Best Chapter Books of 2025
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The best chapter books have engaging narrative stories with memorable characters and zippy pacing. This list of the best chapter books of 2025 features friendship stories, funny stories, mysteries, and more!
Happy reading!
Best Chapter Books, 2025
Murry and Bun! Murry the Viking written and illustrated by Adam Stower
HUMOR CHAPTER BOOK
If your growing readers love funny stories with unexpected heroes, hand them this book next! This is chapter book perfection with a unique magical cat flap that leads our feline hero, Murry, and his rabbit sidekick, Bun, back to the days of the Vikings. There, they’re tasked with troll hunting. They embark on the adventure of a lifetime with new friends, yummy foods, and a happy ending.
Box Tales Grow. Strawberries. Grow! written and illustrated by James Burks
I love this book, it’s sooooo cute and funny! Bea and her best friend Box love strawberries. But when Bea’s mom won’t buy more because they’re expensive, Bea and Box are determined to find a way to get more strawberries. Can they choke down the lima beans as a fair trade for strawberries? NO. That won’t work. What if they grow their own? Maybe! They research at the library and have hilarious interactions as they read, learn from their neighbor, plant, wait, protect, and harvest. Because there are many unexpected problems with growing the plants– like WAITING and SQUIRRELS. An absolute delight to read.
Groucho The Grouchy Groundhog: Pancake Panic! written by Lydia Lukdis, illustrated by Tara J. Hannon
FUNNY GRAPHIC NOVEL
Adorable characters, hilarity from the first page, and charming art make this a stand-out, must-read early graphic novel for growing readers. Blork (a half pig, half unicorn) and her neighbor, Groucho, must stop the evil villain Commander Hare E. Bun Bun from stealing all the pancakes in Critter Creek. They devise a no-plan plan, which is slightly confusing, but they forge ahead anyway. Hijinks, misunderstandings, and mayhem ensue, and it doesn’t look good for the pancake situation, especially when our heroes get captured. What will they do and how will they stop the villain?
Lone Wolf Goes to the Library written by Kiah Thomas, illustrated by K-Fai Steele
FUNNY EARLY READER
Lone Wolf loves his library books, but when he must return his book or be banned from ever checking out one again. To his horror, he must brave the busy library filled with noisy and snotty children. How will he avoid the chaos, kids, and snot to return his book? This is yet another hilarious story of our grumpy hero’s ingenuity in his efforts to avoid people. SO RELATABLE! (Also, I love a character like this who has NO arc!)
Sky & Ty Dinomite! written and illustrated by Steve Breen
FUNNY / FRIENDSHIP
It’s the Wild West with a silly dinosaur named Ty and a helpful girl named Sky. In this book of stories, Ty dressed up in western attire, including tight jeans. Cowgirl-hat-wearing Sky is blown away by the wind. They help a chicken named Vinny to fly. And they find gold, but it’s the stories that are pure gold!
Monti and Leo A Mystery in Pocketville written and illustrated by Sylvie Kantorovitz
MYSTERY GRAPHIC NOVEL
In this sweet story of friendship and false accusations, Monti and Leo admire Mrs. Sheep’s collections of figurines, as do all the villagers who begin their own collections. Then, one day, one of Mrs. Sheep’s figurines goes missing. Even worse, people accuse Monti of taking it. Leo is so worried about his friend, he investigates to clear Monti’s name– and finds out a thieving bird stole the figurine. After apologizing, the collectors continue collecting and all is well. Cartoon panel art with lots of personality.,
Princess Minna The Unicorn Mix-Up written by Kirsty Applebaum, illustrated by Sahar Haghgoo
FANTASY
Adorable! Princess Minna’s special skills are all mixed up because she isn’t sleeping well at night. She tries to fix all the problems in the kingdom, but she fights a unicorn instead of taming it and kisses a dragon instead of fighting it. Oh dear! Will the dragon eat her? And how will she get a good night’s sleep? Readers will love this sweet, magical adventure.
Book Two: Princess Minna The Enchanted Forest
Ratnip Lost and Found in the City written by Cam Higgins, illustrated by Allison Steinfeld
ADVENTURE
A treasure-hunting rat finds something strange. (A phone.) But it belongs to someone else, and it’s against Ratnip’s treasure-hunting rules to keep it. Ratnip and his animal friends work hard to return the phone to its owner, but there’s a lot of problem-solving involved in carrying such a heavy, awkward item and figuring out who it belongs to and where that person lives. Cute and engaging.
Book Two: Pizza Dreams Do Come True,
Amina Banana and the Formula for Friendship written by Shifa Saltagi Safadi, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel
REALISTIC
Newly immigrated from Syria, Amina thinks of making friends at her new school like a scientific formula she can solve. She’s earnest and brave, but her theories aren’t working for her. Soon, she learns that some experiments about subjects like friendship can’t be controlled. This is a sweet story about change, valuing yourself and others, and making friends.
Bad Kitty Party Animal written and illustrated by Nick Bruel
FUNNY GRAPHIC NOVEL
It’s Puppy’s birthday party, which Bad Kitty is not thrilled about. In fact, Bad Kitty might be involved in creating chaos. When a scary clown covered in bacon arrives at the party, causing even more craziness, Bad Kitty leaves the party and joins a D&D game. While playing, Bad Kitty imagines a life where they didn’t adopt Puppy, which changes everything. In a gratifying story and character arc, Bad Kitty and Puppy get a sweet and heartwarming ending.
