Ocean Star Express

by John Masefield

Like Joe discovering the magical loft, young Kay Harker stumbles into a world of wonder hidden within the ordinary—but Masefield's 1935 novella has that same quality of a child's sense of discovery mixed with genuine strangeness and danger. The model train in Joe's loft finds its parallel in Masefield's intricate magical objects that open doorways to other times and places.

by Norton Juster

Juster captures that same architectural quality to imagination that Haddon does—Milo's tollbooth is as much a literal gateway as Joe's loft, and both authors treat fantastical journeys with the matter-of-fact tone of a child simply accepting that magic exists. The wordplay and landscape-as-character work similarly in both, though Juster's world is built on puns and linguistic logic rather than model trains.

by Erin Morgenstern

This is the surprise pick—it's adult literary fiction rather than children's, but it shares Haddon's gift for making readers feel the sensory magic of enclosed, impossible spaces. Where Joe's loft contains mountains and deserts in miniature, the circus contains entire worlds of wonder, and Morgenstern writes with the same dreamy precision about how magic feels when you're inside it.

by Kate DiCamillo

DiCamillo shares Haddon's ability to make readers care deeply about small, specific characters in fantastical settings—her castle dungeons and tapestry-filled rooms have that same quality of intimate grandeur. Both authors write with genuine tenderness about how a child (or mouse) experiences wonder, without ever talking down to their readers.

by Megan Whalen Turner

Turner's debut does something clever with landscape and discovery that echoes Haddon's approach—the journey through a richly imagined world unfolds gradually, and like Joe learning the rules of his loft's geography, readers piece together how this world actually works. Both books trust young readers to handle complexity and strangeness without explanation.