Pip Bartlett Books in Order

The Pip Bartlett books are bright, funny middle grade adventures about a girl who can talk to magical creatures and the trouble that ability brings. Pip is nine, earnest, and endlessly curious, and unfortunately the unicorns, griffins, and other beasts she chats with are just as capable of causing chaos as any human classmate.

After an incident at school involving panicked unicorns and a very memorable Career Day, Pip is sent to spend the summer with her Aunt Emma, a veterinarian who runs a clinic for magical creatures in the small town of Cloverton. In Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures Pip throws herself into helping at the clinic, updating entries in her beloved field guide, and befriending Tomas, an anxious boy with spectacular allergies. When tiny fuzzy creatures called Fuzzles start nesting in underwear drawers and bursting into flame, Pip and her friends have to find a solution that will save both the town and the animals.

In Pip Bartlett's Guide to Unicorn Training, the action moves to the Triple Trident, a huge show and competition that draws magical animals and their handlers from all over. Pip is thrilled to be surrounded by baby unicorns, glittering gear, and rare species, but her favorite, the high strung unicorn Regent Maximus, is in no shape to face a crowd. Between mysterious acts of sabotage and a skittish star who would rather bolt than perform, Pip has to figure out how to train a creature that would rather run away from everything.

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Sea Monsters takes the gang to the coastal town of Port Candor, where Tomas’s family is vacationing. There the docks, beaches, and aquariums are full of strange marine creatures, from Slimekrakens to Spinnerseals. When a famous sea monster exhibit starts misbehaving and threatening the town’s reputation, Pip suspects something more than bad luck, and once again her ability to understand animals puts her in the middle of the mystery.

Across the series, Stiefvater and co author Jackson Pearce keep the tone light and joke filled, with diagrams, marginal notes, and creature profiles sprinkled between chapters. The stakes are small enough for younger readers, but the stories still ask what responsible care for magical animals looks like and how a kid can stand up to well meaning adults who underestimate her.

If you like encyclopedias of imaginary beasts, oddball humor, and brave kids who solve problems by listening as much as leaping into action, Pip’s adventures are a welcoming place to start.