A lot of picture books are great for babies and toddlers, but others are great with kids who are a little bigger too, with a better refined sense of humor. And by that, I mean they’re not beyond laughing at bodily functions, but they can also appreciate the fact that a kitty doing taxes is ridiculous. These are books I don’t read in my baby or toddler storytimes, but that I will read over and over with Charlotte (9) and Troy (4).
A Funny Book for Practicing Counting
Too Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf: A Counting Story by Davide Cali
This is one of my favorite books of 2023. It was published in 2022, but I didn’t find it until this August. The premise is simple. The text has two fonts to show two speakers having a conversation. The first person, presumably a child, asks for a story. The second, presumably an adult, tells a story about three pigs and a big bad wolf. It goes off the rails because the adult is not in the mood to tell a story, but the child is not satisfied with the half-hearted attempt. Why not? Because the story, which I’m about to paraphrase, goes something like this: “Once upon a time there were three little pigs, and the big bad wolf ate them. The end.” The child keeps asking for more plot or characterization, and the adult must oblige, with more pigs in each story told. My kids love the part with the cereal. I’m not going to spoil it, but by this point my kids are ALWAYS laughing out loud.
My first recommendation for using the book with your child in an educational way is obvious – count the pigs. Point to the page and count aloud together. You can also use this one to practice letters. One page has 26 pigs and the child insists they all be named, so the adult names them all alphabetically. Here, especially if your child is younger than mine, you might point out that each name starts with a different letter of the alphabet, and suggest singing the ABC song together after the book.
A Funny Book for Practicing the Alphabet
This is not your typical alphabet book. There is a storyline about a kitty. When the kitty’s human family gets him yucky, healthy food, 26 items in alphabetical order of course, the cat retaliates by being a Bad Kitty… alphabetically. It eats the child’s homework, and wakes the sleeping baby, and is mean and makes mischief. Then the family buys him 26 things the kitty finds yummy, and the cat fixes all of the bad stuff by doing things like filing the family’s taxes, and singing the baby to sleep. By the end of the fix-it list, my kids were literally rolling on the floor with laughter.
Bad Kitty goes through lists in alphabetical order four times, so it’s another good book for practicing letters. Instead of just singing the ABC song, you might try making lists with something for each letter of the alphabet. Incorporate phonics if your child is too little to be reading yet. Example: “Next is the letter B. Buh buh B. What food starts with buh buh B? . . . That’s right, a banana! Buh buh banana starts with buh buh B.”
A Funny Book without Pictures
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
The book starts by acknowledging that a book without pictures “sounds boring, and serious.” But then we learn the one rule about books is that whatever the book says, the reader has to say, no matter what. Then the book proceeds to make the reader say things like, “My best friend is a hippo named Boo Boo Butt.” If your kid isn’t laughing by the time you finish singing, “Glug glug glug, my face is a bug. I eat ants for breakfast right off the rug,” then you are not doing it right. The first time my kids heard this, we had trouble getting through it because we were laughing so hard.
The author has added in lines for the reader to act embarrassed. Gearing up for a two-page spread with a series of different silly sounds, the reader has to say, “Uh oh, here it comes…” I take these as suggestions, but I change them along those lines as I see fit. I’ll close the book and say, “That’s it, I’m not reading any more!” and my kids laugh and say I have to keep reading.
You could use this book as a lead-in to art class – ask your child to illustrate their favorite part. Maybe they want to draw you with Boo Boo Butt. Maybe they want to draw you as a robot monkey. Or you with a bug face. It’s all about making the reader look silly, so brace yourself for drawings of you looking ridiculous.
Celebrity author alert: B.J. Novak is an actor, known for The Mindy Project.
A Funny Book Double Header
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Dragons Love Tacos 2 by Adam Rubin
I cannot tell you how much we love these books. They are funny individually, but for the best impact (especially for the sequel to make sense), you should read them back to back. The story is about… well, the fact that dragons love tacos. The books don’t just break the fourth wall, they annihilate it. The unseen narrator talks to the reader, but also talks to the boy in the book, and to all of the dragons. Basically, in the first book we learn that dragons love tacos, but that spicy salsa gives them tummy troubles and makes them breathe out fire. The boy throws the dragons a taco party but doesn’t read the fine print on the jar of salsa – the “mild” salsa is new and improved, “now with jalapeno peppers.” The narrator tries to warn the dragons not to eat the tacos at the party, but it’s too late. They burn down the boy’s house.
In the second book, there are no tacos left. The boy nonchalantly uses the time machine in the garage (I mean… WHAT?!) to try to go back in time to before the party started, and to save some tacos so he can then return and plant tacos to grow taco trees. (Again… WHAT?!) He goes back too far and has to go forward again, but things are weird – things like “Tacos love dragons” or “Dragons love underpants.”
Not much educational stuff here for the most part, but the final (wordless) spread in the second book is full of Easter eggs. There are indeed tacos growing on trees, and a huge cast of characters are eating the tacos. It’s fun to point out people that are featured. Abe Lincoln loves tacos. Gandhi loves tacos. (I would probably end a hunger strike if there were tacos too…) Aliens love tacos. And Gandalf. And Jimi Hendrix. And Prince. And many others. You could use this as a jumping off point for talking about who the historical and literary figures in the book are, and why they were famous. Maybe not with a baby or toddler, but definitely with a bigger kid. My 9 year old sometimes wants to talk to me about who everyone in the picture is.
There are TONS of silly picture books. If you want even more, ask your local children’s librarian for some suggestions. You can also check out my Goodreads profile at the link below.
Check out Miss Michelle’s Book Nook
Miss Michelle shares her book recommendations each month on the In Our Homeschool blog. Find links to all of her posts here.
Miss Michelle is the sister of Kristen, who writes this blog. She has a daughter who is 9 and a son who is 4. They are not home-schooled, but Miss Michelle is super supportive and proud of her sister for doing it. She has been a full-time Children’s Librarian for over 15 years and loves to recommend her favorite books. You can follow her on Goodreads, where she keeps track of books she has read for storytime, at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/170007385-miss-michelle.
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