David McKee Books in Order
David McKee has written 119 books, published between 1968 and 2020. The first book is Mark And The Monocycle (1968) and the newest is Elmer Opposites (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
David McKee also publishes as Violet Easton.
- Books
- 119
- Published
- 1968–2020
- Pages on record
- 2,409 in 82 of 119 books
- Reading time
- 40–60 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,409 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 82 of 119 titles with a page count on record.
Elmer, Mr. Benn and King Rollo are among the series created by David McKee (1935–2022), a British writer and illustrator of children's books and animations. McKee was the UK nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006, in recognition of the illustration work. The catalogue lists 119 titles from Mark And The Monocycle (1968) to Elmer Opposites (2020), including 123456789 Benn (1970), Two Admirals (1977) and the Melric books. Subjects include elephants, monsters, magic, and kings and queens.
How many David McKee books are there?
David McKee has 119 books, released between 1968 and 2020. They include 4 separate series.
David McKee Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 119 David McKee 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.
- 11968421/4
- 21970–1/4
- 31970–1/4
- 41973261/4
- 51976–1/4
- 6The Day the Tide Went Out ... and Out ... and Out ... and Out ... and Out ... and Out (Short Story)David McKee Standalone #31976 · 28 pages · confirmed 1/41976281/4
- 71977321/4
- 81978321/4
- 91979251/4
- 101979421/4
- 111979281/4
- 121980281/4
- 131980281/4
- 141982321/4
- 151982321/4
- 161982321/4
- 171982321/4
- 181982321/4
- 191982321/4
- 201982321/4
- 211982321/4
- 221982321/4
- 231983–1/4
- 241984271/4
- 251984321/4
- 261986321/4
- 271986321/4
- 281986261/4
- 291986121/4
- 301986281/4
- 311986281/4
- 32198611/4
- 331987321/4
- 34The Sad Story of Veronica Who Played the Violin (Short Story)David McKee Standalone #111987 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41987321/4
- 351987261/4
- 361987–1/4
- 37198711/4
- 38198711/4
- 391988791/4
- 401988281/4
- 411989–1/4
- 421989321/4
- 431989251/4
- 441990321/4
- 451991–1/4
- 461991–1/4
- 47The Mystery of the Blue Arrows (Short Story)David McKee Standalone #171991 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41991321/4
- 481992261/4
- 491993–1/4
- 501993–1/4
- 511993321/4
- 521993321/4
- 531993321/4
- 541993321/4
- 551993321/4
- 561994–1/4
- 571994–1/4
- 581994321/4
- 591994–1/4
- 601994161/4
- 611994–1/4
- 621994321/4
- 631994–1/4
- 641994961/4
- 651995321/4
- 661995101/4
- 671996101/4
- 681996–1/4
- 691997–1/4
- 701997241/4
- 711997–1/4
- 72Prince Peter and the Teddy Bear (Short Story)David McKee Standalone #231997 · 24 pages · confirmed 1/41997241/4
- 731999321/4
- 741999321/4
- 752000–1/4
- 762000241/4
- 772001321/4
- 782001–1/4
- 792001321/4
- 802001–1/4
- 812001321/4
- 822002321/4
- 832002101/4
- 842003321/4
- 85The Adventures of Charmin the Bear (Short Story)David McKee Standalone #262003 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/42003321/4
- 862004–1/4
- 872005321/4
- 882005321/4
- 892006321/4
- 902006321/4
- 912007121/4
- 922007321/4
- 932007321/4
- 942008–1/4
- 952009–1/4
- 962010321/4
- 972010321/4
- 982011481/4
- 992011–1/4
- 1002011–1/4
- 1012012–1/4
- 1022013–2/4
- 1032013–1/4
- 1042014–1/4
- 1052014–1/4
- 1062015–1/4
- 1072015–1/4
- 1082015241/4
- 1092016321/4
- 1102016101/4
- 1112016–1/4
- 1122017321/4
- 1132017–1/4
- 1142018321/4
- 1152018101/4
- 1162018321/4
- 1172019321/4
- 1182020–1/4
- 1192020–1/4
David McKee series in order
Each series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Elmer books in order 45 books
- King Rollo books in order 23 books
- Mr. Benn books in order 11 books
David McKee 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.
David McKee Standalone
33 books33 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Melric in order
6 booksPictura in order
1 book- 8. Draconis
Do you have to read David McKee books in order?
You only need to read David McKee books in order within each series: the books listed here span 4 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with David McKee
Start with the first book of the David McKee series you want to read: Elmer starts with Elmer (Short Story) (1989), King Rollo starts with King Rollo And The New Shoes (Short Story) (1979) and Mr. Benn starts with 123456789 Benn (1970). The earliest catalogued title overall is Mark And The Monocycle (1968).
What is the newest David McKee book?
Elmer Opposites (2020) is the newest David McKee book released so far.
Is there a new David McKee book coming?
No next David McKee book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
David McKee at a glance
- Died
- David McKee died in 2022, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to David McKee on record dates from 2020.
- Release pace
- David McKee books have appeared more than one a year on average.
- Length
- 2,409 pages across the 82 of 119 books with a recorded length, a median of 32 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most David McKee books, 32 of 119, were published in the 1980s.
What the David McKee books are about
93 of the 119 David McKee books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: children's fiction is tagged on 66 of 93. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Children's fiction 66 of 93 books
- Elephants 28 of 93 books
- Kings, queens, rulers, etc 12 of 93 books
- Pictorial works 12 of 93 books
- Animals 10 of 93 books
- Elmer (fictitious character : mckee) 10 of 93 books
- Picture books 10 of 93 books
- Adventure stories 4 of 93 books
- Kings and rulers 4 of 93 books