These vintage childrens books offer heart-warming stories that ring true today — because at the end of the day, kids are still just kids no matter when they lived.
Children will connect with the adolescent characters while being transported to a different time and place.
These books are perfect for older elementary and middle-school children (ages 8-12).
You can find these vintage childrens books at your local library or purchase through the affiliate links provided for your convenience.
Vintage Childrens Books for Kids
The absolute classic Beezus and Ramona (as well as Henry Huggins) inspired this wonderful list of vintage childrens books!
vintage childrens books
Beezus and Ramona
Big sister Beezus Quimby tries to be patient with her four-year-old little sister, Ramona, but it isn’t easy, not when Ramona powders her nose with marshmallows and invites her nursery school class to a party without telling her family.
Sometimes Beezus doesn’t like Ramona, but the girls are sisters and that means they will always love each other – just not every single minute.
Henry Huggins
In the first novel from Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary, boys and girls alike will be charmed instantly by an average boy whose life is turned upside down when he meets a lovable puppy with a nose for mischief.
Thimble Summer
When Garnet finds a silver thimble in the sand by the river, she is sure it’s magical.
But is it magical enough to help her pig, Timmy, win a blue ribbon on Fair Day?
The Saturdays (Melendy Quartet)
The four Melendy children live with their father and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, in a worn but comfortable brownstone in New York City.
Tired of wasting Saturdays doing nothing but wishing for larger allowances, the four Melendys jump at Randy’s idea to start the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (I.S.A.A.C.).
If they pool their resources and take turns spending the whole amount, they can each have at least one memorable Saturday afternoon of their own.
Gone-Away Lake
Enjoy the adventures of eleven year-old Portia, who together with her younger brother, Foster, spend a summer with their cousin, Julian, engaged in more than the usual summer pastimes of sun, fun, and games.
The three intrepid children soon discover a fascinating abandoned summer resort, consisting of deserted crumbling Victorian summer homes surrounding a vanished lake, which is now a swamp.
Best of all, they discover and befriend an elderly eccentric brother and sister who tell them the story of Gone-Away Lake.
The Great Brain
The best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit.
When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day.
Whether it’s saving the kids at school, or helping out Peg-leg Andy, or Basil, the new kid at school, the Great Brain always manages to come out on top-and line his pockets in the process.
The Children of Noisy Village
Go crayfishing in the summer at Nocken, “dipping in the pot” at Christmastime with Lisa and Karl, and join Britta and Anna who know the best way to go about “nutting” for the New Year.
In this gently humorous tale, master storyteller Astrid Lindgren takes us through a year in the lives and customs of six Swedish children living on a group of three farms in the countryside.
Betsy-Tacy
Betsy hopes that whoever moves into the house across the street will have a little girl just her age.
And the little girl who moves in is just her age. Her name is Tacy.
She is very bashful, but she likes to listen to Betsy’s stories: wonderful stories that the girls love, and that they keep as their own special secret.
Man of the Family
Fortified with Yankee ingenuity and western can-do energy, the Moody family, transplanted from New England, builds a new life on a Colorado ranch early in the twentieth century.
Father has died and Little Britches shoulders the responsibilities of a man at age eleven.
Ballet Shoes
Pauline, Petrova, and Posy love their quiet life together. They are orphans who have been raised as sisters, and when their new family needs money, the girls want to help.
They decide to join the Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training to earn their keep.
Each girl works hard following her dream. Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. And Petrova? She finds she’d rather be a pilot than perform a pirouette.
Like these vintage childrens books? Don’t miss my first book list of 20 Heart-Warming Old-Fashioned Books for Kids.
Find even more wonderful book lists for kids on Mommy Evolution!
We have two of those, Betsy Tacy and Children of Noisy Village. I’ll have to see of our library has the others.
You’ve picked some beautiful titles, here. Thimble Summer is a wonderful choice. I like to pair it with Strawberry Girl.
Man of the Family, and the rest of the series, are actually authored by Ralph Moody.
Ha! Not sure how that oops snuck by me. Thanks for pointing it out 🙂
I love that the Ramona series of books is timeless. It reads like it could take place in any era in recent history 🙂