Anna, Banana Series

Anna and Banana rescue a stray kitten in the fifth book of this “fast-paced, fun, and funny” (Megan McDonald, bestselling author of the Judy Moody series) illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Anna and Banana have found a kitten! But when Banana accidentally scares the kitten away during their afternoon walk, Anna enlists her two best friends, Sadie and Isabel, for OPERATION CATCH THE KITTEN. Anna can’t image such a tiny kitten living outside all by himself, and she’s determined to find him a good home. But catching a kitten is trickier than Anna thought—kittens are easily scared and very stealthy. Then there’s the problem of finding him a good home. Sadie’s mom has a “No Pets” rule, Isabel’s cat, Mewsic, does not play well with other animals, and Anna’s dad is allergic to cats! Anna and her friends desperately want to help, but will they be able to find the kitten a good home?

Anna finds herself torn between two friends in the second book of a charming illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Sadie and Isabel are Anna’s two best friends, and Anna can’t wait to go with them on the class field trip to the zoo—but she keeps getting caught in the middle. Isabel wants Anna to see the tortoise with her, but Sadie wants to see the spiny anteater. Isabel wants to do their group report on giant pandas, while Sadie wants them to write about zebras. With a little help from her beloved dog, Banana, as well as some wise advice from her family, can Anna figure out what it means to be a best friend to two very different people—and still be a friend to herself?

Meet Anna and her beloved wiener dog, Banana, in this start to a charming illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Anna has been best friends with Sadie for as long as she can remember. So Anna is utterly perplexed when, on Anna’s birthday, Sadie unceremoniously stakes claim to Anna’s new pony necklace, then suddenly stops speaking to Anna altogether. Did Anna do something wrong? With a little help from her wiener dog, Banana, as well as some sage advice from her family, Anna makes some important discoveries about what it means to stand up for herself, and how to be a true friend.

Anna enters her beloved dog Banana in a contest in the fourth book of this “fast-paced, fun, and funny” (Megan McDonald, bestselling author of the Judy Moody series) illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Anna can’t wait for the Puppy Parade. She’s certain Banana will win. Soon Banana will be famous—and that means Anna will be famous, too! But when Sadie and Isabel suggest they all enter the parade together, Anna starts feeling a little unsure about sharing her dog—and the spotlight—with her friends. How can Anna be Best in Show and a good best friend?

Anna wrestles with a big secret at Isabel’s super-fun sleepover in the seventh book of this “fast-paced, fun, and funny” (Megan McDonald, bestselling author of the Judy Moody series) illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Anna and her friends love having sleepovers. So, when Isabel invites Anna and Sadie to spend the night at her house for the first time Anna can’t wait! Between pranking Isabel’s older sisters, make-your-own pizzas, and truth or dare this is going to be the best night ever. But when one of Isabel’s older sisters’ dares results in Anna breaking a really special vase, everything stops being all fun and games. Isabel’s sisters convince the girls they can hide it from their parents, but after her friends fall asleep, Anna lies on the floor in her sleeping bag, wide awake. At night, with the lights out and everyone else sleeping, Isabel’s house seems different. Unfamiliar. Not like home. Anna misses Banana terribly, and worst of all she feels really guilty keeping what happened a secret. If Anna doesn’t stay at the sleepover, everyone might get mad at her for ruining it, but if she stays and lets the secret slip about the broken vase, everyone might get mad at her for that instead. Anna and her friends share all their secrets, but can they help her with her secret dilemma?

Anna finds herself standing up to the class clown in the third book of a charming illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Anna has a loose tooth! It’s as wiggly as her dog Banana’s tail. But when Anna is poking at her loose tooth, class clown Justin keeps poking fun at Anna and her friends. Anna tries to make Justin leave them alone and gets pulled into a high-stakes bet. If Anna wins, Justin has to play nice; but if Anna loses, she has to do something so jaw-droppingly embarrassing, even Banana can’t believe it. There’s no wiggling her way out of this one. Anna has to win this bet.

Anna and Banana must cook up a solution when her jealousy gets her into some hot water in the sixth book of this “fast-paced, fun, and funny” (Megan McDonald, bestselling author of the Judy Moody series) illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. After watching the contestants on The Batter-Up Bake-Off Show whip up sweet treats, Anna, Isabel, Sadie, and Banana are ready to put their culinary chops to the test. The plan? To make the best-ever cookie recipe for the town library’s bake sale! There’s only one problem: Isabel and Sadie have started hanging out with a girl named Monica, and suddenly she’s all they can talk about. Anna’s sure she, Sadie, and Isabel are complete as a trio, and winning the bake sale will prove it. But when Monica shows up with Sadie and Isabel for their big baking day things quickly turn from sweet to sour. Can Anna win back the attention of her two besties, or will she learn that friendship—like cookies—is best when shared?

When preparing for a magic show, Anna and her friends find a talent for trouble instead in the eighth book of this “fast-paced, fun, and funny” (Megan McDonald, bestselling author of the Judy Moody series) illustrated chapter book series about the joys and challenges of elementary school friendships. Anna, Sadie, and Isabel develop an interest in magic tricks when their frenemy Justin mystifies them with a cool card trick but refuses to tell them how he did it. Determined to figure it out for themselves, the girls set out for the best place to find answers—the library!—ready to learn every magic trick in the book. But magic isn’t as easy as it appears, even with a book of instructions. When Anna goes to her neighbor Mrs. Shirley for advice, she finds out that while Mrs. S doesn’t know any magic tricks herself, her very favorite birthday party ever was a magician show where the magician pulled a rabbit out of a hat. With the neighborhood potluck coinciding with Mrs. Shirley’s seventy-sixth birthday, Anna and her friends decide to practice their own magic act to perform for her, but a whole slew of mix-ups ensue as they try to puzzle out how the tricks are done and how to figure out Justin’s secret, too. Can Anna and her friends perform some magic and get the mix-ups under control before—presto—it’s showtime?