One of the questions I get asked the most is if the isadora moon series has a specific reading order. The short answer is no, but here’s a slightly longer answer…
isadora moon goes to school is the first book
Isadora Moon Goes to School is the original story of Isadora Moon and provides the most comprehensive introduction to Isadora’s character and family. As the title implies, it is about Isadora starting school for the first time and deciding what kind of school she should go to. Since some of the later stories feature scenes at Isadora’s school, smart young readers will find out how she ends up going to school if they didn’t start with that book.
If that’s not of any concern, then just start with whichever book you like the sound of best. None of the other books ‘follow on’ in a sequel sense, although they do have some links which I’ll share just for fun below. If you do want a potential reading order though, here are the UK and US publication orders:
You are reading: Isadora moon books in order
isadora moon uk publication order
The order in which the books were published in the UK (and the order I wrote them in) is as follows:
- isadora moon goes to school (September 2016)
- isadora moon goes to camp (September 2016)
- isadora moon’s birthday (September 2016)
- isadora moon goes to the ballet (September 2016)
- isadora moon gets in trouble (March 2017)
- isadora moon goes on a school trip ( September 2017)</li
- isadora moon goes to the fair (March 2018)
- isadora moon makes winter magic (September 2018)
- isadora moon has a sleepover (March 2019)
- isadora moon presents a show (coming September 2019)
Not all titles have yet been released in all countries where isadora moon has been published, but most countries have more or less stuck to the above order. the one with the most changed order is america:
isadora moon’s US publication order
- Isadora Moon Goes to School (Aug 2017)
- Isadora Moon Goes to Camp (Aug 2017)
- Isadora Moon Goes to the Ballet (Jan 2018) )</li
- isadora moon’s birthday (July 2018)
- isadora moon goes on a field trip (also known as isadora moon goes on a school trip) (March 2019)
- isadora moon saves the carnival (aka isadora moon goes to the fair) (coming september 2019)
The US publisher, Random House Books for Young Readers, made a few minor changes to the books to suit American readers. I talked about some of these here. These changes included redesigned covers and new titles for a couple of the books. Do please be aware that Isadora Moon Goes on a Field Trip is essentially the same as Isadora Moon Goes on a School Trip and Isadora Moon Saves the Carnival is the same as Isadora Moon Goes to the Fair, especially if you are buying online!
links between isadora moon’s books
i think the isadora moon books take place more or less chronologically in the order i wrote them (uk publication order). Because of this, there are some small nods to Isadora’s earlier experiences in the later books. (Mild spoilers follow!)
for example:
school trips
Isadora Moon Goes on a School Trip opens with:
“I had only been on one school trip before, we went to the ballet, so I was really excited when our teacher, miss cherry, announced that we were going on another trip in a week.”
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referring, of course, to isadora moon goes to the ballet.
ghost stories
When Isadora Moon sleeps over with her friend Zoe, Zoe suggests they share some spooky ghost stories:
He began to tell a story. it was about an old woman walking the streets of our city after dark, dragging chains behind her that clinked and clinked all night long.
“That sounds a bit unreal,” I said, thinking of the friendly ghost, Oscar, who lived in the attic of my house. ‘let me tell you about my real ghost!’
“But Oscar isn’t scary,” said Zoe.
‘ghost stories have to be scary. that’s the point of them. ‘
we met oscar the ghost in isadora moon goes on a school trip.
naughty cousins
when isadora moon goes to the fair, she wants to take her cousins mirabelle and wilbur, the witch fairies, to which her mother replies:
‘good. . . I guess we could ask them,” Mom said. ‘and it would keep your naughty cousin mirabelle from getting into mischief, at least.’
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The last time we met Mirabelle, in Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble, she convinced Isadora to bring a magical dragon to her human school, against Isadora’s better judgment.
recurring characters
School friends like Zoe, Oscar, Bruno and Sashi appear in many stories. Isadora’s cousins Wilbur and Mirabelle appeared separately in Isadora Moon’s Birthday and Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble respectively, then both returned in Isadora Moon Goes to the Fair.
For book number eleven, which I’m currently working on but can’t say much about yet, a certain magical friend from a previous book will also return. I’ll give you a hint: he gave isadora a magical jewel.
Does Isadora grow up over the books?
There are a couple of other related questions I sometimes get asked:
- how old is isadora moon?
- will we see isadora grow up in the series?
I know it’s not an answer, but I always say that Isadora is the age you want her to be. she just started school in the first story, so she’s probably five to seven years old, maybe eight. Of course, she’s half vampire and half fairy and I haven’t really analyzed how long those magical creatures live, so maybe Isadora is 107 years old! …but maybe not!
Obviously, time passes in the series, but I don’t really see isadora growing up or moving forward in the school years. I’m not quite sure why exactly, it’s quite nice for Isadora to stay in a “timeless” period of her life.
Isadora Moon’s books are available to purchase at Waterstones, Amazon, and many beautiful independent bookstores. And if you fancy creating your own isadora stories, or stories with characters you’ve made up, then you can try my free downloadable story writing guide!
don’t forget to say hi on facebook, twitter or instagram, and if you’re looking for a gift for the isadora moon fan who already has all the books, why not try my store?
love, magic and shine,
harriet x