Adventure Begins with a Set of Dice: Dungeons & Dragons at the Library

One of the many adventures you can enjoy this summer (and all year) is the game of Dungeons & Dragons. In this collaborative tabletop roleplaying game for all ages, players work together as different characters to defeat monsters, solve puzzles, and ultimately tell a story of their own creation. Dungeons & Dragons has grown in popularity with many recent books, television shows, movies, and podcasts highlighting the game.

Games like Dungeons & Dragons, which focus heavily on teamwork, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills, are a great way for peers to engage with one another and work on social skills. Be sure to check out our online calendar or Program Guide for upcoming opportunities to play Dungeons & Dragons at the library!

In the meantime, browse our collection for Dungeons & Dragons-themed books to get you in the spirit of adventure. Read on for a list of some of our recommended titles for children and teens.

PICTURE BOOKS & BEGINNING READERS

• A Knight in a Fight by Spencer Brinker
  • A Knight in a Fight is a story about a knight fighting a dragon. It introduces many –ight words to help new readers build their reading skills!

• Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder (also available on Hoopla)
  • A pick-your-adventure picture book, Endlessly Ever After introduces readers to the beginning-middle-end model of storytelling and puts the power of storytelling in their hands.

• Giant Giant by Dylan Hewitt
  • Through the story of a giant terrorizing a town, Giant Giant teaches readers about the negative effects of bullying and the importance of being kind.

• Heroes Unite! by Nicole Johnson
  • Heroes Unite! follows the story of several adventurers as they plan and execute a heist. Based on the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, this series has books for beginners as well as more advanced young readers so that readers can grow with the series.

• The Knight who Said ‘No’ by Lucy Rowland
  • Written by a children’s speech and language therapist, this story follows a young knight as he learns the power of the word “no!” and makes an unlikely friend.

• The Magic Beans by Margaret Hillert (also available on Hoopla)
  • An easy-to-read retelling of the classic tale Jack and the Beanstalk, this beginner level book introduces readers to the world of fantasy. Full of repetition, this book helps build foundational reading skills.

PICTURE BOOKS IN OTHER LANGUAGES

• Magia: En una Tierra Muy Lejana written and illustrated by Mirelle Ortega (English version available on Hoopla)
  • Written in Spanish, Magia tells the autobiographical story of a young girl growing up near her family’s pineapple farm in Mexico. Throughout the book we learn the meaning of the word magic and all the forms it can take, like a seed turning into a plant, or a blank paper turning into a picture.

• Pierre & Paul: Dragon! A Story Told in Two Languages by Caroline Adderson
  • This book tells the tale of French-speaking Pierre and English-speaking Paul, two young friends who play and imagine a fantasy world around them complete with swamps, forests, tsunamis, and a dragon. Written in two languages, the beautiful illustrations provide context clues for speakers of either language to enjoy with their child.

• The Water Dragon retold by Jian Li
  • Jian Li retells an old Chinese legend, the story of The Water Dragon, in both English and Chinese. Set long ago in a Chinese village, Li recounts the story of a young boy with a magic rock and his journey to save his village from drought.

CHILDREN’S FICTION

• Can You Survive Deadly Rain Forest Encounters? An Interactive Wilderness Adventure by Allison Lassieur (also available on Hoopla)
  • This choose-your-own-adventure style book is a gamified way to introduce kids to biology. Similar to Dungeons & Dragons, the reader makes choices to defeat or avoid deadly creatures and ultimately triumph or fail based on their choices.

• The Mystery of the Mayhem Mansion by Matt Manning
  • Based on the Scooby Doo series, this choose-your-own-adventure novel empowers readers to help solve a mystery and acquaints them with the type of roleplaying decisions that take place during Dungeons & Dragons.

• No Humans Allowed! by Madeleine Roux, book one in the D&D Dungeon Academy series (also available on Hoopla)
  • Zelli Stormclash is the only human in Dungeon Academy. Disguised as a minotaur, she does her best to not stick out amongst her peers (monsters). But when she discovers another human adventurer from history, she sets out on a dangerous adventure of her own to discover her true lineage.

• Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato
  • Perfect for middle-grade readers, Roll for Initiative tells the story of a young girl learning to be independent after her older brother leaves for college. Through a mutual love of the game Dungeons & Dragons, she develops friendships with several kids her own age. As she builds confidence, she realizes that she can accomplish tasks that her brother used to do for her, like cleaning and cooking, by herself.

• Seeking Fortune During the California Gold Rush by Matt Doeden (also available on Hoopla)
  • Seeking Fortune During the California Gold Rush is a choose-your-own-path historical fiction book that teaches readers about the California Gold Rush while simultaneously preparing them with the improvisational and decision-making skills used in Dungeons & Dragons and everyday life.

CHILDREN’S GRAPHIC NOVELS

• D&D Dungeon Club: Roll Call by Molly Ostertag
  • From the author of the popular Witch Boy series, this graphic novel follows a pair of young Dungeons & Dragons players as they navigate new friendships and include new people in their game.

• Sunny Rolls the Dice by Jennifer L. Holm (also available on Hoopla)
  • Part of the Sunny series, this graphic novel follows Sunny as she balances old and new friendships. Feeling the pressure to be ‘cool,’ Sunny must choose between what peers tell her to do and what makes her happiest: playing Dungeons & Dragons.

• Tricky Journeys series by Chris Schweizer
  • This choose-your-own-adventure style graphic novel series allows readers to play as wild animals who must find food to eat. Who will survive and who won’t? The series features several animals including rabbits, foxes, spiders, and more, and each book centers on folklore from a different culture.

TEEN TITLES

• Artificers & Alchemy by Jim Zub
  • A more approachable form of the standard Dungeon Master’s Guide, this book explains the rules of the game to anyone hoping to play. With information on how to both run and play Dungeons & Dragons, this is a great guide for young gamers.

• Characters & Quests: A Young Adventurer’s Workbook for Creating a Hero and Telling Their Tale by Sarra Scherb
  • Creativity is key when playing a game like Dungeons & Dragons, and this book helps kids tell the best story possible. A gamified creative writing guide, this book goes into characters, how to describe them, how to create a world to play in, and more.

• The Druid’s Call by E. K. Johnston
  • A fantasy coming-of-age novel, The Druid’s Call is a prequel to the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It follows a young druid, Doric, as she learns the magic of nature and figures out her role in the world.

• Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
  • Teens Riley and Nathan strike a deal: if Nathan covers Riley’s shifts at her father’s game shop (so she can save her high school musical), then she’ll pretend to flirt with him to make his crush jealous. But things take a turn when Riley finds that flirting with Nathan is easier than she thought and joining his Dungeons & Dragons game is actually pretty fun.

• Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth
  • An unlikely romance emerges when two teens meet in the online role-playing game Twelfth Knight. When Vi joined the game under an alter ego, she didn’t expect to find her school’s running back, Jack, in there too, or that they would have so much in common. But will the connection remain when Vi reveals her true identity offline?

• With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer
  • Comic and Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast Jude plans to survive high school by flying under the radar, but that proves difficult when he’s suddenly gifted with supernatural luck. When it comes to love, however, Jude’s newfound luck starts to feel more like a curse.