Geraldine McCaughrean Books in Order

Facing execution at her husband’s hands, Schahrazad begins telling him stories that she never quite finishes before dawn. Her tales of magic, danger, and adventure keep him listening, turning storytelling into her best chance of staying alive.

Geraldine McCaughrean retells Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales for children, bringing the classic stories into accessible prose. Humour and lively storytelling introduce young readers to the tales and characters of one of English literature’s best-known works.

Gabriel escapes a cruel master by joining traveling performers of religious plays. His angelic appearance inspires their leader to stage fraudulent miracles for profit, but plague and the dangers surrounding supposed miracle-workers place the boy in an increasingly precarious position.

Mysterious MCC Berkshire moves into Ailsa's mother's antiques shop and invents elaborate stories to sell its contents. Ailsa questions who he is and whether his tales are lies, while the stranger's own hidden story complicates his connection with them.

Toy rabbit Blackberry decides to explore the world beyond his home and discovers that life outdoors differs from what he imagined. His unfamiliarity with wild rabbits' ways leads to adventures and narrow escapes as he encounters the larger world.

Exiled from Castile by King Alfonso, warrior Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar must leave his wife and daughters behind. This retelling follows his journey into Moorish-ruled lands, where battles and shifting loyalties test the man known as El Cid.

Finding a top hat fills Henry Hedgehog with pride and gives the other woodland animals an idea. Soon they want hats of their own, turning one hedgehog's discovery into a shared preoccupation throughout Brambledown.

The animals regularly seek food in Farmer Hayseed's garden until a frightening new figure appears to guard it. Hoppity Hare steps forward to help his neighbors deal with the apparent giant, whose strange appearance conceals an unexpected explanation.

Little Brown Mouse lives with her family in a cornfield cottage until the farmer cuts the crop. Lost in the changed landscape, she depends on friendly animals to help her navigate unfamiliar surroundings and find her family again.

Brief explanations and pop-up globes introduce young readers to basic facts about Earth. The movable models give physical form to the planet as the text offers an early introduction to the world children live on.

Pop-up models of the Sun, Saturn, and the Moon introduce young readers to the solar system. The text describes the nine planets recognized when the book was published and explains their relationship to the Sun.

A dragon emerges from a pool outside a peaceful town and terrorizes its inhabitants. This illustrated retelling of the Saint George legend follows their danger and the arrival of a stranger on horseback who confronts the creature.

The Brown Rabbit family moves to Brambledown, but its three youngest members become lost on their first day there. Meeting friendly neighbors helps the children find their way through the unfamiliar place they are meant to call home.

This illustrated retelling follows the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. The Christmas story brings together the circumstances before his arrival and the encounters afterward, presenting the Nativity narrative for children through text and pictures.

Warned that God will flood the Earth, Noah must build an ark and bring aboard pairs of animals. This illustrated Bible retelling follows his preparations to preserve living creatures from the destruction of the approaching waters.

After hearing about a peacock's magnificent tail, Tiny Chick decides he wants one better than his father's. He borrows feathers from birds throughout Brambledown Wood, trying to turn himself into the impressive creature he hopes to become.

A felt duckling on a cushion becomes real for a single rainy day and explores the world outside. Yellow discovers that the animals dislike the weather and are arguing about leadership, making her brief adventure more complicated than expected.

A dragon's appearance at Worm's Head unsettles a twelfth-century community, exposing fears and conflicts among villagers and the Church. The bewildered creature struggles to communicate, while an outcast monk's assistance offers a different response to the supposed monster.

Set in an imagined medieval world, this love story draws on traditions of courtly romance and pastoral storytelling. Passion binds its lovers together, but betrayal challenges their relationship and the hopes they place in one another.

After war destroys their home and kills their father, Taichi and Yumiko help an old man protect a damaged cherry tree through winter. Caring for the tree gives the grieving siblings a way to nurture hope in their devastated village.

Five generations of lords and ladies inhabit Château Gloriole in fifteenth-century France. Their intertwined lives explore obsessive love, ambition and ideals of chivalry as personal desires and family histories create tensions across the changing household.

Inez and Maro watch gold prospectors tear apart their Brazilian town after rumors spread of riches underground. With their schoolteacher's help, the siblings try to protect Sierra Vazia from the greed and disruption threatening their home.

Seventeen Greek myths retell encounters among gods, heroes and mortals, from Prometheus's creation of humanity to his release. Arachne, Midas, Heracles and Odysseus face challenges that expose pride, rivalry and the consequences of dealing with powerful gods.

After the Trojan War, Odysseus sets sail for his wife and son, only to encounter monsters and hostile gods. This retelling follows his prolonged voyage through dangers including a one-eyed giant and the many-headed sea creature Scylla.

Joy follows a moonlit path from her bedroom to Blue Moon Mountain, a place populated by mythical creatures. Encounters with mermaids, goblins, a Cyclops and unicorns draw her into a landscape where the beings of legend share a hidden home.

Ten Shakespeare plays become prose stories, from the lovers of Verona to Hamlet’s troubled court and the enchanted island of The Tempest. Cast lists and passages from the plays help readers follow the characters and their conflicts.

Ten ballet stories bring readers into worlds of enchanted creatures, dangerous spells, and enduring love. Retellings of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker introduce the tales behind the performances through prose and illustrations.

A little angel befriends a young shepherd during the first Christmas, and the pair travel together to Bethlehem. Their journey to see the newborn king becomes a story of friendship and courage against the backdrop of the Nativity.

Twenty-two myths and legends gather heroes and tricksters from different cultures, including Maui, Coyote, Robin Hood and Anansi. Their exploits explore courage, cleverness and conflict through stories drawn from traditions around the world.

Unknown inventor Wizziwig creates an extraordinary cooker, only to face the possibility that it will not stop working. The latest of her unusual machines turns a practical idea into a problem she must find a way to manage.

Cowboy Jess Ford and his horse Destiny roam the frontier around Sundown Town, between mountains and open range. Sleeping under the stars and carrying dreams in his saddlebags, Jess encounters adventures throughout the canyons and settlements of the West.

Jess Ford rides the western frontier on Destiny, taking on tasks that range from wrangling horses to acting as deputy sheriff. With friend Sweet Rain, he faces emergencies involving an abandoned baby and a dangerous burning building.

This retelling follows Arthur and his knights through the quests, loyalties and betrayals of Camelot. The relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere threatens the fellowship of the Round Table, bringing personal desires into conflict with honor and royal duty.

Troubadour Peter Oriole travels from France to the Holy Land in service to two very different crusading knights. His experiences of love and passion unfold alongside those of his daughter Ouallada, against the shifting ideals of twelfth-century courtly life.

Forced to leave school, Nathan accepts Tamo White's invitation to Madagascar, where Tamo's father once ruled as a pirate king. Taking his sister Maud exposes both British siblings to an unfamiliar world that challenges their upbringing and expectations.

Twenty-three folktales bring together traditions from Bolivia, Togo, Russia, India, Egypt, Alaska and other places. This companion to The Golden Hoard retells stories across cultures, presenting different communities' legends in an illustrated collection for young readers.

Wizziwig invents a car powered by singing, hoping to eliminate the pollution caused by traffic. A missing essential component complicates her environmental solution, putting the success of another unconventional invention in doubt despite its promising idea.

Wizziwig builds a machine that produces sweets in any flavor without harming teeth. Its output soon behaves strangely, and running out of ingredients creates a much bigger problem when the invention consumes a teacher instead.

Inventor Wizziwig creates a machine that can control the weather, arranging sunshine during the day and rain at night. This early-reader story follows another of her unusual efforts to solve everyday problems through an extraordinary invention.

Daedalus makes wings to escape imprisonment with his son Icarus, whose confidence puts their flight in danger. A second Greek myth follows King Midas, whose wish to turn things into gold creates problems he never anticipated.

Old Testament stories are retold for young readers, following the people whose lives shape the biblical narrative. The language draws on the poetry of the King James Bible, bringing faith, hardship, and human choices into the stories.

Jason sets out to recover the Golden Fleece in a retelling of the Greek hero's quest. The companion story introduces Arachne the spinner, bringing together two myths about mortals whose ambitions draw them into encounters with extraordinary powers.

Persephone's journey between the Underworld and Earth explains the changing seasons in this retelling of Greek mythology. A companion story follows Atalanta's race, where the contest over whether she will marry brings athletic pride into conflict with an unexpected rival.

Perseus undertakes a dangerous mission to confront Medusa, the Gorgon whose gaze turns people to stone. This illustrated retelling follows the Greek hero's encounter with a monster whose deadly power makes ordinary combat impossible.

Princesses face unusual problems in ten tales, including a mermaid who loves a fisherman and a lonely princess who makes gingerbread friends. A demanding princess’s impossible marriage conditions add another twist to this collection of stories.

Odysseus sets out for home after the Trojan War, but reaching his family proves far more difficult than leaving the battlefield. This illustrated Greek-myth retelling follows his dangerous encounters with the Cyclops and the hostility of the sea god Poseidon.

Twenty-seven myths and legends bring together stories from cultures around the world. Tales of Faust, Cupid and Psyche, and an Indian journey across the globe sit alongside accounts of dragons, witches and other extraordinary beings in this illustrated collection.

Robin Wootton adopts two orphaned girls and raises them according to Rousseau's educational principles. He intends to marry whichever becomes his ideal wife, but shaping their lives around that ambition leads to complications, betrayal and consequences his scheme never anticipated.

Fifteen Greek myths follow gods and goddesses as their quarrels and choices shape the world. Paris judges a contest of beauty, Athens receives its name, and other stories explain transformations and the origins of familiar things.

Heracles faces the demanding labors that test his extraordinary strength in this illustrated retelling. A second Greek myth brings together the endlessly talkative Echo and self-absorbed Narcissus, pairing heroic exertion with a story about longing and vanity.

A wooden horse becomes the key to ending the siege of Troy in the first of these Greek-myth retellings. The companion story follows Pandora, whose curiosity about a locked gift from the gods exposes the world to suffering.

Three Greek myths follow Theseus's encounter with the Minotaur, Orpheus's love for Eurydice, and Apollo's pursuit of Daphne. The illustrated collection brings heroism and gratitude into tension with loss, longing and Cupid's revenge.

As the flood approaches, two unicorns keep delaying their arrival at Noah's ark to help other animals reach safety. Their acts of kindness put their own passage in jeopardy, prompting an imaginative account of why unicorns are no longer seen on land.

Ten of Aesop's fables are retold through animal characters whose choices reflect human pride, jealousy and cunning. Illustrated stories of tricksters and mistaken judgments present the consequences of behavior in short tales intended for young readers.

Tutmose and his family arrive in Pharaoh Akhenaten's new Egyptian city and initially welcome his patronage. The ruler's religious reforms soon disrupt their lives, turning their good fortune into uncertainty as the beliefs governing their world change.

A broken-down car strands the Shepherd family at Forever X, a hotel that celebrates Christmas every day. Joy befriends its resident elf and becomes involved with the unusual household, before mysterious Mr. Angel arrives with the power to wreck its festivities.

Thirty-two retellings introduce young readers to stories from the New Testament, including the wise men, the feeding of five thousand, and walking on water. Passages from the King James Bible accompany the accounts of Jesus’s life.

The Fairy Queen steals Tamlin away on the eve of his wedding, carrying him into a cruel enchanted realm. His beloved Janet sets out to recover him, facing a rescue that requires finding him and holding on through whatever follows.

Patience is delighted when her two fan-tailed doves lay an egg, but a prowling garden cat makes her anxious about their safety. When the chick finally hatches, her fears become part of a crisis for the little bird.

Twenty-eight myths and legends draw on distant times and cultures in this illustrated collection. Notes explain their origins and meanings, while the retellings continue the exploration of world folklore begun in The Golden Hoard, The Silver Treasure and The Bronze Cauldron.

Fifteen myths from around the world explain the sun, moon, and stars. These retellings introduce the characters, conflicts, and transformations through which different cultures imagined the origins of the lights they saw in the sky.

Mary and Joseph prepare for the birth of Jesus in this illustrated retelling of the first Christmas. Encounters with an angel, shepherds and wise men connect the baby's arrival with the visitors drawn to the Nativity.

Gregor takes a rose from an enchanted castle's garden and must send his daughter Beauty to live with its monstrous owner. Waiting for the Beast to appear, she struggles with fear and uncertainty about what he expects of her.

Two chieftain braves are born into a world where magic moves on the wind, but one wants the other dead. This illustrated tale follows a rivalry in which supernatural forces accompany the threat one young man poses to the other.

One hundred stories span three thousand years of British history, from Canute and Lady Godiva to Guy Fawkes and Grace Darling. Historical notes accompany the retellings, connecting dramatic episodes and memorable characters to their place in the past.

Tatia obeys her cruel stepmother's order to visit Grandma Chickenlegs despite her mother's warning about the witch. Taking her doll Drooga into the woods, she must use courage, cleverness and kindness to survive the dangers inside the strange cottage.

Fifteen Roman myths introduce gods, goddesses, and the beginnings of Rome. Stories of Venus, Romulus and Remus, Jupiter, Mars, and Diana show divine rivalries and human struggles in retellings illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark.

Neil's mother insists on buying clothes he can grow into, leaving him with an oversized cricket jumper. Her preference for extra room causes a larger problem when she buys a wardrobe that cannot fit through the house's doors or windows.

Diana's love is linked with the constellation Orion in A Shot in the Dark. The companion Roman myth, The Taming of Venus, explores the heartbreak of the goddess of love, joining two illustrated stories about divine desire and its consequences.

Athena and Poseidon compete to claim a new city in the first of these illustrated Greek myths. Who Is the Fairest One of All? and The Woman No One Believed add stories in which divine rivalries and decisions intrude on mortal lives.

Twenty-five stories from British history become plays for children to perform. Flexible casts and simple staging bring historical characters and events into the classroom, giving young actors a chance to explore the past through dramatic retellings.

Three Roman myths follow a proud king's refusal to buy the Sibyl's books, geese protecting Rome, and the extraordinary knowledge of Tages. These illustrated retellings bring together foolish judgment, an unexpected warning and wisdom from an unusual source.

Aeneas travels toward Italy after the destruction of Troy in these illustrated retellings of Roman mythology. His journey and adventures in the Underworld connect the displaced Trojan hero with the legendary beginnings of the civilization that will grow into Rome.

Hermes's mischievous dealings with other gods lead the first of three Greek-myth retellings. Stories about Apollo's loves and Halcyone's devotion shift the focus from divine trickery to relationships marked by longing and sorrow, with illustrations accompanying each tale.

Ashamed of their awkward antlers, the reindeer retreat to the frozen North to avoid other animals' laughter. When Father Christmas needs help pulling his heavy sleigh, they volunteer, and their kindness brings an unexpected magical reward.

Traditional fairy tales are retold for young children in a collection designed for their first encounters with classic stories. Familiar characters, magical events, and difficult choices unfold in accessible language alongside illustrations by Robina Green.

Raised by a she-wolf, quarrelsome twins Romulus and Remus grow into the legendary founders of Rome. The companion story, Stolen Wives, recounts how the new settlement gains women, bringing together two illustrated accounts of the city's beginnings.

Phelim Green is told that he must face the Stoor Worm, whose waking warmth causes ancient stones to hatch into monsters. A shadowless girl, a wild wanderer and the Obby Oss accompany him as forgotten creatures overrun the countryside.

Zeus frees his siblings from their father Cronus and gathers the younger gods for war against the Titans. This illustrated volume pairs the struggle for divine power with The Wrath of Hera, presenting another story of conflict within the Olympian family.

Phaeton's wish to drive the sun chariot begins a Greek myth about dangerous ambition. Companion stories follow Semele's longing for Zeus and pirates who encounter Dionysus, linking three tales in which desire for the extraordinary brings unforeseen consequences.

Cissy and her family settle in Florence, Oklahoma, only to discover that the railroad company wants their land. When the settlers refuse to sell, its boss vows that trains will bypass the town, threatening the survival of their new community.

Haoyou sees his father killed while being flown aloft to test the wind for a departing ship. In thirteenth-century China, he becomes a circus kite rider, traveling with his cousin Mipeng while trying to support and protect the family left behind.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu form a powerful friendship that carries them through journeys and confrontations with monsters. This retelling of the ancient epic explores courage and the hunger for renown alongside the limits that even the strongest heroes cannot overcome.

A grandmother explains to her grandchild that a clock is only one way to understand time. Heartbeats, shadows, baking smells, birdsong and the moon become other measures, linking ordinary experiences with the larger changes in their shared world.

Bill, Bob and Penny must each fill a barn while spending no more than a single penny, or lose their weekly allowance. Their father's challenge sends the children searching for ingenious solutions to a task that seems impossible at such a small price.

Dexi lives with his mother on the third floor of a house divided into six flats. Chapters follow the different neighbors whose lives increasingly intertwine, revealing a community that the boy understands through his friendships across the building.

Greek myths become twenty-five plays for children, featuring King Midas, Perseus and Andromeda, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Theseus’s encounter with the Minotaur. Flexible casts and straightforward staging let young performers act out the heroes’ dangerous adventures.

After his father dies of plague despite an expensive supposed remedy, Benedick travels between towns selling medicines himself. In a world suspicious of cures and potions, his trade becomes a dangerous undertaking shaped by the loss that preceded it.

Clay and Hai save a dog from the freezing Thames, but their father refuses to keep her because of the new Dog Tax. With skinners eager to profit from her pelt, the brothers are determined to protect the animal they rescued.

Born to a mortal mother and Zeus, Hercules possesses extraordinary strength but faces the hatred of Hera. To make amends for a terrible crime, he must undertake twelve labours involving monsters, impossible demands and journeys into danger.

A shiny red car won in a competition is put up for sale because its owner cannot drive. Before a buyer appears, two crooks steal Jalopy for a bank robbery, beginning the car's adventures with successive drivers.

After the Trojan War, Odysseus sets sail for Ithaca, hoping to rejoin his wife and son. The journey takes him through strange lands and encounters with monsters, enchantments and hostile gods that repeatedly delay his return.

Twenty fairy tales bring together sleeping princesses, lost children, magic, and perilous journeys. McCaughrean retells classics including Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella, with illustrations by Sophy Williams introducing their characters and enchanted worlds.