Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise

by Sara Pennypacker

Like DiCamillo, Pennypacker creates a deeply felt bond between a human and an animal protagonist, but she shifts perspective to let us inside the animal's mind. The emotional stakes are higher here—this is about separation and survival—yet it maintains that same warmth and humor in unexpected moments that makes Mercy Watson so charming.

by Kate DiCamillo

I know—same author, but hear me out: if you loved Mercy's gentle chaos and the way DiCamillo writes about loyalty and small creatures in a big world, this earlier work shows her at her most lyrical. It's from 2003, so it predates Mercy Watson, and it has a completely different tone—more fairy tale than domestic comedy—but the same fundamental kindness toward her characters runs through both.

by Annie Barrows

Blackall captures that same spirit of neighborhood mischief and misunderstanding that ripples through Mercy Watson—two kids (instead of a pig) stumbling into situations that spiral in delightfully absurd directions. The illustrations have a similar warmth, and the humor comes from character rather than slapstick, so it feels like visiting the same world with different inhabitants.

by Laura Baskes Litwin

This is the surprise pick—yes, it's beloved, but most readers approach it as a tearjerker about mortality rather than noticing how much it shares with Mercy Watson: a pig at the center of a found family, a story where the animals have distinct personalities and agency, and prose that's both funny and genuinely moving without ever being saccharine. White's pig Wilbur has that same earnest, food-focused charm.

by Barbara Park

Park's Junie B. has Mercy Watson's same oblivious confidence and talent for creating chaos through sheer force of personality—she barrels through situations with the same single-minded determination that gets Mercy into her Halloween predicaments. The first-person narration gives you direct access to that wonderfully illogical kid logic that makes both characters so funny.