Order of Book Series
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Read and Wonder Books in Order

Read and Wonder contains 52 books, published between 1993 and 2017. The first book is A Piece of String Is a Wonderful Thing (1993) and the newest is Koala (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
52
Published
1993–2017
Pages on record
626 in 21 of 52 books
See all 52 books in order Printable Read and Wonder checklist

Read and Wonder is a nonfiction picture book series for young children, most of it about animals. 52 titles appeared between 1993 and 2017, opening with A Piece of String Is a Wonderful Thing, Think of an Eel, Think of a Beaver and All Pigs Are Beautiful, all in 1993, and closing with Koala (2017). Dogs, cats, pets, bears and marine animals recur among the subjects. At a median 29 pages, the volumes are short.

How many Read and Wonder books are there?

Read and Wonder has 52 books, released between 1993 and 2017.

Read and Wonder Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 52 Read and Wonder 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.

  1. Cover of A Piece of String Is a Wonderful Thing, book 1 of the Read and Wonder series (1993)
  2. Cover of Think of an Eel, book 2 of the Read and Wonder series (1993)
  3. Cover of Think of a Beaver, book 3 of the Read and Wonder series (1993)
  4. Cover of All Pigs Are Beautiful, book 4 of the Read and Wonder series (1993)
  5. Cover of I Like Monkeys Because . . ., book 5 of the Read and Wonder series (1993)
  6. Cover of My Cat Jack by Patricia Casey, book 6 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  7. Cover of Wag Wag Wag, book 7 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  8. Cover of My Hen Is Dancing, book 8 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  9. Cover of A Field Full of Horses, book 9 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  10. Cover of A Ruined House by Mick Manning, book 10 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  11. Cover of The Wheeling and Whirling-Around Book, book 12 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  12. Cover of Bears in the Forest, book 13 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  13. Cover of I Love Guinea Pigs, book 14 of the Read and Wonder series (1994)
  14. Cover of The Mushroom Hunt, book 15 of the Read and Wonder series (1995)
  15. Cover of Town Parrot, book 16 of the Read and Wonder series (1995)
  16. Cover of Apple Green, Runner Bean by Phyllis King, book 17 of the Read and Wonder series (1996)
  17. Cover of Big Blue Whale, book 19 of the Read and Wonder series (1997)
  18. Cover of Walk with a Wolf, book 21 of the Read and Wonder series (1998)
  19. Cover of Jody's Beans by Malachy Doyle, book 23 of the Read and Wonder series (1999)
  20. Cover of Growing Frogs by Vivian French, book 24 of the Read and Wonder series (2000)
  21. Cover of River Story, book 25 of the Read and Wonder series (2000)
  22. Cover of Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies, book 26 of the Read and Wonder series (2001)
  23. Cover of Chameleons Are Cool, book 27 of the Read and Wonder series (2001)
  24. Cover of My Goose Betsy by Trudi Braun, book 28 of the Read and Wonder series (2002)
  1. 1
    A Piece of String Is a Wonderful Thing1993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Think of an Eel1993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Think of a Beaver1993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    All Pigs Are Beautiful1993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    I Like Monkeys Because . . .1993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    My Cat Jack1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Wag Wag Wag1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    My Hen Is Dancing1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    A Field Full of Horses1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    A Ruined House1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Red Fox1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Wheeling and Whirling-Around Book1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Bears in the Forest1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    I Love Guinea Pigs1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Mushroom Hunt1995 · confirmed 1/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Town Parrot1995 · confirmed 1/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Apple Green, Runner Bean1996 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    This Bowl of Earth1996 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Big Blue Whale1997 · 27 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199727
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Big Blue Whale: Read and Wonder1997 · confirmed 1/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Walk with a Wolf1998 · confirmed 1/4
    1998–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Emperor's Egg1999 · confirmed 1/4
    1999–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Jody's Beans1999 · 29 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199929
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Growing Frogs2000 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200032
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    River Story2000 · 29 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200029
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Bat Loves the Night2001 · 28 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200128
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Chameleons Are Cool2001 · confirmed 1/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    My Goose Betsy2002 · confirmed 1/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Gentle Giant Octopus2002 · confirmed 1/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Grandma Elephant's in Charge2003 · 29 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200329
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Where to start with Read and Wonder

Start with A Piece of String Is a Wonderful Thing (1993), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Read and Wonder book?

Koala (2017) is the newest Read and Wonder book released so far.

Is there a new Read and Wonder book coming?

No next Read and Wonder book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Read and Wonder at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Read and Wonder title on record dates from 2017, 9 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Read and Wonder books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length
626 pages across the 21 of 52 books with a recorded length, a median of 29 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Read and Wonder books, 23 of 52, were published in the 1990s.
Attribution
Of the 52 titles, 10 are credited to Nicola Davies, 6 to Karen Wallace, 4 to Martin Jenkins and 4 to Vivian French. A further 38 writers are credited. One title carries no credit.

What the Read and Wonder books are about

44 of the 52 Read and Wonder books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: juvenile literature is tagged on 35 of 44. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Juvenile literature 35 of 44 books
  • Children's fiction 13 of 44 books
  • Pictorial works 7 of 44 books
  • Animals 4 of 44 books
  • Infants 4 of 44 books
  • Marine animals, juvenile literature 3 of 44 books
  • Picture books 3 of 44 books
  • Animal behavior, juvenile literature 2 of 44 books
  • Animals, habits and behavior 2 of 44 books
  • Bears 2 of 44 books
  • Bears, juvenile literature 2 of 44 books