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Children's literature serves as a gateway to fantasy. Can you read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe without imagining yourself in Narnia, or dive into the Harry Potter series without wishing you could attend Hogwarts? Unfortunately, we don't have magical wardrobes to transport us to other realms. While many legendary locations from children's books are pure fantasy, some are completely real—and only a flight away.
10. Channel Islands – Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O'Dell was awarded the Newbery Medal for his 1960 children's novel, The Island of the Blue Dolphins. The story follows a girl named Karana, who is left behind on a secluded island off the coast of California after her family and tribe relocate to the mainland. She survives for years in near-total isolation, taming a wild dog as her companion, building a house from whale bones, and crafting dresses from cormorant feathers.
O'Dell's novel is a powerful narrative of survival and self-reliance, but what makes it even more remarkable is that it’s inspired by real events. Juana Maria, also known as the “Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island,” spent nearly two decades alone on San Nicolas Island, part of the Channel Islands off Southern California. Her home was believed to be a cave on the island’s southwest shore, rediscovered in 2012.
In 1853, Juana Maria, the last surviving member of the Nicoleno tribe, was discovered and moved to the mainland, but tragically passed away only seven weeks later. While San Nicolas Island is off-limits to the public (as it houses a Navy installation), visitors can explore the nearby Channel Islands National Park, which is accessible by ferry and preserves the islands' natural beauty, much like it was during Juana Maria’s time.
9. The Plaza Hotel – Eloise
Eloise is a spirited ‘city child’ who resides on the “tippy-top floor” of New York's Plaza Hotel. In this beloved 1955 picture book, the six-year-old Eloise roams the hotel's corridors, observes the guests, and orders all her meals via room service. With her mother perpetually away, Eloise is left in the care of a frazzled English nanny. While it may be hard to believe that a real-life Eloise could have existed, she might have—author Kay Thompson is said to have based the character on her goddaughter Liza Minnelli.
Today, the real Eloise is more recognized for her accomplishments as a Tony- and Oscar-winning performer than for her childhood escapades. However, the Plaza Hotel, located at the corner of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue, remains a New York icon. You can dine in the Palm Court, just like Eloise did, and visit the Eloise Shop. For an extra special experience, consider staying in the Betsey Johnson–designed Eloise Suite, complete with original illustrations from Eloise illustrator Hilary Knight, a black-and-pink decor theme that reflects the book, and a custom Eloise bathrobe. The price? Only $1,295 per night.
8. Chincoteague, Virginia – Misty of Chincoteague
Each year, wild horses from Assateague Island, off Virginia’s coast, are driven into the waters to swim to nearby Chincoteague Island, where they are sold at the annual ‘pony penning.’ This event inspired Marguerite Henry’s 1947 book Misty of Chincoteague. While local legend claims the island's original ponies are descendants of shipwreck survivors, these feral horses are more likely descended from domestic horses that escaped in the 17th century. Regardless of their origin, Henry’s book brought worldwide attention to a once-local tradition.
Pony penning continues to take place every year on Chincoteague Island, held on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July. Up to 50,000 visitors flock to the island for the event. In 2014, the horse auction raised almost $150,000 to benefit the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. What many may not know is that Henry’s Misty was inspired by an actual horse, and the preserved bodies of the real Misty and her foal Stormy are displayed at the Museum of Chincoteague.
7. Green Gables Farm, Prince Edward Island – Anne of Green Gables
In Lucy Maud Montgomery’s cherished 1908 novel, the red-haired orphan Anne Shirley is taken in by the elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert and moves to live on their farm, Green Gables, on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Montgomery modeled Green Gables after her aunt and uncle’s farmhouse in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, which still stands today.
The Anne series was the early-20th-century equivalent of Harry Potter, with the first book selling 19,000 copies in its first five months of release. Readers were eager for more Anne, and Montgomery delivered, writing seven more novels that followed Anne's adventures in rural Canada. The books were so beloved that the Canadian government ensured the Green Gables farmhouse was included when it established Prince Edward Island National Park in 1937. Today, Anne tourism is a thriving industry, with thousands of visitors each year from around the globe visiting Green Gables, the author's nearby home, and her birthplace. A significant portion of tourists come from Japan, where the Anne books enjoy immense popularity.
6. The Boston Public Garden – Make Way for Ducklings
Choosing a place to raise a family in a bustling city can be a challenge, even for ducks. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard face this dilemma as they try to find the perfect spot to raise their ducklings in 20th-century Boston. They first settle along the Charles River, where they hatch their eight little ones (Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack). But soon they decide to move to a more prestigious location in the Boston Public Garden. Their journey across the city with their ducklings is no easy feat, but with the help of a kind policeman, they succeed and soon find themselves swimming among the famous swan boats.
While studying art in Boston, author and illustrator Robert McCloskey often saw families of ducks crossing the Public Garden on his way to class. “When I returned to Boston four years later, I noticed the traffic issue with the ducks and heard a few stories about them. The book just sort of developed from there,” he explained later. The Public Garden, with its iconic swan boats that have been operating on the lagoon since 1877, remains a popular attraction. Visitors can take a ride, feed the ducks, and snap a photo with Nancy Schon’s statue of Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings, installed in 1987.
5. Metropolitan Museum of Art – From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Claudia Kincaid, the clever 12-year-old protagonist of E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, comes up with one of the most inventive escape plans in children's literature. Tired of her dull suburban life in Greenwich, Connecticut, and feeling neglected by her parents, she decides to run away and live in the grand 186,000-square-meter (2 million ft) Metropolitan Museum of Art. Claudia and her younger brother Jamie (whose savings fund the adventure) take up residence in the vast museum, hiding in bathroom stalls to dodge security, bathing in a fountain, eating at automats, and sleeping in Marie Antoinette's bed. Along the way, they even solve a mystery involving a Michelangelo statue.
The New York that Claudia and Jamie explore no longer exists—finding an automat today would be a challenge—but the Met, the largest art museum in the United States, remains a must-visit destination. It houses an expansive collection of art from across the globe, including a 16th-century French bed where Claudia may have spent the night. However, their adventure raised some concerns—until recently, the Met gift shop refused to carry the book, and Konigsburg believed this was because museum officials feared that young readers might try to follow in Claudia and Jamie’s footsteps and spend the night at the museum themselves.
4. Klickitat Street and Yamhill, Oregon – Ramona the Pest and Emily’s Runaway Imagination
Beverly Cleary spent much of her childhood in Portland, Oregon, and when she started writing the Ramona books, she chose to place her feisty young character on the wonderfully named Klickitat Street. This street is a real location in Portland, just a few blocks from Cleary’s actual childhood home (which was listed for sale for $362,000 in 2013). She reportedly chose the name because “it reminded [her] of the sound of knitting needles.”
About 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Portland lies Yamhill, the small rural town where Cleary lived until the age of six. She drew from her experiences there while writing Emily’s Runaway Imagination. Like the book’s protagonist, Cleary grew up in an old farmhouse (which still stands on the outskirts of Yamhill), and her mother played a role in establishing the town’s first library on the second floor of the Yamhill Bank, just as Emily’s mother does in the story.
3. Paddington Station – A Bear Called Paddington
When the Brown family discovers a lost bear with a note pinned to his coat reading “Please look after this bear,” they do what any kind-hearted London family would do: They adopt him, naming him after the place they found him—Paddington Station. This marks the beginning of Paddington Bear’s adventures, which have since expanded into numerous books, television series, and an upcoming film. Paddington’s creator, Michael Bond, shared that the inspiration for the first story came when he saw an abandoned stuffed bear on a shop shelf one Christmas Eve. Feeling sorry for the toy, he bought it as a gift for his wife, naming it “Paddington” after the nearby train station in London.
Paddington Station, still a bustling transport hub in London, has retained much of its original charm from the 1950s, when Paddington first arrived after his long journey from darkest Peru. Naturally, there is now a Paddington Bear shop and a statue of the beloved bear within the station. For those who can’t make the trip across the Atlantic, the real-life Paddington Station also appears in the Paddington feature film, set to release in 2014.
2. Conservatory Water, Central Park – Stuart Little
In E.B. White’s 1945 novel Stuart Little, the main character, Stuart, is a mouse who lives with his human family in New York City. While today it’s considered a beloved children’s classic, Stuart Little was not universally praised when it was first published. Malcolm Cowley, reviewing the book for the New York Times, expressed his disappointment, saying he “found it a little disappointing,” expecting more from a writer of White’s caliber. Anne Carroll Moore, the influential former head of children’s library services at the New York Public Library, went as far as sending White a 14-page letter, urging him not to publish the book after reading the galleys.
White paid little heed to his critics, and the tale of Stuart’s adventures and misadventures in New York became a favorite among both children and adults. One of the book’s most memorable moments is when Stuart participates in a sailboat race at Conservatory Water, a pond for model boats in Central Park. Today, visitors can still rent remote-controlled sailboats or simply watch the model boat races that take place every Saturday at 10 AM at the pond.
1. Lake Pepin – Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie
The story of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie begins with a thrilling and perilous journey across the frozen Mississippi River. As Laura, her sister Mary, Pa, Ma, and their dog Jack set out for their new home on the Kansas prairie, they must time their crossing carefully—too early, and the lingering winter cold might trap them; too late, and the ice might not support the weight of their wagon. Fortunately, the Ingalls family makes it across successfully, just as they did in real life.
Fans of the Little House books know that these tales are a creative retelling of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood, with many of the real-life locations from the series now attracting tourists, particularly “bonnetheads,” die-hard fans of the books. One of the pivotal river crossings in the story took place at Lake Pepin, the widest part of the Mississippi River, located about an hour and a half from Minneapolis. Visitors can also see a replica of the Ingalls family cabin at a rest area near the town of Lund, Wisconsin.
