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Supportive siblings
Siblings in classic children’s books are more likely to be friends than rivals, but the pacing in those old books doesn’t always grab today’s kids. My tween is an avid reader, but she just can’t find the sisterhood and girl power in the old-fashioned sentences of “Little Women.”
Here are some contemporary kids’ books that normalize healthy, supportive sibling relationships — naturally embedded in entertaining stories. Click to arrow above the image to see them all, or skip to a specific reading level with the links below:
Editor’s note: This article was originally published several years ago and updated most recently on June 3, 2024. Associate editor, Kari Hanson, fact-checked the article and added new books about brothers and sisters to the list.
Ages 3–5
“Just Like My Brother” by Gianna Marino
Little Giraffe adores her big brother. As they play a game of hide-and-seek, Little Giraffe asks all the animals she encounters if they have seen her big brother. As she tells everyone about how wonderful he is, she starts to see that she is pretty great too. This is a very sweet story about siblings look up to — and out for — each other.
“Peter’s Chair” by Ezra Jack Keats
You know and love Peter from the award-winning classic “The Snowy Day,” but did you know he has a baby sister? In this sweet book Peter deals with strong feelings about having a new baby sister and all the changes that entails. This is a great book for a child preparing for a new siblings.
“Harper Becomes a Big Sister” by Seamus Kirst
Picture books that help young children prepare for the arrival of a sibling make up their own genre. In this one, Harper is excited for the arrival of her new baby brother when Dad and Daddy decide to adopt. A sequel due out in September, “Real Siblings” shows siblings Harper and Wyatt as they figure out what it means to be related by adoption.
“Charlie and Lola” by Lauren Child
Like the Berenstain Bears (Stan and Jan Berenstain), human children Charlie and Lola share everyday adventures, but with more humor and spunk. Patient big brother Charlie always has time to show his clever little sister Lola the ropes — and sometimes gets schooled in the process. The British cartoon series is charming for all ages; Lauren Child’s picture books are perfect for an older sibling to read to a younger one. Thanks to “I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato,” we still eat moonsquirters at my house.
“Ling & Ting” by Grace Lin
Ling and Ting are identical twins who do everything together, but who enjoy being not exactly the same, in award-winning children’s author Grace Lin’s charming illustrated series. Early readers who enjoy Ling and Ting can graduate to the “Pacy Lin” easy chapter books based loosely on Grace Lin’s own childhood as one of three sisters navigating multiple cultures in a Taiwanese-American family.
“Sheila Rae, the Brave” by Kevin Henkes
Sheila Rae is the brave sister who doesn’t care about thunder or barking dogs. But when she gets lost taking a new route home from school, it’s her timid sister Louise who takes charge to get them home safely.
“A+ for Big Ben” by Sarah Ellis
Ben is the youngest of three, and can’t do all of the cool and important things his older brother and sister do. But they present him with a report card, grading Ben on the many things that little brothers do best. Available as a picture book and a board book.
Up next: Books for readers ages 6–12
Ages 6–12
The “Magic Tree House” series by Mary Pope Osborne
Jack and Annie are a brother and sister who are constantly being whisked away on adventures in their magical treehouse. Filled with books, the magic treehouse allows the siblings to travel through time and space to different places around the world. They visit Egyptian tombs, dinosaurs, pirates, ninjas and so much more. There are dozens of Magic tree house adventures, and nonfiction and graphic novels too. If you child falls in love with these fun and exciting stories, there are plenty of books to keep them reading for years!
The “Fudge” series by Judy Blume
Beginning with “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,” Blume follows the often hilarious misadventures of Peter Hatcher and younger brother Fudge across four books. The Hatchers enjoy a flawed, yet loving and entirely relatable, family life.
“Cinderella Smith” by Diane Goode
Cinderella Smith loses shoes, but she doesn’t have any problem with her little sister Tess, who tags along on Cinderella’s adventures whenever she can. In the first book, the new girl Erin is about to get a stepfamily, and she wants Cinderella to help her figure out how to deal with wicked stepsisters before it’s too late. Bonus: The author is from Seattle.
“A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket
Like “The Boxcar Children” (Gertrude Chandler Warner), the Baudelaire children are responsible for their own survival. But the Baudelaires are trying to escape the evil Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” a wickedly sarcastic chapter-book take on Victorian Gothic that showcases strong sibling bonds and children’s resourcefulness and resilience. A movie adaptation stars Jim Carrey, and a TV series stars Neil Patrick Harris as Olaf. If your kids enjoy “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” give them Maryrose Wood’s “The Mysterious Howling” next: It’s a faux-Victorian governess novel about a young woman who must civilize a trio of raised-by-wolves siblings in time for a fancy Christmas party.
“As Brave as You” by Jason Reynolds
In this Coretta Scott King Honor Book, YA author Jason Reynolds tells the story of two brothers sent to spend the summer with their grandparents. The story deals with heavy issues — family rifts, disability, grief — but the reader and the 10-year-old protagonist can take comfort in the relationship between the brothers, which is also the key to healing their family.
“Frozen” novelization by Sarah Nathan
Parents may be burned out on Disney’s ubiquitous “Frozen” franchise, but the story remains remarkable. No other princess story puts sisters before misters quite like this! The movies are great for all ages, but there’s also a chapter-book novelization that fills in extra detail for kids who want more depth. Bonus: The film’s director has confirmed that Tarzan is Elsa and Anna’s little brother; maybe we can hope for a sibling reunion?
“The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher” by Dana Alison Levy
Celebrate boys in this series about an all-male family: four brothers ages 6–10 and their two dads. From annoying homework and best friends to strange pets and stranger neighbors, each Fletcher boy is unique and faces his own problems, but none of them is alone. It’s a beautiful and down-to-earth update of family-life stories like the classic “Melendy” series by Elizabeth Enright. (For a more feminine update, try “The Penderwicks” by Jeanne Birdsall.)
“The Mighty Miss Malone” by Christopher Paul Curtis
Christopher Paul Curtis’ books capture American history through the completely authentic eyes of young children. In “The Mighty Miss Malone,” the bright, book-loving Deza Malone’s life is turned upside-down by the Great Depression. The family loses their home and their father, and faces great hardships. But Deza never gives up, because she has the best brother in the world. (There’s not a lot of everyday kindness among the three siblings in another of his books, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963,” but they certainly look out for each other — they literally jump into rivers and run into burning buildings when one of them is in danger.)
“The Kane Chronicles” by Rick Riordan
Riordan’s Percy Jackson series is more famous, but in my house, Sadie and Carter Kane are the most beloved. Biracial siblings who have been raised apart, the Kanes are reunited just in time to save the world from dark magical forces out of ancient Egypt in “The Red Pyramid.” There’s plenty of bickering, but their love is never in doubt — they routinely risk life, limb and the fate of the world to protect each other over the course of three books.
“The Land of Stories” by Chris Colfer
A part of my soul will always reside in Narnia (C.S. Lewis) with the Pevensie children, but my kids’ hearts dwell in “The Land of Stories.” Beginning with “The Wishing Spell,” Colfer’s series presents familiar ingredients in a fresh and delightful way. Twins Alex and Conner are transported to a land where all the fairy tales are true. The bandit Goldilocks riding a stolen horse named Porridge raises the bar on fractured fairy tales. Bonus: Blow your kids’ minds when you show them the author performing as Kurt Hummel on the TV show “Glee.” (For more books in this vein, check out “The Sisters Grimm” series by Michael Buckley.)
“The Ear, the Eye and the Arm” by Nancy Farmer
The Newbery Honor book “The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm” blends science fiction tropes and Zimbabwean culture. In 2194, siblings stifled by their privileged life escape the family compound in search of adventure. Instead, they get kidnapped, escape (repeatedly) and find out about the hard world their parents were protecting them from.
“Millions” by Frank Boyce
“Millions” is about two brothers who have recently lost their mother. When a bag of money literally lands at their feet, moral compasses don’t always point north. The boys learn twin lessons about how little happiness money can buy and how much family is really worth. Bonus: It’s also a movie.
“One Crazy Summer” by Rita Williams-Garcia
All the books about the Gaither sisters are pure gold. The first in the series, “One Crazy Summer,” sends them to spend the summer of 1968 with their estranged mother in Oakland, where the three girls are left almost entirely to their own devices. There is naturally a lot of bickering and bossing, but the girls take their responsibility for each other very seriously. Bonus: Readers will learn as much about the Black Panthers’ history as the Gaither girls do.
“Saffy’s Angel” by Hilary McKay
In “Saffy’s Angel,” Hilary McKay reminds us that family is family, no matter what — even if it’s weird, even if it’s adopted. When Saffy discovers that her sisters and brother are really her cousins, she hopes that recovering a special item willed to her by her grandfather will help her figure out who she really is. The predictable results are filled with charming characters and quintessentially British humor.
Up next: Books for ages 12+
Ages 12+
“Homecoming” by Cynthia Voigt
This award-winning book follows the story of four siblings who are abandoned in a parking lot by their mother who is unable to care for them. When they realize she is not coming back, Dicey Tillerman, the oldest, takes charge and leads her siblings on a long journey to their aunt’s house, hoping to find safety. The importance of family, and the love the siblings have for each other, is a key theme in this book. You can continue to follow the siblings adventures in the Voigt’s others books know as the Tillerman cycle: “Dicey’s Song” (which won the Newbery Medal) and “A Solitary Blue” (which won the Newbery Honor Award).
“The Montmaray Journals” by Michelle Cooper
“A Brief History of Montmaray” (first in the series) by Michelle Cooper is a young adult book set in a tiny island kingdom during the run-up to WWII. The teenagers of an eccentric royal family learn, grow and defeat Nazis together. The series is heavily influenced by Dodie Smith’s “I Capture the Castle,” but with more adventures and less infatuation.
“Six Feet Over It” By Jennifer Longo
In this debut novel, Leigh has lost her best friend and been put to work in a graveyard. After years making herself invisible while her family fought her older sister Kai’s leukemia, Leigh is having a hard time figuring out how to be alive now that Kai is in remission. Leigh gives more in the unbalanced relationship between the sisters, but Kai is still the only person in their emotionally exhausted family to notice that Leigh has needs, too. Bonus: The author is local.
“Girl Mans Up” by M-E Girard
Pen is the butch teen daughter of conservative immigrant parents. She doesn’t want to be a boy, or to be a girl the way everyone else wants her to be a girl. She just wants to be left alone to be herself, but faces constant bullying, parental pressure and unstable friendships. The only person who really gets her is her older brother. M-E Girard’s novel fills an important representation gap in YA fiction.
“The Rest of Us Just Live Here” by Patrick Ness
“The Rest of Us Just Live Here” has a delightful premise — what is it like to be an average kid in a world of superheroes? While the “chosen ones” open interdimensional portals and stave off apocalypses, Mikey deals with more ordinary problems, such as getting a date to prom and dealing with his two sisters (one has an eating disorder).
More books to love
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