The Library

by Roald Dahl

Like Elizabeth, Matilda is a child whose voracious reading becomes her refuge and her superpower, but Dahl adds that delicious dark humor about adults who don't understand the magic of books. You'll recognize that same celebration of a solitary reader's inner world, except here the books literally transform her life in ways both funny and deeply satisfying.

by Catherine Goldhammer

This is my surprise pick for you—it's contemporary fantasy rather than picture book, but it shares that same warmth about finding home through connection and acceptance. Linus, the protagonist, discovers that belonging matters more than order, which echoes Elizabeth's journey of learning what truly matters when her beloved books force her to reconsider her life.

by Valerie Raleigh Yow

Published in 1943, this reaches back further than your source book and centers on Francie, a girl for whom reading is survival and aspiration. Smith captures that same tender understanding of how books become a refuge for those who need them most, and like Stewart, she writes with genuine affection for her reader-character rather than sentimentality.

by Author

This novel is essentially about a community built around books and reading in the aftermath of war—it has that same gentle insistence that stories and libraries matter profoundly to how we survive and connect. The epistolary format gives it a literary, intimate quality that mirrors the illustrated storybook charm of Stewart's work.

by Jacqueline Woodson

Woodson writes about Jeremiah and Ellie, two teenagers whose connection deepens through shared reading and quiet moments of understanding. While it's YA rather than picture book, it carries that same lyrical, unhurried quality and explores how books and stories help us see each other—a theme that resonates with Elizabeth's journey of learning what her collection truly means.