Choose your own adventure books have captivated readers for decades. They offer a unique blend of storytelling and interactive elements that engage and invite readers to become part of the narrative. Why should you reach for a choose your own adventure book? There are so many benefits! These books encourage active participation, increase reading motivation, foster imagination, teach cause and effect, boost critical thinking, extend the plot through different endings, and cultivate a love of reading.
Whether you’re in the classroom or selecting books for your own children at home, here is a list of choose your own adventure books to try!
You can click on any of the titles below to learn more about each story or find all of these choose your own adventure books on my Amazon page.
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Choose Your Own Adventure Books for Kids
Endlessly Ever After
by Laurel Snyder
Grab your basket and your coat. Put on some walking shoes.
Turn the page and begin: Which story will you choose?
This funny, original, choose-your-path picture book of fractured fairy tales will charm any young fan of the genre, putting the power of storytelling right in the reader’s hands!
What Should Danny Do?
by Ganit and Adir Levy
This book follows Danny, a Superhero-in-Training, through his day as he encounters choices that kids face on a daily basis. As your children navigate through the different story lines, they will begin to realize that their choices for Danny shaped his day into what it became. And in turn, their choices for themselves will shape their days, and ultimately their lives, into what they will be.
Be sure to check out the rest of the books in the Power to Choose series:
You Can Handle Conflict: Hands or Words?
by Connie Colwell Miller
Quinn deals with conflict on the playground: who will get to use the swing? Readers make choices for Quinn and read what happens next, with each story path leading to different consequences. Includes five different endings and discussion questions.
This book is part of the Making Good Choices series.
Search for a Giant Squid
by Amy Seto Forrester & Andy Chou Musser
This series starter takes emerging readers on an expedition to the ocean’s twilight zone in search of a giant squid. But giant squids are hard to find. Readers will need to join the expedition and help make choices along the way.
First they’ll pick their submersible. And then their pilot and dive site. They’ll need to be careful—not every path leads where it seems, but whatever path they pick, they’ll see and learn amazing things!
What Will You Do, Curious George?
by Liza Charlesworth
At noon, George has plans to meet up with his friend, the man with the yellow hat, by the big gold clock. But there’s plenty of time before George needs to make his way downtown. What should he do first? On every page, young readers choose what George will do next and lead the little monkey through a morning of activities. In classic Curious George fashion, these choices can turn out to be exciting, messy, or a bit surprising—but they always come with a healthy dose of curiosity!
This book includes picture tabs for the choices to help young readers with independence.
The Terrible Trio
by Laurie S. Sutton
It’s a triple threat! Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn have crashed a charity fundraiser and made off with all the cash. Which villain should Batman chase first? Should he search the Fairgrounds or the Gotham Seaport? Does the Caped Crusader jump onto a speeding train, or get grabbed by a monstrous vine? In this interactive story, YOU CHOOSE the path Batman should take. With your help, he’ll solve the puzzle of The Terrible Trio!
This is part of the You Choose Stories: Batman.
The Case of the Cheese Thief
by Laurie S. Sutton
The secret recipe for a million-dollar mozzarella is stolen aboard a European train trip. Should Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang investigate or end their vacation early? Will the gang stick together or split up? Does Scooby find the missing cheese or eat the evidence? In this interactive story, YOU CHOOSE the path the gang should take. With your help, they’ll solve this case of the cheese burglar.
This is the first book in the You Choose Stories: Scooby Doo.
Super Game Book
by Thomas Flintham
Can Super Rabbit Boy rescue his kidnapped animal friends from meanie King Viking? It’s up to YOU to try to save the day — all you have to do is press start! In this 144-page, full-color special edition, each page presents the reader with a number of options for the next page turn. Readers will see their choices make the story unfold in fun and exciting ways! But be careful — if the wrong choice is made, it might be game over! In this unique Press Start adventure, it’s up to you to beat the game!
The Race to Erase
by Bill Doyle
The Calamity Corporation is determined to end life on Earth as we know it. The company has built hotels that orbit Earth and small cities on the moon and has plans to move the human population to Mars. The sinister corporation is determined to ruin Earth so that people have no choice but to leave it.
Not so fast! Four kids who secretly possess the powers of land, air, sea, and creatures are about to change the course of history. These kids may not be the likeliest of heroes, but they are determined to stop Calamity Corporation from destroying Earth. And they have a secret weapon: a fifth hero. YOU!
Throughout the book, there are three chances for you to help change the course of the story alongside our fearless team. Choose incorrectly and it’s game over. But choose wisely and you might save the planet!
This is the first book in The Fifth Hero series.
Endangered Operation
by Sam Nisson
In this choose-your-own-caper story set in the world of Carmen Sandiego, you are a junior zookeeper caring for a rare newborn Amur tiger cub. VILE, in its latest plot, is stealing exotic animals to sell to a billionaire collector, and your charge is cub-napped! Carmen arrives and you decide the best way to get your cub back is to help her defeat VILE and rescue all the animals they’ve captured. Or do you? Twenty different endings to this story keep readers coming back for more adventures with Carmen Sandiego!
If your kids love this one, be sure to check out Jetpack Attack from the same series.
What Happens Next? Talent Show Troubles
by Jess Smart Smiley
Megan Hathaway is in charge of Sunbright Middle School’s talent show, and everything is going wrong.
Animals are running wild backstage, vice-principal Fisher is out for blood, and Megan’s friend Olivia might be turning into a zombie. Can YOU help Megan salvage this mess, or will you doom her to an eternity in the school’s basement?!
Return to Haunted House
by R.A. Montgomery
YOU embark on another time-traveling adventure around the world with your best friend, Homer the dog. If you jump into Homer’s crazy contraption and visit the next haunted house, will you ever make it home? Will you learn to read Latin? You might visit a British manor with magic inside, then shoot off to Thailand and meet some majestic elephants.
This is part of the Choose Your Own Adventure series.
Escape From a Video Game: The Secret of Phantom Island
by Dustin Brady
Cooper Hawke and the Secret of Phantom Island is the greatest video game nobody has ever played. The treasure-hunting adventure was supposed to set a new standard for gaming. Then, just one month before its release date, it fell off the face of the earth.
Now, for the first time, you get a chance to play the mysterious game – from the inside. As you outsmart enemies, solve puzzles, and explore the island’s hidden areas, you’ll discover that there’s more to this game than the world realized.
This book is part of the Escape From a Video Game Series.
Story Thieves
by James Riley
Being able to jump into books used to seem like the greatest thing in the world to Owen Conners. But now Owen’s trapped in a time travel book where readers—that would be you—decide how the story goes.
As if that weren’t enough, Owen’s also stuck in a prison for time criminals in a prehistoric era. He’s surrounded by bizarre fellow prisoners, including Kara Dox. How does Kara recognize Owen if they’ve never met before? She seems to think they’re old friends, but that can’t be possible. Still, Kara might just be the only chance Owen has to escape. And he has to find a way out to save his friend Bethany, who’s still in grave danger. Because unless Owen can stop him, Nobody is going to split Bethany into two, separating the fictional and nonfictional worlds forever.
Will Owen be able to convince you, the reader, to help him find his way back to Bethany? Or will you feed him to dinosaurs just to teach him a lesson? It’s all up to you when you Pick the Plot.
Race Through White-Water Canyon
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
On a rafting trip in the Pacific Northwest, the Aldens come across the story of a mysterious man who disappeared into the wilderness many years ago. Can you help the Aldens find out where the man went―and what happened to the treasure he took with him? In this interactive, choose-your-path mystery, readers will make decisions that will help the Boxcar Children crack the case during their white-water adventure.
This is the part of The Boxcar Children Interactive Mysteries.
The Race to Chimney Rock
by Jesse Wiley
It’s 1850 and your first goal is to get your family, covered wagon full of supplies, and oxen to Chimney Rock on time. But hurry—you’ll need to make it through the rugged mountains before winter snow hits. Plus, there are wild animals, natural disasters, unpredictable weather, fast-flowing rivers, strangers, and sickness that will be sure to stand between you and your destination!
Which path will get you safely across the prairie? With twenty-two possible endings, choose wrong and you’ll never make it to Chimney Rock on time. Choose right and blaze a trail that gets you closer to Oregon City!
This is the first book in The Oregon Trail series.
Prints in the Sand: My Journey with Nanea
by Erin Falligant
The puka shells jingle in my hand. I don’t want to lose them, so I slide the necklace over my head. But as I pull my hair out from under the string of shells, the ground drops from beneath my feet. I feel the whoosh of an ocean breeze, and then a pink mist covers my eyes . . . What if you suddenly found yourself in Nanea’s hometown of Honolulu during World War Two? Together, you and Nanea could send secret messages for the war effort or work in a Victory Garden. You could learn how to hula dance or help a lost dog. As you read, you decide what happens by choosing your own path through this multiple-ending story.
Everest: You Decide How to Survive!
by Bill Doyle and David Borgenicht
On an expedition to climb Mount Everest, the reader chooses between alternatives throughout the book. Only one series of choices will lead to the top of the mountain and safely home. Illustrated in comic book style and based on real, true-life facts about mountain climbing, Mount Everest, and Himalayan culture.
This one was easier to find in my local library than it was on Amazon. There are a few more books in this series (Mars, Amazon, and Deadly Seas).
Crypt Quest / Space Battles
by Gabe Soria
After climbing a fence near an abandoned mall, you discover a derelict video arcade managed by a ghostly attendant. Presented with a magical game token, you select one of two games you wish to play, the eerie Crypt Quest or the flashy Space Battles. Once you place the token in the slot, you have to make choices to advance through the games and your decisions control whether you beat the game, or die.
This author also has a book called Fantastic Fist / MowTown, which follows a similar play-your-way adventure.
Mystery in the Mansion
by Lauren Magaziner
Carlos Serrano has never solved a mystery in his life. But when Carlos’s mom gets sick with a flu on the morning of an investigation that could save her failing detective agency, Carlos takes on the case.
With the help of his best friend, Eliza, and her wild little brother, Frank, Carlos must uncover a mystery involving an eccentric local millionaire, anonymous death threats, and a buried treasure. But with tricky riddles, cagey suspects, hidden secrets, and dozens of impossible choices, they need your help!
Can you help Carlos and his friends find the culprit and save Las Pistas Detective Agency? Or will it be case closed?
This is the first book in the Case Closed series.
Do you have a favorite choose your own adventure book that didn’t make the list? Drop a comment with the title so I can check it out!
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Happy Reading!
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