Jon Scieszka Books in Order

Alexander T. Wolf offers his own account of the famous encounter with three pigs. Claiming that a birthday cake, a shortage of sugar, and a terrible cold explain everything, he challenges the reputation his fairy-tale enemies have given him.

Joe receives a mysterious book from his magician uncle, and opening it transports him, Sam, and Fred to King Arthur's Britain. Confronted by knights and other medieval dangers, the three friends must navigate an adventure far from their kitchen table.

Life after the fairy-tale wedding proves disappointing for both the princess and her transformed prince. Still attached to his froggy habits, he sets out to find a witch who can return him to the life he remembers.

A magic book sends Joe, Sam, and Fred back to the age of pirates, where they become prisoners of Blackbeard. Their time-travel adventure demands quick thinking as the three modern boys try to escape and return home.

Joe, Sam, and Fred travel into the Old West expecting the excitement of movie westerns. Instead, a dusty cattle drive and encounters with Native Americans challenge their assumptions while they search for a way back to their own time.

Joe, Sam, and Fred land in the Stone Age without their clothes or the magic book that could take them home. Encounters with prehistoric people and dangerous animals force the trio to rely on ingenuity rather than modern equipment.

Nursery-rhyme characters collide in a cumulative tale involving a rat, a cat, a cow, a baby, and an egg. Familiar verses become increasingly tangled, with pictures and repeating rhymes following the mayhem created by their unexpected encounters.

A trip through the magic book sends Joe, Fred, and Sam into the year 2095. Exploring a future museum where their own era is history, they encounter their great-grandchildren and face the problem of getting back to the past.

After a teacher suggests that almost everything can be treated as a math problem, a student begins seeing calculations everywhere. Clothes, breakfast, travel, and school become puzzles as she tries to escape a day dominated by numbers.

Joe, Sam, and Fred find themselves in ancient Egypt, searching once again for the magic book that can take them home. Their arrival in King Tut's tomb leads to accusations of robbery and trouble with an unfamiliar civilization.

Eighteen comic fables turn recognizable human behavior into stories about animals, food, and other unlikely characters. Each comes with a peculiar moral, using exaggeration and illustrations to explore boasting, honesty, foolish decisions, and the problems people create for themselves.

Fred accidentally puts the trio's summer reading list inside their magic book, unleashing characters from children's classics. Trapped in Hoboken among fictional villains, Joe, Sam, and Fred must recover the book before the stories become even more dangerous.

An accident involving their school play and the magic book sends Joe, Fred, and Sam into a version of ancient Greece populated by argumentative gods. The boys need to find their way home while monsters threaten Mount Olympus.

Wrestling in Joe's room unexpectedly sends Joe, Sam, and Fred to ancient Rome through the magic book. Facing a formidable gladiator and gladiator school, they draw on their knowledge of professional wrestling while trying to survive the trip.

Alien schoolboy Henry P. Baloney must explain another late arrival to his teacher or face permanent detention. His elaborate excuse for losing a pencil becomes a space adventure told through illustrations and words borrowed from numerous Earth languages.

Taking a break from a haiku assignment sends Joe, Sam, and Fred into seventeenth-century Japan. Their search for the magic book brings them into contact with sword-carrying samurai, turning an ordinary homework problem into a dangerous historical adventure.

Joe's plan to keep track of the magic book fails when the trio lands atop the unfinished Brooklyn Bridge. Stranded in 1877, Joe, Sam, and Fred must recover it while trying to avoid interfering with inventions and baseball.

Repeating the word Thursday too near their magic book sends Joe, Sam, and Fred into the Viking past. Sailing with Leif Eriksson and confronting his dangerous cousin, the trio must find a way to survive and return home.

A Brooklyn basketball game becomes a fight for survival when Joe, Sam, and Fred land on a Maya ball court in the year 1000. Facing a high priest and deadly stakes, they must recover their missing magic book.

Searching for the inventor of their magic book, Joe, Sam, and Fred visit Leonardo da Vinci in fifteenth-century Italy. Suspected of spying on his inventions, they need ingenuity and tricks to escape trouble and get safely home.

A student's science lesson turns into a world of rhymes about food chains, black holes, viruses, and other phenomena. Familiar poems and songs become scientific parodies, with pictures extending the jokes about subjects encountered in the classroom.

An accidental trip sends the time travelers from a modern Christmas Eve to George Washington's army in 1776. With Samantha and her cat involved, the trio faces another adventure in which their actions could disrupt American history.

A boy searching for his friend Art is directed into New York's Museum of Modern Art. His misunderstood question leads to an accidental tour, introducing paintings and other works through a story about looking for someone missing.

A marshmallow mishap sends Jodie, Freddi, and Samantha into 1805 with Lewis and Clark. Meeting Sacagawea and learning wilderness travel, the girls must face the expedition's dangers while trying to retrieve their magic book from a wild bear.

A poolside game sends Joe, Fred, and Sam through their magic book to thirteenth-century China. Meeting Marco Polo, the boys encounter desert bandits, sandstorms, camels, and an emperor during another journey far from the comforts of Brooklyn.

Joe and Sam's sleepover takes a frightening turn when Frankenstein's monster appears. They travel to the nineteenth century to return him to Mary Shelley, but their efforts to help threaten to change the history of her famous creation.

Joe, Fred, and Sam travel to Babylon while investigating the theft of their magic book. Meeting King Nebuchadnezzar II and Queen Amyitis, the creators of the Hanging Gardens, they face another search for the object needed to return home.

The magic book's green mist transports Joe, Fred, and Sam to the thirteenth-century Mongolian Empire. Their encounter with a young Genghis Khan becomes another historical adventure as they search for the missing book and a route home.

Cowboy and Octopus attempt a friendship despite different tastes in food, jokes, and everyday activities. A sequence of short illustrated stories follows their misunderstandings and efforts to get along, exploring how two unlikely companions can make room for each other.

Joe, Fred, and Samantha arrive in 1815 to find Napoleon has stolen their magic book and learned to alter history. They must recover it and preserve the outcome of Waterloo while navigating another dangerous journey through the past.

Joe, Jodie, and Anna travel to medieval Scotland, where their magic book may be hidden inside a castle's walls. Helping Lady Agnes resist the English and facing Mad Jack complicate their efforts to return to present-day Brooklyn.

Joe, Fred, and Sam are stranded in Antarctica with explorer Robert Scott. Joining his expedition and helping search for emperor penguin eggs, the boys must survive the cold while seeking the magic book that can take them home.

Freddi, Jodie, and Samantha travel to the 1930s to meet aviator Amelia Earhart. Their visit becomes a historical mystery as they investigate her final flight while trying to keep hold of the magic book needed for their return.

In ancient China, Joe, Fred, and Anna must rescue imprisoned General Li Shimin and work out how to free Sam from inside their magic book. Kung fu and encounters along the Great Wall complicate their efforts to set things right.

Cement mixer Melvin worries about dirt, getting stuck, and nearly everything else in Trucktown. When Rescue Rita needs help and he is the only truck who can provide it, Melvin must confront his fear that he cannot manage the rescue.

Jack and Gabriella receive invitations to a party at Pete's and need to work out how to get there. Following signs through Trucktown turns the journey into a simple reading adventure about directions and reaching a shared destination.

Jack Truck and Dump Truck Dan spend a day smashing and crashing around Trucktown, enjoying their favorite noisy pastime. As they play, a mysterious shadow follows them, raising questions about who is watching and what the stranger wants.

A snow day gives Jack and the other Trucktown vehicles a chance to play in a transformed town. Their frosty adventures combine having fun in the snow with the practical task of clearing the streets for everyone.

Alice follows the White Rabbit into a world where logic gives way to peculiar creatures and impossible situations. Jon Scieszka retells her encounters with the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts alongside Mary Blair's Disney-inspired illustrations.

The trucks of Trucktown try to build things, but Big Rig repeatedly zooms in and knocks their work down. Faced with a much larger vehicle who enjoys destroying everything, the smaller trucks must decide how to respond.

Kat has a beautifully wrapped present, and everyone in Trucktown wonders what is hidden inside. As her friends' curiosity grows, the unopened box becomes the center of a simple mystery about whether Kat will reveal her gift.

Melvin receives a valentine but does not know who sent it, prompting a worried search around Trucktown. Each friend he questions denies giving the card, while little Rita tries to attract his attention with persistent beeping.

A tiny robot lands in a suburban kitchen believing he is conquering Earth, battling appliances as if they were enemies. When he encounters a pink cellphone he considers a princess, his destructive invasion becomes a rescue mission.

Melvin develops a flat tire on a dark, stormy night and heads into a spooky junkyard to find a replacement. The anxious truck must explore an unsettling place while dealing with the practical problem that interrupted his journey.

Familiar nursery rhymes, songs, and tales are reimagined for the vehicles of Trucktown. This illustrated collection includes Peter Peter Payload Eater and Pop Blows the Diesel, turning traditional childhood verses into stories of noisy mechanical characters.

Max has so much fun playing around Trucktown that he repeatedly gets himself stuck. Each new predicament leaves the energetic truck needing assistance, prompting the question of which of his vehicle friends can help him move again.

Izzy the ice-cream truck tries everything he can think of to make himself dizzy, including spinning and visiting a car wash. Rhyming wordplay follows his increasingly energetic attempts as he wonders why the desired feeling remains elusive.

Ten humorous stories turn childhood frustrations and ordinary occasions into unexpected trouble. A dangerous turkey, a mummy, classroom supervillains, and a chocolate-milk scheme create comic disasters in this collection compiled by Scieszka from a range of children’s writers.

Michael K. starts fifth grade at a new school and discovers his unusual friends are aliens disguised as children and a hamster. They recruit him into a mission to gather millions of supporters and save Earth.

Nervous cement mixer Melvin doubts he can do anything while watching his friends attempt to cross a ravine. When Rita calls for help, he faces a test of whether he can overcome his worries to rescue her.

After building Trucktown by moving dirt, spraying water, and mixing cement, the original trucks want to thank everyone who helped. They create a celebration combining Thanksgiving traditions with their own activities, establishing a holiday for their vehicle community.

Jack Truck and Dump Truck Dan tour Trucktown while smashing and crashing with their friends. A strange voice and looming shadow interrupt their noisy day, leaving them unsure whether trouble is approaching or another truck wants to join.

Kat makes maps of everything from her room to her town and gives Jack one leading toward a surprise. He follows its directions through Trucktown, traveling around turns, across bridges, and beneath tunnels to discover its destination.

Trucktown's vehicles race through an alphabet full of construction, crashes, and noisy encounters. Each letter introduces trucks, actions, or roadside objects, using alliteration and illustrated motion to carry readers from the starting line toward the finish.

Michael K. recruits classmates Venus and TJ to help aliens blend into Earth culture while hiding from Agent Umber. A school-play assignment complicates their campaign, especially when the investigator mistakes kindergarten performers for the visitors he seeks.

Michael K., Venus, TJ, and their alien friends keep recruiting Spaceheadz supporters as they approach their enormous target. Agent Umber continues pursuing them, while unexpected revelations about the aliens' leader deepen the mystery behind their mission.

A body on railway tracks, a teenage terrorist, a wish-granting machine, and an inept detective feature in this collection of suspenseful stories. Scieszka brings together children’s writers whose mysteries and strange encounters keep young characters guessing about the danger around them.

Jack leads the Trucktown vehicles into a line by calling out their colors and distinctive equipment. Pete struggles to find a category that fits him, but joining the others turns their orderly gathering into a noisy parade.

The Spaceheadz reach their recruitment goal, but the Anti Alien Agency's chief steals their collected brainwave. Michael K. and his friends must recover it before it destroys a planet, while facing a new principal and approaching graduation.

Ten stories explore competition and its consequences across baseball, basketball, football, and other sports. Fiction and nonfiction accounts follow athletes through victory, defeat, and challenges beyond the playing field in a collection compiled by Scieszka for young readers.

Alex receives a sugary birthday story from his grandmother and rewrites it with a pencil. His additions transform its gentle rabbit into Battle Bunny, an evil mastermind whose forest mission can only be stopped by Alex himself.

Ten science fiction and fantasy stories take young characters into unfamiliar worlds and strange situations. Robot rebellions, alien invaders, ghosts, and a new Percy Jackson adventure fill this collection that Scieszka compiled from established children’s writers.

Young inventor Frank Einstein builds an antimatter motor with robot companions Klink and Klank, hoping to win a science prize. Rival T. Edison intervenes, stealing the robots for a dangerous plan that threatens Frank's work and friends.

This nonfiction anthology collects ten pieces ranging from historical survival stories to biographies and practical accounts. Contributors explore shipwrecked sailors, an Amazon spider hunt, Jumbo the elephant, the history of dentistry, and blues musician Muddy Waters.

Frank and Watson invent the BrainTurbo to boost their friend Janegoodall's baseball performance. When robot Klank disappears, they must rescue him and stop rival T. Edison from stealing the device and turning their invention against its creators.

Frank Einstein develops an Electro-Finger to provide Midville with free wireless and solar energy, assisted by Watson and robots Klink and Klank. His invention threatens T. Edison's scheme to monopolize the town's power, triggering another scientific rivalry.

Eleven suspense writers contribute ghost stories filled with unsettling companions, dangerous wishes, and supernatural encounters. An angry imaginary friend, cursed objects, and a magician with alarming powers feature in this collection Scieszka assembled for readers willing to risk a scare.

Frank's EvoBlaster Belt lets its wearer transform between species, opening new possibilities for exploring connected forms of life. With Watson and robots Klink and Klank, he faces rival T. Edison and Mr. Chimp over his invention.

Frank Einstein explores Earth's science while developing his newest invention, the Bio-Action Gizmo. Best friend Watson and robots Klink and Klank join him as another competition pits their experiments against classmate T. Edison and his assistant Mr. Chimp.

Ten stories examine heroes, villains, and the uncertain boundary between them through fantasy, comics, contemporary adventures, and nonfiction. Scieszka’s collection brings together children’s writers to explore extraordinary powers and everyday choices, inviting readers to decide what makes someone heroic.

Frank Einstein and Watson tackle the science and mysteries of the universe with robot companions Klink and Klank. Their latest experiments bring another competition with classmate T. Edison, combining scientific questions with the inventor's ongoing rivalry.

Four engineered animal astronauts travel to the Plant Planet seeking a new home for humans after Earth's environment becomes unsafe. Their crash landing reveals a lush world whose apparent abundance may conceal a problem for the mission.

The AstroNuts continue searching for a planet where humans can live after damaging Earth's atmosphere. On the Water Planet, power-hungry clams and an underwater rebellion complicate their assessment of a world whose welcome seems suspiciously generous.

The AstroNuts face their last chance to find a habitable home for humanity and are sent to a supposedly perfect planet. On arrival, they encounter humans, forcing the team to reconsider both its mission and Earth's survival.

Scieszka reshapes thirty-six familiar nursery rhymes through nonsense, wordplay, comics, and unexpected combinations. Inspired by Dadaism and illustrated by Julia Rothman, these playful transformations invite children to experiment with language and invent their own versions of recognizable verses.

Classic fairy tales become absurd parodies in this illustrated collection, featuring a foul-smelling substitute for the Gingerbread Man and distorted versions of familiar characters. Disruptive narration and unconventional page designs add further confusion to the rewritten stories.