Veterinarians book series in reading order

by James Herriot

by Hugh Lofting

by Cathy Woodman

by Ben M. Baglio

Ben M. Baglio, born in New York City in 1960, is an American author who created the brief for two children's book series, Animal Ark and Dolphin Diaries. Animal Ark features Mandy Hope, the child of vets, who helps injured animals and solves animal mysteries. Dolphin Diaries follows a Florida family of marine biologists who study dolphins around the world. Commissioned writers produced the books under Baglio's instruction, and UK editions used the pseudonym Lucy Daniels. The catalogue also lists Animal Ark Pets, Animal Ark Hauntings and Pet Finders Club.

James Herriot wrote about veterinary practice in the English countryside, mixing memoir, anecdote and animal stories. The catalogue holds 39 titles published between 1970 and 2023, among them All Creatures Great and Small (1972), All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) and the 2023 collection The Wonderful World of James Herriot. All Creatures Great and Small is the best known sequence, and Herriot also wrote children's books such as Bonny's Big Day. The books are short at a median of 180 pages, and the catalogue is closed.

Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer of children's and young adult novels. Speak (1999) brought the first wide recognition; the American Library Association gave Anderson its Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2010, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award followed in 2023. The catalogue holds 40 books published between 1996 and 2025, among them the Vet Volunteers series, the Seeds of America trilogy and Fever 1793 (2000). Veterinary medicine, animal rescue, schools and history recur as subjects.

English village life is Rebecca Shaw's subject: clergy, the parish church, veterinary practice and the people of two invented places, Turnham Malpas and Barleybridge. Shaw wrote 28 novels for Orion Publishing Group and sold more than a million copies, plus three standalone ebooks. The New Rector (1994) opens Tales from Turnham Malpas, and Talk of the Village (1996), Village Secrets (1998), Scandal In The Village (1999) and Village Gossip (2000) follow. The catalogue holds 29 titles at a median of 280 pages.

Suzanne Selfors writes fiction for readers in grades 3 to 5. Series include the Imaginary Veterinary, Smells Like Dog and Wedgie & Gizmo, with tie-in work for Ever After High and Spirit Riding Free. The catalogue lists 39 books from To Catch a Mermaid (2007) to Braver (2020), at a median of 240 pages. Schools, pets, magic and fairy tales run through the subject headings.

Hugh Lofting

25 books• 1 series

Doctor Dolittle, the physician who talks to animals, is the creation of Hugh Lofting (1886-1947). Lofting trained as a civil engineer and was English-American. The character began in illustrated letters Lofting wrote to his children from the trenches of the First World War, and Lofting moved to the United States before the first book appeared. The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920) opens a series that includes Doctor Dolittle's Post Office, Circus, Zoo and Caravan. The catalogue holds 25 books.

Eileen Brady writes the Kate Turner, DVM mysteries, in which a veterinarian in New York State keeps ending up inside murder investigations. Seven books carry the series, opening with Muzzled (2014) and running through Unleashed (2014), Chained (2017), Penned (2018), Saddled with Murder (2020) and Last But Not Leashed (2022) to Murders of a Feather (2023). Animal puns title every book. Nothing new has been catalogued since 2023.

Lucy Daniels is the name on 108 children's books published from 1995 to 2019, with Animal Ark, an imaginary place and organization, among the subjects. Donkey on the Doorstep (1995) is the earliest title, and Llama on the Loose (2019) the newest. Series include Little Animal Ark, New Animal Ark, Animal Ark Holiday Special, Jess: The Border Collie, Nine Lives, Safari Summer, Little Dolphin and Hope Meadows. Subjects include veterinarians, horses, riding schools, dogs, cats, kittens and dolphins.

Mary Stanton, born in Winter Park, Florida in 1947, is an American author known for Unicorns of Balinor, an eight-volume fantasy series for children. As Claudia Bishop, Stanton has written 14 Hemlock Falls mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime and three novels in the Casebooks of Dr. McKenzie series, and has been senior editor of three mystery anthologies. The catalogue lists 43 books from 1984 to 2013, including The Road to Balinor (1988), A Taste for Murder (1994) and A Fete Worse Than Death (2013). Subject tags include the imaginary place Hemlock Falls, New York, women detectives, hotels and unicorns.

Cathy Woodman writes contemporary romance, with subject tags that include England, country life, veterinarians, women veterinarians, single mothers and farmers' markets. Woodman's series is Talyton St. George. The catalogue holds 17 books from Under the Bonnet (2004) to Springtime at Cherry Tree Cottage (2016). It's a Vet's Life (2011), The Village Vet (2012) and Vets in Love (2012) are among the titles. The median book runs to 416 pages.

Contemporary romance is the territory of Jill Shalvis, an American novelist whose work includes the Lucky Harbor books. The catalogue records 140 books, opening with Summer of Fire in 1996 and extending to Falling into You in 2026. Heartbreaker Bay, Wildstone, Animal Magnetism, Sunrise Cove, Cedar Ridge and Sky High Air are among the series. Firefighters, bush pilots, sisters, California and Washington state appear in the subject tags, and Shalvis is still publishing.

Catherine Anderson writes romance across historical, contemporary and western settings. The Comanche books, the Kendrick, Coulter and Harrigan family novels, Mystic Creek and the Valance Family form the series work, with Oregon ranches and Colorado recurring in the subjects. Forty-two books are catalogued between Coming Up Roses (1970) and Maple Leaf Harvest in 2021.

Karen Rose Smith is an American author born in Pennsylvania whose first romance appeared in 1992. Smith has written for Meteor/Kismet, Kensington, Silhouette and Harlequin, and has indie-published novels and short story collections as e-books. Awards include New Jersey's Golden Leaf Award for short contemporary romance (twice), CRA's Award of Excellence and the Golden Quill for Traditional Romance. The catalogue lists 124 books from A Man Worth Loving (1992) to If Books Could Kill (2026). Mystery lines include Caprice De Luca Mystery and Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries.

Vicki Lewis Thompson, born 11 October 1950, is an American romance novelist who has also published as Cory Kenyon and, with Mary Tate Engels, as Corey Keaton. The catalogue holds 174 books from Mingled Hearts (1984) to When a Cowboy Falls Hard (2026), including Promise Me Sunshine (1984), When Angels Dance (1985) and The Fix-It Man (1986). Sons of Chance, McGavin Brothers, NERDS, Rowdy Ranch, Thunder Mountain Brotherhood, Buckskin Brotherhood, Wild About You and Hex are among the series. Cowboys, westerns, Harlequin Blaze, paranormal romance and werewolves appear in the subjects.

Cynthia Baxter's catalogue holds 58 books published between 1981 and 2020. Mystery and detective fiction leads the recorded subjects, which name women sleuths, murder, private investigators, women veterinarians, twins and the fictitious character Jessica Popper; horror tales and children's fiction also appear. Once There Was a Fat Girl (1981) is the listed first title and Game of Cones (2020) the most recent. Series credited to Baxter include Reigning Cats & Dogs Mystery, Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mystery, Murder Packs A Suitcase Mysteries, Pratt Twins, Bubble Gum Gang Mysteries and Dark Moon Legacy. The run is likely complete.

Nick Bruel, full name Nicholas Tung Ming Bruel, is an American author and illustrator of children's books, most notably the Bad Kitty series. Bad Kitty (2005), the first in that series, is an alphabet picture book, and the series grew to take in chapter books and a guide to drawing comics. Bruel's books have been New York Times bestsellers. The catalogue lists 49 Bruel books, from Boing! (2004) to Bad Kitty Gets a Job (2026), and cats, dogs, pets and humorous stories lead the subjects.