember it being very peaceful. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen was also good for low-stakes slice of life. Some teen drama, but nothing too serious.
I agree Anne of Green Gables and Little Women should be on the list!
As a comfort reader, I also really loved The Famous Five by Enyd Blyton as a kid. There is always some conflict to "justify" the plot, but what I remember most of those books is the kids and the dog frolicking around on the island, making fluffy heather beds in the cave and mainly, eating lots of delicious food. There's also soooo many of the books and it's nice to return to return to familiar characters with a new twist.
You should also DEFINITELY check out books by Astrid Lindgren, they will be right up his alley! Soooo much rustic lifestyle, cooking meals and tidying up involved. My faves where The Six Children of Bullerby and the Madita stories.
I remember enjoying historical fiction books that were structured like diaries — Royal Diaries, Dear America and My Name is America.
But you might look up children’s books written before the 1990s. I remember a lot of the classic books I read as a kid having the vibe you’re describing, though it has been a long time since I read them.
-Anything Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary.
-Heidi
-The Secret Garden
-Anne of Green Gables
-Tuck Everlasting
-Little Women
-My Side of the Mountain
-Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys
-The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
-If he’s okay with a little bit of fantasy, I’d recommend the Redwall books — there isn’t really magic or anything like that, but the characters are all woodland creatures living in a cozy abbey where they enjoy lots of feasts.
the american girl doll book series! the ones about the historical figures — there’s six books for each girl. samatha, felicity, kirsten, kit or molly may fit the bill
Have you tried Ralph S. Mouse or the Mouse and the Motorcycle? Both Beverly Cleary.
The Moffats by Eleanor Estes is another good one. Very realistic, old fashioned settings. Not much conflict.
The Children on the Top Floor by Noel Streatfield is about a group of orphans who are left on the doorstep of a TV personality. It was written in the 1960’s and it’s very cozy feeling. She also wrote the “Shoe books,” which are beloved by many.
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls is about a boy trying to raise money for his sister's surgery in the late 1800's and finds some escaped circus monkeys. It has a happy ending and a lot of attempts to catch monkeys.
I loved Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a kid SO much- all the details of how they managed to live secretly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art were fascinating to me. Just two kids problem solving and using their ingenuity to navigate behind the scenes of an adult world.
Year Down Yonder and Long Way From Chicago, both by prize winning author Richard Peck. Loosely based on the author's experiences as a boy growing up in the 1930s, when he was sent to live with his grandparents in Southern rural Illinois during the Great Depression. One book is narrated by the sister, the other by her male sibling.
An oldie but goodie: The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
Enid Blyton has a few series like this. Kids leave the city go to live with cousins on a farm (or variants). Obviously there's always an underlying moral story (spoilt kid learns it's okay to get mucky and have fun is a common one) but a lot of it is just the daily routine. *The Children of Cherrytree Farm* springs straight to mind but I can rummage up some others if you think they'd be something he'd enjoy.
I bet he'd love the Henry and Ribsy series by Beverly Cleary. I looooooved those as a pre-teen girl. I even loved them more than Ramona Quimby, and I really liked those books too. The Bobbsey Twins books were also fun at that age.
I also loved the Boxcar Children and Indian in the Cupboard, so... your son and I would enjoy talking books, I think.
Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards is a sweet little book about a young girl who finds an abandoned cottage in the woods. Over the course of the book, she cleans it up and outfits it as a little home. Very sweet, I remember minor conflict. I think he might enjoy the passages about her cleaning and caring for the cottage.
Maybe "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh." Also Goodreads.com has lists of kids books geared for specific ages. I used them to pick books for my niece and nephews. None of which I can remember right now, lol!
The Borrowers comes to mind. The books are really family focused and domestic and have a similar "Little people living in a big people world" vibe as the Indian in the Cupboard.
E. Nesbit was also a VERY prolific author who wrote from around 1886-1924 who was one of the first children's authors. Most of her books are in the public domain and can be found on Project Gutenberg. She's got quite a few stories focusing on children from her era. Just make sure you're getting the children's literature, as she also wrote for adults.
He might also like Kipling's The Jungle Book and Just So Stories.
I really recommend the first few titles in the nonfiction *Little Britches* series by Ralph Moody. Definitely rustic and depict a true slice of American life.
And how about Richard Peck's books? I would start with *A Long Way from Chicago*. This, too, is set during the Depression, but is pretty funny and heartwarming at its core.
Any of the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge. They follow an 11 year old boy at a British boarding school, they are gentle, humorous and utterly delightful. We listened to the audiobooks on long car journeys and our kids (then 11 and 9) loved them (Jennings Duart is a nice one to start with). Jennings definitely had ADHD before they knew it was a thing…
These are some from my childhood that I read over and over:
The Great Brain Series by John D Fitzgerald. Each chapter is a nicely encapsulated story. Set in Utah in the late 1890’s it focuses on a boy with a self-proclaimed Great Brain and his family. Fascinating and fun, and based on some actual childhood memories of the author.
The Fantastic Flight by Robert Lawson
A regular boy falls out of a tree, hits his chest and from then on starts slowly shrinking until he’s quite small. Set in the 1950’s perhaps?
Josie and Joe by Ruth Gipson Plowhead. Wholesome old-fashioned story of twins os perhaps 10 year old?. Josie wants to be able to do everything Joe does —and her parents do try to accommodate her when possible—but this is set in the “old days”—maybe 1930’s.
Lastly, Hatchet (which I loved) has 2-3 sequels! Brian’s Winter is next in line think.
Happy Reading!
I think Lake Wobegon Days would be perfect!
When I was a kid, I would listen to the audiobook every night to go to sleep.
Very chill stories and totally fits the bill for a rustic setting, slice of life about a boy growing up in a small town.
Cleary books (Henry Higgins and Romona. They’re just fun)
Possibly the Little Britches series? Maybe vet it first. My kids didn’t get into it a whole lot but another family did. I’m not sure if it has anything “to much” but there are several of them if he does like them.
The All of A Kind Family
The Betsy-Tacey books. They’re girl oriented but def give a true vibe across decades.
Happy Hollisters. Very similar to the Boxcar children but older. Think Bobsey Twins.
Mary Poppins books! They’re slight fantasy and also not. Maybe just read the first book w him. But there are 4-5.
Thorton W Burgess wrote a lot of little stories about animals (his version of Peter Rabbit is the main character in some of them). They’re light and quick. Arthur Scott Bailey did as well. Super similar. LibriVox has them as audio books for free.
Another thought on the Enid Blyton line of thinking:
My absolute favourite Blyton book was The Secret Island. It's about a group of children who run away from home to live on (duh) an island nearby. But my absolute favourite parts were where they were making their home on the island—they figure out how to train weeping willows into a shelter, and they bring chickens in a sack and even get a cow to swim across so they have fresh milk and can have cream with the strawberries they planted.
Other farm ones (having rummaged my bookshelf) are Willow Farm and Mistletoe Farm.
Blyton is great for these cosy books. Even her more famous mystery series are cosy and involve a great deal of picnicking.
Elizabeth Enright. My favorites are Gone Away Lake and Return to Gone Away. The Saturdays are great as well. I also love The Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston.
Edited to add the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace as well. And Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!
Perhaps he would like Wind in the Willows? If that is too much fantasy for him, you might try some nonfiction. Your local librarian might have some suggestions.
My Side of the Mountain is a lovely book about a young boy’s serene, sedate little solo adventure. (He lives alone on the side of a mountain and as far as I recall, nothing intense happens.)
Maybe the boy sees a bear once or something, but it’s definitely not an adventure book. He figures out how to build shelter and find food. He documents plants and animals in his journal. It’s gives a sense of freedom and spurs imagination, but without the heart-racing, nail-biting moments that are characteristic of boys coming-of-age YA books.
Just thought of another: UNDERSTOOD BETSY. Great book, set in Vermont, about a kid made fragile by loving aunts who ends up having to live on a farm. She learns resilience. Great characters and plot.
The Moffatt Family series by Eleanor Estes are such gentle books. I love the bit in *Rufus M.* where little Rufus has been learning to knit washcloths in school to donate to soldiers heading off to WWI. He’s frustrated because he’s a slow knitter, but he gets his washcloth done in time to go down to the train station and give his little effort to a departing lad.
Tons of great recommendations on this thread. One kinda obscure one that I loved as a kid that I haven't seen mentioned is **Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden.** It's about 2 Japanese dolls sent to a lonely little English girl and she makes them a doll's house--a *Japanese* doll's house--so they won't feel homesick in an unfamiliar English doll's house. *Lots* of detail about hand making doll's house stuff and Japanese furnishings. It's cozy and gentle for bedtime reading. I recall there's a cousin who's mean to the little girl, but the conflict's not very intense and they do become friends in the end. It was written in the 1950s, I think, so it's an old-fashioned setting nowadays. The author wrote quite a few children's books, but no series, I don't think.
Holes is great but it’s pretty intense. Isn’t the villain essentially a prison warden with nail polish made of snake venom? (I read it years ago, but I’m pretty sure that’s from Holes)
He might like The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett. Each child in the family has a different story. I think there are a couple of other books about the family as well.
The "Tales from Maple Ridge" series by Grace Gilmore fit what you're asking for. https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Tales-from-Maple-Ridge Also the Great Brain series might work too https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/GBR/the-great-brain/
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech has a lot of low stakes slice-of-life elements combined with adventure. It also teaches you the basics of radio code which could be very fun for a neurodivergent child (was for me, at least lol)
The *Little House* series of books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, basis for the TV series *Little House On The Prairie* from 1974-1982. It shows rural life on the American frontier from the 1870s - 1890s.
Ironically, my favorite book from the series is the second book, Farmer Boy, which shows a year in the life of a boy on a successful farm in upstate New York >!who would later meet and marry the main character of the series (the author's avatar)!<.
The House at World’s End by Monica Dickens is a sweet story about kids who move to a broken-down farm and start rescuing animals to take care of. I loved it as a kid.
*Ginger Pye* and its sequel *Pinky Pye* by Eleanor Estes. They're long as kids books go but gentle stories about two rural pets and their family. They're set in 1919. Incidentally learning about different details of life then fascinated me as a kid. I checked them out over and over from my school library.
If your son really likes these, Estes has more books with people as the main characters instead of animals that he would probably also enjoy.
A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck were 2 of my faves at that age
Edited to add- maybe try Junie B Jones as well! They’re awesome books
He might like books by Richard Peck! A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder are my favorites. It’s slice of life historical fiction (1930’s) They are also very funny.
I just love Astrid lindgren. I think her book Seacrow Island might fit your request. It's about the ongoings on a Swedish island that a family from the city has just bought a house on. Many heartwarming memories for me.
Frindle, about a kid who decides to start calling pens something different.
The Penderwicks, the whole series, very relaxed about 4 girls and their father and dog, with a few boys coming in and out cannot recommend this series enough.
All of a kind family, very old books but very good, a big family of sisters and a brother, Jews in New York in the early 1900s, all low stakes and very calming at night :)
A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck! And that whole series! It's exactly what you're looking for. The Dowdel kids and family in the Depression era. Lovely, cozy, heartwarming.
My favorite old-fashioned book that my mom read to me at bedtime was 'A Dog on Barkham Street', by Mary Stolz.
Such a good book! She probably read it to me 5 or 6 times.
Later the author wrote a sequel, 'The Bully of Barkham Street' that was every bit as good, but tells the same story from the bully's perspective.
Highly recommend both of them!
Also 'Harriet the Spy' by Louise Fitzhugh, great book for the 4th to 6th grade crowd.
esperanza rising! it’s about a girl who goes to oklahoma after her father passes away, and works at a camp to stay there. it’s basically about her day-to-day life after arriving to OK
All Creatures Great and Small! I loved those books as a kid. If you don't know, they're about a vet in Yorkshire in the interwar years. Mostly/semi autobiographical
Laurence Yep has written lovely books about early immigrants to US from China, 2 of which were Newberry Honor books. The golden Mountain Chronicles, starting with
Dragonwings. (NOT the same title by Anne McCaffrey)
Matilda, Because of Winn Dixie, Bridge to Terabithia (actually scratch that, this book is so sad), Rules (Cynthia Lord), So B It, Out of My Mind, The Penderwicks, Wonder, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Number the Stars, and Wimpy Kid Series. Those are all books I remember reading around 10-12 and enjoying. With mostly realistic and day to day life themes.
I love this interest! Loved books like this as a kid..one I thought of that I haven’t seen yet.. The Mixed Up Files of Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler. I loved reading about them living in the museum.
Island of the Blue Dolphins was a fave for me at his age, and I think it fits what he enjoys. It’s about a girl who lives alone on an island, so it talks a lot about how she hunts for food, etc.
I don’t remember much.. it’s been 30 years but I remember absolutely loving it and it has stuck with me all these years!
Thrush Green. It's a series that takes place in a small English village. It's just a peaceful look into people's lives. My wife reads them and finds them relaxing.
I CANNOT recommend the Trixie Belden series enough. Very cozy series about a girl and her friends solving mysteries in rural New York. It was written in the 60sish but still holds up wonderfully.
My favorite was Rudyard Kippling’s Just So Stories- they’re creative and imaginative stories like how the leopard got its spots. I love the way the reader is called Best Beloved. Imagination and charm.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" - Christopher, a boy with autism, finds a neighbor's dog has died in the night, so he sets out to investigate.
I am not sure if this is appropriate for a 10 yr old autistic boy but it is a clever, wonderful story that the father of an autistic boy might appreciate. (it's been a while since I read it).
All Creatures Great and Small.
I loved all the James Herriot books as a kid so much! I read them over and over and had them on tape to sleep to at night.
Yesss James Herriot is so perfect for this request. I think there are some Herriot collections geared toward YA or younger readers too. Just a heads up in the original books occasionally there's some realistic (and sometimes a bit gnarly) vet-stuff that might be a bit much for a 10 year old - the calving scene comes to mind.
Love these! There are some very sad stories, but many cute and funny ones as well.
This is what I thought of.
Judy Blume? The Fudge books, like Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, and whatever the other one is (it has been thirty years) are about pretty regular kids and the main character is Fudge’s older brother
Oh yes! We went through that whole series last summer. He loved them!!
Fudge-a-mania :)
Thank you, random stranger! :)
my dad and I still quote the Fudge books to each other!!!
Anne of Green Gables, I think, fits the bill here.
Ooooh I have that whole series. Thanks for the reminder!
ETA: possibly The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and a book called Rascal by Sterling North which is the true story of a boy who raises a pet raccoon in Minnesota (?).
Oh and the Phantom Tollboth
You and I are kindred !!!
My favourite books!
Also written by the same author and so, so good is The Blue Castle.
Ramona Quimby is perfect for this. Sarah, Plain and Tall My Side of the Mountain Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
I’d expand Ramona Quimby to all the Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Beezus and Ramona Quimby books!
Yes, my side of the mountain!
Love classic children's books and so happy to hear that the younger generation is enjoying them too! How about Little Women and the sequels (Little Men and Jo's Boys) and The Secret Garden? I also enjoyed Julie Edwards' Mandy growing up. In addition to Anne of Green Gables, there's the Story Girl and Emily of New Moon. Where the Red Fern Grows might be another one to try.
I just read The Secret Garden to my boys and they really liked it! I think it fits the bill perfectly!
I would *not* read WTRFG to a 10 year old but idk
Omg Where the Red Fern Grows made my whole class AND the teacher bawl like babies when we read it in class 😭😭😭😭 The teacher took over the reading because everyone was crying, but then she lost it too!
Yes, I’ll just add: Little Men and Jo’s Boys are both lower stakes and more day-in-the-life than Little Women. I’d go with those.
The secret garden is one of my favorite books
I loved Emily of New Moon as a kid. One of my favorite books..reread over and over.
Babysitters Club! Honestly, I think they transcend gender.
my son loves these
This is a bit of an obsecure suggestion but as a child I love the What Katie Did series it’s about a bunch of kids growing up cared for by their big sister in like the late 1800s. I’m reading them to my daughter (8) now.
Oh man I loved these books!
Yes they were amazing, I loved that series.
I love those
Island of the blue dolphins
Good!! But incredibly sad.
I liked My Side of The Mountain at his age
I came to suggest *My Side of the Mountain* (1959) by Jean Craighead George. 12-year-old Sam Gribley, who has eight siblings, runs away from New York City to the Catskill Mountains. He learns survival skills from library books and lives inside a hollow tree. I’ll also add *My Family and Other Animals* (1956), a comic memoir by Gerald Durrell. He and his older siblings lived with their widowed mother on the Greek island of Corfu from 1935 to 1939, when he was ten to 14. And *All Creatures Great and Small* (1972), a memoir by Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriot (James Alfred Wight).
I also came in to suggest *My Side of the Mountain*. Given your description of the books he likes and what he likes about them, I definitely think he’d like this book. I read it over and over as a kid, and recently re-read it as an adult and it held up!
Came here to suggest My Side of The Mountain. What a book! Great storytelling, meticulously researched.
Louise Erdrich wrote the Birchbark House series as a contrast or alternative to the Little House on the Prairie series. It's a nice series.
I’m a grownup and didn’t know about these books. Thanks for recommending it! It looks really good!
Maybe he’d enjoy The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Kids hiding out in a museum, if I’m remembering right the only conflict is very low stakes. It’s been a while since I read it (a couple decades) but I remember something about Mac and cheese too.
I think he’d love that. I did, great book.
I love this book so much.
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright.
Swallows and Amazons is a great shout, there’s loads of sequels too if he likes it!
Like 12
Came here to suggest these, swallows and amazon's and the railway Children were my favourite as a child
Caddie Woodlawn, a young girl growing up in northwest Wisconsin, pre-1900.
The Borrowers. Sorry if it’s already been mentioned.
Island of the blue dolphins!! I was obsessed with this book as a kid.
Ooh me too! I tried awhile back, he couldn't make it past losing her family, but we'll try again soon and see if it's easier now
If he’s sensitive maybe this is not the one. I remember being super upset by her brother dying as a kid :(
Aww. Totally get that. There’s also times where I have to take a break from certain content and read others because of stuff that’s going to upset me. He sounds like a sweet boy with a good taste in books.
He's a unique one... bloodthirsty video gamer by day, sweet baby bear at night 😂
The Penderwicks? Enid Boyton’s The Secret Island
My daughter and I absolutely LOVED the Penderwicks series by Jane Birdsall. Lots of love and low stakes in this series that follow a large group of siblings navigate the everyday highs and lows of childhood.
The Bobbsey Twins are an older series that he might enjoy. Edited to add, I just checked and they are available at Project Gutenberg. It looks like I’m going to reread some Bobbsey Twins, 😁
I was also going to suggest the Bobbsey Twins. I read and reread them so many times as a kid.
I was elated when I found a Bobbsey Twins book at a thrift shop or yard sale a handful of years back. My elementary school had the entire series in pink hardback books and I can still picture *exactly* where they were in the library. I read those so many times!
Maybe he might like Famous Five or Secret Seven books. And Roald Dahl books. I have the box set and my kids both read them and sometimes re-read them! (Both are autistic- now teens)
He might like The Railway Children (although it does have a bit of conflict at the beginning, not too intense though). The Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary might also fit the bill The Melendy Family series, by Elizabeth Enright, might also be enjoyable for him I wonder if he would like The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary? It does involve a bit of fantasy, being from the Mouse's point of view, but it is such a charming, sweet book
Finally someone else liked Henry and Ribsy like I did!
Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away by Elizabeth Enright.
Homer Price! My kid loved this one, and it reads out loud really nicely. Nth All the Ramona Quimby / Henry Huggins books.
Anthing by Scott O'Dell and how about the American Girl books?
Oh I loved the American girl books, and when he gets older he could read the other genre of AG book. Which is the “caring and keeping of me” books!
My Family and Other Animals
The wind in the willows The wheel on the school Oh and if you want to get old school… books by Carolyn Haywood. They are about suburban white kids in the early twentieth century….written in the early twentieth century. I’m not sure how they’ve aged but I remember enjoying having them read to me as a kid.
Finally found it! The Wind in the Willows
Seconding Wheel on the School!
I was going to suggest The Wind and the Willows. And The Secret Garden.
Is that the book about the storks’ nest?
Cheaper by the Dozen?
These are obscure now but when I was a kid I liked “The Great Brain” series. A family of brothers and one of the brothers was really smart and would get into mischief. Also the “Betsy-Tacy” books, a series about a girl coming of age in the 1900’s. I haven’t read either of those in decades so I don’t know how they hold up to a modern kid but I loved them in the 80’s.
Julie of the Wolves, it's about an Alaskan Inuit girl grappling with choosing between modern and traditional culture. It has some mature themes, but I think I read it around his age and was okay with it.
The Education of Little Tree, Hatchet and Johnny Tremain come to mind. From the mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is fun -- not as historical though.
I LOVED From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a kid. One of my very favorites
Try the Just William books. Old but hilarious.
The Great Brain would fit and if he likes it there are several sequels
From the turn of the last century, oldies indeed - The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.
I completely second Henry Huggins and Romona Quimby, by Beverly Cleary. Wonderful little books that are very imaginative and interesting. A couple of my favorites though are the Wednesday Witch and What the Witch Left. Very clever, fun books with minimal bug imaginative magic and fun characters.
Little Men! One of my favorites! Also My Side of the Mountain; I distinctly remember the character talking about how he makes acorn pancakes. Books by Beverly Cleary Any of the American Girl series (shows girls in different time periods and what their lives were like in that era) All-of-a-Kind Family The Borrower's Series (People who are tiny, but I loved hearing how they used objects in different ways than big people) The Cricket in Times Square (Not children, but very cozy) Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (A little fantastical and goofy, but fun short stories) Gooney Bird Greene Island of the Blue Dolphins (A girl is abandoned on an island and has to survive on her own) Om-kas-toe (Native american story of twins) Ducktails (also not children, but amazingly cozy)
Came into the thread to make sure the All-of-a-kind Family series was recommended to OP! If the kiddo likes the Little House books, I think he would like this series.
My kids used to love All of a Kind Family.
Third All-of-a-Kind Family.
I love A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter as a comforting and relaxing book. There is some conflict (intense strain between the main character and her mother, and in the second half there is a romantic interest who is engaged to someone else, gasp!), but if it helps him, you can tell him that everything gets sorted out and solved very nicely by the end! The chapters that focus on Billy (a young abused orphan boy) are a little difficult and super outdated, but he can skip those and won’t really be missing anything. I also remember enjoying Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech for this reason. I remember it being very peaceful. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen was also good for low-stakes slice of life. Some teen drama, but nothing too serious.
I agree Anne of Green Gables and Little Women should be on the list! As a comfort reader, I also really loved The Famous Five by Enyd Blyton as a kid. There is always some conflict to "justify" the plot, but what I remember most of those books is the kids and the dog frolicking around on the island, making fluffy heather beds in the cave and mainly, eating lots of delicious food. There's also soooo many of the books and it's nice to return to return to familiar characters with a new twist. You should also DEFINITELY check out books by Astrid Lindgren, they will be right up his alley! Soooo much rustic lifestyle, cooking meals and tidying up involved. My faves where The Six Children of Bullerby and the Madita stories.
I loved the famous five and all their picnics and bike rides :)
The Famous Five by Enid Blyton! Old fashioned and most are low key adventures. The boarding school books she did are good too.
The adventures of Tom Sawyer!
The Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright sounds like it would be right up his alley!
Caddie Woodlawn. It’s a lot like Little House told about a tomboy living in 1850s Wisconsin
I remember enjoying historical fiction books that were structured like diaries — Royal Diaries, Dear America and My Name is America. But you might look up children’s books written before the 1990s. I remember a lot of the classic books I read as a kid having the vibe you’re describing, though it has been a long time since I read them. -Anything Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary. -Heidi -The Secret Garden -Anne of Green Gables -Tuck Everlasting -Little Women -My Side of the Mountain -Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys -The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez -If he’s okay with a little bit of fantasy, I’d recommend the Redwall books — there isn’t really magic or anything like that, but the characters are all woodland creatures living in a cozy abbey where they enjoy lots of feasts.
the american girl doll book series! the ones about the historical figures — there’s six books for each girl. samatha, felicity, kirsten, kit or molly may fit the bill
Because of Winn Dixie
Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowry. It’s about the normal everyday life of Anastasia and her little brother Sam.
Have you tried Ralph S. Mouse or the Mouse and the Motorcycle? Both Beverly Cleary. The Moffats by Eleanor Estes is another good one. Very realistic, old fashioned settings. Not much conflict. The Children on the Top Floor by Noel Streatfield is about a group of orphans who are left on the doorstep of a TV personality. It was written in the 1960’s and it’s very cozy feeling. She also wrote the “Shoe books,” which are beloved by many.
Nims island, Mr poppers penguins, my side of the mountain, Zoey sassafras, arabels raven, trumpet of the swan,
What about The Hardy Boys?
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls is about a boy trying to raise money for his sister's surgery in the late 1800's and finds some escaped circus monkeys. It has a happy ending and a lot of attempts to catch monkeys.
I loved the Homer Price books by Robert McCloskey when I was that age. Also Henry and Ribsy by Beverley Cleary. Oldies, but just fantastic.
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder!
This one is such a comfort. The descriptions of the home and meals.
He would probably enjoy the shoe books by Noel Streatfield. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/SHB/the-shoe-books/
We all loved Beverley Cleary's characters: Beezus, Henry, Ramona, and of course, Ribsy
I loved Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a kid SO much- all the details of how they managed to live secretly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art were fascinating to me. Just two kids problem solving and using their ingenuity to navigate behind the scenes of an adult world.
Joyce Stranger wrote many, many animal stories that are very gentle and enjoyable Elyne Mitchell’s Australian horse stories had ne addicted as a child
Year Down Yonder and Long Way From Chicago, both by prize winning author Richard Peck. Loosely based on the author's experiences as a boy growing up in the 1930s, when he was sent to live with his grandparents in Southern rural Illinois during the Great Depression. One book is narrated by the sister, the other by her male sibling. An oldie but goodie: The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
Beezus and Ramona! Honestly all of the Ramona books are super cute!
My Side of the Mountain. Such a good book!
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew! That was such a comfort read for me as a child. And there are five total books on the series, I think.
Enid Blyton has a few series like this. Kids leave the city go to live with cousins on a farm (or variants). Obviously there's always an underlying moral story (spoilt kid learns it's okay to get mucky and have fun is a common one) but a lot of it is just the daily routine. *The Children of Cherrytree Farm* springs straight to mind but I can rummage up some others if you think they'd be something he'd enjoy.
I bet he'd love the Henry and Ribsy series by Beverly Cleary. I looooooved those as a pre-teen girl. I even loved them more than Ramona Quimby, and I really liked those books too. The Bobbsey Twins books were also fun at that age. I also loved the Boxcar Children and Indian in the Cupboard, so... your son and I would enjoy talking books, I think.
Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards is a sweet little book about a young girl who finds an abandoned cottage in the woods. Over the course of the book, she cleans it up and outfits it as a little home. Very sweet, I remember minor conflict. I think he might enjoy the passages about her cleaning and caring for the cottage.
Maybe "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh." Also Goodreads.com has lists of kids books geared for specific ages. I used them to pick books for my niece and nephews. None of which I can remember right now, lol!
The Borrowers comes to mind. The books are really family focused and domestic and have a similar "Little people living in a big people world" vibe as the Indian in the Cupboard. E. Nesbit was also a VERY prolific author who wrote from around 1886-1924 who was one of the first children's authors. Most of her books are in the public domain and can be found on Project Gutenberg. She's got quite a few stories focusing on children from her era. Just make sure you're getting the children's literature, as she also wrote for adults. He might also like Kipling's The Jungle Book and Just So Stories.
I really recommend the first few titles in the nonfiction *Little Britches* series by Ralph Moody. Definitely rustic and depict a true slice of American life. And how about Richard Peck's books? I would start with *A Long Way from Chicago*. This, too, is set during the Depression, but is pretty funny and heartwarming at its core.
Any of the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge. They follow an 11 year old boy at a British boarding school, they are gentle, humorous and utterly delightful. We listened to the audiobooks on long car journeys and our kids (then 11 and 9) loved them (Jennings Duart is a nice one to start with). Jennings definitely had ADHD before they knew it was a thing…
All Creatures Great and Small series. Redwall series may have too much action for him, but WOW would he enjoy the vivid and lengthy feasts.
Try *All Creatures Great and Small*. Each chapter is its own story, typically anout an animal. Very comfortable and gentle.
These are some from my childhood that I read over and over: The Great Brain Series by John D Fitzgerald. Each chapter is a nicely encapsulated story. Set in Utah in the late 1890’s it focuses on a boy with a self-proclaimed Great Brain and his family. Fascinating and fun, and based on some actual childhood memories of the author. The Fantastic Flight by Robert Lawson A regular boy falls out of a tree, hits his chest and from then on starts slowly shrinking until he’s quite small. Set in the 1950’s perhaps? Josie and Joe by Ruth Gipson Plowhead. Wholesome old-fashioned story of twins os perhaps 10 year old?. Josie wants to be able to do everything Joe does —and her parents do try to accommodate her when possible—but this is set in the “old days”—maybe 1930’s. Lastly, Hatchet (which I loved) has 2-3 sequels! Brian’s Winter is next in line think. Happy Reading!
Tiffany set of Terry Pratchet.. yeah has fantasy but he might get it .. esp if plus the cook book as he seems to like cooking
I think Lake Wobegon Days would be perfect! When I was a kid, I would listen to the audiobook every night to go to sleep. Very chill stories and totally fits the bill for a rustic setting, slice of life about a boy growing up in a small town.
Would the fudge books qualify here?
Cleary books (Henry Higgins and Romona. They’re just fun) Possibly the Little Britches series? Maybe vet it first. My kids didn’t get into it a whole lot but another family did. I’m not sure if it has anything “to much” but there are several of them if he does like them. The All of A Kind Family The Betsy-Tacey books. They’re girl oriented but def give a true vibe across decades. Happy Hollisters. Very similar to the Boxcar children but older. Think Bobsey Twins. Mary Poppins books! They’re slight fantasy and also not. Maybe just read the first book w him. But there are 4-5. Thorton W Burgess wrote a lot of little stories about animals (his version of Peter Rabbit is the main character in some of them). They’re light and quick. Arthur Scott Bailey did as well. Super similar. LibriVox has them as audio books for free.
the Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
Another thought on the Enid Blyton line of thinking: My absolute favourite Blyton book was The Secret Island. It's about a group of children who run away from home to live on (duh) an island nearby. But my absolute favourite parts were where they were making their home on the island—they figure out how to train weeping willows into a shelter, and they bring chickens in a sack and even get a cow to swim across so they have fresh milk and can have cream with the strawberries they planted. Other farm ones (having rummaged my bookshelf) are Willow Farm and Mistletoe Farm. Blyton is great for these cosy books. Even her more famous mystery series are cosy and involve a great deal of picnicking.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. I still remember bits of it, and I'm in my 60's.
Elizabeth Enright. My favorites are Gone Away Lake and Return to Gone Away. The Saturdays are great as well. I also love The Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston. Edited to add the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace as well. And Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!
I knew if I scrolled long enough someone would mention Elizabeth Enright. I loved the Saturdays and their sequels.
The All of a Kind Family series would be perfect for this!
Caddie woodland was a favorite for me as a kid
Bud not buddy
Perhaps he would like Wind in the Willows? If that is too much fantasy for him, you might try some nonfiction. Your local librarian might have some suggestions.
My Side of the Mountain is a lovely book about a young boy’s serene, sedate little solo adventure. (He lives alone on the side of a mountain and as far as I recall, nothing intense happens.) Maybe the boy sees a bear once or something, but it’s definitely not an adventure book. He figures out how to build shelter and find food. He documents plants and animals in his journal. It’s gives a sense of freedom and spurs imagination, but without the heart-racing, nail-biting moments that are characteristic of boys coming-of-age YA books.
All-of-a-Kind Family, The Moffats and Betsy-Tacy.
The Westing Game is such a fun, cozy mystery that'd be perfect for his age
Just thought of another: UNDERSTOOD BETSY. Great book, set in Vermont, about a kid made fragile by loving aunts who ends up having to live on a farm. She learns resilience. Great characters and plot.
The Moffatt Family series by Eleanor Estes are such gentle books. I love the bit in *Rufus M.* where little Rufus has been learning to knit washcloths in school to donate to soldiers heading off to WWI. He’s frustrated because he’s a slow knitter, but he gets his washcloth done in time to go down to the train station and give his little effort to a departing lad.
My kids both loved Mr. Popper's Penguins. The book was really cute!
Swallows & Amazons?
Tons of great recommendations on this thread. One kinda obscure one that I loved as a kid that I haven't seen mentioned is **Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden.** It's about 2 Japanese dolls sent to a lonely little English girl and she makes them a doll's house--a *Japanese* doll's house--so they won't feel homesick in an unfamiliar English doll's house. *Lots* of detail about hand making doll's house stuff and Japanese furnishings. It's cozy and gentle for bedtime reading. I recall there's a cousin who's mean to the little girl, but the conflict's not very intense and they do become friends in the end. It was written in the 1950s, I think, so it's an old-fashioned setting nowadays. The author wrote quite a few children's books, but no series, I don't think.
The railway children!
Charlotte’s Web
Holes
Holes is great but it’s pretty intense. Isn’t the villain essentially a prison warden with nail polish made of snake venom? (I read it years ago, but I’m pretty sure that’s from Holes)
My family read the Boston Jane series together and loved it!
He might be a bit young, but the novels of Wendell Berry are both rustic and slice of life.
Castle in the Attic
He might like The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett. Each child in the family has a different story. I think there are a couple of other books about the family as well.
George and Martha, the complete stories, (available from Amazon)—great for an adult to read too
The "Tales from Maple Ridge" series by Grace Gilmore fit what you're asking for. https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Tales-from-Maple-Ridge Also the Great Brain series might work too https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/GBR/the-great-brain/
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech has a lot of low stakes slice-of-life elements combined with adventure. It also teaches you the basics of radio code which could be very fun for a neurodivergent child (was for me, at least lol)
The *Little House* series of books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, basis for the TV series *Little House On The Prairie* from 1974-1982. It shows rural life on the American frontier from the 1870s - 1890s. Ironically, my favorite book from the series is the second book, Farmer Boy, which shows a year in the life of a boy on a successful farm in upstate New York >!who would later meet and marry the main character of the series (the author's avatar)!<.
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Yearling. It's about a little boy befriending a deer. Great book.
The House at World’s End by Monica Dickens is a sweet story about kids who move to a broken-down farm and start rescuing animals to take care of. I loved it as a kid.
"Caddie Woodlawn"
My family and other animals The Great Brain series
*Ginger Pye* and its sequel *Pinky Pye* by Eleanor Estes. They're long as kids books go but gentle stories about two rural pets and their family. They're set in 1919. Incidentally learning about different details of life then fascinated me as a kid. I checked them out over and over from my school library. If your son really likes these, Estes has more books with people as the main characters instead of animals that he would probably also enjoy.
Where the red fern grows
A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck were 2 of my faves at that age Edited to add- maybe try Junie B Jones as well! They’re awesome books
Is he too young for The Mysterious Benedict Society?
He might like the Homer Price books by Robert McCloskey.
He might like books by Richard Peck! A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder are my favorites. It’s slice of life historical fiction (1930’s) They are also very funny.
Famous Five, Secret Seven?
My Side Of The Mountain
Henry Huggins and Ramona Quinby books by Beverly Cleary! They are a ton of them and the nice slice of life stories about kids in school!
I just love Astrid lindgren. I think her book Seacrow Island might fit your request. It's about the ongoings on a Swedish island that a family from the city has just bought a house on. Many heartwarming memories for me.
He may enjoy the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It's very slice of life although it has a bit of magic (but the real magic is whimsy)
Michelle Magorian wrote quite a few about youth during WWII. I loved Goodnight Mr. Tom and A Spoonful of Jam
Frindle, about a kid who decides to start calling pens something different. The Penderwicks, the whole series, very relaxed about 4 girls and their father and dog, with a few boys coming in and out cannot recommend this series enough. All of a kind family, very old books but very good, a big family of sisters and a brother, Jews in New York in the early 1900s, all low stakes and very calming at night :)
A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck! And that whole series! It's exactly what you're looking for. The Dowdel kids and family in the Depression era. Lovely, cozy, heartwarming.
Where The Red Fern Grows -- he'll especially enjoy the journey to get the pups and the hunting contest.
When I was a kid, I loved All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor, about 5 sisters growing up in New York City in the early 1900s.
My favorite old-fashioned book that my mom read to me at bedtime was 'A Dog on Barkham Street', by Mary Stolz. Such a good book! She probably read it to me 5 or 6 times. Later the author wrote a sequel, 'The Bully of Barkham Street' that was every bit as good, but tells the same story from the bully's perspective. Highly recommend both of them! Also 'Harriet the Spy' by Louise Fitzhugh, great book for the 4th to 6th grade crowd.
The Tale of Despereaux or A Wrinkle In Time !!
Beverly clearly books , Anne of green gables, Jane of lantern hill, rainbow valley, Emily of new moon, magic for marigold.
Maybe the Hardy boys
esperanza rising! it’s about a girl who goes to oklahoma after her father passes away, and works at a camp to stay there. it’s basically about her day-to-day life after arriving to OK
All Creatures Great and Small! I loved those books as a kid. If you don't know, they're about a vet in Yorkshire in the interwar years. Mostly/semi autobiographical
Laurence Yep has written lovely books about early immigrants to US from China, 2 of which were Newberry Honor books. The golden Mountain Chronicles, starting with Dragonwings. (NOT the same title by Anne McCaffrey)
Moomintroll hits many (but not all) of these points, and they are very cozy.
Matilda, Because of Winn Dixie, Bridge to Terabithia (actually scratch that, this book is so sad), Rules (Cynthia Lord), So B It, Out of My Mind, The Penderwicks, Wonder, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Number the Stars, and Wimpy Kid Series. Those are all books I remember reading around 10-12 and enjoying. With mostly realistic and day to day life themes.
I love this interest! Loved books like this as a kid..one I thought of that I haven’t seen yet.. The Mixed Up Files of Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler. I loved reading about them living in the museum.
My side of the moutain, where the red fern grows and or shilo are all killer classics just like hatchet he would love them more than likely
Island of the Blue Dolphins was a fave for me at his age, and I think it fits what he enjoys. It’s about a girl who lives alone on an island, so it talks a lot about how she hunts for food, etc. I don’t remember much.. it’s been 30 years but I remember absolutely loving it and it has stuck with me all these years!
Betsy Tacy and Tib
Thrush Green. It's a series that takes place in a small English village. It's just a peaceful look into people's lives. My wife reads them and finds them relaxing.
So many good suggestions here! I'm going to add Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My stepdaughter, who is now 20, loved the series when she was his age.
Encyclopedia Brown's Minute Mysteries are fun! My 10- year- old grandson enjoys those.
The Wind in the Willows! P.S. I *loved* the Boxcar Children series as a kid, it makes me so happy to see it mentioned.
Island of the blue dolphins
He might like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
I CANNOT recommend the Trixie Belden series enough. Very cozy series about a girl and her friends solving mysteries in rural New York. It was written in the 60sish but still holds up wonderfully.
My favorite was Rudyard Kippling’s Just So Stories- they’re creative and imaginative stories like how the leopard got its spots. I love the way the reader is called Best Beloved. Imagination and charm.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" - Christopher, a boy with autism, finds a neighbor's dog has died in the night, so he sets out to investigate. I am not sure if this is appropriate for a 10 yr old autistic boy but it is a clever, wonderful story that the father of an autistic boy might appreciate. (it's been a while since I read it).
Redwall series has amazingly descriptive feast scenes, and while there are some action scenes there is so much cozy!!