Alvin Schwartz Books in Order
Alvin Schwartz has written 32 books, published between 1958 and 2020. The first book is Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane#4 (1958) and the newest is Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 6 (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 32
- Published
- 1958–2020
- Pages on record
- 2,836 in 23 of 32 books
- Reading time
- 47–71 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,836 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 32 titles with a page count on record.
Alvin Schwartz (1927-1992) was an American author and journalist who wrote more than fifty books on folklore and word play, many of them for young readers. Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark is the series recorded here, and it also carries a character entry. Word-play and folklore titles in the catalogue include A Twister of Twists, A Tangler of Tongues (1972), Witcracks: Jokes and Jests from American Folklore (1973), Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat (1974), Tomfoolery: Trickery and Foolery with Words (1975) and Whoppers: Tall Tales and Other Lies (1975), beside practical guides such as Going Camping (1972) and Hobbies (1972). Subjects cover folklore, tales, riddles, horror stories, wit and humor, and juvenile literature.
How many Alvin Schwartz books are there?
Alvin Schwartz has 32 books, released between 1958 and 2020. They include 2 series and 22 titles listed outside any series.
Alvin Schwartz Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 32 Alvin Schwartz books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane#4Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane (1958-1974) #31958 · confirmed 1/41958–1/4
- 2Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane#7Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane (1958-1974) #51959 · confirmed 1/41959–1/4
- 3Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane#8Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane (1958-1974) #61959 · confirmed 1/41959–1/4
- 4A Twister of Twists, A Tangler of Tongues Tongue Twisters1972 · 127 pages · confirmed 1/419721271/4
- 5Hobbies: An Introduction to Crafts, Collections, Nature Study, and Other Life-Long Pursuits1972 · 345 pages · confirmed 1/419723451/4
- 6Going Camping: A Complete Guide for the Family Camper1972 · confirmed 1/41972–1/4
- 7Witcracks: Jokes and Jests from American Folklore1973 · 128 pages · confirmed 1/419731281/4
- 8Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat1974 · 161 pages · confirmed 1/419741611/4
- 9Whoppers: Tall Tales and Other Lies1975 · 127 pages · confirmed 1/419751271/4
- 10Tomfoolery: Trickery and Foolery with Words1975 · 127 pages · confirmed 1/419751271/4
- 11When I Grew Up Long Ago: Family Living, Going to School, Games and Parties, Cures and Deaths, a Comet, a War, Falling in Love, and Other Things I Remember1978 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/419782241/4
- 12Chin Music: Tall Talk and Other Talk1979 · 127 pages · confirmed 1/419791271/4
- 13Ten Copycats in a Boat, and Other Riddles1980 · 63 pages · confirmed 1/41980631/4
- 14Flapdoodle: Pure Nonsense from American Folklore1980 · 125 pages · confirmed 1/419801251/4
- 15Scary Stories to Tell in the DarkScary Stories To Tell in the Dark #11981 · 128 pages · confirmed 1/419811281/4
- 16There Is a Carrot in My Ear and Other Noodle TalesAnd Other Noodle Tales #11982 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41982641/4
- 17Busy Buzzing Bumblebees and Other Tongue Twisters1982 · 61 pages · confirmed 1/41982611/4
- 18Unriddling: All Sorts of Riddles to Puzzle Your Guessery1983 · confirmed 1/41983–1/4
- 19In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary StoriesScary Stories To Tell in the Dark #21984 · 63 pages · confirmed 1/41984631/4
- 201984–1/4
- 21Fat Man in a Fur Coat and Other Bear Stories1984 · 167 pages · confirmed 1/419841671/4
- 22All of Our Noses Are Here And Other Noodle TalesAnd Other Noodle Tales #21985 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41985641/4
- 23The Cat's Elbow and Other Secret Languages1985 · 82 pages · confirmed 1/41985821/4
- 24Tales of Trickery from the Land of Spoof1985 · 87 pages · confirmed 1/41985871/4
- 25Telling Fortunes: Love Magic, Dream Signs, and Other Ways to Learn the Future1987 · 128 pages · confirmed 1/419871281/4
- 27I Saw You in the Bathtub and Other Folk Rhymes1989 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41989641/4
- 2819911151/4
- 29Ghosts! Ghostly Tales from Folklore1991 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41991641/4
- 30And the Green Grass Grew All Around: Folk Poetry from Everyone1992 · 195 pages · confirmed 1/419921951/4
- 31Stories to Tell a Cat1992 · confirmed 1/41992–1/4
- 322020–1/4
Alvin Schwartz books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark in order
4 booksSuperman's Girl Friend Lois Lane (1958-1974) in order
3 booksAnd Other Noodle Tales in order
2 booksGolden Age Batman in order
1 bookStandalone books
22 books22 Alvin Schwartz titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Alvin Schwartz books in order?
You only need to read Alvin Schwartz books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Alvin Schwartz
Start with Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane#4 (1958), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Alvin Schwartz book?
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 6 (2020) is the newest Alvin Schwartz book released so far.
Is there a new Alvin Schwartz book coming?
No next Alvin Schwartz book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Alvin Schwartz at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Alvin Schwartz title on record dates from 2020, 6 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Alvin Schwartz books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 2,836 pages across the 23 of 32 books with a recorded length, a median of 127 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Alvin Schwartz books, 15 of 32, were published in the 1980s.
What the Alvin Schwartz books are about
26 of the 32 Alvin Schwartz books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: folklore is tagged on 13 of 26. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Folklore 13 of 26 books
- Juvenile literature 11 of 26 books
- Children's fiction 8 of 26 books
- Tales 8 of 26 books
- Horror 4 of 26 books
- Short stories 4 of 26 books
- Folklore, juvenile literature 3 of 26 books
- Folklore, united states 3 of 26 books
- Ghosts 3 of 26 books
- Humor 3 of 26 books
- Juvenile Riddles 3 of 26 books
- Riddles 3 of 26 books