V. R. Lang: A Memoir (memoir) 1959; reprinted in V. R. Lang: Poems and Plays. With a Memoir by Alison Lurie, 1975

Love and Friendship (novel) 1962

The Nowhere City (novel) 1965

Imaginary Friends (novel) 1967

Real People (novel) 1969

The War between the Tates (novel) 1974

The Heavenly Zoo: Legends and Tales of the Stars [illustrations by Monika Beisner] (juvenilia) 1979

Only Children (novel) 1979

Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folk Tales [illustrations by Margot Tomes] (juvenilia) 1980

Fabulous Beasts [illustrations by Monika Beisner] (juvenilia) 1981

The Language of Clothes [illustrations by Doris Palca] (criticism) 1981

Foreign Affairs (novel) 1984

The Truth about Lorin Jones (novel) 1988

Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: Subversive Children's Literature (essays and criticism) 1990

The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales [editor] (fairy tales) 1993

Women and Ghosts (short stories) 1994

The Last Resort (novel) 1998

Black Geese: A Baba Yaga Story from Russia [illustrations by Jessica Souhani] (juvenilia) 1999

Familiar Spirits: A Memoir of James Merrill and David Jackson (memoir) 2001

Boys and Girls Forever: Children's Classics from Cinderella to Harry Potter (essays and criticism) 2002