Mac Barnett Books in Order

Billy's parents punish his behavior by giving him a blue whale to look after. Feeding, transporting, and bringing this enormous pet to school turn ordinary childhood responsibilities into a problem far too large to ignore.

Rhyming clues and partly hidden pictures invite readers to guess what comes next, then deliver answers that overturn their expectations. This picture book turns the familiar guessing game into a series of deliberately absurd surprises.

Steve Brixton's dream of becoming a detective suddenly puts him on the run from police, criminals, and secret-agent librarians. Recovering a national treasure and exposing a mastermind must somehow fit around the school report he owes on Monday.

A young inventor builds an enormous robot for her science fair, expecting a winning project. Instead, her creation causes widespread destruction, leaving its ambitious maker to confront the consequences of an experiment that works much too well.

Twelve jeweled numbers vanish from a cursed clock, prompting an investigation filled with suspicious residents and hidden clues. Words and detailed illustrations invite readers to solve the mystery and follow a trail originally connected to real buried treasure.

Steve Brixton opens his detective agency with a missing-diamond case, then discovers that his favorite mystery writer has been kidnapped. With his friend Dana, he must locate the author and work out who took him and why.

Steve Brixton has retired from detective work, but a train journey along the California coast draws him back into a case. Priceless cars, a possible assassin, and a mysterious railway carriage complicate his attempt to remain an ordinary seventh grader.

King Duncan spends his days admiring himself while his kingdom falls into disrepair. When frustrated subjects draw mustaches on his portraits, his determination to punish the culprit turns their protest into an increasingly ridiculous royal crisis.

Chloe gets lost in the woods on her way home from the merry-go-round, but her adventure keeps changing as its author and illustrator disagree. Even the heroine must help her creators cooperate to tell her story.

Steve Brixton faces a collection of mysteries involving a stolen surfboard, disappearing cargo ships, and missing gym shorts. The young detective must make sense of these troubles in another case that tests his enthusiasm for old-fashioned sleuthing.

Annabelle discovers a box of yarn that never seems to run out and starts knitting for everyone in her drab town. As color spreads through the community, an archduke decides he wants the extraordinary yarn himself.

After getting a history-test answer wrong, a young inventor decides to change the past rather than accept her grade. Her time machine takes her to prehistoric Europe, where correcting cave-painting history creates unexpected problems for the present.

Readers are invited to count monkeys in a picture book that turns number practice into a chaotic adventure. Unexpected characters, visual jokes, and absurd surprises keep interrupting the seemingly straightforward task of counting from page to page.

President William Howard Taft becomes trapped in his bathtub, setting off an increasingly ridiculous effort to free him. This picture book imagines a presidential bathroom crisis with exaggerated illustrations and a very unusual problem of government.

Sam and Dave dig a hole because they want to find something spectacular. They keep digging without discovering what they seek, while the pictures invite readers to notice surprises that the determined explorers themselves miss.

A mother bird asks the birds along a telephone wire to tell Peter that dinner is ready. As each neighbor passes the message onward, personal interests and misunderstandings transform a simple instruction into increasingly peculiar announcements.

Leo is a friendly ghost who enjoys drawing and making snacks, although most people cannot see him. His friendship with an imaginative girl named Jane raises questions about acceptance, make-believe, and how someone invisible can belong.

A man notices a skunk outside his home and becomes convinced the animal is following him. His attempts to escape turn an ordinary walk into an increasingly anxious journey, told through sparse narration and cartoon illustrations.

Miles Murphy moves to the cow obsessed town of Yawnee Valley planning to be the school’s number one prankster, only to find someone has beaten him to it. His rivalry with the suspiciously perfect Niles Sparks slowly turns into a partnership as they plan a legendary prank together.

This picture book follows its own creation through writing, editorial demands, production, and delivery, adding increasingly improbable obstacles along the way. Dangerous animals, crowds, and adventures at sea turn the publishing process into an elaborate comic explanation.

Rules about ordinary chores sit beside a more ominous instruction: never open the red door. Sibling rivalry and supernatural danger test whether following every rule matters more than helping a brother or sister who has broken one.

When his babysitter asks for the magic word, Paxton discovers an expression that grants wishes instead of simply showing manners. Cookies, impossible creatures, and extravagant transformations soon complicate his delight in getting everything he asks for.

Now firmly established as Yawnee Valley’s top pranksters, Miles and Niles suddenly face a new, humorless Principal Barkin who is determined to crush fun. Their code of harmless mischief is tested as they try to outwit stricter rules and keep their pranking spirit alive.

Unexpected comparisons express affection, happiness, and friendship in this picture book illustrated by Greg Pizzoli. Animals and everyday objects become part of a playful exploration of how strange, imaginative language can convey feelings for another person.

Residents of a city apartment building hear strange noises from the floor above and wonder what their neighbors are doing. Moving upward through the building reveals an improbable collection of sound-makers and increasingly lively nighttime activities.

Different places become occasions for feeling loud, scared, joyful, and many other things in this picture book. Simple language and illustrations explore changing emotions, showing how daily experiences offer room for a wide range of feelings.

A duck and a mouse are swallowed by a wolf, but discover that his stomach can make a surprisingly comfortable home. Their unusual living arrangement turns the expected relationship between predator and prey into an unexpected partnership.

Triangle decides to play a sneaky trick on his friend Square. Their encounter turns simple geometric characters into participants in a disagreement about mischief, friendship, and what happens when a prank does not go as planned.

Young Mac becomes a secret agent for the Queen of England when the Crown Jewels are stolen. His mission takes him around the world to recover the treasure, balancing childhood concerns with the demands of international espionage.

Square tries to create something perfect for his friend Circle, but the task proves harder than expected. Their encounter explores the difference between making things, being called an artist, and feeling certain about one's own abilities.

The Crown Jewels disappear from a locked room, and the Queen once again calls on Mac B. to investigate. Finding the thief requires him to explain how a seemingly impossible robbery could have happened in the first place.

Miles and Niles spend their summer in a woodland hideout and steal a nearby camp's flag. When bully Josh Barkin and his fellow cadets demand it back, the pranksters must use ingenuity to defend their retreat.

In the final Terrible Two book, pranksters Miles Murphy and Niles Sparks face their last year at Yawnee Valley Science and Letters Academy. With rival principals watching and expectations sky high, they scheme to pull off a farewell prank big enough to become school legend.

Circle makes a rule for a game with her friends Triangle and Square, but Triangle breaks it and needs rescuing. Their adventure explores friendship, fear, and the uncertainty that follows venturing somewhere one has been warned against.

Jack lives in a tree house and has a talent for snacks, stealing, and lipstick graffiti. This mischievous rabbit loves his friends, but his troublesome ways of showing affection keep turning everyday encounters into problems.

Jack is supposed to help as bat boy when the Lady and Rex play the Big City Brats. A tied game gives him a chance to bat, but his enthusiasm for snacks threatens to distract him at the crucial moment.

The Lady sends troublesome Jack and Rex on a one-way trip into space to enjoy some peace at home. Their adventures on the moon bring more trouble, including aliens and an increasingly urgent need to find a way back.

A child postpones sleep by asking questions about the ocean, rain, and dinosaurs. A patient father responds with increasingly imaginative explanations, turning their bedtime conversation into a shared exploration of curiosity and the possibilities of make-believe.

The Queen asks Mac B. to decode a secret message recovered from a double agent. His investigation leads toward a confrontation with his archenemy at the Video Game World Championships, where espionage and gaming skills collide.

This picture-book biography explores the life and work of children's author Margaret Wise Brown. Playing with language and narrative form, it connects her unconventional experiences with the books and ideas that changed writing for young readers.

The Tower of London's ravens have been stolen, and Mac B. must recover them in Iceland. Submarines, polar bears, mysterious plans, and a familiar enemy complicate a mission that the Queen considers essential to Britain's safety.

A polar bear emerges from a snowy landscape and travels across ice and through blue Arctic water. Encounters with other animals and a human invite readers to wonder about his destination and what he is seeking.

Jack worries that being on Santa's naughty list means receiving coal instead of the many presents he wants. The mischievous rabbit sets out to show that he can be good, making Christmas another test of his troublesome habits.

Jack visits the zoo with the Lady and Rex, but his attempt to steal a koala's snacks lands him in its cage. A mistaken identity then complicates the outing for both Jack and his companions.

Jack accompanies the Lady on a train trip to a Western dude ranch. When a bank robbery leaves him accused of the crime, he must investigate while coping with horses, rope tricks, and unfamiliar surroundings.

Paolo, a dachshund confined to a hair salon, escapes into Rome and discovers a much larger world. His adventures take him among the city's food, ruins, art, opera, and cats as he explores his newfound freedom.

A priceless violin disappears, sending young spy Mac B. on another mission for the Queen of England. With his corgi companions, he follows the investigation to Italy, where dangerous escapes and imprisonment complicate the search.

The Lady gives Jack a laboratory kit, and he uses it to create robot copies of himself. Their multiplying mischief threatens to overwhelm the town, leaving Jack with a problem much bigger than his usual troublemaking.

Jack spends a rainy day playing a video game until a lightning strike sends him inside it. Trapped in the game's world, he must work out how to escape before the adventure reaches game over.

In 1989, the Queen sends Mac B. to retrieve secret video game cheat codes from a Soviet scientist. His mission takes him through tunnels beneath the Berlin Wall, where East German security forces complicate his escape.

A boy leaves home to discover what love means, asking the people he encounters along the way. Their answers seem strange and unsatisfying, leading him to reconsider the question and the familiar relationships he has left behind.

John is nervous about performing a dance at school’s Sharing Gifts event. As his turn approaches, he must decide whether to reveal something important about himself and trust his classmates to appreciate the talent he wants to share.

Rats are eating the moon, and a specially enhanced cat is sent into space to stop them. Joined by a moon queen and a robot designed to clip toenails, the unlikely astronaut faces a hazardous lunar journey.

Circus performer Zapfino flees rather than make a terrifying leap from a ten-story platform. He becomes an elevator operator in the city, but an unexpected disaster forces him to confront the fear he hoped to escape.

Three goats want to cross a bridge to reach the grass on the other side. A hungry troll waits beneath it, planning a goat dinner, but each encounter brings a different challenge to his appetite.

Children wonder how Santa fits down a chimney, whether he goes headfirst, and what happens when he gets stuck. Their imaginative theories explore the practical mysteries of Christmas deliveries, including how he reaches homes without chimneys.

The Moon Queen is poisoned, sending Cat in search of an antidote. Robot LOZ 4000 accompanies him for reasons of its own, while hidden sabotage threatens their journey and makes rescuing the queen increasingly difficult.

Twenty open questions invite children to look closely at pictures and imagine their own explanations. With no single correct answer, each scene encourages speculation, conversation and storytelling as readers explore possibilities beyond what they can immediately see.

After Santa finishes delivering presents, the elves decide he deserves a Christmas celebration of his own. Instead of returning immediately to work, they prepare a tree, gifts and food to introduce him to the holiday he makes possible.

An artificial intelligence seeks to turn all life into paperclips and spreads through Earth’s computers. With his protective suit disabled, Cat must face the threat as an ordinary cat while trying to save the world from its expanding machinery.

Captain Babybeard loses a stolen map as his first mate plots mutiny. Stranded on an island, he and his companions must form unexpected alliances and find a way forward while rival ambitions threaten their pirate adventure.

Mac Barnett explores storytelling for children through art, imagination and the pleasures of reading. Drawing on his work as a children’s author, he considers how stories engage young readers and why their experiences deserve serious creative attention.

A child notices autumn’s changes around a rural home, from falling leaves to a pink-and-gold sky and candy apples. Simple rhythmic words and seasonal pictures invite young readers to recognize familiar things transformed by the time of year.

A child explores a familiar rural setting as spring arrives. Spare, rhythmic words introduce everyday surroundings, while Jon Klassen’s pictures show how the season changes the house, tree, garden, and small pleasures of a child’s world.

A child observes the pleasures of summer in a familiar rural landscape. Simple recurring words and seasonal illustrations encourage young readers to notice how a house, tree, garden, and everyday experiences change with the time of year.

A child discovers winter around a rural home, where bare branches, falling snow, candy canes, and a warm hat mark the season. Rhythmic everyday words and changing pictures invite young readers to explore familiar surroundings through new eyes.

A young woman must spin straw into gold after her father’s boast brings her before a demanding king. A mysterious stranger offers help at a troubling price, forcing her to find a way to escape their bargain.

Felix switches brains with a scheming sheep through a mysterious machine, expecting a temporary adventure. The sheep enjoys being a boy so much that he refuses to change back, leaving Felix struggling to recover his own life.