Elementary schools book series in reading order

by Dan Gutman

by Jack Sheffield

by Marcia Thornton Jones

by Mo Willems

Troy Cummings is a children's book writer whose 13 catalogued books, for grades 1 to 3, appeared from 2013 to 2017. Subjects include monsters, horror stories, elementary schools and best friends. Rise of the Balloon Goons (2013) is the first title, and Attack of the Shadow Smashers and Day of the Night Crawlers also date from 2013. Battle of the Boss-Monster (2017) is the newest, and the list is likely complete.

Dan Gutman

198 books• 23 series

Dan Gutman is an American writer of mainly children's fiction, born in 1955. The best-known lines are the My Weird School books, The Genius Files and the Baseball Card Adventures, which began with Honus & Me. The catalogue holds 198 books from It Ain't Cheating If You Don't Get Caught (1990) to Mrs. Towne Is a Clown! (2026), including early baseball titles such as Baseball Babylon (1992). Subjects include schools, teachers, baseball, time travel and humorous stories.

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.

Jack Chabert writes horror stories for young readers, catalogued at a grades 1-3 level. Catalogue subjects record haunted schools, elementary schools, friendship, best friends, science projects and blizzards. Eerie Elementary is the series recorded under this name, and all 10 catalogued books carry the Chabert credit between 2014 and 2019: The School Is Alive! and The Locker Ate Lucy! in 2014, Recess Is a Jungle!, School Freezes Over! and The Science Fair is Freaky! in 2016, Classes Are Canceled! and Sam Battles the Machine! in 2017, The Art Show Attacks! and The Hall Monitors Are Fired! in 2018, and The End of Orson Eerie? in 2019.

Marcia Thornton Jones, born July 15, 1958, is an American writer of children's books and the author or co-author of more than 135 elementary chapter books, picture books and mid-grade novels. Named among them is The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids; other work was co-written with Debbie Dadey, who carries a credit on 7 of the 125 catalogued titles. The listing opens with Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots (1990) and ends with Writing for Kids (2019). Further series include Ghostville Elementary, Bailey City Monsters, Barkley's School for Dogs and Keyholders. The books are short, at a median of 75 pages, and subjects name monsters, ghosts, teachers and humorous stories.

Teacher, Teacher! (2007) was Jack Sheffield's first novel and sold 100,000 copies. Sheffield, born Jack Linley in Leeds in 1945, grew up in Gipton and trained as a teacher at St John's College, York. Before writing, Sheffield was head teacher of two North Yorkshire schools and then a senior lecturer in primary education at Bretton Hall. Sheffield's novels, grouped in the catalogue as the Teacher series, follow the headmaster of a school in a fictional Yorkshire village between the late 1970s and early 1980s. The catalogue holds 18 books through University Secrets (2025). York St John University named Sheffield an honorary Cultural Fellow in 2016.

Rebecca Elliot writes early chapter books and picture books for readers in grades 1 to 3. Owls, diaries, elementary schools, ghosts, jealousy, and belief and doubt are the subjects recorded across the 23 titles, which run from Eva Sees a Ghost (2015) to Legend of the Sea Dragon (2026). Eva and the New Owl (2016), Warm Hearts Day (2016), Baxter is Missing (2017), Eva's Big Sleepover (2018), Bo's Magical New Friend (2019) and Bo the Brave (2020) appear in the run. Elliot remains actively publishing.

Beverly Cleary

49 books• 12 series

Beverly Cleary (born Beverly Atlee Bunn; April 12, 1916 to March 25, 2021) was an American author of children's and young adult fiction. Henry Huggins (1950) was the first book, and Ramona Quimby, Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins with the dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse became the recurring characters. Cleary's books have sold 91 million copies worldwide. The catalogue records 49 books through 2013, grouped into series such as Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse and Ellen & Otis, with humour, family life, school and pets among the subjects.

Judy Moody, a series that has sold more than 30 million copies, is what Megan McDonald is best known for. McDonald, born Megan Jo McDonald on February 28, 1959, is an American children's author and a former librarian, and also wrote the Julie Albright books for American Girl as well as picture books. The catalogue lists 113 McDonald books, from Is This a House for Hermit Crab? (1990) to The Big Bad Badgers (2025). Other series include Stink, Judy Moody & Friends, Beezy and Sisters Club, and the subjects include school, family life and brothers and sisters.

Fran Manushkin, born November 2, 1942, is an American children's author who worked first as a children's book editor. Manushkin studied at the University of Illinois and Roosevelt University. Come Let Us Be Joyful: The Story of Hava Nagila received a Notable Children's Book citation from the Association of Jewish Libraries in 2000. The catalogue lists 64 early-reader books from 2009 to 2021, with Katie Woo named in the subjects; titles include No More Teasing (2009), Boo, Katie Woo! (2010) and Pedro is Rich (2021).

Rebecca Elliott writes children's fiction and picture books, with catalogue subjects such as owls, diaries, friendship, loneliness, brothers and sisters and elementary schools. The catalogue lists 56 books, starting in 2007 with Count with Me Five Ducks, Spot with Me! and Who Ate All the Lettuce?. Elliott's series are Owl Diaries, Unicorn Diaries and Pretty Funny. Eva Saves the Day (2025) is the newest title, and The School Dance is due in 2027.

Laura Alden's catalogue splits in two. The early work is children's non-fiction and picture books, Saying I'm Sorry (1982), Dinosaur Jokes (1988), Houdini (1989) and the Read Around Alphabet Town and Circle The Year With Holidays series, at a median 32 pages. The later work is the Beth Kennedy mystery series, in which murder arrives by way of a parents' and teachers' association, ending with Poison at the PTA in 2014. Thirty-five books span 1982 to 2014, with the 1990s the peak decade.