''Serendipity'' is a series of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

about animals and other creatures. The books were written by Stephen Cosgrove and illustrated by Robin James. The books are short stories with colorful illustrations that have a moral perspective. Cosgrove wrote the books after searching for an easy to read book with a message to read to his then three-year-old daughter. After finding primarily large expensive books, Cosgrove teamed up with illustrator James to create low cost softcover books. After receiving an offer to publish the books only in hardcover, Cosgrove created his own publishing company - Serendipity Press. The first four books of the Serendipity Series were released in December of 1973. They are: ''Serendipity'', ''The Dream Tree'', ''Wheedle on the Needle'', and ''The Muffin Muncher''. Cosgrove merged Serendipity Press with the publishing company, Price/Stern/Sloan (now part of Penguin Random House) in 1978 so that Cosgrove could focus on writing. Cosgrove decided to re-edit his earlier books, which have been republished with the changes. To date, there are 70 books in the series, written from the kindergarten to grade three levels. The animals in the Serendipity series include bears,

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s, squirrels, rabbits, and mythical creatures such as

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

s, dragons,

sea monsters Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are oft ...

, and pegasus. Cosgrove also invented his own creatures such as the wheedle, hucklebug and kritter. The books present moral issues such as growing up, disabilities, abuse, fear,

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

, prejudice,

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

, and helping the environment. The book series was adapted into a 26-episode

anime series is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

entitled ''

Serendipity the Pink Dragon is an anime television series produced by ZUIYO Enterprise that aired on NTV on 1 July 1983, ending on 23 December. The series was based on the ''Serendipity'' books by Stephen Cosgrove and character designs for the animation version were do ...

'' and 26-episode cartoon series '' Little Mouse on the Prairie''. At least 25 of the books were translated into Spanish (based on the list in ''El Dragon Gloton'') and at least 6 in Italian (by

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

List of books in the ''Serendipity'' series

References

External links

Stephen Cosgrove's website

Robin James's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serendipity (Book Series) American picture books Series of children's books Children's books about friendship Fables