The question comes up at every school visit and in most of the emails we get: there are three books and an all-in-one edition, so where does a new reader begin?
The short answer
Start with volume one. It is where Beatrice announces that she intends to drive a London bus, where her mother explains why that is out of the question, and where a Routemaster in a bowler hat turns out to be listening.
The longer answer
Each book is a complete adventure, so nobody is going to be lost if a copy of The Secrets of London turns up first at a birthday party. But the series builds. Volume two assumes you already know who Mark is and why Sundays matter. Volume three assumes you have watched the Bus make and break at least one solemn promise.
- Volume 1 — Beatrice and the London Bus. The dream, the model bus in the shop window, and the meeting by the Caramba Café.
- Volume 2 — The Secrets of London. Sundays, spies, a telephone box that has lost her phone, and a Mayor with two secrets.
- Volume 3 — The Conquest of London. Tea at Buckingham Palace, a resized bus and a London Eye on fun-strike.
When the omnibus makes more sense
Buy the all-in-one edition if you are stocking a classroom or a library, if you are packing for a long journey, or if you already know you have a reader who is not going to stop at the end of chapter twelve. It collects volumes one to three in a single book.
