Zoos book series in reading order

by Stuart Gibbs

Zoo animals and animal rescue fill Amelia Cobb's 25 books for readers in grades 1 to 3. Zoe Parker is the recurring character, and human-animal communication is a listed subject. The Lonely Lion Cub, The Playful Panda and The Puzzled Penguin launched the list in 2013, followed by The Eager Elephant and The Lucky Snow Leopard in 2014. Amelia Cobb's newest title is The Worried Wombat (2024).

Stuart Gibbs

46 books• 10 series

Stuart Gibbs writes mystery and adventure fiction for readers in grades six to eight. Belly Up (2010) opens the FunJungle series, set around a zoo, and Spy School, Moon Base Alpha, Charlie Thorne, The Last Musketeer and Once Upon a Tim follow. Forty-two catalogued books reach 2027, when There's No Place like Rome arrives.

Betty Webb, a former journalist, writes detective fiction set in Arizona, and has said that each book started from a real case. The Lena Jones series opens the catalogue with Desert Noir (2001) and gives every title the word Desert; the Gunn Zoo mysteries run alongside, from The Anteater of Death (2008) to The Llama of Death (2013). Eighteen books span 2001 to 2024, with women private investigators, zoos and Scottsdale among the 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.

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.

Gerald Durrell

40 books• 3 series

Gerald Durrell was a British naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist and television presenter who wrote about collecting and keeping animals. Durrell's first animal-collecting trip to the British Cameroons was funded by an inheritance, and his wife Jacquie pressed him to write an account of it. The catalogue opens with The Overloaded Ark (1953) and holds 40 books to 1993, across autobiographical volumes, the Corfu Trilogy and the Puppy Tales for children. My Family and Other Animals (1956) and A Zoo in My Luggage (1962) are among them. Zoology, natural history, animal behaviour and travel are the recurring subjects.

Roland Smith, born November 30, 1951, is an American author of young adult fiction and of nonfiction for children. The catalogue lists 51 titles from Sea Otter Rescue (1990) to The Vaquita (2025), with early books on zoo animals, Primates in the Zoo, Snakes in the Zoo, Inside the Zoo Nursery, sitting beside later adventure fiction. Series include I, Q, Peak, Storm Runners, Zach's Lie, Jacob Lansa, Marty and Grace and the Alphabet Picture books; Marie Smith shares credit on 3 of the titles. Subjects name survival, adventure, spies, mountaineering and terrorism.

Franklin W. Dixon is the author name on the Hardy Boys books, and the catalogue lists 473 titles under the Dixon name from 1927 to 2023. The Tower Treasure, The House on the Cliff and The Secret of the Old Mill all date from 1927. Dixon series include Hardy Boys Casefiles, Hardy Boys Adventures, Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, Hardy Boys: Secret Files and Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery, plus the Ted Scott Flying Stories. Undercover Bookworms (2023) is the newest title.

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.

Gertrude Chandler Warner (April 16, 1890 to August 30, 1979) was an American author who wrote mostly for children. Warner wrote the original book of The Boxcar Children, published in 1942, and the next 18 books in the series. Earlier catalogued titles include The House of Delight (1916) and The World in a Barn (1927), and Surprise Island (1949) and The Yellow House Mystery (1952) came after The Boxcar Children. Orphans, brothers and sisters, and mystery stories are among the subjects. The catalogue also carries Boxcar Children lines such as Adventures of Benny and Watch and Boxcar Children Great Adventure under Warner's name.

Ron Roy, born 1940, is an American children's writer working mostly in mystery. Three series carry the name: A to Z Mysteries from 1997, Capital Mysteries from 2001 and Calendar Mysteries from 2009, with A to Z Animal Mysteries and an A to Z Super Edition line alongside. Roy taught fourth grade in Connecticut for ten years, sold a first book in 1978 and wrote full time after that. The catalogue holds 90 titles dated 1978 to 2024, short at a median 84 pages, and reaches Dolphin Detectives (2024).

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.

Judith Kerr

48 books• 3 series

Judith Kerr (14 June 1923 to 22 May 2019) was a British writer and illustrator, born in Germany, with more than 10 million copies of the books sold around the world. Born in the Weimar Republic, Kerr came to Britain with family in 1935 to escape Nazi persecution. Kerr's picture books include The Tiger Who Came to Tea (1968) and the Mog series, which includes Mog the Forgetful Cat (1970). For older children Kerr wrote When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (1971), a semi-autobiographical novel that shows escape from Hitler's persecution through a child's eyes. The catalogue lists 48 books, with series Mog the Forgetful Cat and Out of the Hitler Time, and Mog's Birthday is dated 2020.

Bernard Waber was an American children's author, best known for the Lyle the Crocodile books. The House on East 88th Street (1962) introduces Lyle, and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (1965), Lyle and the Birthday Party and Lovable Lyle continue the run; a second series follows a character named Ira. Waber's 38 catalogued titles date from 1962 to 2022 and average 48 pages, with crocodiles, cats, mice, friendship and family life among the listed subjects. Waber lived from 1921 to 2013.