Bedtime book series in reading order

by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

by Eve Bunting

by Leslie Patricelli

Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 - November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, among them The Runaway Bunny (1942) and Goodnight Moon (1947), both with illustrations by Clement Hurd. Brown has been called the laureate of the nursery. Brown also published as Golden MacDonald for Doubleday, as Timothy Hay for Harper & Brothers, and, with Edith Thacher Hurd, as Juniper Sage for William R. Scott. The catalogue lists 166 books, opening with When the Wind Blew (1937), then I Like Bugs and The Steam Roller (1938). Stories in rhyme, rabbits, bedtime and sound recur in the subjects.

Sandra Boynton

103 books• 1 series

Children's board books in rhyme are the core of Sandra Boynton's work. The American humorist, songwriter and illustrator has 103 catalogued books published between 1979 and 2026, from Hester in the Wild (1979) to Iguana Miss You! (2026). The list takes in But Not the Hippopotamus (1982), Moo, Baa, La La La! (1982) and The Going to Bed Book (1982). Animals, bedtime and humour recur throughout, and Little Pookie is her named series. Boynton is actively publishing.

Alyssa Satin Capucilli

142 books• 11 series

Alyssa Satin Capucilli, born November 2, 1957, is an American children's author whose most notable work is the Biscuit series. Biscuit, the opening book, appeared in 1996, and the series had sold more than 21 million copies worldwide by 2016. Biscuit books belong to HarperCollins' I Can Read! line. The catalogue lists 142 books from Peekaboo Bunny (1994) to Biscuit's Puppy Sleepover (2025), and other series include Katy Duck, Tulip and Rex, This Bear and Library Fish.

Kate McMullan, born Kate Hall on January 16, 1947, is an American children's author with more than 100 published books. Myth-O-Mania and Dragon Slayers' Academy are the notable McMullan series, and others include Fluffy the Classroom Guinea Pig, Pearl and Wagner and Lila Fenwick. Greek mythology, knights, dragons, guinea pigs and school life feature in the subjects. The catalogue counts 124 books from 1984 to This Is the Tree We Planted (2022).

Sandra Magsamen is an American author, artist, art therapist and designer. Magsamen makes board books and novelty books for very young children, in lift-the-flap formats, alphabet books and stories in rhyme, published with Scholastic, Sourcebooks and Little Brown. She also designs lifestyle collections for national retailers under her own brands. The 141 catalogued titles run from 1999 to 2026 and are short by design, at a median of 24 pages.

Dav Pilkey

86 books• 12 series

Dav Pilkey, born David Murray Pilkey Jr. on March 4, 1966, is an American comic book writer, author and illustrator of children's fiction. Captain Underpants and the graphic novel spin-off Dog Man are the series Pilkey is best known for. Dog Man appears under the pen names George Beard and Harold Hutchins, which are also the names of the two Captain Underpants protagonists. The catalogue holds 86 books from World War Won (1987) to A Sprinkle in Time (2026), and the Dragon, Dumb Bunnies, Ricky Ricotta and Cat Kid Comic Club lines also feature.

Fly Guy, a pet fly, is Tedd Arnold's best-known creation. Arnold is an American children's writer and illustrator, born 20 January 1949 in Elmira, New York, and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor went to three of his books: Hi! Fly Guy! (2006), I Spy Fly Guy (2010) and Noodleheads See the Future (2018). Huggly, Noodleheads, Parts and Fly Guy Presents make up the other series, written for early readers at a median of 32 pages. The listing holds 76 titles dated 1987 to 2022.

Alice Schertle is an American poet, teacher and children's author from Los Angeles, born in 1941. Little Blue Truck is the series most associated with her name, and Little Blue Truck Lost and Found arrived in 2026. The catalogue lists 59 titles from The Gorilla In The Hall (1977) onward, including the Cathy And Company books of 1980. Stories in rhyme, trucks, cats, seasons and children's poetry fill the subjects, at a median 32 pages.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

58 books• 4 series

Amy Krouse Rosenthal (1965-2017) wrote for children and adults, made short films and hosted radio. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (2005) is the memoir; Uni the Unicorn, Cookies, Little Pea, Little Hoot and The OK Book sit among more than 30 children's books published from 2005 onward. Rosenthal is the only author to have placed three children's books on the Best Children's Books for Family Literacy list in a single year. The listing holds 58 titles dated 1998 to 2024, at a median of 40 pages.

Leslie Patricelli is an American writer and illustrator of board books for babies and toddlers, and of fiction for older children. The board books pair opposites and daily routines - Yummy Yucky (2003), Quiet Loud (2003), Big Little (2003), Baby Happy Baby Sad (2008), No No Yes Yes (2008) - with Potty and Toot! among her internationally recognised titles. Patricelli also wrote the Rizzlerunk Club series, including Best Buds Under Frogs and The Big Bad Lies, and illustrated the Mini Myth books. The catalogue holds 37 titles at a median of 26 pages.

Heather Vogel Frederick is a children's author whose 24 books run from 2002 to 2023. The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed (2002) is her earliest title, and The Education of Patience Goodspeed followed in 2004. The Mother-Daughter Book Club appeared in 2007, with Much Ado About Anne and Dear Pen Pal after it. Frederick's series are Mother-Daughter Book Club, Spy Mice, Pumpkin Falls Mystery and Patience Goodspeed, and Truly, Madly, Sheeply (2023) is the newest title.

Enid Blyton

957 books• 42 series

Enid Blyton (11 August 1897 to 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer and one of the best-selling authors of children's literature, with more than 600 million copies sold and translations into ninety languages. Blyton wrote on education, natural history, fantasy, mystery and biblical stories. Noddy, the Famous Five, the Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers and Malory Towers are the best-remembered Blyton books, and St Clare's, Mary Mouse and Toyland Stories are also listed. The catalogue opens with The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies (1924), and The Naughtiest Girl in the School (1930) and The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair (1937) follow. Titles dated after Blyton's death also appear, up to Stories of Wonders and Wishes (2023).

Mo Willems

89 books• 9 series

Mo Willems makes picture books and early readers, funny and animal-led: the Pigeon books, Elephant & Piggie, Knuffle Bunny, Cat the Cat, Unlimited Squirrels and Leonardo. Friendship and emotions are the recurring subjects, and the books are short, a median of 57 pages. Ninety catalogued titles run from 1994 through Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2003) and Knuffle Bunny (2004) to The Pigeon WON'T Pick a Color!, with another title scheduled for 2027.

Mac Barnett

64 books• 7 series

Mac Barnett is an American children's book writer, born August 23, 1982, best known for advocating for picture books and serving as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature for 2025-26. Since 2009 Barnett has published more than seventy works, over fifty of them picture books, along with graphic novels, essays and short stories. The catalogue counts 64 books from Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem (2009) to Rumpelstiltskin (2026), including Guess Again! (2009), The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (2009), Mustache! (2011) and Chloe and the Lion (2012). Series are A Jack Book, Mac B., Kid Spy, First Cat in Space, Terrible Two, Brixton Brothers, Shapes Trilogy and Oh No!. Subjects name humorous stories, mysteries, friendship and schools.

Jan and Stan Berenstain wrote picture books about the Berenstain Bears. The run begins with The Big Honey Hunt (1962) and reaches 400 titles by The Berenstain Bears: Father's Day Blessings (2018). Family life, school, brothers and sisters, scouting, Christmas and Christian life supply the recurring subjects, and many of the books are told in rhyme. A median length of 32 pages places them with early readers. Publication peaked in the 1990s and the catalogue is likely complete.

Eve Bunting, born Eve Bolton, was a Northern Irish-born American writer of more than 250 books who lived from December 19, 1928, to October 1, 2023. Bunting wrote fiction and non-fiction, mainly novels for children and young adults, and also wrote the text of picture books. Many of the books are set in Northern Ireland, where Bunting grew up, while others range in subject from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. The Two Giants (1971) was Bunting's first book. Series in the catalogue include Frog and Friends, Horse Stories, Dinosaur Machines and Pirate Captain's Daughter, and subjects include animals, horses, stories in rhyme and mystery stories.

Eric Walters

207 books• 18 series

Eric Walters, full name Eric Robert Walters, is a Canadian author of young adult fiction and picture books, born March 3, 1957 and the writer of more than 130 books. The catalogue lists 207 books from Stand Your Ground (1994) to Werewolves Don't Keep Diaries (2026). Series include Camp X, Rule of Three, Orca Echoes, Tiger, War Of The Eagles, We All Fall Down, Catboy and Teen Astronauts. Subjects include basketball, survival, orphans, the Second World War and adventure.

Jonathan London has 141 catalogued books dating from 1992 to 2022, the Froggy series among them. Froggy Gets Dressed (1992) is the earliest title, alongside The Lion Who Had Asthma and Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back from the same year. Other series include Duck and Hippo, Aaron's Wilderness, Shawn and Keeper and Brown Bear. Subjects include picture books, stories in rhyme, children's poetry, animals, wolves and imagination. Here Comes Truck Driver Hippo (2022) is the most recent title.

Lauren Child

100 books• 4 series

Lauren Child is an English children's author and illustrator, born 29 November 1965. Child created Charlie and Lola, introduced in 2000, and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for the illustration in that book; a later anniversary panel named it one of the ten best winners of the Medal's first fifty years. Her other series are Clarice Bean, Ruby Redfort and Hubert Horatio. The catalogue holds 100 titles published between 1999 and 2022, most of them picture books at a median of 32 pages.

Nikki Grimes, born October 20, 1950, is an American poet, journalist and author of books for children and young adults. The catalogue lists 75 books from Growin' (1977) to Twice Blessed (2026), and Meet Danitra Brown (1984) and Malcolm X (1992) are among them. Grimes's series are Dyamonde Daniel, Danitra Brown and Garvey. Catalogue subjects include children's poetry, African Americans, friendship, love, school and biography.

Horror and thrillers set in the rural Appalachian mountains are the work of Scott Nicholson, an American novelist born on 24 June 1962. The Red Church, his debut, reached the Bram Stoker Award shortlist as a finalist. The catalogue holds 65 books published between 2000 and 2019, taking in the Solom novels, the Zapheads post-apocalyptic series, the Sheriff Frank Littlefield mysteries and the October Girls books. Haunted places, cults and mountain folklore recur, and the last catalogued title is Tribulation in 2019.

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is credited with 65 books from Chemotherapy (2003) to Princess Kira's Kiwi Jubilee (2024), catalogued for grades 1 to 3. Early titles include AIDS (2004), The Eiffel Tower (2005) and Last-Minute Science Fair Projects (2006). Subject tags cover mermaids, cats, princesses, pirates, magic and experiments. Bardhan-Quallen series include Purrmaids, Mermicorns, Adventures of Caveboy and Disney Princess: Merida.

Bear Snores On (2002) is the first of 60 catalogued books by Karma Wilson, a children's author whose subjects include stories in rhyme, board books, bears, mice, cats and forest animals. Bear Wants More (2003), Bear Hugs (2004) and Bear Stays Up for Christmas (2004) are among the titles, and Bear Feels Sad (2025) is the newest. Series credited to Wilson are Bear, Calico, Little Pip, Sweet Briar and Mortimer Mouse.

Laura Joffe Numeroff

60 books• 3 series

Laura Joffe Numeroff is an American children's author and illustrator, born in 1953, known above all as the author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The If You Give... books form her main series, with ...Do Best and Jellybeans beside them. The catalogue records 60 Numeroff titles between Amy for Short (1976) and Ponyella (2021). Animals, friendship and stories in rhyme recur as subjects, and the median book runs 32 pages.