9 Classic Kids Books From The 80s That Are Still Worth Reading

Summary Dear Mr. Henshaw offers a unique twist on kids' books with a diary-style narrative and poignant themes of divorce and longing.

Wayside School Is Falling Down is a clever, absurd book with sly humor and deeper messages hidden beneath the wacky stories.

Hatchet teaches resilience and growing up through the story of a stranded 13-year-old in the Canadian wilderness, tackling tough emotions.

Despite hitting the height of their popularity decades ago, there are a number of classic kids' books from the 1980s that are still well worth reading today.

9 Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983)

Author: Beverly Clearly

Beverly Cleary is one of the most renowned names in children's books, thanks to her Ramona Quimby books, Henry Huggins, and Ralph S. Mouse. Even among those, Dear Mr. Henshaw stands out for its elevated ideas and arrangement. The story is a uniquely woven epistolary tapestry of the diary entries of 11-year-old Leigh and letters to his favorite author detailing his feelings about his parents' divorce. Children's books are rarely bold enough to be structured around that higher-level conceit, but Beverly Cleary has never spoken down to her audience.

Dear Mr. Henshaw may not be as well known as some of Cleary's bigger hits, but it has a lasting sweetness and poignance that the others lack. Cleary does a remarkable job of capturing the voice of a young boy full of urgent conflict over a tumultuous time in his life, and the yearning as he looks to his favorite author for a stabilizing force. It's easily the most complex and rich of Cleary's children's books.

8 Wayside School Is Falling Down (1989)

Author: Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar's Wayside School is Falling Down may not be the deepest of books on this list, but it may be the cleverest. As the second book in Sachar's absurdist, darkly comedic Wayside School series, Wayside School is Falling Down sees the Holes author really hitting his wacky stride. Each chapter is devoted to a new story at the wrongly built, skyscraper Wayside School, with strange teachers, mysterious men, classrooms that don't exist, and rats that come back to life.

Children are smarter than they're often given credit for, able to catch onto sly humor, and Sachar's book has that in spades. The madcap, stories and absurdism of the book's tone belie that under the wacky stories, there are some more serious messages worth pondering. Likewise, Sachar plays around with literary convention; to step into the pages of Wayside School is Falling Down is to step into a world of the ridiculous. And there's nothing better to a kid than well-written ridiculousness.

7 Hatchet (1987)

Author: Gary Paulsen

The middle to later decades of the last century saw a cottage industry in the form of stories of nature and the outdoors. Like Jack London in the century before them, they revolved around the man vs. nature archetype, repackaging them for young adult readers. Of these, Gary Paulsen's Hatchet was the most well-known and most well-lauded. Though it was just the first in a series, it was undoubtedly the best, winning the Newbery Medal in 1984.

Hatchet's story revolves around 13-year-old Brian Robeson, who, thanks to an unfortunate chain of events, finds himself stranded in the middle of a vast, Northern Canadian forest. Alone and desperate, Brian teaches himself to survive in the wilderness, surviving and even thriving for months until he's rescued. It's a story of resilience and growing up, but not just physically – as Brian teaches himself to make fire, set snares, and build shelter, he uses the time alone to untangle his feelings about his mother's affair, which he has kept from his father. The story embraces and teaches resilience, a lesson that any kid growing up can use.

6 Jacob Have I Loved (1980)

Author: Katherine Paterson

Most people's minds jump to Bridge to Terabithia when thinking of Katherine Paterson, but that was actually published in the 70s. In the 80s, the most meaningful of Paterson's books was the Newbery Award-winning Jacob Have I Loved. The title comes from the Bible, alluding to the bitter sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau. It's fitting; the story explores young Sarah Louise's complex feelings of love and resentment for her twin sister Caroline, the "perfect," more feminine, adored sister.

Emotions between siblings can be fraught and intense, and Paterson illustrates this beautifully. Sarah Louise's simmering resentment is all tangled up in her affection, and her desire to be free tangled up with her familial duty. Kids navigating equally fraught relationships with their siblings can find much to relate to in the story. Along the way, Jacob Have I Loved also explores themes of family expectations, gender roles, first love, and acceptance. It all makes for a resonant story that quietly leaves an impact.

5 Annie On My Mind (1982)

Author: Nancy Garden

LGBTQ+ children's books are still all too rare, and nearly non-existent in the 1980s, which makes Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind all the more miraculous – and important. The story follows the thoughts and primarily the viewpoint of 17-year-old Liza Winthrop, a private school teenager from a wealthy family and who is desperate to get into MIT as an architect. She meets 17-year-old Annie Kenyon, the daughter of Italian immigrants; Annie attends the public school in a low-income neighborhood. Despite their different backgrounds, Liza and Annie fall in love. Yet, their romance is thwarted by the conservative and close-minded attitude of the parents and teachers around them.

Annie on My Mind has been included in the School Library Journal's list of top 100 most influential books of the 20th century and with good reason. It tackles themes of queer discovery and sexual awakening in a thoughtful, heartfelt way that is still relevant today. It's a genuinely touching love story that adds layers to the Romeo and Juliet, "wrong side of the tracks" trope. For any teens questioning themselves and looking to explore their identity, Annie on My Mind is a fitting guide.

4 Howl's Moving Castle (1986)

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Thanks to the wildly successful Studio Ghibli adaptation by Hayao Miyazaki, most audiences have no idea that Howl's Moving Castle started out as a book – and if they do, most assume it was a manga or perhaps a Japanese light novel first. Instead, it was the first book in a series by British author Diana Wynne Jones. Even though the movie is a masterpiece unto itself, the original book is still well worth a read, truly a captivating delight all on its own.

Howl's Moving Castle tells the story of 18-year-old Sophie, who is turned into an old hag by the Witch of the Waste. To undo the curse, she must break the contract between the wizard, Howl, and Howl's ensnared fire demon, Calcifer. Howl's Moving Castle explores broad themes of self-determinism vs. destiny, aging and youth, love and duty. While the story appears to be a simple fantasy, it upends numerous tropes of the fairy tale genre in inventive and clever ways. It also doesn't dumb itself down, making numerous references to other literary works and trusting the audience to get it, elevating itself in so many ways.

3 A Ring of Endless Light (1980)

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

The fourth book in Madeleine L'Engle's Austins series, A Ring of Endless Light, is arguably the best and the best-known of the six-book series. Like many on this list, A Ring of Endless Light was named the Newbery Honor Book of 1981; while the other books about the Austin family were great, none are more beloved than this one. It tells the story of teen Vicky Austin as she struggles to understand the concept of mortality and her place in the universe as she grapples with accepting the impending death of her beloved grandfather. At the same time, she finds herself in her real love for the first time.

The story does not pander or gloss over the extremes of life. Vicky's grief is as sharp as the pangs of new love. As she loses her grandfather, she gains romantic love, and the contrast and juxtaposition make each all the more intense and important. Death stares directly at her and other characters as each encounter it in different ways; the message is that no one can run from it, but it must be faced. Faith also plays a part – regardless of what form that faith takes, it's needed to get humans through their darkest times, as Vicky learns. Kids grappling with losing a beloved grandparent or relative can find comfort and, ultimately, catharsis in the pages of A Ring of Endless Light.

2 Maus (1980-1991)

Author: Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman's Maus is the only story on this list that is not a book, but a serialized graphic novel. It ran for 11 years, winning countless awards. In fact, it was the first graphic novel ever to win the Pulitzer – and is still only one of two to ever win the prestigious honor. Parents should beware, though: of all the books on this list, Maus is by far the most adult; this is not a book for young children, but for teenagers, and even young adults, who are emotionally mature enough to grapple with the heavy themes.

The story slowly unfolds the story of Spiegelman's father recounting his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor; Spiegelman's mother died by suicide when the author was 20 and his father burned her memoirs of Auschwitz. Maus is Spiegelman's attempt to understand his parents and what they endured. Characters are represented by animals, with Jews being depicted as anthropomorphized mice, other Polish people as pigs, and Germans as cats. It's a heavy work; Maus deals with the Holocaust, but also themes of memory, generational guilt and trauma, and racism and genocide. His mixing of styles and postmodern approach make Maus almost impossible to classify, but as a singularly influential work, Maus stands alone.

1 Number the Stars (1989)

Author: Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry never wrote down to children, trusting them enough to not shy away from complex topics of dystopia, depression, political oppression, and others. That she's often on banned or restricted books lists shows just how unafraid her books are at challenging perceptions and being honest with young readers. Her WWII-era book Number the Stars is no different. The story revolves around 10-year-old Danish girl Annemarie, who, in 1943, risk it all to help their Jewish friends escape Nazi occupation.

Number the Stars was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1990, and with good reason. It's a remarkable work by Lowry. She never lets the young reader absorb the full horror of what is happening, choosing to buffer it just a bit, just as Annemarie herself doesn't fully understand the impact of the events unfolding around her. Still, Lowry lets just enough of it creep through to make a young reader sit up and pay attention. It's a deft bit of work that tells a serious story without ever crushing Annemarie's or the reader's spirit, ultimately ending on a note of hope.