Ah the 90s. A time that most of us Millennials look back on with heavily rose-tinted glasses. Groovy chick bedding, glittery eye shadow, Jane Norman PE bag and playing snake on a Nokia 3310.
But when I wasn’t fighting with my brother to get access to the computer so I could check my Bebo (!) account or update my MSN name, I was getting stuck into some really great books.
And if you were a child in the 90s, firstly, welcome! Secondly, there were some epic book series from the 90s. Plenty of those series are in our library which is probably no coincidence as I’m a 90s baby.
But I do also feel that a child today can pick them up without needing any of it explained. Plus it’s a lovely bit of nostalgia for parents to delve into at bedtime.
These are five book series from the 90s that I’d hand to a child now, three of them from our books for 8 year olds shelf, with one younger and one older. Harry Potter, Horrid Henry, Goosebumps, The Killer Cat and The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog.
I’ve put the year each one started, where to begin, and the age it suits now, which isn’t always the age we were when we read it.
What counts as a book series from the 90s
I’ve kept the five cards to series that began between 1990 and 1999. That rules out a few that every 90s child read, because they were written long before. Roald Dahl, Charlotte’s Web and The Worst Witch are further down for that reason.
Goosebumps began in 1992 and ran to sixty-two books by 1997. We have the first twenty.
Five book series from the 90s to read now
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
First published in June 1997, and it’s one of our free books.
Harry sleeps in a cupboard while his cousin Dudley has two bedrooms. He’s used to being blamed for things. Then a letter arrives with his name on it, from someone who knows exactly where he sleeps, and Uncle Vernon is VERY keen to make sure Harry never gets to read it.
We have all seven. The first sits at 11 in the app. His relatives shut him away and withhold meals, and the death of his parents is part of the opening. The later books get darker, and my what age are the Harry Potter books for guide goes through them one by one.
Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy by Francesca Simon
Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy
The first Horrid Henry book came out in 1994.
Everybody in the class has lost a tooth except Henry. Rude Ralph has lost four and can now spit right across the classroom to the blackboard. Then his little brother Perfect Peter opens his hand, and there it is. A tooth. Henry’s first move is to accuse him of colouring it in with black crayon. His second move is to grab it.
Sixteen Horrid Henry books, all for 6 year olds, and each is three or four short stories that start and finish in a sitting. Horrid Henry and the Zombie Vampire is free. Henry does properly horrid things in these and mostly gets away with it.
The Werewolf of Fever Swamp by R. L. Stine
Goosebumps 14 – The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
Goosebumps number 14, from December 1993.
Grady is twelve, and his scientist parents have moved the family from Vermont to the edge of a Florida swamp. On their very first walk he and his sister get lost and find a hut hidden in the trees. A wild-haired man bursts out of it and follows them. At night, when the moon is almost full, something howls out in the swamp and scratches at the kitchen door.
Chapter after chapter ends on a scream, and the next one starts by showing you it was only a tree root. We have the first twenty Goosebumps, all for 8 year olds. Number one is Welcome to Dead House, from July 1992. Amanda’s family move into an old house in a town called Dark Falls, where dead leaves cover the front garden in the middle of July. After those, my books like Goosebumps list is where to go next.
The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine
The Diary of a Killer Cat
From 1994, and short enough to read in one sitting.
Tuffy lives with Ellie and her mum and dad. On Monday he brings a dead bird in and leaves it on the carpet. By Thursday he’s hauled next-door’s rabbit into the house, and Thumper is VERY dead. It’s Tuffy’s diary, and every day he’s got an excuse. Instead of owning up to the neighbours, Ellie’s parents wash the rabbit in a bucket and have Ellie blow-dry him.
Five Killer Cat books, all for 8 year olds, and The Return of the Killer Cat is another of them. The whole joke rests on dead animals. Nothing is gory, but a very soft-hearted animal lover might end up on Ellie’s side.
The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong
The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog
From 1996, and Streaker the dog is hugely entertaining.
Nobody in Trevor’s family will walk Streaker. She’s part greyhound and part rocket. Then Mum offers Trevor thirty pounds to walk her every day of the Easter holidays, and he says yes before he’s thought it through. His first bright idea is roller skates. They reach the street market at top speed with no brakes on either of them.
Five of these as well, for 8 year olds, and Return of the Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog is one to follow with. Trevor tells it himself and keeps wandering off to complain about golf.
More book series from the 90s, in brief
Magic Tree House started in 1992 and we have fifty-two of them. The Knight at Dawn is an early one. Junie B. Jones began the same year with Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus.
A to Z Mysteries began in 1997. The Canary Caper is free, and it’s for 5 year olds. The Secrets of Droon and A Series of Unfortunate Events both arrived in 1999, right at the end. The Bad Beginning is free too, and it’s for 10 year olds.
And Jacqueline Wilson. The Story of Tracy Beaker is from 1991, and my best Jacqueline Wilson books list has the rest of her shelf by age.
The ones we all read in the 90s that are older than that
Roald Dahl first. Matilda is from 1988, The BFG from 1982, and Esio Trot only just makes the decade, in 1990. They were on every 90s shelf regardless, and my best Roald Dahl books list ranks the ones we have.
Charlotte’s Web is from 1952. The Worst Witch is older than the 90s as well, and it’s free. For more like those two, my classic children’s books list goes by age from 5 to 11.
Just so you know…
Every book linked on this page is in Little Reads, a children’s library app with 3,000+ hand-picked books. It’s £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime. Five of the books linked above are among the 100+ free books on a free account.
We don’t have every 90s series. There are enough here for a child to find out why you went on about them.