The best choose-your-own-adventure books for kids today start with You Choose for the youngest, then Pick a Story, Gareth P. Jones's Solve Your Own Mystery series, and Traitors in Space for readers aged 9 and up.

Choose-your-own-adventure books by stage

  • Picture books for the youngest: You Choose by Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt, and the Pick a Story series by Sarah Coyle.
  • Solve the case: the Solve Your Own Mystery series by Gareth P. Jones, where you are the detective.
  • 9 and up: Traitors in Space by Tim Collins, with over 45 possible endings.
  • 11 and up: the Pick Your Path series, short and fast, with some content not suitable for under-11s.
  • With dice and battles: Usborne Adventure Gamebooks, such as The Goblin's Revenge and Portal of Chaos.

Where choose-your-own-adventure books began

For anyone growing up in the 1980s, the Choose Your Own Adventure books were absolutely thrilling. The series of books allowed readers to make choices that led to different endings. The series was one of the most popular book series of the 80s, allowing readers to make choices that shaped the story and led to multiple possible endings. Created by Edward Packard and originally published by Bantam Books between 1979 and 1998 each book was written in the second person, making you the main character.

At the end of most pages, you were given two or more choices, each directing you to a different page. The books had multiple endings—some led to success, while others resulted in failure or even death!

Why were Choose Your Own Adventure stories so popular?

When they first arrived in the 1980s, interactive storytelling was a novel concept. 

The books were quick reads, making them great for reluctant readers.

And there was a wide range of genres, from sci-fi and fantasy to historical adventures and spy thrillers. The excitement of going back and choosing a different path made them endlessly re-readable.

Choose Your Own Adventures for Today’s Young Readers

If you’re looking for modern Choose Your Own Adventure-style books for today’s young readers, here are some great options with the LoveReading4Kids stamp of approval.

You Choose

With the help of Nick Sharratt's wonderfully detailed illustrations, Pippa Goodhart explores a whole range of scenarios where choosing is made fun! Starting with the timeless classic You Choose which children will love to return to again and again, it’s followed by You Choose Your Dreams, You Choose in Space, You Choose Fairy Tales and You Choose Bedtime. There's something new to find on every read! 

Pick a Story

The highly interactive Pick a Story series so far consists of five books written by Sarah Coyle with bold and colourful illustrations by Adam Walker-Parker. The series brings the well-loved choose-your-own-adventure concept to the modern picture book. Young readers choose between three completely different worlds – be it monster, princess, shark, or pirate, alien, jungle - allowing them to change the story as it happens. With endless story paths to be taken, the adventure is always different.

The Solve Your Own Mystery Series

LoveReading4Kids fave Gareth P. Jones delivers a brilliant series of four fantastically imaginative detective stories for readers looking for an interactive adventure. Welcome to Haventry, a town where the ordinary and extraordinary collide! With ghosts, werewolves and zombies living side by side, trouble is always brewing. And when a fiendish crime is committed, you are the detective in charge of the case. Each book features one puzzling mystery. Several slippery suspects. And endless possibilities!

The Pick Your Own Path Adventures 

Traitors in Space by Tim Collins and illustrated by Steven Wood

This exciting adventure story for readers aged 9+ features a fast-paced branching structure with over 45 possible endings. At the end of each page there are two distinct options that will take the reader on different paths through the action – meaning that the reader controls the narrative (and their destiny!) throughout. 

You, the reader, are the star of this book, and you decide what happens. Along with your fellow crew members on your spaceship, you’ve travelled from Earth to Titan and are ready to return when the emergency alarm goes off: alien life has been detected on the ship. Can you track it down? Has it already attacked your friends? What are you going to do?

As the story develops, you’ll need to be on your toes – the wrong decision will lead to disaster, while there are logic puzzles and brain teasers to test you too. The format has all the interactive fun of a computer game while the extras, including lively black and white illustrations, make it an even more exciting reading experience.

Pick Your Path Series of Books

One of a trilogy of books in the Pick Your Path series, these offer a fresh take on the traditional 'Choose your own adventure' format. These are short, strong, fast-moving stories, offering short, low-level texts. These are not just books; they are fully interactive adventures that will have the reader guessing and guessing - what happens next? The reader decides! If the reader is 'killed' the first time, they can keep reading until they find the route. Note: some of the content of these books is not appropriate for readers under the age of eleven.

Usborne Adventure Gamebooks

Each book in this interactive fantasy adventure series of beautifully illustrated picture puzzles uses an exciting dice-based combat system to advance through the story. Whether you're a goblin in The Goblin's Revenge or a bounty hunter in Portal of Chaos, you'll be the hero in an epic tale that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Questions we get asked

What are choose-your-own-adventure books?

Stories written with you as the main character. At the end of most pages you pick what happens next and turn to a different page, so the same book has many endings. The original series was created by Edward Packard and published by Bantam Books between 1979 and 1998.

Are choose-your-own-adventure books good for reluctant readers?

Yes. They are quick reads, the reader is in control, and going back to try a different path makes them endlessly re-readable.

What is the best choose-your-own-adventure book for young children?

You Choose by Pippa Goodhart, illustrated by Nick Sharratt: a picture book children return to again and again.

Which choose-your-own-adventure book suits a 9-year-old?

Traitors in Space by Tim Collins, written for readers aged 9 and up, with more than 45 possible endings and puzzles along the way.

Click on the books below to purchase, download an extract, or read our expert reviews of these modern choose-your-own-adventure titles.