Background & Aims: Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prefer non-fiction books over fiction books. The current study was the first to investigate parent-reports of children with ASD's fiction and non-fiction book preferences and whether these relate to individual differences in social communication, oral language, and/or reading abilities., Method: Children (ages 8-14 years, M = 10.89, SD = 1.17) with ASD diagnoses ( n = 19) and typically developing (TD) peers ( n = 21) participated. Children completed standardized measures of social communication, oral language, and reading abilities. Parents reported children's current favorite book, and from these responses, we coded children's fiction versus non-fiction book preferences., Main Contribution: Contrary to anecdotal evidence, children with ASD preferred fiction similar to their TD peers. Fiction versus non-fiction book preference was significantly related to social communication abilities across both groups. Children's oral language and reading abilities were related, as expected, but the evidence for a relationship between social communication and reading comprehension was mixed., Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence supporting the association of social communication in fiction versus non-fiction book preference, which may be related to children's comprehension and support the theoretical role of social communication knowledge in narrative/fiction., Implications: It should not be assumed that all children with ASD prefer expository/non-fiction or do not read narrative/fiction. Children who prefer non-fiction may need additional social communication knowledge support to improve their understanding of narrative fiction., Competing Interests: The data collected for this study was originally part of MMD’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.