A Bibliophile’s Nostalgia: Bailey School Kids Series
I’m back again with my blog post series to revisit some bookish things that give me all the nostalgia feels. Today, I’ll be talking about the Bailey School Kids series.
The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids is a supernatural children’s book series. The books in the series are co-authored by Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey. John Steven Gurney is the original illustrator of the series (covers and interior illustrations) and designer of the characters.
In each story, the Bailey School kids encounter a relatively innocuous character (such as a school teacher, custodian, etc.) who may or may not be a mythical being, but whether the character is actually a mythical being is left ambiguous. There are 83 books in the series and the first novel, Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots, was published in 1990.
Being a avid reader since childhood I was always on the hunt for a series that was new to me. Fantasy stories were my favorite to seek out and the wacky titles along with the cover art is what drew me to the series. The series inspired imagination as you never were sure if the characters were from another realm or just a person who just acted a bit strange. This open ended interpretation for each book made the reading experience so much fun.
What I loved most about the series, each the Bailey School Kids (main characters) have a place and feel fleshed out the series. It’s wacky in the sense that some of the aspects are totally unbelievable, but that’s what made the series so fun to read. This series is one of my memorable favorites from my youth and if you bring it up to any 90s kid, it’s definitely a conversation starter. Most all the series fosters a love for books, school, and imagination!
Have you read the books before? What books from the series were your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
I loved series so much but they also drove me crazy because I could never assemble a whole series ever, no matter how hard I tried (and, of course, they were never all in the library at one time either, some were always on loan).
It was so popular at my library that I always had to put it on hold as well to reach each installment. I love how wacky and fun this series is.