Name: Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride
ISBN: 9780763623326

Synopsis

The amiable Mercy Watson takes an automobile ride she'll never forget in the second tale of an ebullient first chapter-book series by Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen.

Mr. and Mrs. Watson's porcine wonder, Mercy, loves nothing more than a ride in the car. It takes a fair amount of nudging and bribing and a "You are such a good sport, darling" to get the portly pig out of the driver's seat, but once the convertible is on the road, Mercy loves the feel of the wind tickling her ears and the sun on her snout. One day the Watsons' motoring ritual takes an unexpected turn, however, when their elderly neighbor Baby Lincoln pops up in the backseat in hopes of some "folly and adventure" — and in the chaos that ensues, an exuberant Mercy ends up behind the wheel! Soon there's a policeman on her tail, a struggle for the brake, and a blissfully airborne Mercy. Of course, it's nothing that an extra helping of buttered toast can't fix!

Recommendations

Pax

by Sara Pennypacker

Like Mercy Watson, Pax centers on an animal protagonist whose gentle nature and loyalty create warmth in unexpected places, but Pennypacker adds genuine emotional depth—this explores what happens when that bond is tested. The episodic chapter structure mirrors DiCamillo's accessibility, yet the emotional stakes feel more substantial without losing the fundamental kindness that makes both books special.

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The Tale of Despereaux

by Kate DiCamillo

I know—same author—but hear me out: if you loved Mercy's earnest sweetness and the way DiCamillo finds comedy in character quirks, this earlier work (published 2003) shows her at her most lyrical. It's a fairy tale told with the same affection for flawed, lovable creatures, but with a darker, more romantic sensibility that suggests where her voice came from before Mercy's cheerful chaos.

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Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

by Barbara Park

Park captures that same first-chapter-book energy—a protagonist who's well-meaning but hilariously self-assured, narrating her own mishaps with complete confidence. Where Mercy's chaos comes from her pig nature, Junie B.'s comes from her absolute certainty that her logic makes perfect sense, and the comedy lands in exactly that same warm, never-mean-spirited place.

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E.B. White Beyond Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little

by Laura Baskes Litwin

Published in 1952, this is your bridge to classic animal literature—it has that same conversational warmth and genuine affection for its creatures that DiCamillo brings to Mercy, but White's prose carries a quieter melancholy underneath. Both books understand that animals in stories work because they let us see human emotions reflected back at us without pretense.

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The Mysterious Benedict Society

by Trenton Lee Stewart

This is my curve-ball recommendation: it's got the same episodic adventure structure and ensemble cast of lovable misfits, but it's genuinely clever in ways that reward close reading—think of it as what happens when you take Mercy's found-family warmth and add actual mystery and problem-solving. Stewart writes children who are competent without being precocious, which is harder than it sounds.

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