Junie B. Jones Series Books in Order

The Junie B. Jones Series is one of the best-loved children's chapter book franchises in American publishing, written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus. The series follows Junie B. Jones — a hilariously outspoken, frequently confused, and completely irresistible kindergartener (and later first-grader) as she navigates school, friendships, family life, and the bewildering logic of the adult world. Junie B. does not always get things right, but her enthusiasm, her malapropisms, and her absolute conviction that she is correct make her one of the funniest characters in children's literature.

Barbara Park's genius was writing entirely from inside a young child's perspective, capturing exactly how a five-year-old processes language and experience — including spectacular misunderstandings of idioms and grown-up concepts. The books are written in Junie B.'s own voice, in a grammatically chaotic first person that children find immediately recognisable and adults find genuinely funny. Park never talked down to her readers or wrapped every story in a tidy moral lesson; Junie B. is allowed to be imperfect, embarrassed, and very, very human.

The series ran to 28 novels published between 1992 and 2012, plus a companion musical adaptation that has been performed in schools across the United States. Tragically, Barbara Park passed away in 2013, leaving the series at its natural conclusion. It remains one of the definitive early chapter book series for children aged 5–8, and a gateway read for millions of young readers who went on to become lifelong book lovers. Start with Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (1992).