Fiction Books About Creativity & the Arts

Stories Comparable to The Valley of Song by Elizabeth Goudge

The Valley of Song by Elizabeth Goudge with Leaf by Niggle, Brambly Hedge, Miss Rumphius, and The Magician’s Nephew, as stories which all talk about creativity.

“Before him stood the Tree, his Tree, finished. If you could say that of a Tree that was alive, its leaves opening, its branches growing and bending in the wind that Niggle had so often felt or guessed, and had so often failed to catch. He gazed at the Tree, and slowly he lifted his arms and opened them wide. ‘It’s a gift!’ he said. He was referring to his art, and also to the result; but he was using the word quite literally.”

🌿 J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle, 1945

Making a Beautiful World

Our Goudge Readalong for the month is The Valley of Song, and people tend to have widely divergent opinions of this book. Those who read it as a child adore it! They say that it became a beacon to them of the joy of the creative life and all that is possible in the world. Others cannot get past the mix of fairytales with Christian symbolism, and just feel generally baffled by the whole tale.

As I have read and reread all of Goudge’s books in the past decade, there have definitely been some books that I have loved immediately, and others which have had to grow on me over time. When I began this book it seemed strange to me until I was able to enter in to the sort of story that it is—a fairytale about the creative force behind the world, and also a warm comforting blanket for the world’s grief.

It is an odd book perhaps, but the more I read it I realize that there are other beloved stories that it reminds me of. Today I am going to share a few other stories that also share a similar mystical quality and an encouragement on towards the work of making beauty in the world. When we think about these other stories, and read their quotes, I think we see that Goudge is just one of many authors who has written a story to encourage everyone, but especially the child inside of us, to continue the good work of creativity.

Join me today for a look at four stories that also deal with the topic of creativity, the artists’ life, and the beauty of making things…

Leaf by Niggle by JRR Tolkien with The Valley of Song by Elizabeth Goudge

“It was making things, like ships or songs, that appealed to Tabitha, and she had noticed that the people who made things seemed closer to her than the ones who didn't, as though they were not so grown-up…”

🌿 Elizabeth Goudge, The Valley of Song

Four whimsical stories that include quite a bit about creativity:

• Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

• The Magician's Nephew, in the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis

Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien