Lynne Reid Banks Books In Order

Publication Order of The Indian in the Cupboard Books

Publication Order of Harry the Poisonous Centipede Books

Publication Order of Jane Graham Books

Publication Order of One More River Books

Publication Order of Bronte Biographies Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Avon Camelot Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Lynne Reid Banks is a bestselling English novelist of children’s books, adult fiction, and nonfiction novels. She has written over 45 books in her career that includes children’s book called The Indian in the Cupboard. This book has sold more than 10 million printed copies throughout the world and has also been adapted into a movie. Lynne began her writing career in 1960 with the book called The L-Shaped Room. It was an instant bestseller. The book was adapted into a film of the same name and was followed by 2 sequels in the following years. In addition to novels, Lynne is known to have written the Bronte family’s biography called Dark Quartet. She followed it up with a sequel called Path to the Silent, which is based on the life of Charlotte Bronte. Author Lynne was born on July 31, 1929, in London, England, U.K. She was the only child of Muriel and James Reid Banks. At the time of the Second War, Lynne was moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada along with her parents. They returned to London only after the war came to an end.

Lynne received her initial education at the St. Theresa’s School, Effingham, located in Surrey. Before taking up writing as a career, Lynne worked as a TV journalist and actress in Britain. She is among the first women in England to do so. In 1962, Lynne moved to Israel, where she was involved in teaching for 8 years on Kibbutz Yas’ur. She married a sculptor named Chaim Stephenson in 1965. The marriage lasted until the death of Chaim in 2016. Lynne has 3 sons. Currently, she resides in Shepperton, Surrey, United Kingdom. Lynne moved back to London with her husband and children and during her stay in Israel, she became very much attached to the culture and customs there. They had a big influence on her, which can be evidently seen in Lynne’s later books. Many of Lynne’s novels are set on kibbutzim in Israel. In 2013, she was awarded the J.M. Barrie prize for her outstanding contribution to literature in the form of children’s arts. Lynne keeps her busy with traveling, writing, visiting schools, and doing charity work. She says that she enjoyed her time as a writer and hopes to keep writing and entertaining the readers for as long as she can.

A very popular book series written by author Lynne Reid Banks is known as The Indian in the Cupboard series. This series is comprised of a total of 5 books published between 1980 and 1998. The illustrations in the novels are done by Brock Cole. A number of awards have been won by the series’ first book, which has also been made into a movie in 1995. After its grand success, author Lynne added four more sequels to the series. It is stated that the series can be enjoyed best if it is read in the chronological order of the release of its books. However, each book follows an independent story, so they can also be read as separate standalone novels. The debut book of this fantasy series is entitled ‘The Indian in the Cupboard’. It was first released in 1980 and was re-released by Collins in 2003. The book features the main characters as Omri, Boone, Little Bear, and Bright Stars. Initially, it is shown that Omri gets a plastic toy called Little Bear as his birthday present. He seems quite unimpressed with the Iroquois Indian toy. But, he comes across a huge surprise when he puts Little Bear in an old cupboard and turns on the key.

Omri finds the Little Bear has come to life and this surprise changes his life forever. Little Bear is seen speaking broken English. He is given a simple and stereotypical look and is portrayed as the bravest, wisest, and a hard-working character. He seems to have more self-respect than real humans. After coming to life, Little Bear doesn’t waste any time in showing pity on himself. Instead, he looks to find ways in which he could make his life worth living and take care of himself in strange circumstances. Little Bear makes arrangements for his food and builds his home on his own. Omri begins to feel that the lively toy has stronger values than any human and possesses intelligence, self-reliance, hard work, skill, courage, and bravery. Lynne has written the book very well. She has given a detailed description of the characters and the surroundings, which helped the readers to connect easily. This book was greatly appreciated by kids and parents alike. The parents loved that it entertained their kids from start to end.

The second installment of the series is called ‘The Return of the Indian’. It was released in 1986 by Doubleday publication. Once again, the main characters are shown as Little Bear, Omri, Boone, Bright Stars, Boone, etc. The story begins by depicting that one year goes by after Omri discovered that Little Bear can be magically brought to life by turning his key. Since the discovery, Little Bear and Omri have been creating fantastic moments together and have been their world quite happening. But later, Omri realizes that if Little Bear gets trapped in the human world, it would lead to terrible consequences for him. So, he unwinds the key and sends Little Bear back in the cupboard. He hands over the key to his mother in order to prevent himself from feeling the temptation of bringing the toy back to life again.

A year later, Omri discovers that his mother has left the key on the kitchen sink. This raises his temptation and Little Bear comes to life again. Omri undergoes a set of whole new adventures when he learns that Little Bear has been wounded during the Indian and French wars. He offers his help to Little Bear and starts working towards his recovery. Omri seems helplessly caught between Little Bear’s life and his own. He realizes that he must take a responsible decision to save his Indian toy friend and prevent his village from getting destroyed. The adventure, which starts as a simple game, turns into a terrible nightmare. Omri fears he might never be able to escape from it as he has become an irrevocable part of it. This novel also received a lot of praise from readers all over the world. The success motivated Lynne to write a few more novels in the series.