Every one of these stories runs on the same engine: somebody leaves. A boy draws a door on his bedroom wall and walks through it. A wooden canoe is set down in a snowbank above Lake Nipigon and pointed at the Atlantic. Twenty-eight men and sixty-nine dogs sail south and never reach the continent they came for. What children remember afterward is rarely the destination — it is the middle, the part where the map runs out and the traveler keeps going anyway.
Drawing on Bookroo’s collection of 554 journey and voyage books, our editors chose ten that cover the full range of leaving home: a squelchy family walk through the mud, a train to the North Pole, a mouse adrift in the middle of the ocean, a real ship crushed in Antarctic ice, and a china rabbit who gets lost for decades. Start with the fixed shortlist, then browse the picture-book shelf for read-alouds, or the chapter shelf for the long crossings — Treasure Island, Oz, the Odyssey, and the road-trip novels — that independent readers can disappear into.
A bored girl draws a door on her bedroom wall, opens it, and steps into a city of lanterns, airships, and one very fast-moving flying carpet.
Long grass, a cold river, thick oozy mud, and one very fast trip back through all of it.
A boy in pajamas boards a steam train parked outside his house at midnight and rides it to the top of the world.
A mouse builds a boat, sails out to admire the stars, falls overboard, and is carried home across the ocean on the back of a whale.
A young man crosses the Pacific by steamship, falls for a new country, sails home, and spends the rest of his life missing whichever one he is not in.
Armed with chewing gum, hair ribbons, and a magnifying glass, Elmer Elevator stows away to Wild Island to free a captive baby dragon.
Twenty-eight men, sixty-nine dogs, and a ship that never reaches Antarctica — drawn crew by crew and crate by crate.
A boy who is bored by everything drives a toy car through a tollbooth and lands in a country at war over whether words or numbers matter more.
A china rabbit who loves nobody is thrown overboard, dragged up in a fisherman’s net, buried in a dump, and passed from stranger to stranger for decades.
A boy carves a foot-long canoe, sets it in the snow above Lake Nipigon, and lets four years of current carry it to the Atlantic.
Sea crossings, train rides, long walks, and imaginary voyages told in a single sitting, for ages 3–9.
A young boy travels to a fantastical land inhabited by wild creatures and becomes their king.
Embark on a journey with friends to discover magical worlds beyond your doorstep.
A boy goes on a journey to find his way home.
A girl uncovers her great-grandfather's immigration story through matchbox mementos.
Embark on a global adventure uncovering unique surprises in cities worldwide.
A boy's journey to Paris reveals unexpected wonders.
A family of ducks searches for a safe place to live and raise their ducklings in the city of Boston.
An innkeeper dreams of adventures beyond his hotel, longing for distant journeys.
A town's trash crisis leads to a garbage barge's epic journey.
The story of a woman who sets out to fulfill her childhood dreams and make the world more beautiful.
A topiary dreams of adventure, but her gardener fears change. Can they find a way to explore together?
A group of animals embark on a journey together along a river.
Sea voyages, wagon trains, road trips, and there-and-back-again quests for independent readers ages 7–11.
Two Sudanese children face perilous journeys for survival and hope.
A young boy discovers a pirate's treasure map, but danger lurks on the high seas.
A cyclone whisks Dorothy to Oz. Can she find her way home amidst magical chaos?
A tiny mouse embarks on a daring quest to find his missing friend.
Orphan Peter's voyage turns perilous with a mysterious trunk and dangerous foes.
A boy's quest to find his father leads him on an unforgettable journey during the Great Depression.
A mute swan seeks love through a stolen trumpet's melody.
A mouse, a rat, and a girl embark on a journey of light and destiny.
Three children embark on a magical quest to find a legendary creature in a hidden land.
A bear from Peru turns a family's life upside down with his whimsical adventures.
A young boy escapes his miserable life with his cruel aunts through a magical giant peach
A girl with bear legs seeks her true identity in a perilous forest.
