Books like Rapunzel

Same ache of a family torn apart by magic gone wrong, but Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig gets everyone home in one slim, tender book.

Nowhere near as long or lyrical, but Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes gives the youngest kid a small brave quest of their own.

No tower, no witch, but the same quiet magic changing everything around one girl. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett keeps the wonder and drops the fear.

Less enchantment, more garden trouble, but The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter keeps that same hum of danger just outside a parent's warning.

Same gentle rhythm and old-world charm, but Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans follows a bold girl who marches straight into danger instead of waiting inside a tower.

Much lighter and shorter, Stick Man by Julia Donaldson is the one to grab when bedtime is running late and you need rhyme, not longing.

No words at all this time, but the same lonely girl finding her own way out defines Journey by Aaron Becker too.

Same fairy-tale bones and a heroine who wins through who she is, not luck. The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin tells it shorter and just as strong.

Less hush and longing, much more chanting along. Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág is the lighter, sillier cousin to that lonely tower story.

Less rescue, more rampage, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak lets big feelings run wild before coming home to something that loves you anyway.

That same ache of being taken from a parent runs through Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, but it lands somewhere gentler, with a family found.

Same fairy-tale hush and danger, but the girls in Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young outsmart the wolf themselves instead of waiting to be rescued.