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Liz Kessler Books in Order

Browse Liz Kessler books in order, with quick summaries, Emily Windsnap and Philippa Fisher guides, and simple tips on where to start reading.

Last updated: July 2, 2026

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31 books

The Tail of Emily Windsnap

by Liz Kessler

2003

Emily has always lived on a houseboat, and her mother has always kept her away from the sea. Then a swimming lesson reveals the truth, she becomes a mermaid in water, and her search for answers leads to family secrets below the waves.

Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep

by Liz Kessler

2004

Emily is settling into life on a new island when she and Shona stumble across a sleeping sea monster and wake it. Now Emily must undo the damage before the kraken destroys the home she has only just begun to love.

Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist

by Liz Kessler

2006

A ring Emily finds on the beach pulls her into one of Neptune's oldest curses. To break it, she must race across sea and shore before she loses far more than a pretty treasure.

Emily Windsnap's Fin-tastic Friendship Book

by Liz Kessler

2008

Packed with quizzes, friendship ideas, crafts, and snippets of mermaid lore, this interactive companion lets readers celebrate their own best friends the Emily Windsnap way. It is a light, playful extra for series fans.

Emily Windsnap's Friendship Book

by Liz Kessler

2008

This companion book invites Emily Windsnap fans to explore friendship through quizzes, activities, crafts, and mermaid themed fun. It is less a story than a playful journal for readers who want to join Emily's world.

Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister

by Liz Kessler

2008

When Philippa picks a daisy and becomes convinced it will turn into a fairy, she is more right than she knows. Soon Daisy arrives, and ordinary life fills up with magical mishaps, surprises, and friendship.

Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret

by Liz Kessler

2009

Back in Brightport, Emily is meant to help humans and merpeople get along while trouble brews beneath the sea. Old enemies, new feelings, and the mystery of the lost sirens make this a tense return home.

Philippa Fisher and the Dream-Maker's Daughter

by Liz Kessler

2009

Philippa's second adventure leads her into a magical forest where dreams, butterflies, and secrets are all tangled together. With Daisy missing and strange things happening, Philippa must follow the mystery to its source.

Four Sparkling Underwater Adventures

by Liz Kessler

2010

This collection gathers the first four Emily Windsnap novels in one set, from Emily's first transformation to the mystery of the lost sirens. It is a strong starting point for readers who want several adventures at once.

Philippa Fisher and the Fairy's Promise

by Liz Kessler

2010

Philippa's New Year with her friend Robyn takes a magical turn when Daisy appears with an urgent warning. Moors, mystery, and fairy trouble collide in a story about danger, loyalty, and real friendship.

A Year Without Autumn

by Liz Kessler

2011

Jenni steps into an elevator and somehow skips a whole year of her life. To stop a tragedy that has already happened, she must find her way back through time and change what went wrong.

Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun

by Liz Kessler

2012

Emily and Aaron are sent north on Neptune's most dangerous mission yet. In a frozen land of reflected magic, stolen memories, and buried secrets, they must uncover the truth before disaster reaches the sea.

Poppy the Pirate Dog

by Liz Kessler

2012

Poppy heads to the seaside dreaming of pirate life and open water adventures. The only snag is that this eager little pirate dog discovers the sea is much scarier when you are actually near it.

North of Nowhere

by Liz Kessler

2013

Mia travels to the seaside village of Porthaven to help after her grandfather vanishes, then finds a diary and a new friend named Dee. The deeper she digs, the stranger the mystery becomes, across both time and tide.

Poppy the Pirate Dog's New Shipmate

by Liz Kessler

2013

Poppy is thrilled to hear a new shipmate is joining the family, until George turns out not to be the sort of crewmate she imagined. This sweet early reader is about sharing, change, and small scale pirate drama.

Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?

by Liz Kessler

2014

Jessica is an ordinary schoolgirl until part of her arm vanishes in geography class. As more children develop strange powers, Jessica and her friends become a scrappy team of accidental superheroes facing real danger.

Poppy the Pirate Dog and the Treasure Keeper

by Liz Kessler

2014

It is Mum's birthday, and Poppy has an important pirate job, guarding the treasure for a special family show. The trouble is, things keep disappearing, and Poppy is not nearly as reliable as she hopes.

Two Magical Mermaid Tales

by Liz Kessler

2014

This handy bind-up brings together Emily's first two adventures in one volume. Readers get her startling mermaid discovery first, then the danger of waking the kraken and threatening everyone she loves.

Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls

by Liz Kessler

2015

A ghostly ship appears off a mysterious island, and only Emily seems able to help the trapped souls aboard. To save them, she must risk Atlantis itself and decide whether she can find her way back home.

Poppy the Pirate Dog and the Missing Treasure

by Liz Kessler

2015

Poppy is meant to guard the treasure for a family pirate show, but things keep going missing instead. Even an injured eye and a clumsy cone cannot stop this determined pirate dog from trying to save the day.

Read Me Like a Book

by Liz Kessler

2015

Ashleigh's life changes when a new English teacher makes her want to try harder and feel more deeply than ever before. As school and family pressures mount, she must face first love and the truth about herself.

Emily Windsnap

by Liz Kessler

2016

This boxed set gathers Emily's first six adventures in one place, from her first mermaid discovery to ghost ships and Atlantis. It is an easy way to dive into the heart of the series and stay there.

Haunt Me

by Liz Kessler

2016

When Erin moves into a new house, she discovers Joe, a boy caught on the other side of death. Their growing bond becomes a tender, ghostly love story about grief, memory, and whether some distances can ever be crossed.

Emily Windsnap and the Falls of Forgotten Island

by Liz Kessler

2018

What should have been a relaxing tropical holiday turns into another high stakes adventure for Emily. Beyond a hidden waterfall lies a forgotten island, an old prophecy, and a race to prevent a devastating earthquake.

Emily Windsnap and the Pirate Prince

by Liz Kessler

2019

When pirates seize a cruise ship and kidnap Aaron, Emily has no choice but to go after him. Her rescue mission means disguises, rival pirate crews, and a dangerous gamble with everything she cares about.

Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time

by Liz Kessler

2020

A magical wishing stone shows Emily a disastrous future, then sends her hurtling through different versions of it. To save both Brightport and Shiprock, she must change the course of time before both worlds suffer.

Jenny the Pony's New Friends

by Liz Kessler

2020

Jenny is lonely in her new stable yard, but she soon discovers friendship in unexpected places. With help from ponies, kittens, chickens, and sparrows, this gentle early reader turns a new home into an adventure.

When The World Was Ours

by Liz Kessler

2021

In 1936 Vienna, Leo, Elsa, and Max share one perfect childhood day before history tears them apart. As war spreads across Europe, their friendship is tested by fear, survival, and choices that will shape all three lives.

Emily’s Big Discovery

by Liz Kessler

2022

This younger reader retells Emily's first big moment, the day she discovers she turns into a mermaid in water. It is a friendly, accessible start to Emily's world, full of curiosity, surprise, and sea magic.

Shona Finds Her Voice

by Liz Kessler

2022

Shona loves to sing, but only when nobody is listening. With Emily cheering her on, she enters a school talent show and must find the courage to share her beautiful voice in front of everyone, even Neptune.

The Truth About Aaron

by Liz Kessler

2023

Aaron wishes he were as special as Emily and Shona, until a mysterious ship arrives and his pendant is stolen. The hunt to get it back uncovers a family secret and shows Aaron what really makes him important.

Where should I start?

If you want the classic mermaid adventure: The Tail of Emily WindsnapEmily Windsnap and the Monster from the DeepEmily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist
If you like everyday magic and fairies: Philippa Fisher's Fairy GodsisterPhilippa Fisher and the Dream-Maker's DaughterPhilippa Fisher and the Fairy's Promise
If you want time travel and mystery: A Year Without AutumnNorth of Nowhere
If you want older YA reads: Read Me Like a BookHaunt MeWhen The World Was Ours
If you want shorter early chapter books: Poppy the Pirate DogPoppy the Pirate Dog's New ShipmatePoppy the Pirate Dog and the Missing Treasure

Author bio

Liz Kessler grew up in Southport in northwest England, and her path to books started early. She studied English at Loughborough University, trained as a teacher at Keele University, and later completed an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The writing bug arrived young.

From about the age of eight, she loved writing poetry, and when she was nine a poem called Jinx's Shop was published in a local newspaper. Much later, in 1999, she has said she suddenly remembered that writing books was what she really wanted to do, and that was the moment things truly shifted.

Before publishing fiction, she worked as a journalist on local and regional newspapers in York and Manchester, taught English and Media Studies, and ran creative writing courses. Her first children's novel, The Tail of Emily Windsnap, began as a mermaid poem. A writing friend shared it with an editor, who suggested turning it into a novel, and that simple suggestion helped launch the series she is still best known for.

Emily changed everything. In those books, a girl discovers she becomes a mermaid in water, and Kessler mixes sea magic with family secrets, friendship, and the feeling of not fitting neatly into one world. The Emily Windsnap novels have been translated into twenty five languages, sold more than five million copies worldwide, and appeared on the New York Times best seller list.

She did not stop with mermaids. The Philippa Fisher books bring fairies and everyday magic together. A Year Without Autumn and North of Nowhere play with time travel, memory, and the way one strange moment can change a family. Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? takes ordinary school life and adds superpowers. Across all of them, Kessler tends to write about children who are trying to make sense of themselves while the world gets suddenly bigger and stranger.

She likes putting wonder into ordinary lives.

Her young adult books move into older territory without losing that clear, direct style. Read Me Like a Book follows a teenager falling in love and learning to be honest about who she is. Haunt Me blends grief, romance, and the supernatural. Then When the World Was Ours took her somewhere different again, into historical fiction, drawing on the true story of her father's escape from Nazi Europe and the lives reshaped by the Holocaust.

The sea has always mattered to her, on and off the page. She has written about how much she loves the ocean, and for years living near the coast fed the Emily books. She also loves photography and being outdoors, and has cheerfully admitted that she enjoys surfing, body boarding, kayaking, rowing, fishing, and swimming, even if big waves can still be intimidating.

Kessler has lived in places including Manchester, Cheshire, and Cornwall, and she has also spoken about moving back to the northwest to be closer to family. What stays constant is the emotional heart of her work. Whether she is writing about mermaids, fairies, time slips, ghosts, or wartime friendship, she keeps coming back to the same questions: who we are, where we belong, and how we care for one another.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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