Best Illustrated Fiction Series for 9 and 10 year olds

Best Illustrated Fiction Series for 9 and 10 year olds

Illustrations are a brilliant addition to the reading experience, bringing characters and settings to life, creating variety to engage reluctant readers and more simply bringing joy on to the page! 

In our opinion, reading is reading, no matter how many pictures are in the book. What matters is keeping young readers glued to the page. Another brilliant way to keep readers loving books is to use series – familiar characters and storylines to come back to time and time again. 

So, how about we combine these? Here is a list of our favourite illustrated collections for readers aged 9 and 10.

Toppsta
2026-05-31
Best Illustrated Fiction Series for 9 and 10 year olds
Book pages Lottie Brooks Series

Lottie Brooks Series

If you're a reader aged 9+ and you love funny books filled with illustrations, this is your next read all about growing up and being a teenager! Lottie Brooks is 11 3/4 and her life is ALREADY officially over. This is her diary ALL ABOUT IT. In this fantastically funny illustrated series by Katie Kirby, Lottie navigates the perils of growing up and the pre-teen era. Each book is wonderfully filled with friendship, embarrassing moments and, of course, KitKat Chunkys!

Lottie Brooks Books in Order
Book pages Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series

The hilarious and internationally bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid books follow the adventures of wise-cracking middle school student Greg Heffley and his best friend Rowley Jefferson, who must somehow survive the scariest time of anyone's life: middle school. Written and illustrated as engaging and hilarious diary entries, Wimpy Kid is the perfect series for reluctant readers.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Books in Order
Book pages Maddy Yip Series

Maddy Yip Series

With black-and-white funny illustrations throughout, this middle grade series will have readers aged 8+ snorting with laughter. We love this series. The books are snippets of young Maddy Yip's diaries as she handles everyday-life madness. Her diary entries span from the big questions like 'what will I be when I grow up?' to anecdotes of revolting cakes, magic disappearing tricks, giant candyfloss-mad dogs and annoying brothers on holidays. 

View Maddy Yip Series
Book pages Tom Gates Series

Tom Gates Series

Young readers love this quirky, funny, highly-illustrated, fiction series which follows life’s ups and downs of the chaotic but loveable Tom, Delia, his old sister, his parents, his best friend Derek and his arch enemy, Marcus. Written by award-winning author and illustrator Liz Pichon, Tom is a master of excuses (especially when it comes to homework), creative storyteller and doodler and middle-school comedian extraordinaire. There are now more than 25 books in the Tom Gates series with 21 books in the main series and a variety of activity books to support the series. 

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Book pages What's New, Harper Drew? Series

What's New, Harper Drew? Series

This black-and-white illustrated middle grade series is the perfect series for fans relatable school drama, tween catastrophes and general hilariousness. Harper Drew begins writing a journal to take note of all the totally ridiculous things that seem to go on around her with her family and friends, and there sure are many of them! From dealing with a nit infestation, annual family trips and a brother with an obsession for his hair to grandparents taking part in TV shows and so much more, Drew simply learns to deal with life one catastrophe at a time. If you love journal-style diary stories, you will love this! 

View What's New, Harper Drew? Series
Book pages Planet Omar Series

Planet Omar Series

Planet Omar is a fantastic illustrated series about Omar, a boy with a huge imagination, which sometimes lands him in trouble… Zanib Mian’s hilarious text and Nasaya Mafaridik's glorious cartoon-style illustrations make the Planet Omar series perfect for fans of Tom Gates and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Zanib Mian’s books manage to deal with important issues such as bullying and prejudice in a fun and sensitive way, with diary entries that will make you laugh out loud, featuring Muslim traditions, a lot of silliness, and a very relatable family.

View Planet Omar Series
Book pages Loki: A Bad God's Guide Series

Loki: A Bad God's Guide Series

We like to imagine these books as Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets the bad guys of mythology! This is a brilliant black-and-white illustrated super funny series in which Loki is the series protagonist – the most chaotic god of Norse mythology, who has been banished to live on earth as a normal child who also has to go to school. In each book, Loki must face the challenges of any ordinary 11-year-old, and the results are knee-slappingly, tear-inducingly hilarious! 

View Loki: A Bad God's Guide Series
Book pages Dork Diaries Series

Dork Diaries Series

Life is never that simple in the number one, bestselling Dork Diaries series from author Rachel Renée Russell. Follow 14-year-old Nikki’s life through sketches, doodles and diary entries as she starts her new school, meets her arch-nemesis, the school’s queen bee Mackenzie Hollister, and encounters endless dramas and adventures with new BFFs Chloe and Zoey. And not forgetting her quest to win the affections of her crush Brandon Roberts. Rachel Renée Russell’s Dork Diaries books have sold millions of copies all over the world and are illustrated by her daughter Nikki Russell. 

Dork Diaries in Order
Book pages Peanut Jones Series

Peanut Jones Series

Fizzing with magic, danger, friendship and art, this exciting and funny middle-grade series is a fantasy adventure from superstar illustrator and author Rob Biddulph. The books follow main character Peanut Jones, who one day finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers and is pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. Throughout the books, she uses her newfound powers to find her father, retrieve missing works of art and save the magical Illustrated City.

View Peanut Jones Series
Book pages Emmie & Friends Series

Emmie & Friends Series

Emmie & Friends is funny and delightful illustrated series about navigating middle school and emotions. In each book we meet a new set of characters who are often opposites. Each character faces a challenge of their own, from feeling invisible and struggling to focus, to not liking being at the centre of attention and even being made fun of. As we read each endearing and relatable story, we learn that things aren't always what they may look like from the outside, as well as the power of being true to ourselves and letting our uniqueness shine bright. 

View Emmie & Friends Series
More to Explore

A Jess Jackson Book by Catherine Wilkins and Katie Abey (Nosy Crow)

Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon (Penguin)

Glam and Beardy by Ruby Clyde, Rachel WD and Vincent Batignole (Little Tiger)

The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. by Jen Carney (Puffin)

The Awesome Friendly Kid by Jeff Kinney (Puffin)

The Unfamous Diaries of Daisy Brewster by Jenny Valentine and Hannah McCaffery (Simon & Schuster)


Toppsta
2026-05-31
Best Illustrated Fiction Series for 9 and 10 year olds

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