1. Village School (1955)

In this first of the series set in the fictional English village of Fairacre, Miss Read, the headmistress introduces the characters, while giving an often humorous, insightful, period view of a typical English country village, with its primary school, church, and thatched-roof cottages. Some memorable characters are: Miss Clare, the well-respected infants’ teacher; Mrs Pringle, the contentious school cleaner; Reverend Partridge, the vicar, and Miss Gray, the infants teacher who marries the headmaster of a neighbouring school. They and other inhabitants of Fairacre show up in the following stories set in Fairacre. With an keen eye for detail, Miss Read brings to life the seasons, nature, her neighbours, and village life in general.

2. Village Diary (1957)

Village Diary is peopled by most of the same characters found in Village School, with the addition of Amy Garfield who is Miss Read’s best friend; Mr Mawne, a new arrival to the village, whose unwanted attentions Miss Read finds irksome; and Miss Jackson, the new infants’ teacher. Each chapter covers one month of the year in the life of the village and its observant headmistress, with the highlight of the year being the performance staged by the villagers of an historical pageant about the Roman invaders and the Ancient Britons.

3. Storm in the Village (1958)

This story centers around the possibility that Farmer Miller’s Hundred Acre Field is to be acquired for the construction of a housing estate for employees of the nearby atomic research centre, and the even more astonishing and fearful news that the village school is slated for closure. The problems and concerns of the Fairacre villagers are portrayed in Miss Read’s now familiar endearing and candid style.