Lois Lenski

Lois Lenski was an American illustrator of picture books and author of children's books. Lenski's published 98 books, with some getting published posthumously. She was an avid reader from childhood, born in 1893 in Springfield, Ohio.

The best place to start is the Mr. Small series, the earliest of Lois Lenski's multi-book series: it opens with The Little Auto (1934) and runs to 9 books across 1934–1962, ending with Policeman Small (1962). Lois Lenski's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Lois Lenski has 80 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1928 and 2010. 61 of them belong to 8 named series — the largest being the American Regional series with 16 books — and 19 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Lois Lenski's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Mr. Small (1934–1962, 9 books), Historical (1936–1944, 7 books) and American Regional (1943–1968, 16 books), plus 5 more.

This guide splits Lois Lenski's 80 books into 8 named series and 19 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: American Regional (16 books, 1943–1968); Roundabout America (11 books, 1948–1966); Mr. Small (9 books, 1934–1962); Historical (7 books, 1936–1944); Debbie (6 books, 1969–1972), plus 3 further series.