Ruth Park Books in Order
Ruth Park has written 50 books, published between 1949 and 2010. The first book is Poor Man's Orange (1949) and the newest is Callie (2010). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 50
- Published
- 1949–2010
- Pages on record
- 2,915 in 23 of 50 books
Ruth Park lived from 1917 to 2010, born in New Zealand and writing in Australia. The Harp in the South and Playing Beatie Bow are her best known novels, and The Muddle-Headed Wombat began as a children's radio serial running from 1951 to 1970 before a book series followed between 1962 and 1982. Park also wrote about Sydney, travel and family life. Her 50 catalogued titles stretch from Poor Man's Orange (1949) to Callie (2010), with a median length of 72 pages.
Source: Wikidata
How many Ruth Park books are there?
Ruth Park has 50 books, released between 1949 and 2010. They include 2 series and 33 titles listed outside any series.
Ruth Park Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 50 Ruth Park 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.
- 119492741/4
- 21951–1/4
- 3The Witch's Thorn1952 · confirmed 1/41952–1/4
- 4A Power Of Roses1953 · confirmed 1/41953–1/4
- 5Dear Hearts And Gentle People1955 · 202 pages · confirmed 1/419552021/4
- 6Pink Flannel1955 · confirmed 1/41955–1/4
- 7The Frost And The Fire / One-a-pecker, Two-a-pecker1958 · confirmed 1/41958–1/4
- 8The Hole In The Hill / Secret Of The Maori Cave1961 · 127 pages · confirmed 1/419611271/4
- 9The Shaky Island1962 · confirmed 1/41962–1/4
- 10Road Under The Sea1962 · confirmed 1/41962–1/4
- 11Serpent's Delight / Good Looking Women1962 · confirmed 1/41962–1/4
- 1219632611/4
- 131964671/4
- 141965–1/4
- 15Airlift For Grandee1965 · confirmed 1/41965–1/4
- 161966–1/4
- 171966–1/4
- 18The Sixpenny Island1968 · confirmed 1/41968–1/4
- 19Ten-cent Island1968 · confirmed 1/41968–1/4
- 20Nuki and the Sea Serpent1969 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41969321/4
- 211970671/4
- 221970671/4
- 231971681/4
- 241971–1/4
- 25Ruth Park's Sydney1973 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/419732561/4
- 26The Companion Guide To Sydney1973 · 448 pages · confirmed 1/419734481/4
- 27Callie's Castle1974 · 89 pages · confirmed 1/41974891/4
- 281975–1/4
- 291976281/4
- 30The Gigantic Balloon1976 · 33 pages · confirmed 1/41976331/4
- 31Merchant Campbell1976 · 62 pages · confirmed 1/41976621/4
- 32Roger Bandy1977 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41977321/4
- 33Swords And Crowns And Rings1977 · confirmed 1/41977–1/4
- 34Come Danger, Come Darkness1978 · 162 pages · confirmed 1/419781621/4
- 351980–1/4
- 36Playing Beatie Bow1980 · confirmed 1/41980–1/4
- 37When the Wind Changed1981 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41981321/4
- 381981–1/4
- 39Norfolk Island And Lord Howe Island1982 · confirmed 1/41982–1/4
- 401982–1/4
- 41The Sydney We Love1983 · confirmed 1/41983–1/4
- 42The Big Brass Key1983 · 72 pages · confirmed 1/41983721/4
- 431985–1/4
- 44My Sister Sif1986 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/419861921/4
- 45Callie's Family1988 · 116 pages · confirmed 1/419881161/4
- 46Things in Corners1991 · 196 pages · confirmed 1/419911961/4
- 47James1991 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41991321/4
- 48A Fence Around The Cuckoo1992 · confirmed 1/41992–1/4
- 49Fishing In The Styx1993 · confirmed 1/41993–1/4
- 50Callie2010 · confirmed 1/42010–1/4
Ruth Park 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.
Muddle-Headed Wombat in order
14 books- 1. The Muddle-Headed Wombat
- 2. The Muddle-Headed Wombat On Holiday
- 3. The Muddle-Headed Wombat in the Treetops
- 4. The Muddle Headed Wombat At School
- 5. The Muddle-headed Wombat in the Snow
- 6. The Muddle-Headed Wombat On A Rainy Day
- 7. The Muddle-Headed Wombat in the Springtime
- 8. Muddle-headed Wombat on the River
- 9. The Muddle-headed Wombat and the Bush Band
- 10. The Muddle-Headed Wombat And The Invention
- 11. The Muddle-headed Wombat on Clean-up Day
- 12. More Adventures of the Muddle-Headed Wombat
- and 2 more in the table above
Harp in the South in order
3 booksStandalone books
33 books33 Ruth Park titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Ruth Park books in order?
You only need to read Ruth Park 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 Ruth Park
Start with Poor Man's Orange (1949), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Ruth Park book?
Callie (2010) is the newest Ruth Park book released so far.
Is there a new Ruth Park book coming?
No next Ruth Park 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 Ruth Park has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Ruth Park. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.
Ruth Park at a glance
- Died
- Ruth Park died in 2010, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Ruth Park on record dates from 2010.
- Release pace
- Ruth Park books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 2,915 pages across the 23 of 50 books with a recorded length, a median of 72 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Ruth Park books, 14 of 50, were published in the 1970s.
When Ruth Park books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Ruth Park titles appeared. 1970s was the most productive decade with 14 titles.
50 books total across 7 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Ruth Park books are about
20 of the 50 Ruth Park 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 9 of 20. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Children's fiction 9 of 20 books
- Wombats 2 of 20 books