TL;DR
Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride is the second book in the legendary series by Kate DiCamillo. It’s the gold standard for "transitional" readers—kids who are done with Elephant & Piggie but aren't quite ready to tackle Harry Potter. It’s funny, beautifully illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, and centers on a pig who loves hot buttered toast more than life itself.
Quick Recommendations for Mercy Fans:
- For more humor: The Princess in Black
- For graphic novel lovers: Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea
- For high-energy adventure: Dragon Masters
If you haven't met Mercy yet, let’s get you up to speed. Mercy is a "porcine wonder"—a pig who lives with a very suburban, very doting couple named Mr. and Mrs. Watson. In Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, the weekly tradition of Mr. Watson taking Mercy for a drive in his 1950s-style convertible goes sideways when Mercy decides she’s tired of being a passenger. She wants to drive.
What follows is a classic slapstick comedy involving a pursuit by Officer Tomilello, a very grumpy neighbor named Eugenia Lincoln, and a lot of confusion. It’s a short, 80-page chapter book with big font and full-color illustrations on almost every page.
Ask our chatbot for a full list of Mercy Watson books in order
We talk a lot about "brain rot" in the digital world—those high-stimulus, low-substance YouTube loops like Skibidi Toilet or the endless "unboxing" videos that leave kids' dopamine receptors fried.
Mercy Watson is the perfect antidote. It’s fast-paced and funny enough to compete with a tablet, but it actually builds literacy skills. Here’s why it clicks:
- The Slapstick: Kids in the 6-8 age range find physical comedy hilarious. A pig behind the wheel of a car? Comedy gold.
- The Illustrations: Chris Van Dusen’s art is vibrant and cinematic. It looks like a Pixar movie on paper, which helps kids who are used to visual media stay engaged.
- The Buttered Toast: It’s a recurring gag. Mercy will do anything for toast with "a great deal of butter." It’s relatable—most of our kids would also do questionable things for their favorite snack.
- The Characters: You have the "mean" neighbor Eugenia and the "fun" sister Baby Lincoln. It’s a simple dynamic that kids can track without getting confused.
About 65% of parents we survey say their biggest struggle is getting their 1st or 2nd grader to pick up a book instead of asking for Roblox. The reality is that at age 7, reading is hard work. It’s much easier to sit back and let MrBeast yell at you through a screen.
Books like Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride are "bridge books." They provide enough visual support that the child doesn't feel overwhelmed by a "wall of text," but they require the cognitive heavy lifting of decoding a story. If your kid is currently stuck on YouTube Kids, introducing Mercy is a low-pressure way to reclaim some of that "deep work" focus time.
Learn more about how to balance reading time and screen time
Once your kid flies through the Mercy Watson series (there are six books total, plus some follow-up series), you’re going to need a plan. You want to keep that momentum going before they default back to Minecraft tutorials.
This is the ultimate companion to Mercy Watson. It features a princess who is secretly a monster-fighter. Like Mercy, it has full-color illustrations and short chapters. It subverts the "damsel in distress" trope in a way that’s actually funny and action-packed.
If your kid likes the "silly animal" aspect of Mercy, this is a must. It’s a graphic novel series about a happy-go-lucky narwhal and a no-nonsense jellyfish. It’s very "low floor," meaning even struggling readers can feel successful reading it.
If you want to move them toward more traditional fantasy, this is the series. It’s part of the Scholastic Branches line, which is specifically designed for newly independent readers. It’s got more "lore" and action, which appeals to kids who like games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
For kids who like a diary format and lots of "cute" aesthetics. It’s colorful, easy to read, and focuses on friendship and school-age drama.
Recommended Ages: 5-8
- Read-Aloud (Ages 5-6): This is a fantastic read-aloud. The sentences are punchy, and you can do great voices for Eugenia Lincoln (grumpy) and Mr. Watson (oblivious).
- Early Independent Reading (Ages 6-7): This is the "sweet spot." If your child is in 1st or 2nd grade, this is often the first "chapter book" they can finish by themselves. That sense of accomplishment is huge for their confidence.
- Older Readers (Ages 8+): For a 3rd grader, this might be a "dessert book"—something they read in 10 minutes for a laugh. If they are struggling with reading, it’s a non-intimidating way to practice without the "baby book" stigma.
There is zero "problematic" content here. No hidden agendas, no scary monsters, no inappropriate language. The "conflict" usually stems from Mercy being a pig and people expecting her to act like a human.
The only thing to be aware of is that Eugenia Lincoln is pretty mean to the pig. If your child is super sensitive to "mean neighbors," you might want to frame it as Eugenia just being a "grumpy pants" who doesn't understand how special Mercy is.
How to Talk About It
You don't need to turn this into a literature seminar, but if you want to engage, try these:
- "Why do you think Mercy wants to drive the car so badly?"
- "If Mercy could talk, what do you think she’d say to Eugenia?"
- "Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Watson treat Mercy too much like a human? What would happen if we let a pig live in our house?"
Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride is a 10/10 recommendation for families with young kids. In a world of "Ohio" memes and YouTube shorts that have the attention span of a goldfish, Kate DiCamillo’s writing offers a much-needed slow-down. It’s funny enough to keep them off the iPad and simple enough to make them feel like a "big kid" reader.
Go to the library, grab the whole stack of Mercy books, and make some buttered toast. It’s a parenting win that requires zero charging cables.
- Check your local library for the full series—they are almost always in stock.
- Download the Libby app if you want to read them on a Kindle or tablet during travel.
- If your kid finishes the series, move on to the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, which follows the human characters from the Mercy books and is a slightly higher reading level.
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