Infants book series in reading order

by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

by Ellen Hopkins

by Dav Pilkey

Cynthia Rylant, born Cynthia Smith on June 6, 1954, is an American author and librarian who has written more than 100 children's books across picture books, short stories, novels, nonfiction and poetry. Missing May took the 1993 Newbery Medal, A Fine White Dust was a 1987 Newbery Honor book, and two further titles are Caldecott Honor Books. The catalogue records 229 books from When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982) onward, with series including Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter & Tabby, Poppleton and the Lighthouse Family.

Janette Oke, born Janette Steeves on 18 February 1935, is a Canadian author of inspirational fiction, often set in pioneer times with women as the lead characters. Bethany House published Love Comes Softly, the first Oke novel, in 1979. When Calls the Heart (1983) opened the Canadian West series and became the basis for a television series with the same title. The catalogue holds 79 Oke books, with The Pharisee's Wife (2025) the newest. Series include Love Comes Softly, Prairie Legacy, Women of the West, Song of Acadia and Janette Oke's Animal Friends. Subjects include women pioneers, Canada and Christian fiction.

Simon Brett writes English detective fiction across several long-running series. Charles Paris, an actor, heads one; the Fethering Mysteries follow Carole Seddon; Mrs Pargeter, Blotto and Twinks, and the Decluttering Mysteries make up the rest. Brett's catalogue holds 107 books, from Cast in Order of Disappearance (1975) to A Shock to the System (2026), with plays, short stories and non-fiction alongside.

Patricia MacLachlan (March 3, 1938 to March 31, 2022), born Patricia Marie Pritzkau, was an American children's writer. MacLachlan's novel Sarah, Plain and Tall won the Newbery Medal in 1986 and gave its name to a series. The catalogue holds 63 books for young readers, including the Barkus series, Arthur, for the Very First Time and My Poet (2022). Family life, dogs, grandparents, friendship and frontier life are frequent subjects.

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.

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.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole is one of the series by Kathryn Lasky, an American children's writer born June 24, 1944, who writes for adults as Kathryn Lasky Knight and E. L. Swann. Lasky's children's work also includes Dear America and The Royal Diaries books, Wolves of the Beyond, Sugaring Time and The Night Journey, and honours include a Newbery Honor, the National Jewish Book Award and the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature. The catalogue holds 159 books from I Have Four Names for My Grandfather (1976) to Sacred Light (2026), including Tugboats Never Sleep (1977), The Weaver's Gift (1980) and Beyond the Divide (1983). Horses Of The Dawn, Bears Of The Ice and Camp Princess are further series, and subjects name owls, wolves, diaries and Jews.

Penny Warner writes in two halves. One is mystery: the Connor Westphal books, with deaf women and women journalists in the subject record, plus the Party-Planning and Food Festival mysteries, the Code Busters Club for children and Troop 13. That work has taken multiple Agatha Awards. The other half is practical non-fiction, more than 50 titles on cooking, parenting, parties and children's activities, starting with Healthy Snacks for Kids (1983). Seventy-one books are catalogued through The Search for the Missing Mascot (2025).

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.

Delores Fossen writes romantic suspense and Western romance, much of it set in Texas. The catalogue counts 183 books, from Unbridled (1998) and Saddled (2001) to Crossfire Creek Takedown (2026). Series include Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch, Appaloosa Pass Ranch, Sweetwater Ranch, Wrangler's Creek, Coldwater Texas, Lone Star Ridge, Last Ride, Texas, Marshals of Maverick County and several Hard Justice lines. Sheriffs, pregnant women and amnesia recur across the subjects.

Andrew Clements

83 books• 10 series

Andrew Clements (May 29, 1949 to November 28, 2019) was an American children's author. Frindle, the first Clements novel, won an award decided by the votes of schoolchildren in about 20 U.S. states, and received the 2016 Phoenix Award, given to a book that missed a major prize on first publication. The catalogue lists 83 books from Bird Adalbert (1985) to The Frindle Files (2024). Schools, teachers, friendship and dogs recur in the subjects. The Clements series include Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School, Jake Drake, Pets to the Rescue and Real Monsters.

Beverly Lewis

112 books• 17 series

Beverly Marie Lewis is an American novelist of Christian fiction and a children's author, and much of the writing concerns the Old Order Amish. Lewis taught school and worked as a musician beforehand. Born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where her father was a pastor, Lewis traces that interest to a maternal grandmother born into an Old Order Mennonite church. The catalogue lists 112 books, from Holly's First Love / Best Friend, Worst Enemy (1993) to The Christmas House (2025). Series include Abram's Daughters, Heritage of Lancaster County, Home To Hickory Hollow, Annie's People, Cul-de-sac Kids and Holly's Heart.

Kate DiCamillo

45 books• 8 series

Because of Winn-Dixie (2000) opens Kate DiCamillo's catalogue of 45 books for children in grades one to three. The Tale of Despereaux (2003), The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006) and the Mercy Watson books about a pig sit among them, with Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Bink & Gollie, the Norendy Tales and Orris and Timble as further series. Animals, friendship and humour run through the subjects, and the books are short at a median 112 pages.

Katherine Applegate

228 books• 20 series

Katherine Applegate, born October 9, 1956, and sometimes published as K. A. Applegate, is an American author of children's and young adult fiction. Animorphs, Remnants and Everworld are the series most tied to Applegate, and The One and Only Ivan (2012) won the 2013 Newbery Medal. Applegate received the Publishers Weekly Best New Children's Book Series Award in 1997. The catalogue lists 228 books, from Welcome to Junior High! (1990) to The Littlest Elephant (2026), including Girl Talk, Making Out and Roscoe Riley Rules.

Joyce Carol Oates

180 books• 8 series

Joyce Carol Oates, born June 16, 1938, is an American writer of novels, short stories, poetry, plays and nonfiction. The catalogue holds 180 books, beginning with By the North Gate (1963) and reaching The Frenzy: Stories (2026). Oates took the National Book Award for the novel Them (1969), and later honours include two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal and the Jerusalem Prize in 2019. Black Water, What I Lived For, Blonde and the collection Lovely, Dark, Deep were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014.

Madeleine L'Engle (November 29, 1918 to September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. A Wrinkle in Time (1962) earned L'Engle the Newbery Medal, and the American Library Association gave L'Engle its Margaret A. Edwards Award in 1998. The catalogue lists 70 books, beginning with The Small Rain (1945). Series include the Austin Family Chronicles, the Crosswicks Journals, the O'Keefe Family and the Time Quintet. Subjects run from science fiction and space and time to Christian life and meditations.

Tui T. Sutherland

58 books• 13 series

Tui T. Sutherland is an American children's author, born July 31, 1978, with more than 60 books written under Sutherland's own name and several pen names. Sutherland is best known for Wings of Fire, a series of dragon fantasy novels, and won $46,200 over three games on Jeopardy! in 2009. The catalogue lists 58 Sutherland books from Jewel Sticker Stories (2000) to The Hybrid Prince (2026), with Kari Sutherland credited on 2. Other listings include Pet Trouble, Avatars and Menagerie. Subjects include dragons, pets, dogs, prophecies and fantasy.

Angie Sage, born 20 June 1952, is an English author of children's books. Septimus Heap, the TodHunter Moon trilogy and Araminta Spook (published as Araminta Spookie in the United States) are Sage's series. The catalogue lists 42 books, starting with Monkeys in the Jungle (1989) and ending with Midnight Train (2021). Subjects include magic, wizards, apprentices, ghosts, haunted houses and picture books.

Marie Ferrarella is an American romance writer, born Marie Rydzynski in Germany on 28 March 1948. Ferrarella has also written as Marie Nicole, Marie Michael and Marie Charles, and the novels have been translated into at least seven languages. The catalogue lists 328 books from 1983 to 2024, beginning with Scenes from the Heart, issued as Marie Charles. Series include Cavanaugh Justice, Matchmaking Mamas, Forever Texas, Baby of the Month Club and ChildFinders, Inc. Subjects include contemporary, western and suspense romance, police, physicians, single fathers and single mothers. Cavanaugh Justice: Cold Case Squad (2024) is the newest title.

Catherine Mann is an American author of romance fiction and a winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, with books at Berkley, Sourcebooks and Harlequin Desire. Mann holds a master's degree in theatre from UNC-Greensboro and a fine arts degree from the College of Charleston. The catalogue holds 87 books, from Grayson's Surrender (2002) to The Sweet Tea Odyssey (2026), and the 2010s are the heaviest decade. Wingman Warriors, Dark Ops, Elite Force, Alaskan Oil Barons, Top Dog Dude Ranch and Landis Brothers are among the series credited to Mann. Suspense, undercover operations and the United States Air Force appear in the subject records.

Marc Brown

47 books• 1 series

Marc Brown, born 25 November 1946, is an American children's author and illustrator who writes and draws the Arthur books. The Arthur series became an animated television show broadcast on PBS Kids. The catalogue lists 47 books by Marc Brown between 1996 and 2009, starting with Arthur's Reading Race (1996) and ending with Arthur's Reading Trick (2009). Arthur, a fictitious aardvark, heads the subject records, alongside schools, friendship, brothers and sisters, and Spanish language editions.

John Berendt, born in 1939, is an American author of narrative non-fiction with three catalogued books. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994) was a best-seller and a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. The City of Falling Angels (2005) draws on the people Berendt met while living in Venice in the months after the 1996 fire that destroyed the La Fenice opera house. My Baby Blue Jays followed in 2011. True crime, murder trials, travel writing and social history are the subjects indexed against the catalogue.