The Willoughbys Books in Order

The Willoughbys books are Lois Lowry’s darkly playful send-up of “old-fashioned” children’s stories full of orphans, ghastly parents, and improbable coincidences. They nod to classic novels while cheerfully breaking their rules.

In The Willoughbys, four siblings - bossy Tim, practical Jane, and inventive twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B - live with parents who openly dislike children and would be happier without them. The feeling is mutual. Tim and his siblings study their favorite old books and decide that becoming orphans would improve their lives. Their parents, meanwhile, hatch their own plan to get rid of the children.

The plot that follows involves an abandoned baby on the doorstep, a lonely candy maker, an energetic nanny who is nothing like the usual magical governess, and a string of hazards that sound fatal but are treated with a very light touch. Footnotes explain big words, poke fun at literary conventions, and occasionally talk directly to the reader.

The Willoughbys Return picks up the thread decades later. The parents, long presumed gone after an Alpine accident, have been frozen in ice and now thaw out to discover that the world has changed and their children have grown up without them. At the same time, Tim is running a candy company that suddenly faces a ban on sweets, and his son Richie is lonely in a huge house next door to the very poor Poore family.

The sequel weaves together the thawed parents, the struggling candy empire, and the Poore children’s attempts to improve their situation. As before, the humor is dry and a little wicked, but the ending is kinder than in many of the older books it parodies.

Throughout the series, Lowry plays with the idea of what makes a “proper” family story. Bad parents can be very funny on the page, but the books still find room for genuine kindness and chosen families. Readers who enjoy Roald Dahl or Lemony Snicket-style exaggeration, but want a slightly softer landing, tend to feel right at home with the Willoughbys.