This Book is Funny!

Funny books for children

Louie Lets Loose

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louie“Greetings, humans. I am Louie the Unicorn and this is my tale.” And so begins the terrifically funny and wonderfully absurd Louie Lets Loose by Rachel Hamilton.

It’s a nicely simple premise, perfectly suited for early readers just getting used to reading novels: Young Louie the Unicorn decides to leave Story Land for the Bright Lights of New York in search of SUPERSTARDOM.

Our intrepid, selfie-snapping unicorn enrols in the New York School for Performing Arts to realise his dreams, and in doing so meets all sorts of cool mythical creatures living it large in the city. And of course, this isn’t quite the New York as we know it, though there are hot dogs and donuts, and probably gallons of coffee.

We need more bright and cheerful books like this, for this age group. Honestly, after climbing the slow mountain of the early years reading schemes, to any new reader this book will make it seem like the clouds have parted and the sun is shining down from above.

And that’s not even mentioning the ace illustrations by Oscar Armelles. They’re a quirky mix of line and photo montage, which suits the story perfectly.

If you like this, try the Claude books by Alex T Smith.

Published by Oxford University Press. RRP £5.99

 

 

 

The Unbelievable Top Secret Diary of Pig

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pigWe love pigs a lot at This Book is Funny, and The Unbelievable Top Secret Diary of a Pig by Emer Stamp is terrific fun.

Pig loves yummy slops and back scratches and the nice Farmer. He does NOT like the Evil Chickens. But when his friend Duck reveals Farmer’s true intentions, Pig decides to take the Evil Chickens up on an unexpected offer.

Written by Pig in his wonderfully engaging style, this diary is full of silly fun and packed with pictures that make it a pleasure to read. Hurray for Pig!

There’s a cracking interview with Emer here, if you’re interested and, of course, this is part of series so go check out all of Emer Stamp’s other Pig books!

If you like this, try My Hamster is a Detective by Dave Lowe!

Published by Scholastic. RRP £8.99

 

My Hamster is a Detective

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hamsterdetectiveBen Jinks has a very clever hamster. In fact, Ben’s hamster is a genius. And he can talk. So it makes perfect sense when Ben and his genius, talking hamster, Stinky, embark on a detective adventure that stretches both their powers of reasoning. When Ben’s sister’s kitten gets cat-napped, the “Tenacious Two” take on the case, leaving no hamster wheel unturned in a bid to find the missing mog.

A fast-paced, gag-packed adventure ensues with Ben and his sarcastic pet bickering energetically throughout. Although within the grasp of six-year-olds, some of the humour may be lost on the youngest early readers, but slightly older readers will appreciate the impressive array of sarcastic put-downs offered by the duo. It’s definitely something for parents to look forward to. Dave Lowe has written a little gem here, and the illustrations by Mark Chambers are also a treat!

If you liked this, you might like The Twits by Roald Dahl or The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies.

My Hamster is a Detective is part of a series, so there are plenty of other Stinky and Jinks stories to be had if you fancy more hamster japes.

Published by Templar Publishing. RRP £5.99

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat

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ottolineWritten and illustrated by the current Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell, Ottoline and the Yellow Cat  absolutely oozes quality.

Ottoline Munro and hirsute friend Mr Munro investigate a series of burglaries amongst the rich dog-owners of Big City. Ottoline is going to need a very clever plan to solve this mystery.

This multi-award winning book is a treat to look at, thanks to Chris Riddell’s super-detailed and elegant illustrations, with which the book is absolutely packed. The prose is just as refined: the fun is all in the deadpan understatement. It’s a classic, which will look beautiful on any bookshelf. (This is not one to buy in ebook format!)

If you like this try some of the other Ottoline books (such as this one), or even one of The Edge Chronicles with Paul Stewart!

Published by Pan Macmillan. RRP £10.99

Oi Frog!

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oifrogKes Gray takes a quick stroll through the rhyming dictionary in order to give Frog a lesson on his proper place in the world: on  a log, of course! Meanwhile, cats are sitting on mats, gophers on sofas, moles on poles and pumas on satsumas. Where else could they be?

A simple concept provides lots of scope for silly wordplay and Jim Field’s boldly coloured illustrations have never looked better. Already a bit of classic, Oi Frog! will have its readers chanting along merrily in no time.

If you liked this book, the pair have another title – Quick Quack, Quentin – coming out very soon.

Published by Hachette Children’s Group. RRP £6.99

 

The Last Kids on Earth

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last kids on earthFor children not quite old enough for the gore and horror of The Walking Dead but still wanting their zombie apocalypses, The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier is a riot of fun.

It’s vividly and brilliantly illustrated by Douglas Holgate, and packed with jokes, wisecracking characters, and awesome monsters. Written in first person from the perspective of a boy who survived the outbreak of some crazy zombie disease, the story has the feel of a comic in novel form. The main character’s cool, has a great bunch of friends and even gets his own pet monster.
I loved it for many reasons. It’s got flashy design and has an exceedingly eye-catching cover. It’s fairly unusual, in that it’s a novel at the top end of primary school/early teen (with quite graphic – if comic – violence,) yet still fully illustrated. For the artwork alone it should be celebrated. And then, of course, it’s funny.
So, if you know a kid who’s not quite out of primary school, who’s hard to pull away from videogames, this is the perfect read. If you like this then try Hamish and the Worldstoppers, or if you’re a little older, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Published by Egmont, RRP £6.99.

Alien Adventure: It’s OK We’re Going to Save the Planet

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Alien Adventure

Are you tired of not being able to draw in your reading books? Of course you are!

But fear not, for Alien Adventure: It’s OK We’re Going to Save the Planet will change all that. You don’t just read this story, in a great twist on the classic Choose Your Own Adventure books, you create it!

Andrew & Chris Judge (of the Lonely Beast fame) welcome you to colour, scribble, fold, tear and doodle all sorts of strange and alien things in this wild, new adventure. Every page has at least one mad sketch that you will be asked to add too. The possibilities for adventure are as endless as space itself.

It is all down to you, the reader, the CREATOR, on how mad you want your adventure to be. So sit down, buckle up (although the book does warn you it does not come with buckles) and get creating.

This is published by Scholastic, RRP £5.99.

If you like this, try How to Make Awesome Comics, by Neill Cameron.

 

 

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

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timmy failureFollow the ups and downs of schoolboy Timmy Failure’s detective agency, Total Failure Inc. (the ‘Total’ part comes from the name of his agency partner, polar bear Total), as he negotiates the business obstacles of school and home life in his spectacularly oblivious way.

A slightly heartbreaking subtext is offset by an entertainingly written story. Additionally, the brilliantly judged illustrations ensure that this book by Stephan Pastis (the first of a best-selling series) is a real winner.

Weasels

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weaselsThis is a very SERIOUS book about weasels taking over the world but with very silly illustrations full to the brim with lots of brilliant detail.

When the weasels’ world domination machine breaks the villainous creatures scurry about looking for a fix – pages and pages of fantastic pictures later they find the problem, which is good news for them but BAD news for us.

Weasels by Elys Dolan is a book that can read and re-read just to catch the details that you missed first time around.

The Day The Crayons Quit

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crayonsWhilst Jeffers might be the star name on the cover, Daywalt’s words are an equal match to the illustrations in this collection of letters from a box of crayons to their owner. Each crayon has a bone to pick with Duncan and the way his uses and abuses each of the colours in the box.

There’s a lot of dry wit in the text to match the more obviously funny pictures, with each crayon’s personality being given the chance to shine. Meanwhile there’s a subtle lesson on the colours that make up the world around us.

The Day The Crayons Quit is delightful.

Latest 0-4yrs

Supermarket Gremlins

This wonderful rhyming picture book written by Adam and Charlotte Guillain (authors of Spaghetti with the Yeti and Pizza for Pirates) and illustrated by Chris Chatterton, shows us the zany, secret world of the Supermarket Gremlins. This book is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud as you try to spot the little monsters hiding […]

Latest 4-8yrs

Snow-Man Windy Pops!

If you’ve ever found yourself reading a dull early reader book – most likely from a reading scheme – you and your kids will be jumping for joy at this new series. Snow-man Windy Pops! by the hilarious Tommy Donbavand and Steve Beckett is an incredibly irreverent Beano-esque blast of brilliance. Part of a set […]

Latest 8-12yrs

Perijee and Me

Wouldn’t you love to have your very own little alien friend? Well, that’s exactly what Caitlin gets in Perijee & Me by Ross Montgomery. Caitlin doesn’t have any friends, and she hates living out in the middle of nowhere on a remote island with a Mum who ignores her and a Dad who’s never there. And then she […]