30 Enriching Books About NYC for Kids

With the same wit and perception that distinguished his stylish books on Paris, London, and Rome, M. Sasek pictures fabulous, big-hearted New York City in This Is New York, first published in 1960 and now updated for the 21st century. 

The Dutchman who bought the island of Manhattan from the Native Americnas in 1626 for twenty-four dollars' worth of handy housewares little knew that his was the biggest bargain in American history.  For everything about New York is big -- the buildings, the traffic jams, the cars, the stories, the Sunday papers. 

Here is the Staten Island Ferry, the Statute of Liberty, MacDougal Alley in Greenwich Village, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Harlem, Chinatown, Central Park. The brass,  the beauty, the magic, This Is New York!

Nelly lives in New York, the greatest city in the world.Every morning, she wakes up to the rumble of the subways and the honking of cars.

Every morning, she can smell the food cart downstairs and hear the rat-a-tat-tat of the street musicians outside.Every morning, she goes outside to be in the city she knows like the back of her hand—or does she?

One morning, Nelly and her dog Bagel decide to find out what New York is really about—or more specifically, why a city that has nothing to do with apples is the Biggest Apple of them all.

Could there really be a giant apple somewhere in New York? And where is it hiding?

Follow a young boy and his dad on their walk around Manhattan, from Grand Central Terminal to the top of the Empire State Building, from Greenwich Village to the Statue of Liberty, learning facts and trivia along the way. In an ode to America’s biggest city, Salvatore Rubbino’s lively paintings and breezy text capture the delight of a young visitor experiencing the wonders of New York firsthand. Back matter includes an index.

From Caldecott Honor artist Melissa Sweet comes the perfect Thanksgiving Day picture book. Let's have a parade!

Meet the master puppeteer who invented the first balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Melissa Sweet brings to life the inspirational story of the puppeteer who invented the giant balloons floating in the sky during the annual parade celebrating Thanksgiving. The Caldecott Honor artist brilliantly captures the essence of Tony Sarg, a self-taught immigrant with a fascinating imagination.

In this lively 400-year history, kids will read about Peter Stuyvesant and the enterprising Dutch colonists, follow the spirited patriots as they rebel against the British during the American Revolution, learn about the crimes of the infamous Tweed Ring, journey through the notorious Five Points slum with its tenements and street vendors, and soar to new heights with the Empire State Building and New York City’s other amazing skyscrapers.

When Sybil learns her friend Bolivar, the last dinosaur, only likes corned beef sandwiches, she informs him that he’s been missing out on one of the great attributes of New York City and it’s rich communities--delicacies from around the world! Knishes! Falafel! Dim Sum! And it wouldn’t be a story in the Big Apple without pizza . . .

Explore the five boroughs: Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan in this lushly illustrated Discovery Adventure from Eisner nominated writer and artist Sean Rubin where kids and parents alike search for their favorite foods, and find other sights unique to one of the greatest cities in the world!

Every day, Bill Cunningham pedaled his bike through New York City searching for beauty. As he took picture after picture, Bill found beauty not in people, but in their clothes. Drawn to bold and creative choices, Bill's photos captured the attention of the New York Times.

He traveled to Paris for Fashion Week, and admiration for his work grew. With his sense of creativity and daringness, his own personal style of photography came to be known as street art photography.

If you've got kids interested in photography, don't miss my list of photography books for kids here.

Lost in the Library: A Story of Patience & Fortitude is the first picture book about Patience and Fortitude, the two lion statues that faithfully guard the New York Public Library. When Patience goes missing, Fortitude realizes the secret to Patience's disappearance may be within the Library itself.

Follow Larry as he ping-pongs around New York City, hitting all five boroughs in a day, visiting the places and things that make the city what it is today—from Times Square, Wall Street, and Radio City Music Hall to Coney Island, Madison Square Garden, and Central Park. Along the way he loses Pete and his family in the city's famous subway system.

Finally after an exhausting day of adventures, Larry is reunited with his family at the top of the Empire State Building. This book takes young readers on a dog's-eye view of the greatest city in the world. Sidebar entries enhance the story, offering fascinating factoids about the places Larry visits.

An inspiring picture book biography of storyteller, puppeteer, and New York City’s first Puerto Rican librarian, who championed bilingual literature.

When she came to America in 1921, Pura Belpré carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland. Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistant, she turned her popular retellings into libros and spread story seeds across the land.

Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and storytellers continue to share her tales and celebrate Pura’s legacy.

Brought to colorful life by Paola Escobar’s elegant and exuberant illustrations and Anika Aldamuy Denise’s lyrical text, this gorgeous book is perfect for the pioneers in your life.

In 1858, New York City was growing so fast that new roads and tall buildings threatened to swallow up the remaining open space. The people needed a green place to be — a park with ponds to row on and paths for wandering through trees and over bridges.

When a citywide contest solicited plans for creating a park out of barren swampland, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted put their heads together to create the winning design, and the hard work of making their plans a reality began. By winter, the lake opened for skating.

By the next summer, the waterside woodland known as the Ramble opened for all to enjoy. Meanwhile, sculptors, stone masons, and master gardeners joined in to construct thirty-four unique bridges, along with fountains, pagodas, and band shells, making New York's Central Park a green gift to everyone.

When the man with the yellow hat promises to buy George a holiday surprise during their trip to the city, George decides he wants to give his friend a surprise too. But it isn't long before the little monkey's curiosity gets him into trouble and he gets separated from his friend.

Though he has fun seeing the tourist sites and all the sparkling decorations, what he enjoys most is finding his best friend and enjoying the city together.

Based on the beautiful designs of Mr. Boddington's Studio, this board book is the perfect introduction to the ABCs of NYC.

This board book teaches the letters of the alphabet with illustrations of people, places, and things unique to the greatest city in the world. It is the perfect gift for anyone who loves New York!

From an acclaimed author and a New York Times Best Illustrated artist comes the fascinating, little-known—and true!—story of New York City’s first subway. 

New York City in the 1860s was a mess: crowded, disgusting, filled with garbage. You see, way back in 1860, there were no subways, just cobblestone streets. That is, until Alfred Ely Beach had the idea for a fan-powered train that would travel underground. On February 26, 1870, after fifty-eight days of drilling and painting and plastering, Beach unveiled his masterpiece—and throngs of visitors took turns swooshing down the track.

The story of a daring tightrope walk between skyscrapers, as seen in Robert Zemeckis's The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky.

This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and--in two dramatic foldout spreads-- the vertiginous drama of Petit's feat.

This is the inspiring true story of the John J. Harvey—a retired New York City fireboat reinstated on September 11, 2001. Originally launched in 1931, the Harvey was the most powerful fireboat of her time.

After the September 11 attacks, with fire hydrants at Ground Zero inoperable and the Hudson River's water supply critical to fighting the blaze, the fire department called on the Harvey for help.

There were adjustments—forcing water into hoses by jamming soda bottles and wood into nozzles with a sledgehammer—and then the fireboat's volunteer crew pumped much-needed water to the disaster site.

The John J. Harvey proved she was still one of New York's Bravest!

Before she was an iconic First Lady of the United States, Jackie Kennedy was a born-and-raised New Yorker. She loved everything about her city, from the natural beauty of the parks to the architectural history of the buildings.

So when the owners of Grand Central wanted to build a skyscraper on top of the famous train station, Jackie knew they had to be stopped. She helped inspire thousands of people to come together and fight to protect the historic landmark.

From letter-writing campaigns all the way to the Supreme Court, this little-known story celebrates winning in the face of immeasurable odds and how one person can make a big difference.

Red and Lulu make their nest in a particularly beautiful evergreen tree. It shades them in the hot months and keeps them cozy in the cold months, and once a year the people who live nearby string lights on their tree and sing a special song: O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree. 

But one day, something unthinkable happens, and Red and Lulu are separated. It will take a miracle for them to find each other again. Luckily, it’s just the season for miracles. . . .

From Matt Tavares comes a heart-tugging story combining the cheer of Christmas, the magic of New York City, and the real meaning of the holiday season: how important it is to be surrounded by love.

In the 1930s, Lewis's dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., had an itch he needed to scratch—a book itch. How to scratch it? He started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore.

And as far as Lewis Michaux Jr. could tell, his father's bookstore was one of a kind. People from all over came to visit the store, even famous people—Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and Langston Hughes, to name a few.

In his father's bookstore people bought and read books, and they also learned from each other. People swapped and traded ideas and talked about how things could change.

They came together here all because of his father's book itch. Read the story of how Lewis Michaux Sr. and his bookstore fostered new ideas and helped people stand up for what they believed in.

Eloise is a very special little girl who lives at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. She may not be pretty yet, but she’s definitely already a real person. She loves learning about people who aren’t boring. Take Eloise home with you and she’ll introduce you to life at The Plaza. You’ll be glad you did!

Irving Berlin came to the United States as a refugee from Tsarist Russia, escaping a pogrom that destroyed his village. Growing up on the streets of the lower East Side, the rhythms of jazz and blues inspired his own song-writing career. Starting with his first big hit, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Berlin created the soundtrack for American life with his catchy tunes and irresistible lyrics. With "God Bless America," he sang his thanks to the country which had given him a home and a chance to express his creative vision.

Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg.

This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages.

When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division.

A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.

Here is a fascinating and comprehensive history of this beloved American landmark, from the first sketch to the final unveiling celebration.

Since she was erected in New York Harbor in 1886, the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to the New World, a beautiful symbol of hope and freedom. But the story really begins 15 years earlier, when the French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi visited New York to plan the statue he would later present to the American people as a gift from France.

Gittel and her mother were supposed to immigrate to America together, but when her mother is stopped by the health inspector, Gittel must make the journey alone. Her mother writes her cousin’s address in New York on a piece of paper.

However, when Gittel arrives at Ellis Island, she discovers the ink has run and the address is illegible! How will she find her family?

Both a heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, Gittel’s Journey offers a fresh perspective on the immigration journey to Ellis Island. 

This lavishly illustrated book follows the storyline, choreography, costumes, and sets of the New York City Ballet’s production of Swan Lake. With beautiful art illustrated by Valeria Docampo, this magnificent retelling is a perfect gift for an aspiring ballerina or any family who wants to add this enchanting and classic tale to their library.

Seven-year-old Stevie is lost in the galleries! She needs to locate a series of artworks to find her way out and back to her family. Can you help her?

Follow Stevie as she explores the most exciting and intriguing galleries and exhibitions inside The Met in this beautifully illustrated seek-and-find adventure!As Stevie moves through The Met's galleries of Greek and Roman art, Ancient Egypt, and Modern and Contemporary art, learn about the rarest and most beautiful objects found in the museum's prestigious galleries.

Who can you find? What will you discover?

The unbeatable team of Deborah Hopkinson and James E. Ransome present a riveting brick-by-brick account of how one of the most amazing accomplishments in American architecture came to be.

Join a young boy as he watches the Empire State Building being constructed from scratch, then travels to the top to look down on all of New York City in 1931. Hopkinson, a master of historical fiction, and Ransome, an award-winning illustrator, dazzle us with this ALA Notable and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.

What Louisa loved most about living in Times Square wasn't the buzzzz of the city...No, it was that she could sing as loud as she wanted. She could sing all day and she could sing all night.

Louisa was truly a Broadway bird.Louisa is a tiny parakeet with a HUGE dream: to be a Broadway star.

But no matter what she does, everyone keeps telling her she's too small to make it big! When a chance at her big break comes, Louisa learns that no matter how small you are, with a little talent and a lot of hard work, you can do anything - even be on Broadway!

The Vanderbeekers have always lived in the brownstone on 141st Street. It's practically another member of the family.

So when their reclusive, curmudgeonly landlord decides not to renew their lease, the five siblings have eleven days to do whatever it takes to stay in their beloved home and convince the dreaded Beiderman just how wonderful they are.

And all is fair in love and war when it comes to keeping their home.

Tucker is a streetwise city mouse. He thought he'd seen it all. But he's never met a cricket before, which really isn't surprising, because, along with his friend Harry Cat, Tucker lives in the very heart of New York City—the Times Square subway station.