An apartment is the only kind of house where the ceiling belongs to somebody else. Children who live in one learn things children in houses never do: which stair creaks, whose dog that is, what the upstairs neighbor is doing at nine at night based on the sound alone, and exactly how long the elevator takes when you are in a hurry. It is a small town stacked on its end — a hallway for a street, a roof for a backyard, and a dozen front doors you pass every single day. Children’s writers worked this out early, which is why so many good mysteries, comedies, and neighbor stories happen between the lobby and the top floor.
Drawing from Bookroo’s collection of 55 apartment books, our editors kept the ones where the building actually does something: a boy following harmonica music floor by floor, sixteen tenants handed a puzzle in a millionaire’s will, a bed that goes straight through the ceiling of everyone below it, a blackout that sends a whole building up to the roof. Start with our 15 favorites, then browse by age — picture books for the read-aloud years, and chapter books for readers old enough to keep track of who lives on which floor.
On a rainy afternoon, two brothers follow a harmonica through their building, door by door, to find out who is playing.
Sixteen tenants of Sunset Towers are named heirs to a fortune, paired off, handed a set of clues, and told that one of them is a murderer.
The power goes out on a hot summer night, and one Brooklyn apartment building ends up on the roof together.
Omu’s thick red stew smells so good that the scent drifts out her window, and all afternoon her doorbell keeps ringing.
Five siblings have eleven days to talk their landlord out of evicting them from the Harlem brownstone they have lived in all their lives.
On a summer night on a Harlem rooftop, eight-year-old Cassie lifts off and flies over the city.
Clementine’s dad manages their apartment building, which is how she ends up conducting a war against pigeons and a haircut emergency in the same week.
One cry in the night wakes a baby, who wakes a dog, who wakes the whole red brick building floor by floor.
Walter jumps on his bed, goes through the floor, and keeps going — collecting a neighbor from every apartment on the way down.
After a fire takes everything, a girl, her mother, and her grandmother fill a jar with coins until it can buy one big comfortable chair.
Newly moved into a Brooklyn apartment building, Georges is recruited by a boy in the building to spy on the mysterious tenant upstairs.
Every floor of the building is making a racket, and every tenant is convinced the noise is coming from upstairs.
Nine-year-old Peter lives in a New York apartment with his parents, his turtle, and a two-year-old brother who is a walking disaster.
Five apartments, five animal families, one very busy building — and a different story hidden in every window.
Five sisters share a Lower East Side apartment in 1912, where dusting is a game and a library book can start a crisis.
Read-alouds about stairwells and hallways, rooftops and fire escapes, loud upstairs neighbors, and the small kingdom behind one apartment door. Ages 3–8.
A girl's garden transforms her city life and those around her.
A vacant lot transforms into a vibrant community garden, sparking hope and unity.
Callie's family must let go of their home and belongings. What truly makes a home?
Discover what pets do when humans aren't home.
A young girl loses her beloved toy and goes on a journey to find it.
New neighbors spark panic. Can a sweet surprise change minds?
A thief steals binoculars. Can two detectives solve the mystery?
A friendly octopus vanishes, leaving Nora to wonder if her new friend has moved on.
A young girl tries to remember her homeland through the memories of others
A cold cat finds warmth and gifts in a welcoming apartment building.
Eddie must unite feuding neighbors in a chaotic apartment building.
A girl imagines fantastical worlds behind each door she passes on her way home.
Longer stories set inside one building — mysteries where the tenant list is the suspect list, big families in small rooms, and the neighbor down the hall who turns out to matter. Ages 6–11.
A tiny mouse embarks on a daring quest to find his missing friend.
Mysterious notes predict a death. Can Miranda unravel the truth in time?
A young boy discovers a mysterious world of magic and dragons when he is left with his estranged grandmother, a witch, for a day.
A lost kitten finds a secret home where pets aren't allowed.
A girl discovers a magical circus and a secret about her past.
A boy finds solace in a library and a poet's legacy amidst the chaos of a new city.
A young podcaster uncovers a mysterious curse linked to a missing neighbor.
Nora's Halloween reveals chilling secrets and ghostly tales too close to home.
A new apartment reveals magical secrets. Can Olivia find a friend among the chaos?
Ella uncovers the mystery of the elusive Robinsons in her quirky apartment building.
A girl must plan her own birthday party with unexpected help.
Twins uncover a portal to a cursed dimension in their eerie new home.
