Henry Winkler - Book Series In Order (2025)

Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Publication Order of Hank Zipzer Books

with Lin Oliver

Publication Order of Hank Zipzer (TV Tie-In) Books

with Lin Oliver

Publication Order of Detective Duck Books

with Lin Oliver

Publication Order of Ghost Buddy Books

with Lin Oliver

Publication Order of Here's Hank Books

with Lin Oliver

Publication Order of Alien Superstar Books

with Lin Oliver

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Henry Winkler was born on 30th of October in 1945 in New York, the US at a place called Manhattan. He is the son of Harry Irving Winkler and Ilse Anna Marie Winkler. His father was an international lumbering company president while the mother used to work in the same organization. His parents moved to the US by avoiding the detrimental Germany Holocaust in 1939.

Henry was raised up as an individual with high levels of low self-esteem. He always struggled with academics all the way from the elementary school to the high school. Later on, he identified the reason for his academic struggles as dyslexia. Henry’s parents were expecting their son to work together with their son in the company. However, he had personal plans that weren’t in line with his parents’. His roles on the stage as an actor saw him thing otherwise. In his eighth grade, the acting debut came when he played Billy Budd’s role in the school play.

After graduating from McBurney High School, Henry incorporated his learning disability only to succeed in his academics. He worked hard, something that made him receive a Bachelor’s degree in 1967 from the Emerson College. His road to academics didn’t just end there. He also went ahead to acquire a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the famous Yale School of Drama in1970. He had joined his line of action and a field that he loved most. In 1978, Henry received a Hebrew Literature Honorary degree from his former College of Emerson.

Henry’s burning desire was to become one of the best actors. However, he had an exit strategy could things have failed. He wanted to become a child psychologist since his personal desires were towards working with children. His desires couldn’t have allowed him to work with the parents in the lumbering industry. Just like many actors in the entertainment industry, Henry began his career by appearing in 30 commercials, something that contributed to his popularity. The first role in the film was in 1974 in The Lords of Flatbush, where he played a Brooklyn, gang member.

Some time later, Henry Winkler was cast on a new ABC series set in the 1950s. It was called the Happy Days in 1974. In this case, he played the role of Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, who was both a dropout and greaser. This character was rarely seen in the past few episodes since the ABC had feared that he would be perceived by many as a hoodlum. Funny enough, the character gained popularity among the viewers. This compelled the viewers of the show to give Fonzie a more prominent role to play in this series. As a result of this, the show began to roar, and Fonzie became not only the 1970s icon but also the epitome of cool. Fonzie’s motorcycle, thumb-up gesture, leather jacket, and the renowned uttering of the phrase “Aayyyy!” was now the television trademarks. This popularity almost tempted the ABC to rename the series as “Fonzie’s Happy Days.”

Unlike most stars of the 1970s who gained fame over short periods of time and developed ‘big heads,’ Henry was very different. He always stayed well-grounded by avoiding the trap. He was a very agreeable and polite despite the soaring of his popularity. He remained on this famous series until 1984 when it was canceled.

After the end of the Happy Days, the mid-1980s saw Henry make a bold change in his focus towards directing and producing. He managed to produce and direct some TV movies and shows. The most notable ones were the MacGyver (1985) and the Sabrina as well as the Teenage Witch (1996). Moreover, Henry managed to re-establish himself with younger generation TV viewers and moviegoers. He appeared in the popular films of the Scream (1996) and The Waterboy (1998) as well as the shows that included Arrested Development (2003) and The Practice (1997).

On the other hand, this personality was not only in the shows and TVs. He is an accomplished author of a series of books. From 2003 to 2007, he authored 12 books for children together with Lin Oliver. The series was named as “Hank Zipzer, the World’s Greatest Underachiever.” These books are based on his struggles with dyslexia. They sold over 2 million copies at the time.

On the other hand, this personality was married to Stacey Winkler since 1978 with whom they share three children. As a couple, the two are always involved with child-based charities, and they cofounded the famous Children’s Action Network (CAN). CAN offers free immunization to more than 200,000 children.
Sample Books in the Hank Zipzer Series

1. Niagara Falls, or Does it?

In this book, Hank starts a new year while at school and meets the new teacher who demands her students write an essay. Hank faces a tough time in doing his work. Meanwhile, Hank’s grandfather called Papa Petea asks him to put some magic show on the bowling league game. On the other hand, the teacher had stated earlier that Hank should do the work with a lot of creativity. Hank, therefore, makes a decision of making Niagara Falls rather than write something about it. He presents this project in class. As a result, he receives two weeks of punishment both at school and home.

2. I Got a “D” in Salami

In this second book in the series, Hank gets his report card. He moves straight away to mom to show her. At the same time, the mom happens to be making salami give to a supermarket chain leader. Hank makes a decision to get rid of the report card before the parents could see. Robert is the one given to destroy it. Robert goes ahead to put it in the salami batch. The mom then picks the salami with the report card but the two tries to stop the delivery. What a fantastic scenario!

3. The Zippity Zinger

Published in on the 1st of December in 2003, this is the fourth book in the series. In the book, Hank is chosen by his friends to be a pitcher for the school team of the PS 87’s Olympiad baseball. Since he can’t pitch for himself, he ends up thinking that his sister’s “lucky red monkey socks” is the solution. The problem arises when Emily requires them the day of the Olympiad.

All these books were written for the children. In addition to being written, the books were aired in the TV series in episodes

Book Series In Order » Authors » Henry Winkler

The 29th Jack Reacher novel comes out this month. With 29 novels in the series, you'd think the bad guys would have learned by now! Reacher hitches a ride but the car is ran off the road. The driver is dead, and the bad guys have captured Reacher, with the idea of making him talk.

Yeah....that's not going to end well.

Order now at Amazon.

I often get asked by readers if they can donate to the site as a thank you for all the hard work. While I appreciate the offer – please support one of these great causes instead (list rotates monthly):
Book Aid International
The Brain Tumour Charity
Make A Wish
North Carolina Hurricane Victims

Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
For more information on BSIO read the About Me page.

Are you a Jack Reacher fan? If so, you absolutely have to read the Peter Ash series by author Nick Petrie.

I recommend this series to anyone who has liked Jack Reacher, and everyone always replies thanking me for it. Nick makes my life easy. If you are a Jack Reacher fan, past or present, Check out this great series today.

Are you a fan of psychological thrillers? A big fan of authors such as Gillian Flynn? These are our most recommended authors in the thriller genre, which is my personal favourite genre:

1. B.A. Paris
2. Freida McFadden
3. John Marrs
4. Linwood Barclay
5. Lucy Foley
6. Megan Goldin
7. Peter Swanson
8. Ruth Ware
9. Sarah Alderson
10. Shari Lapena