The staff at New York Public Library love their city and here are some books for young children, middle graders, and teens they feel deliver all the charm, mystique, and humanity that makes this place great.

Young Children

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a book that speaks to my inner child about the simplicity of being a kid and enjoying the snow. Peter, the child protagonist, being able to enjoy the feel of the cold snow...crunching against his feet. —Christel Ellis, George Bruce

Travel back to 2003 in Blackout by John Rocco. If our city can make it through that, we can make it through anything. —Anna Taylor, Children’s Programming

This is New York, by M. Sasek, is gorgeous, timeless picture book about our bustling city and all of its sights and sounds. —Leslie Tabor, Yorkville

I do a Big Apple-themed story time every year, and some of my favorite children's books to share are Subway by Anastasia Suen, New York, Baby! by Ward Jenkins, and Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora. These capture the bustling, vibrant city we live in from a child's perspective. —Susie Tucker Heimbach, Mulberry Street

I recommend Ollie & Moon: Fuhgeddaboudit!, a darling picture book where Ollie and Moon tour the sights of New York City. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

I love When the Beat was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop. It's children's nonfiction, biography, and set in the Bronx 1970s. —Amie Wright, MyLibraryNYC

Black Cat by Christopher Myers is all long angular shadows and with a deep palate of purple, orange, and blue with text so cool you can't help by hear the jazz playing in the background. —Lynn Lobash, Readers Services

Middle Graders

How about some fantasy with your NYC? For kids there's The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh. Take a tour around beloved landmarks as a ghost! A great fantasy adventure that will have you seeing the city from the paranormal perspective. Also, So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. Britain's not the only place that features aspiring wizards! So much fun to read, with a wildly dark alternate NYC that our heroes must travel to in search of a legendary book… this was the story that made me love urban fantasy. —Stephanie Whelan, Seward Park

From The Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is one of my all-time New York favorites! Who wouldn't want to run away and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Adventure, mystery and a good dose of fun. Do you know what snow piles are good for? Hiding behind them, of course! Learn how to be a NYC snow spy with Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh and solve art mysteries in Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald. —Anna Taylor, Children’s Programming

Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me is one of the best and most legitimate portrayals of NYC I can remember with great characters. Appropriate for kids 9–12. —Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division

Better Nate Than Ever, a middle age novel by Tim Federle, sees New York City through the fresh eyes of a boy who has run away to audition for a Broadway musical. The story is sweet, clever, and relatable if you, too, fled suburbia to pursue a passion or find your tribe. —Kyle Butler, Strategy Office

For a good New York read, I've got to go with Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages by Dean Koontz, illustrated by Phil Parks. I remember reading this with my little brother as a pre-teen. At first I thought it was just kid stuff but the tale of toys created for needy children pulled me in as they made their way through the dark, stormy streets of New York. That they are opposed by evil toys lead by Rex, the wicked marionette, added delicious chills to this book's heady flavors of gothic writing. —Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil

I'm a fan of Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman, which I read in middle school and never forgot. —Jennifer Moakler, New Dorp

Young Adult

In YA, I recommend The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie for a portrait of a fictional New York as seen through Dylan's relationships, drugs, movie sets and basketball. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

I thoroughly enjoyed the YA novel, The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh, which is about a young boy who discovers NYC's underworld, deep within the bowels of Grand Central: a place where those who have died in NYC live on because they are not yet ready (or able) to leave. —Maura Muller, Volunteers Office

I would like to recommend the young adult novel Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston. The novel is set in New York City with many scenes set in Central Park, which serves as a gateway to the faerie's Otherworld. —Lilian Calix, Hamilton Grange