Tooter Tale Books in Order

The Tooter Tale books follow Tooter Pepperday, a city kid who gets yanked out of her comfort zone and plunked down on a Pennsylvania farm. In Tooter Pepperday, her family moves to Aunt Sally's place, trading takeout pizza and playgrounds for muddy fields, a cranky chicken, and chores she never asked for. Tooter is loud about what she hates, and at first her main goal is to make sure everyone knows exactly how miserable she is. (penguinrandomhouse.com)

Life on the farm, of course, refuses to cooperate with her plans. Tooter meets the neighbors, runs into stubborn animals, and discovers that rural life comes with its own brand of excitement, from chasing escaped livestock to figuring out how to help with planting. The story keeps the language simple and the chapters short, but it never makes fun of how hard change can feel when you are eight and your whole world has just shifted.

In Blue Ribbon Blues, Tooter has settled in a bit, but she still feels like she has something to prove. The county fair is coming, and she decides that winning a blue ribbon in the goat show will finally show everyone that she belongs. Keeping a goat clean, groomed, and under control turns out to be a lot more complicated than she expected, especially with a little brother who seems determined to "help" with a paintbrush. (booksamillion.com)

Throughout both books, Spinelli leans on humor that feels grounded in real family life. Adults are busy but caring, siblings squabble and sabotage, and the farm itself is both a nuisance and a playground. Tooter is not always likable, but her stubbornness will ring true for many kids who have ever been dragged into a move or a big change they did not choose.

Readers can pick up either title on its own, but starting with Tooter Pepperday makes Blue Ribbon Blues more satisfying, since you see how far she travels from the girl who swears she will never get used to farm life to the one marching a goat into the show ring with her head held high.