Junie B. Jones Books in Order

Junie B. Jones is the funniest kindergartner in American publishing: Barbara Park's nearsighted, bossy, gloriously unfiltered heroine narrated her own life across twenty-eight early-chapter books from 1992 to 2013 - the bus, the monster under the bed, the meanie Jim, the yucky blucky fruitcake - selling more than 65 million copies and becoming the book that turns six-year-olds into readers. Park died in 2013 and Junie B. spoke her last word in the final Thanksgiving volume that year. The series has one perfect structural fact for readers hunting order: books 1-17 are kindergarten and books 18-28 are first grade, and the character genuinely grows between them. And since May 2025 she is back in a new graphic-novel line (1992–2013).

Where to start

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (1992), book one - the first day of kindergarten, the bus she refuses to ride, and the voice in full power from page one. Honest alternative: any book whose subject matches the reader's life (a birthday, a loose tooth, a school field day) works, because the series is episodic - but book one is the door and the funniest.

Does the reading order matter?

Publication order, which equals growing-up order: books 1-17 track Junie B. through kindergarten (ending with graduation), books 18-28 restart the numbering convention as first grade. Nothing carries between books except the cast - best friends Grace and Lucille, enemy-turned-friend Jim, teacher Mr. Scary - so kids can bounce around freely within each school year. The reading level is consistent throughout: short chapters, a vocabulary list in the back, ~70 pages, ages 5-8. Parents buying secondhand should check which era a title is from - the kindergarten and first-grade covers look nearly identical.

Which one is the best?

The Stupid Smelly Bus is the classic. Is a Beauty Shop Guy? (#11) and the Mushy Gushy Valentime (#14) are the fan-favorite kindergarten comedies; among the first-grade books, Toothless Wonder (#20) and Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (#25) are the ones teachers read aloud. The final book, Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten (2013), landed just before Park's death and closes the series gently. The graphic-novel adaptations (from May 2025) retell the originals in a new format and are the door for a new cohort.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Magic Tree House books in order, Dog Man books in order, Captain Underpants books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.