BOOK MARKED
20 Books to Inspire
Indoor Fun
Unplug from the Screens, Plug Into Good Reads
BY DC PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFF
Discover books to inspire creativity, adventures and
maybe a little mischief—all without leaving home.

EARLY LITERACY
(BIRTH TO AGE 5)
“Not a Box”
by Antoinette Portis
All it takes for a creative rabbit to have fun with an
ordinary cardboard box is a little imagination.

“You Are a Lion! And Other Fun
Yoga Poses”
by Taeeun Yoo
Stretch, pose, and get the wiggles out with this
animal-themed book for the youngest yogis.

“Peekaboo Bedtime”
by Rachel Isadora
Who says bedtime can’t be fun? Follow a delightful
toddler’s playful nighttime routine that’s sure to
galvanize a real-life game of peekaboo.

“Pete’s a Pizza”
by William Steig
When Pete can’t go out and play due to a bout of
bad weather, his family cheers him up in a very
creative and silly way.

“Max and Ruby’s Treasure Hunt”
by Rosemary Wells
When Max and Ruby’s plans get rained out, they
discover (with a little help from grandma) that they
don’t need to go outside to have an adventure.

DEVELOPING READERS
(AGES 5 TO 8)
“The Great Indoors”
by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Ruth Chan
In this whimsical, humorous tale, a human family
takes a vacation to the great outdoors, leaving an
opportunity for the forest creatures to vacation in
the great indoors. They discover all the cool, fun
things that can be done inside the house.

“Make-Believe Class”
by Fran Manushkin, illustrated by
Tammie Lyon
In this installment of the popular “Katie Woo”
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series for early readers, Katie’s class at school
battles a dreary, cold winter day by using a lot of
imagination to travel the world—and beyond!
“Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon”
by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua
Although Amy loves making crafts, her assignment
to create a dragon proves to be a struggle, until
inspiration strikes with storytelling and memories.

“Cooking Step by Step”
by DK
Young chefs can help make more than 50 kid-
friendly recipes—and get hands-on practice with
math and science concepts—using this simple,
attractive and approachable cookbook.

“Pizza and Taco:
Super-Awesome Comic!”
by Stephen Shaskan
Pizza and Taco create a comic book together in
this graphic novel for early readers. Their trials and
triumphs as creative collaborators could very well
influence some young artists and writers to begin
their own creative process.

MIDDLE-GRADE READERS
(AGES 8 TO 12)
“Unbored Games:
Serious Fun for Everyone”
by Joshua Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen
From board games and mind games to tech games
and games you invent yourself, this title has plenty
of ideas to chase boredom away.

“Coding Projects in Scratch”
by Jon Woodcock
Follow the step-by-step instructions for how to
code animations, play with music and sound, create
a game and more using Scratch software, which you
can download or use online for free.

“Secret Coders”
by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Holmes
Twelve-year-old Hopper attends Stately Academy,



which is a very strange school indeed. In
order to get to the bottom of the school’s
mysterious secrets, Hopper and her friends
must put their coding skills into action.

“Out of the Box” by Jemma Westing
Explore this wealth of ideas for crafts and
engineering projects that use mostly recycled
cardboard and some simple household items
like tape and markers.

“The Cardboard Kingdom”
by Chad Sell
A group of kids with wildly different
personalities and lives create an entire fantasy
world together out of cardboard in this
graphic novel that might inspire the creation
of some original cardboard kingdoms.

TEENS (AGES 13-19)
“The Encyclopedia of Origami
Techniques” by Nick Robinson
Learn step-by-step instructions for basic folds
and techniques as well as 30-plus projects to
work on. All origami students will need to
bring is a little paper and a little patience.

“Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Young
Adult Edition): A Hip-Hop History”
by Jeff Chang & Dave “Davey D” Cook
Music lovers can spend a cold day reading
along to a soundtrack with this history of
hip-hop that stretches from 1969 all the way
through the present day.

“Slay” by Brittney Morris
Kiera attends Jefferson Academy by day, but at
night, she is secretly the creator and developer
of SLAY, a multiplayer online role-playing
game community that celebrates Black culture.

When online fighting turns into real-world
violence toward a SLAY player, Kiera fights to
protect her safe space and identity.

“Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate
the Magic of Reading and Writing YA”
created and edited by Emily X.R. Pan
and Nova Ren Suma
Thirteen engaging short stories from a range
of genres are interspersed with notes from the
author about writing techniques and tips to
encourage and inspire young writers.

“The Poet X”
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Between school, family and society’s
expectations, 15-year-old Xiomara Batista
has a lot going on in her head and heart.

She writes every bit of it in her poetry
book, suited for poets and non-poets. P
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