Honey Bunch

The Honey Bunch series of books were part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate of books which included the series Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins. This series was written under the pseudonym Helen Louise Thorndyke, and published for most of its life by Grosset & Dunlap. The series began in 1923 and chronicled Honey Bunch on various trips and adventures throughout the series.

The first sixteen were written by Josephine Lawrence:

Honey Bunch: Just a Little Girl
Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the City
Honey Bunch: Her First Days on the Farm
Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the Seashore
Honey Bunch: Her First Little Garden, 1924
Honey Bunch: Her First Days in Camp
Honey Bunch: Her First Auto Tour
Honey Bunch: Her First Trip on the Ocean
Honey Bunch: Her First Trip West
Honey Bunch: Her First Summer on an Island
Honey Bunch: Her First Trip on the Great Lakes
Honey Bunch: Her First Trip in an Airplane
Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the Zoo
Honey Bunch: Her First Big Adventure
Honey Bunch: Her First Big Parade
Honey Bunch: Her First Little Mystery
Honey Bunch: Her First Little Circus

Mildred Wirt Benson, who is best known for writing many of the first Nancy Drew books, also wrote 5 books in this series:

18. Honey Bunch: Her First Little Treasure Hunt, 1937

19. Honey Bunch: Her First Little Club, 1938

20. Honey Bunch: Her First Trip in a Trailer, 1939

21. Honey Bunch: Her First Trip to a Big Fair, 1940

22. Honey Bunch: Her First Twin Playmates, 1941

And the series continues:

23. Honey Bunch: Her First Costume Party

24. Honey Bunch: Her First Trip on a House Boat

25. Honey Bunch: Her First Winter at Snowtop

26. Honey Bunch: Her First Trip to the Big Woods

27. Honey Bunch: Her First Little Pet Show

28. Honey Bunch: Her First Trip to a Lighthouse

29. Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to a Pony Ranch

30. Honey Bunch: Her First Tour of Toy Town

31. Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to Puppyland

32. Honey Bunch: Her First Trip to Reindeer Farm

The original series lasted 34 books (with the 34th being published in 1955), although the final 2 books changed the original title from just "Honey Bunch" to "Honey Bunch and Norman", signaling the shift the series would take to attempt to appeal to both sexes.

The 35th book was listed in the back of #34 as Honey Bunch and Norman Visit Cocoa Land, but this book was never released, although the manuscript is in the New York Public Library.

In 1957 the series was re-vamped with a new title starting off the new Honey Bunch and Norman series. As would be done later by the Syndicate with the Dana Girls series also, recent titles in the original series were recycled throughout the beginning of the new series.

The final book of the Honey Bunch and Norman series was published in 1963, Honey Bunch and Norman and the Walnut Tree Mystery #12. This may be the last Stratemeyer Syndicate book to be published with a dust jacket, as most of the other Syndicate series seemed to phase them out by 1962. There is a manuscript for the unpublished 13th book, The Wooden Shoe Mystery, at the New York Public Library

Although the final book was published in 1963, the books remained in print for several years, although in the picture cover format, as Grosset & Dunlap had completely switched their line of series over to picture covers. It is believed that all 12 books were published in picture cover format. In the 1960s, Grosset & Dunlap had decided, for example with the Judy Bolton series and Connie Blair, not to republish select titles in picture cover format. It is possible this was done with the Honey Bunch and Norman series. Picture cover versions tend to be more difficult to find for this series since more copies were printed with dust jackets.

The first 12 books originally had individual cover art for each book by Walter S. Rogers, who was active with several Syndicate Series of the 1910s-1930s (The Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys for example). Marie Schubert took over with book 13, in a more modern fashion than Rogers had done. The Syndicate was moving toward more progressive artwork during this period throughout its popular series. Schubert continued until book 23 or 24 (book 24's cover illustration is unsigned). Book 24 also saw the end of individual cover-artwork, until the series was re-vamped in 1957. From book 25 on, Harry Lane is credited with the cover illustration. The previous books were also re-issued with the new, uniform artwork. Harry Lane's artwork was retired with book 32 of the original series. The correct 31st book, Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to Puppyland, was published in 1952. This book is extremely hard to find. There are 32 Honey Bunch books and 12 Honey Bunch and Norman books. When the series was re-vamped in 1957, individual cover illustrations were returned.

References

"Guide to the Stratemeyer Syndicate Records" (PDF). Retrieved 11 August 2011.
"Mildred A. Wirt Benson; List of Her Stories and Novels for Children". Retrieved 3 August 2009.

Juvenile series books (1899–1929)

Girls' books	Bobbsey Twins (1904–1979) Aunt Jane's Nieces (1906–1918) Dorothy Dale (1908–1924) Grace Harlowe (1910–1924) Camp Fire Girls (1912?–1936) The Bluebird Books (1916–1924) Marjorie Dean (1917–1930) Betty Gordon (1920–1932) Honey Bunch (1920–1955)

Boys' books	Rover Boys (1899–1926) Bobbsey Twins (1904–1979) Boy Fortune Hunters (1906–1911) Motor Boys (1906–1924) Submarine Boys (1909–1920) Tom Swift (1910–1941) Motor Boat Boys (1912–1915) Baseball Joe (1912–1928) Radio Boys (1922–1930) Pee-Wee Harris (1922–1930) Don Sturdy (1925–1935) Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1926–1938) X Bar X Boys (1926–1942) Ted Scott Flying Stories (1927–1935)

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