Jill Murphy Books in Order
Jill Murphy has written 34 books, published between 1973 and 2020. The first book is My Teddy (1973) and the newest is Just One of Those Days (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 34
- Published
- 1973–2020
- Pages on record
- 1,973 in 21 of 34 books
- Reading time
- 33–49 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,973 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 21 of 34 titles with a page count on record.
Jill Murphy (1949-2021) was a British author and illustrator of children's books, first published by Allison & Busby in 1974. The Worst Witch novels, which follow Mildred Hubble at a school for witches, and the Large Family picture books about elephants are the two series, and both reached stage and television. The catalogue holds 34 titles from My Teddy (1973) to Just One of Those Days (2020), most of them about 40 pages, taking in Peace At Last (1980), Whatever Next! (1983) and Five Minutes' Peace (1986).
Source: Wikidata
How many Jill Murphy books are there?
Jill Murphy has 34 books, released between 1973 and 2020. They include 2 series and 12 titles listed outside any series.
Jill Murphy Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 34 Jill Murphy 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 November 2026.
- 1My Teddy1973 · confirmed 1/41973–1/4
- 219741121/4
- 31980–1/4
- 41982911/4
- 5Whatever Next!1983 · 40 pages · confirmed 1/41983401/4
- 6What Next, Baby Bear?1983 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41983321/4
- 7On the Way Home1984 · 36 pages · confirmed 1/41984361/4
- 8Geoffrey Strangeways1985 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/419851761/4
- 91986321/4
- 1019871281/4
- 111987321/4
- 121989321/4
- 13Worlds Apart1990 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/419901121/4
- 141994321/4
- 1519952241/4
- 16The Last Noo-Noo1995 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41995321/4
- 1719991601/4
- 18All for One2002 · confirmed 1/42002–1/4
- 192005–1/4
- 2020071781/4
- 212008–1/4
- 222008–1/4
- 232008–1/4
- 242008321/4
- 25Dear Hound2009 · confirmed 1/42009–1/4
- 262009241/4
- 272009–1/4
- 28Mother Knows Best!2012 · confirmed 1/42012–1/4
- 2920132401/4
- 302014–1/4
- 31Meltdown!2016 · confirmed 1/42016–1/4
- 322017–1/4
- 3320181921/4
- 34Just One of Those Days2020 · 36 pages · confirmed 1/42020361/4
Jill Murphy series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Worst Witch books in order 9 books
Jill Murphy 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.
Large Family in order
13 books- 1. Peace At Last
- 2. Five Minutes' Peace
- 3. All in One Piece
- 4. A Piece of Cake
- 5. A Quiet Night In
- 6. Mr. Large in Charge
- 7. Lester Learns a Lesson
- 8. Laura Bakes A Cake
- 9. Luke Tidies Up
- 10. Lucy Meets Mr Chilly
- 11. Sebastian's Sleepover
- 12. Grandpa in Trouble
- and 1 more in the table above
Standalone books
12 books12 Jill Murphy titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Jill Murphy books in order?
You only need to read Jill Murphy 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 Jill Murphy
Start with The Worst Witch (1974), the first Worst Witch book. The earliest catalogued title overall is My Teddy (1973).
What is the newest Jill Murphy book?
Just One of Those Days (2020) is the newest Jill Murphy book released so far.
Is there a new Jill Murphy book coming?
No next Jill Murphy book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Jill Murphy has won
Wikidata records 1 award and 1 nomination for Jill Murphy. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.
- Nestlé Children's Book Prize1995Won
- Nestlé Children's Book Prize1994Shortlisted
Jill Murphy at a glance
- Died
- Jill Murphy died in 2021, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Jill Murphy on record dates from 2020.
- Release pace
- Jill Murphy books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 1,973 pages across the 21 of 34 books with a recorded length, a median of 40 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Jill Murphy books, 10 of 34, were published in the 2000s.
When Jill Murphy books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Jill Murphy titles appeared. 1980s was the most productive decade with 10 titles.
34 books total across 6 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Jill Murphy books are about
24 of the 34 Jill Murphy 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 16 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Children's fiction 16 of 24 books
- Witches 8 of 24 books
- Elephants 6 of 24 books
- Schools 6 of 24 books
- Humor 4 of 24 books
- Large family (Fictitious characters) 4 of 24 books
- Mildred Hubble (Fictitious character) 3 of 24 books
- Pictorial works 3 of 24 books
- Bears 2 of 24 books
- Children 2 of 24 books