Tom & Matt Books in Order

Tom and Matt are brothers with a lively imagination and a habit of turning everyday play into huge adventures. Their stories are written by Anna Maxted and illustrated by Alex T. Smith, whose energetic pictures help make cardboard boxes, toys, costumes, and familiar spaces feel ready for anything.

The brothers do not need much to get started. A box can become a spaceship. A game can become a rescue mission. A small disagreement with someone from over the road can suddenly involve knights, dragons, castles, and a dungeon. The books take the seriousness of childhood play completely seriously, which is where much of the comedy comes from.

In The Baddie, Tom and Matt discover that their parents have been kidnapped by a villain in Deep Space. With their blasters and cardboard-box spaceship, they set out to save them. The adventure has the scale of a science-fiction quest, but it is rooted in the inventive logic of children playing at home.

The Horrible Princess moves into a fairy-tale world. Isabella, the girl from over the road, takes Matt’s best toy, Baby Dragon. Tom, Matt, their little brother Baby, and a large fire-breathing helper set off to get it back. Along the way, they face knights, dragons, enchanted frogs, kung-fu dolls, and the kind of obstacles that seem perfectly reasonable when you are deep in a game.

The stories are short, funny, and full of action. Tom and Matt are not polished heroes. They argue, make mistakes, and rush in before they have thought things through. But their loyalty to family, toys, and each other keeps the adventures moving in the right direction.

A cardboard box is never just a cardboard box.

Smith’s illustrations are especially important here because they show how imagination transforms a scene. The pictures can make a bedroom feel like outer space or a neighborhood problem feel like a castle siege, while leaving room for readers to understand the playful leap behind it all.

The books can be read in either order because each presents a separate adventure. Starting with The Baddie gives the clearest introduction to Tom, Matt, Baby, and the series’ make-believe style. The Horrible Princess then offers a different kind of quest with a fairy-tale flavor.

For young readers who like stories where ordinary family life becomes heroic at a moment’s notice, Tom and Matt offer fast, cheerful adventures with plenty of pictures and no shortage of sound effects.