Top 10 book series a kid can finish, in order
The ten, in order
- Agent Moose. 3 books by Mo O'Hara and Jess Bradley, ages 6–9. You can read any of the three. Each is one mystery in the same forest, solved by the same pair, so there are no cliffhangers. Reading in number order lets you meet the cast first.
- The Tea Dragon Society. 3 books by Katie O'Neill, ages 7–11. Start with the first book. The three books share a world and some of the same people, and the third looks back on the first two, so it means more after them. The second book is a good stand-alone visit if a child asks for it.
- Ham Helsing. 3 books by Rich Moyer, ages 8–12. Read them in number order. It is one story that continues from book to book, and the later books count on what happened before, including how the main character came to lead his family's monster-hunting work.
- Sanity & Tallulah. 3 books by Molly Brooks, ages 8–12. Read them in number order. The three books follow the same two friends and the same station, and each ends in a way that sets up the next, so the later books lean on what happened before.
- Smile, Sisters and Guts. 3 graphic memoirs by Raina Telgemeier, ages 8–12. You can read them in any order. Each one is a separate stretch of the author's real childhood, and none gives away the others. Reading in number order follows her from sixth grade, to a family car trip as a girl, to a later grade with new worries. Three books are all there are so far.
- Zita the Spacegirl. 3 books by Ben Hatke, ages 8–12. Read the three books in order. They are one story: the second picks up where the first ends, and the third wraps it up and calls back to both. The series is finished, so there is no waiting for more.
- Mighty Jack. 3 books by Ben Hatke, ages 9–13. Read the first two in order, because the second one starts where the first ends. The third is a team-up with a character from another series by the same maker. It makes sense without that series, though readers of that one will enjoy the surprise.
- Real Friends. 3 graphic memoirs by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham, ages 9–13. Read them in number order. They are one true story told in three parts, from kindergarten to fifth grade, to the next grades, and then on to middle school, and each picks up where the last stopped. The set is finished at three.
- The Cardboard Kingdom. 3 books by Chad Sell (with co-writers), ages 9–12. Read them in number order. Each book has its own story, but the same neighbourhood group of kids carries across all three, and the second and third books assume you know who they are and how they fell out or made up before. A child who starts with the third book will follow the plot but miss why some friendships matter.
- Lightfall. 4 books by Tim Probert, ages 8–12. Read them in number order. It is one long quest, and each book picks up straight after the last, with new places and clues that only make sense if you read the earlier ones. A child who skips ahead will be lost.
How this list is made
Ranked by how many books are out today (the fewest first, three at least), then the youngest ages, then the name.