Giants are the oldest way of saying too big. Every storytelling tradition built at least one: frost giants up in the Norse north, a lumberjack with an ox for a pet in the North Woods, a bellowing lady in the New Mexico hills, someone at the top of a beanstalk who can smell an Englishman a mile off. Children take to them faster than adults expect, because living in a world scaled for somebody much larger is not a fantasy for a four-year-old — it is Tuesday. The good giant books work both sides of that: the giant is either the thing that will eat you or the thing that cannot find a pair of pants that fit, and the best of them manage both in one story.
Drawing from Bookroo’s collection of 101 books about giants, our editors chose the ones where the giant is the story rather than the set dressing — the man-eaters of Giant Country and the vegetarian who blows dreams at their victims, a giant brought down by a song, a giant lady who lends out her leftover tortillas as rafts, a frost giant sitting on Asgard, and a real woman from Missouri who was billed as the tallest in the world and refused to hide. Start with our fixed shortlist of 13 favorites, then follow the age shelves: picture books for ages three to eight, then chapter books, graphic novels, and middle grade for six to twelve.
A young orphan is carried off by a dream-blowing giant, then must help him stop the man-eating ones.
A scruffy giant finally buys himself a smart new outfit, then gives it away one piece at a time.
Run out of town for being a nuisance, a boy and his father are the only two people left who know how to stop a giant.
Three children sneak out of a very safe village to go and find a real giant.
A selfish giant's heart changes when a child enters his forbidden garden.
A young Viking must outwit frost giants to free trapped Norse gods.
Tiny neighbors paper a hillside house with eviction notices, and only one girl can see the giant standing over it at midnight.
A girl climbs the beanstalk this time, and the giant at the top has stolen rather more than she was told.
A girl discovers a mountain is a sleeping giant. Can she prevent disaster before it's too late?
A baby too big for any cradle grows up to log his way across a young and mostly empty country.
A big, hairy, lonesome giant wanders into a town of tiny bald people who want something from him.
A girl in 1870s Missouri outgrows her school desk, her bed, and eventually every room she walks into.
Beanstalk retellings, gentle giants with wardrobe problems, folktale giants defeated by cleverness, and one true story about a girl who simply kept on growing, for ages 3–8.
Two siblings try to solve a riddle to save their home from a giant's floods.
A girl faces giants destroying her forest. Can she save it?
A giant girl and her friend must save a city parade.
Giants seek dance lessons, leading to a fear-conquering boogie showdown.
A group of friends ventures into the Forbidden Marsh to uncover the truth about a rumored giant.
A prince, a dragon, and a quest for ice in the land of giants.
A boy discovers a hidden giant and learns the power of friendship and acceptance.
Jack defies his fairy tale's script, rewriting his own adventure.
Jack climbs a beanstalk to a castle in the clouds, facing an ogre and magical treasures.
Julie suspects her friend's father might be a giant.
A towering girl seeks belonging and adventure in a world not built for her size.
Fairy tales collide in a chaotic twist where nothing is as it seems.
Giant-slaying quests, Norse and Greek giants, graphic novels, and fairy tales retold at novel length, for independent readers ages 6–12.
A boy's hidden past may save or doom a secret world.
A captured ally, a looming storm, and a final battle decide the fate of three worlds.
A young boy named Seth must navigate a magical world filled with dragons, giants, and other mythical creatures to save his family and the world from destruction.
Gilly must uncover why her sister joined Rumpelstiltskin's side and save her family.
A group of heroes must stop a giant from destroying a village
A young Dragon Master travels to the Kingdom of Bracken to seek help from other Dragon Masters to defeat an evil Ice Giant that has frozen her kingdom
A fairy tale adventure goes awry; can they fix Jack's story before it's too late?
Demigods race against time to seal the Doors of Death and stop Gaea's rise.
Demigods unite to uncover the mystery of the Doors of Death and fulfill a perilous prophecy.
Discover Norse legends of gods, giants, and epic destinies.
A rider and his Pegasus must face giants and betrayal to save a herd.
A boy and a giant must defend a village from enemy giants.
