Kids in Ms. Colman’s Class Books in Order

This reading order guide provides the complete list of the Kids in Ms. Colman’s Class books in order, from the very first to the latest, so you won’t miss anything!

About the Kids in Ms. Colman’s Class Series

Second grade is important; it’s a time for working out new friendships, classroom times that seem massive, and all the small things adults have forgotten were important – because they were. The Kids in Ms. Colman’s Class, a series by Ann M. Martin, really understands this. Ms. Colman is the teacher all children want, and her classroom is the sort of place where something interesting is constantly going on. Pet Day, Author Day, science fairs, spelling bees, school plays, Halloween parades – something is always happening, and the children in the class make each event worth reading about.

What’s very good about the series is that each book centres on a separate student. Instead of only following one character through everything, readers come to know the whole class gradually. Nancy makes her first proper best friend. Ricky gets so nervous about meeting his favourite author that it’s going to be a disaster. Leslie is upset not to get the main part in the school play, and Karen Brewer is given the main part. Natalie must be more courageous than she thought she could be when her teddy bear goes on a world trip. Bobby loses a mouse during the science fair – and the mouse returns with nine babies. Each child has a moment, and each moment seems genuine.

Ann M. Martin wrote The Baby-Sitters Club, so it’s no shock that she knows how to write children in a way which is actually sensible. The feelings aren’t exaggerated or made simple. When the Barkan twins begin competing in the class readathon and cheating begins because one twin can’t bear to be different from the other – that’s powerful. When Pamela arrives as the new student and comes between Sara and Audrey’s friendship, it’s awkward in the way real life is awkward. When Hank goes into the spelling bee knowing his classmates have bet on him winning, the pressure is real. These aren’t huge, dramatic plots, but they don’t need to be, because the emotions behind them are ones everyone who was ever a child will recognise.

There is also a lot of kindness and humour in the series. The Halloween parade where all the costumes are lost and the whole class ends up in Groucho Marx glasses is the sort of story which remains with you. The summer camp book has the certain loneliness of being somewhere fun without the one person who makes everything better. The baby animal zoo has a girl who is afraid of animals slowly learning that maybe they aren’t so frightening after all. These are quiet, gentle stories – and that is exactly what makes them so good.

For parents seeking the correct early chapter books, the series is a good choice. For teachers building a classroom library, the same is true. And for anyone who grew up reading Ann M. Martin and wants something to give to a younger reader they care about – this is it. From Teacher’s Pet to Baby Animal Zoo, reading the books in order makes the whole experience feel like spending a complete school year with these children, and that is, truthfully, a very lovely thing.