Pain and the Great One Books in Order

The Pain and the Great One series starts with a picture book about two ordinary siblings who are sure their parents love the other child more. Eight-year-old Abigail, 'the Great One', thinks her first-grade brother Jake is a total pest. Jake, 'the Pain', is convinced Abigail believes she’s better at everything and gets all the attention.

That short, back-and-forth story became the seed for four early chapter books: Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One, Cool Zone with the Pain and the Great One, Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and the Great One, and Friend or Fiend? with the Pain and the Great One. Each book is made up of linked episodes, told in alternating first-person chapters so you see the same family from two different angles.

In Soupy Saturdays, most of the action takes place close to home. Abigail narrates a haircutting trip to Mr. Soupy’s barbershop and a half-birthday sleepover that doesn’t go as planned. Jake tells his side of soccer games, dog-sitting for a smelly pup, and small Saturday dramas that feel big when you’re six.

Cool Zone moves the focus to school. Jake loses his first tooth on the bus, the class handles an unexpected pet during Bring Your Pet to School Day, and a bully shows up with threats about turning kids into 'burnt toast'. Abigail may roll her eyes at her little brother, but she also shows how siblings can back each other up when things get scary.

In Going, Going, Gone! the family is constantly on the move—down the shore for a beach week, out to a county fair, through a crowded mall, even into the emergency room. Each outing turns into a small adventure, complete with boogie boards, long car rides, and the kind of misunderstandings that only happen when kids and grown-ups hear different parts of the same story.

Friend or Fiend? digs into questions about trust. Jake wants to disappear after a reading-circle mistake, Abigail wonders if a close friend has let her down, and their teenage cousins act more like enemies than helpers. A snow day rescue and a birthday celebration for their cat Fluzzy give everyone a chance to reconsider who belongs on the 'friend' side of the list.

Across all of these books, the tone stays light and conversational, with lots of white space and illustrations to support newer readers. The real draw is emotional: everyday worries about being loved, being brave, and being treated fairly, all filtered through two strong kid voices who may drive each other crazy but can’t imagine life apart.