Top Ten Tuesday: Cottagecore Middle Grade
My Middle Grade Books with Autumn Vibes list has been really popular this season! And with this week’s Fall Freebie prompt for Top Ten Tuesday, I thought it might be a good idea to share some more titles for this type of reader! So, today, I’m sharing ten middle grade books with a cottagecore feel.
Cottagecore reads focus on gentle stories, some with a focus on nature, maybe a little magic. You’ll see a couple of classics on this list that have beautifully written stories. Some of these books include a little bit of magic – dragons, spells, etc. And some might just be really great “quiet” stories that are realistic fiction in nature and are just enjoyable to read!
So, if you’re looking for some autumnal feels in your middle grade reads, check out these titles!
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Cottagecore Middle Grade
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Anne Shirley arrives at Green Gables and hopes to stay forever. But the Cuthberts expected a boy—not a spirited red-haired girl with a wild imagination and a knack for trouble. Desperate to stay, Anne vows to behave, though her fiery temper and impulsive nature make that a challenge. Still, the Cuthberts see something special in her. All Anne wants is to be accepted—and to finally become Anne of Green Gables.
By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison
Three tiny, ancient beings – Moss, Burnet and Cumulus, once revered as Guardians of the Wild World – wake from winter hibernation in their beloved ash tree home.
When it is destroyed, they set off on an adventure to find more of their kind, a journey which takes them first into the deep countryside and then the heart of a city.
Helped along the way by birds and animals, the trio search for a way to survive and thrive in a precious yet disappearing world …
The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett
Grace has never been good at anything except magic—not that anyone believes her.
While other children are adopted from the orphanage, nobody wants Grace. So she decides to make a home for herself by running away and offering herself as an apprentice to the witch in the nearby woods. After all, who better to teach Grace to use her magic? Surely the witch can’t be that bad.
But the witch is that bad—she steals souls for spells and gobbles up hearts. So Grace offers a deal: If she can learn all 100½ spells in the witch’s grimoire, the witch will make Grace her apprentice. But if Grace fails, the witch can take her magic. The witch agrees, and soon an unexpected bond develops between them.
But the spells are much harder than Grace expected, and when a monster from the witch’s past threatens the home Grace has built, she may have to sacrifice more than her magic to save it.
Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mensinga
Alice has been unhappy ever since her parents sent her to Prince Edward Island to live with her strict grandmother. Alice is fanciful, prone to telling tall tales, and absolutely OBSESSED with dragons! Fairies deliver dragon eggs to a select few, known as Kindreds, but no egg has ever arrived for Alice.
While wandering the woods alone, she finds and secretly befriends a mysterious old dragon named Brim. Alice is excited to finally have a dragon friend of her own, but when Brim suddenly falls ill, Alice must set out on a desperate quest to save him.
As Alice searches for a cure, she discovers that her connection to dragons is unlike that of any Kindred—but will her new power be enough to save her friend?
The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam
Many years ago, in the kingdom of Fenwood Reach, there was a powerful Windwitch who wove the seasons, keeping the land bountiful and the people happy. But then a dark magic drove her from the realm, and the world fell into chaos.
Brida is content in her small village of Oak Hollow. There, she’s plenty occupied trying to convince her fickle magic to actually do what it’s meant to in her work as a hedgewitch’s apprentice―until she accidentally catches the attention of the wicked queen.
On the run from the queen’s huntsman and her all-seeing Crow spies, Brida discovers the truth about her family, her magic, and who she is destined to be―and that she may hold the power to defeating the wicked queen and setting the kingdom right again.
Will Brida master her magic in time to save the kingdom?
A Tangle of Spells by Michelle Harrison
It should have been a fresh start for the Widdershins, finally free from the misty gloom of Crowstone and beginning a new life. But all is not as it seems in their postcard-pretty village. Their neighbors are acting strangely, and why do they flinch at the mere mention of magic?
The Widdershins sisters have their own secret: a set of enchanted nesting dolls with the power to render their user invisible. The sisters must use their wits—and their magic—if they’re to break the dark hold over the village, and save one of their own . . . but have they finally met their match?
A Taste of Magic by J. Elle
Kyana Turner has found out she’s a witch! This means lessons every Saturday at the magic school hidden in the back of her local beauty shop, learning spells, and a wand made to match her hair’s curl pattern. The hardest part will be keeping her magic a secret from non-Magick friends.
But when the school loses funding, the students must either pay a hefty tuition at the academy across town or have their magic stripped. Determined not to let that happen, Kyana decides to enter a baking competition for the huge cash prize. After all, Memaw taught her to make the best desserts. But as Kyana struggles with magic and regular school, the competition, and her secret, she wonders if she can save her friendships, too.
The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill
When Greta discovers a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, the young blacksmith learns about the magical world of tea dragons, and how to take care of them from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta begins to question if blacksmithing is what she wants to do with the rest of her life, or if the little magic she’s found in the Tea Dragon Society can show her a new way to live.
Truly, Madly, Sheeply by Heather Vogel Frederick
It’s autumn in New England and Truly and her fellow Pumpkin Falls Private Eyes are gearing up for the annual Halloween Festival. Aunt True and her new husband, Rusty, have bought Ethel and Elmer Farnsworth’s dilapidated old farm on the edge of town, where they’re going to raise sheep and where Truly and her grandparents have volunteered to farm- and sheep-sit while the newlyweds are on their honeymoon.
But as always, there are mysteries and secrets afoot in Pumpkin Falls. Jack-o’-lanterns outside the shops downtown are going missing—in broad daylight! Plus, someone…or something…is trying to scare Truly’s aunt and uncle away from their new property with some seriously spooky hauntings.
With the arrival of Emilio, a new heartthrob student from Italy, and with Calhoun most definitely still in the picture, Truly has her hands full and will need all of her Private Eyes to help her solve the small town shenanigans this fall season.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The much-loved classic tales of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad. When Mole goes boating with Ratty instead of doing his spring-cleaning, he discovers a whole new world. As well as adventures on the river and in the Wild Wood, there are high jinks on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad become the firmest of friends, but after Toad’s latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels once and for all?
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
