Book Lists

Most Popular Books by Katherine Rundell

Katherine Rundell is the author of Rooftoppers, Impossible Creatures (2024), THE POISONED KING (2025), The Zebra's Great Escape (2024), The Wolf Wilder (2016).

15 results found

Rooftoppers

Rooftoppers
When authorities threaten to take Sophie, twelve, from Charles who has been her guardian since she was one and both survived a shipwreck, the pair goes to Paris to try to find Sophie's mother, and they are aided by Matteo and his band of "rooftoppers

Impossible Creatures

release date: Sep 10, 2024
Impossible Creatures
Two kids race to save the world’s last magical place in the first book of a landmark new fantasy series, from “a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination.” (Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass) "An instant classic from one of the most gifted storytellers of our time, Impossible Creatures is an astonishing miracle of a book." —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan The day that Christopher saved a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lake would change his life forever. It’s the day he learned about the Archipelago—a cluster of unmapped islands where magical creatures of every kind have thrived for thousands of years, until now. And it’s the day he met Mal—a girl on the run, in desperate need of his help. Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what’s happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves. Katherine Rundell’s story crackles and roars with energy and delight. It is brought vividly to life with more than 60 illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.

THE POISONED KING

release date: Sep 28, 2025
THE POISONED KING
Return to the magic of the Archipelago in the dazzling sequel to the runaway, #1 New York Times bestseller Impossible Creatures, hailed as “an instant classic” (Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan)! *This spectacular book features foil and embossing on the jacket, full-color designed endpapers, and brilliant stained edges* Christopher Forrester woke to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leapt for joy! He’d been dreaming of going back to the Archipelago, the secret cluster of islands where all the creatures of myth still live, and here was his summons. But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago. Rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, a stealthy entrance to a dragon’s lair, and a death-defying plan to save a prisoner held in the heart of a castle. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket, and a ravenous hunger for justice. Katherine Rundell’s second thrilling installment in the Impossible Creatures series involves castles, dragons, and revenge—the things of which great stories are made. The splendors within are brought to life with more than fifty illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.

The Zebra's Great Escape

release date: Aug 20, 2024
The Zebra's Great Escape
In the vein of Islandborn and If Dominican Were a Color comes a picture book by bestselling author Katherine Rundell about a zebra trying to get back home to his family and the little girl who helps him. Mink doesn’t believe in rules. She loves letting her hair down and getting the most out of life. So when a loose zebra appears in the square where she lives—and she finds out that his parents have been captured by the evil Mr. Spit—she’ll do what it takes to make sure the zebra family can run as wild and free as she does. In this tale of bravery, friendship, and the importance of taking action, Mink uses all her courage and determination to rescue a whole menagerie of animals.

The Wolf Wilder

release date: Sep 06, 2016
The Wolf Wilder
“Fairy tale and history merge seamlessly” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in this enchanting and lyrical novel about love and resilience from the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner, Katherine Rundell. Feo’s life is extraordinary. Her mother trains domesticated wolves to be able to fend for themselves in the snowy wilderness of Russia, and Feo is following in her footsteps to become a wolf wilder. She loves taking care of the wolves, especially the three who stay at the house because they refuse to leave Feo, even though they’ve already been wilded. But not everyone is enamored with the wolves, or with the fact that Feo and her mother are turning them wild. And when her mother is taken captive, Feo must travel through the cold, harsh woods to save her—and learn from her wolves how to survive.

The Neverfear (Impossible Creatures, Book 3)

release date: Sep 01, 2026
The Neverfear (Impossible Creatures, Book 3)
The highly anticipated third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Impossible Creatures series. Join Christopher and Anya on their next daring adventures in the magical Archipelago! *This spectacular book features foil and embossing on the jacket, full-color designed endpapers, stained edges, and gorgeous interior illustrations.* It’s the Midsummer Feast on the Islet of Glimt, and on this magical moonlit evening, the word on everyone’s lips is bandits. Reports of masked men burning villages are spreading throughout the Archipelago, but worse is still to come: Christopher and Anya are ambushed and one of the people closest to them is put in terrible danger. Now Christopher must face fearsome giants, win a daring race, and outwit deadly enemies, all to save the people he loves most...

The Explorer

release date: Sep 12, 2017
The Explorer
From the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author of Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms comes an exciting new novel about a group of kids who must survive in the Amazon after their plane crashes. 5 1/2 x 8 5/16.

Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise

release date: Sep 01, 2026
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise
A celebration, in a pocket-sized format, of the joys and vital importance of children''s literature for adult readers, from the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Impossible Creatures. Katherine Rundell, one of the most accomplished modern children’s writers, offers an extended essay about the pleasures and benefits of reading children’s literature as an adult. Rundell explores how children''s books ignite—and can re-ignite—the imagination; how children''s fiction, with its unabashed emotion and playfulness, can awaken old hungers and create new perspectives on the world. Infinitely wise and thought provoking, Rundell’s short book is a perfect one-sitting read, and a terrific gift for the book-lover in your life.

Into the Jungle: Stories for Mowgli

release date: Oct 02, 2018
Into the Jungle: Stories for Mowgli
Timed for the release of Warner Bros.’s film Mowgli in October 2018 and Disney''s release of The Jungle Book 2 in 2019, here is a beautifully illustrated companion to Kipling''s classic, by a writer of extraordinary storytelling ability, that explores its timeless themes in a careful update. This wise and witty companion to Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 classic is likewise a series of connected stories about the man-cub Mowgli and his adventures among the animals in the Indian jungle. It includes all the original favorites like Baloo and Bagheera and gives female characters, like Mother Wolf, a more prominent role in Mowgli’s upbringing. The timely theme of the possibility of understanding and empathy across species, cultures, and genders will resonate with contemporary readers.

One Christmas Wish

release date: Sep 18, 2018
One Christmas Wish
From beloved author Katherine Rundell comes a clever, funny, and poignant picture book about a lonely little boy who wishes not to be alone on Christmas. A young boy’s Christmas Eve wish on a shooting star leads to an adventure with an ever-hungry rocking horse, an angel whose wings are molting, a robin who has forgotten how to sing, and a rusting tin drummer boy in Katherine Rundell’s classic Christmas story, with Emily Sutton’s gorgeous paintings.

The Good Thieves

release date: Aug 25, 2020
The Good Thieves
“A dazzling tale of wild hope, lingering grief, admirable self-sufficiency, and intergenerational adoration.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Vita tests her own limits, and readers will thrill at her cleverness, tenacity, and close escapes.” —Booklist “A satisfying adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews From award-winning author Katherine Rundell comes a fast-paced and utterly thrilling adventure driven by the loyalty and love between a grandfather and his granddaughter. When Vita’s grandfather’s mansion is taken from him by a powerful real estate tycoon, Vita knows it’s up to her to make things right. With the help of a pickpocket and her new circus friends, Vita creates the plan: Break into the mansion. Steal back what’s rightfully her grandfather’s. Expose the real estate tycoon for the crook he truly is. But 1920s Manhattan is ever-changing and full of secrets. It might take more than Vita’s ragtag gang of misfits to outsmart the city that never sleeps. Award-winning author Katherine Rundell has created an utterly gripping tour de-force about loyalty, trust, and the lengths to which we’ll go for the ones we love.

Super-Infinite

release date: Sep 06, 2022
Super-Infinite
Winner of the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Winner of the 2022 Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize Shortlisted for the 2023 Plutarch Award A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Best Book of 2022 A New York Times Notable Book of the Year Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Times Literary Supplement, and Literary Hub From the standout scholar Katherine Rundell, Super-Infinite presents a sparkling and very modern biography of John Donne: the poet of love, sex, and death. Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling, John Donne was incapable of being just one thing. He was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, a priest, a member of Parliament—and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language. He converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, was imprisoned for marrying a sixteen-year-old girl without her father’s consent, struggled to feed a family of ten children, and was often ill and in pain. He was a man who suffered from surges of misery, yet expressed in his verse many breathtaking impressions of electric joy and love. In Super-Infinite, Katherine Rundell embarks on a fleet-footed act of evangelism, showing us the many sides of Donne’s extraordinary life, his obsessions, his blazing words, and his tempestuous Elizabethan times—unveiling Donne as the most remarkable mind and as a lesson in living.

Napoleon's Orangutan

release date: Oct 08, 2026
Napoleon's Orangutan
Napoleon had an orangutan called Rose, who ate turnips at the dinner table and stood when guests came into the room. She was much adored, but could not survive in Paris. A pig can be taught to differentiate between Bach and a brass band. One was once tried for murder: another saved a human''s life. An owl can turn its head two hundred and seventy degrees. They can learn to come at a whistle, and remember the signal for years, if they wish to. The creatures who share our world are stranger, smarter and more miraculous than you would believe. In this delightful collection, Katherine Rundell celebrates twelve vanishing animals, each one a wonder that she inspires us to treasure and fight for with love - because, as she argues so beguilingly: ''The time to give up is never.''

Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms

release date: Aug 26, 2014
Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms
Even a life on the untamed plains of Africa can’t prepare Wilhelmina for the wilds of an English boarding school in this “gripping, magical, and heartwarming tale of resilience, friendship, and hope” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Wilhelmina Silver’s world is golden. Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful. But when her home is sold and Will is sent away to boarding school in England, the world becomes impossibly difficult. Lions and hyenas are nothing compared to packs of vicious schoolgirls. Where can a girl run to in London? And will she have the courage to survive? From the author of Rooftoppers, which Booklist called “a glorious adventure,” comes an utterly beautiful story that’s “a treasure of a book” (VOYA).

The Katherine Rundell Collection

release date: Nov 26, 2020
The Katherine Rundell Collection
_______________ Go on an adventure with Katherine Rundell... _______________ ''Read everything she writes'' - Daily Mail ''A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination'' - Philip Pullman _______________ Whether it''s leaping over the rooftops of Paris, running with wolves in snowy Russia, learning to survive the dangers of the Amazon rainforest or embarking on a heist in 1920s New York, each of Rundell''s books opens a window into a different world. Full of brilliant characters, from courageous young girls and boys to the most fearsome of villains, these stories are about bravery, resourcefulness and how age is no barrier to changing the world. This eBook bundle contains: - Rooftoppers - The Wolf Wilder - The Explorer - The Good Thieves
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