Dolls book series in reading order

by Jane O’Connor

Rumer Godden

69 books

Rumer Godden was a British author with more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books to her name. Black Narcissus opened the catalogue in 1939 and reached the screen in 1947; The River followed in 1946 and was filmed in 1951; nine of Godden's works were adapted for film in all. India, nuns, family life and children's stories about dolls and mice, The Mousewife (1951), Mouse House (1952), Impunity Jane (1954), run through the work. Godden wrote a few books with her elder sister, the novelist Jon Godden, among them Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of a childhood spent in a part of India now inside Bangladesh. The catalogue holds 69 entries reaching 2012.

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).

Ann M. Martin

446 books• 24 series

Ann Matthews Martin, born August 12, 1955, is an American writer of children's and young adult fiction and a Smith College graduate. The Baby-Sitters Club, first published in 1986, is the series Martin is known best for, and Martin remains involved with the series and its spin-offs. The catalogue lists 446 books, beginning with Inside Out and Bummer Summer in 1983. Related lines include Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries, California Diaries, Kids in Ms. Colman's Class, Main Street and Doll People. Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter: A Graphic Novel (2025) is the newest listed title.

Joan Holub, born in Texas in 1956, has written and illustrated over 180 children's books and also publishes as Rita Book and Brad Bucks. The catalogue lists 184 Holub titles from If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution (1987) to This Little Engineer (2023), with a median length of 48 pages. Subject tags include Greek mythology, Greek goddesses, stories in rhyme, schools and ants. Holub series include Goddess Girls, Mini Myths, Ant Hill, Doll Hospital, Young Princesses Around the World and Smart About History.

Nancy Krulik writes for children, and the catalogue lists Grades 1-3 as the reading level. Series credited to Krulik include Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo, How I Survived Middle School, Magic Bone, Princess Pulverizer and Project Droid, and George Brown, Class Clown appears among the characters. Subjects range across magic, schools, friendship, dogs, robots and humorous stories. The most recent listed book is Fangs for Having Us! (2021), and the catalogue marks the output as dormant.

Deb Baker, born in 1953, is an American mystery writer from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with three mystery series to the Baker name: Gertie Johnson: Yooper Mysteries, the Queen Bee Mysteries and Gretchen Birch. Murder, investigation, doll collecting and beekeeping appear in the recorded subjects, as do Wisconsin and Scotland. Gertie Johnson is listed among the characters. The catalogue holds 23 books from Dolled Up for Murder (2006) to Be Still My Bleating Heart (2019), a run marked likely complete.

Sarah Ferguson

65 books• 7 series

Sarah Ferguson, formerly Duchess of York, is a British author and television personality with 65 books catalogued between 1989 and 2023. The Budgie the Little Helicopter picture books opened the run in 1989 and lead a children's list that also holds Little Red, Genie Gems, Puddle Boots and the Helping Hand stories. Ferguson has written history as well, Victoria and Albert: A Family Life at Osborne House (1991) and Travels with Queen Victoria (1995), along with books on weight loss and exercise and the Buccleuch Family novels, the latest of them A Most Intriguing Lady (2023).

Carolyn Keene is a Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, the credit on the Nancy Drew mysteries. Mildred Wirt Benson, one of the writers behind the name, used it from 1929 to 1953 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. The catalogue lists 647 Carolyn Keene books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery (all 1930) and reaching Vans & Villains (2026). Series include Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, Nancy Drew Diaries, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and Dana Girls Mystery Stories.

Jane O'Connor is the writer of Fancy Nancy, a children's picture book series begun in 2005 and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. The first Fancy Nancy book stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for nearly 100 weeks, and the series grew past 100 titles and 50 million copies sold, with translations into 20 languages including Hungarian and Hebrew. Nancy moved into chapter books in April 2012 with Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth. The catalogue lists 134 O'Connor books from Yours Till Niagara Falls, Abby (1979) to Besties for Eternity (2025), across series such as Lulu the Witch, Sir Small and Miranda Bookman.

Sally Gardner is a British writer and illustrator of children's literature who also publishes adult novels as Wray Delaney. Maggot Moon, issued by Hot Key Books in 2012, took both the Costa Book Award for Children's Book and the Carnegie Medal. The catalogue holds 44 books from The Little Nut Tree (1993) to The Bride Stone (2025), with fairies, fairy tales, magic and princesses among the recorded subjects. Magical Children, the Fairy Detective Agency: Wings & Co, Tales from the Box and Tindims are among the series listed.

Debbi Michiko Florence

33 books• 5 series

Debbi Michiko Florence, born in 1964 or 1965, is an American children's writer. The Jasmine Toguchi chapter books, which begin with Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen (2017), are the best known part of the catalogue. Florence also writes My Furry Foster Family, Dorothy and Toto and Last Chance Academy, and the listing opens with activity books on China (2008) and Japan (2009). Subjects record Japanese Americans, families, best friends, friendship and humorous stories. The catalogue runs to 33 books, reaching The Mastermind's Trap in 2026.

Carol Ryrie Brink (1895-1981) wrote for children and adults alike. Caddie Woodlawn (1935) is her lasting book, a frontier story that won the 1936 Newbery Medal and a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958, and Caddie Woodlawn's Family followed in 1939. The catalogue of 28 titles opens with Anything Can Happen on the River (1934) and takes in Mademoiselle Misfortune (1936), Baby Island (1937) and Buffalo Coat (1944), with Goody O'Grumpity (1994) published last. Pioneer life, Idaho, dolls and shipwrecks recur as subjects.