31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Funny Picture Books

These lists I do are like my children. How could I possibly choose my favorite amongst them?

Easily. It’s today’s list. No question. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Humor being the subjective business that it is, it can be a difficult thing to master in a book for younger readers. You have to balance your desire to provide entertainment that the adult readers (read: purchasers) will enjoy alongsie jokes a kid will actually find funny. Today we look at a slew of books that are doing it right. From parrotfish and hilarious Iranians to science fiction, nonfiction, and more, there’s something here for every humor lover on your list!

You can download a PDF of today’s list here.

My previous lists of funny picture books are well worth seeking out too. They include:

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016

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2024 Funny Picture Books

Aiko and the Planet of Dogs by Christoffer Ellegaard, ill. Ainhoa Cayuso, translated by Irene Vázquez

Space! The final frontier! You know, years ago I was talking to someone who wanted to create a graphic novel or story in which the dogs sent into space during the Russian space program had created their own society amongst the stars (but were reported dead so as not to frighten the populace of the world). This book very much feels like it was written along the same lines. After all, how do YOU think those dogs felt when they were cast into the great beyond? If they happened to get a planet of their own, they really wouldn’t feel all that hospitable towards human folk. That’s what courageous astronaut Aiko discovers when she lands on a planet inhabited entirely by dogs. At first everything goes swimmingly, but when she tells them that she’s going to tell Earth about them and become the most famous astronaut as a result, things take a turn. She’s turned into a pet herself and while things end happily, she definitely promises not to report anything in the future. There are little jokes in the art that you notice after several readings. I appreciated in particular the “Astro Bouf” and “Pizza Puree” that Aiko eats in her spaceship. I also liked the rather subtle (but definitely there) fountain of a dog that is clearly peeing. Also, if you’d like to see a rather good dog conga line, I most certainly have the book for you.

Artificial Intelligence by David Biedrzycki

Humor and Mr. Biedrzycki go hand in hand. Now in the past he’s done quite a nice bit of work with aliens invading (Invasion of the Unicorns) but now that everyone else is doing that, this year he’s switching gears and going for robots instead. Specifically a robot that knows that he’s different right from the get go (an accident involving a drop of paint and his microchip is told at the start). Biedrzycki is one of those Wiesner-like creators that can tell a story with words on the one hand and with pictures on the other. Our hero, the generically named Robot, is a bit of a daydreamer. There are some serious WALL-E vibes going on in this little number, particularly when Robot upsets the status quo with his insistence on creating art. You may also get some Wild Robot feels as well, since Robot’s interactions with people carry echoes of Peter Brown’s book. If you’ve a kid who is simply gaga for robots, this is probably the quintessential funny story to hand them. Art and all. 

A Bear, a Fish, and a Fishy Wish by Daniel Bernstrom, ill. Brandon James Scott

One bear. One fish. An empty tummy. Prepare for gentle rhymes amid ensuing hijinks as our hungry hero gets in over his head (literally). Brandon James Scott has a way with pupils, man. The eyeballs on this bear are incomparable. And you can tell that Scott worked in animation because he has this sense of timing worthy of the best Looney Tune cartoons (Bear is essentially the spiritual soulmate of Wile E. Coyote). Bernstrom keeps the gentle rhymes ah-coming, and though I don’t usually truck with books where the predator lets the prey go out of the goodness of his golden glorious heart, you can’t but give this book a pass. Plus, it nails the wordless ending.

Best Thing Ever! by Beatrice Alemagna, translated by Jill Phythian

Pascaline is back! The little hot pink bat first seen in Never! Not Ever! (one of my favorite First Day of School books of all time) returns in a story of a supermarket and a small child who wants EVERYTHING. I have it on good authority that in the past Pascaline was based on Alemagna’s own child, so all I can say is that I hope she never stops getting great material out of her offspring. As with her other books, Alemagna utilizes fluorescent colors to a marvelous degree. That pop of color really draws your eye to Pascaline as she makes her way across pages of natural brown and green tones. There also isn’t a parent alive unfamiliar with what happens when a child melts into “a pile of gloop” on the floor of a store. I’m not even certain that that’s a metaphor when you experience it firsthand. A can’t miss title about a literal meltdown. 

The Book That Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed, ill. Hatem Aly

You’ll note that this book never appeared on my rhyming list. I’d say the reasons for that are fairly self-explanatory. Older brother/younger sister dynamics are the star of this particular show. An older brother is dead set on telling his pretend story his way. Problem is, his sneaky little sister has a way of getting her own storylines into his, thanks to a clever method of always interrupting his rhymes. This is kind of like Guess Who? by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex if there were more of a plot. The near rhymes provide constant humor, but there’s a clever little twist at the end that older readers might really enjoy too.

The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please

Could someone please talk to Harper Collins about returning once again to sending out physical galleys? I missed SO MANY of their titles this year, and came a hair’s breath away from this being one of them. Thankfully, I caught it in the nick of time. The plot involves Rene, who really and truly wants to be a great chef. When she opens a cafe at the edge of the woods, only Glumfoot applies for the position as waiter. And when they finally do get a customer, it take a handy mix of Rene’s skills and Glumfoot’s smarts to pull the event off. Look, I’m not doing a Gross list this year, but if I was, this would get top billing. It’s disgusting and hilarious and just a tiny bit meaningful as well. Irresistible.

Champ by Payam Ebrahimi, ill. Reza Dalvand, translated by Caroline Croskery

Okay, I don’t know why, but the Iranians are just particularly good at funny children’s books. Don’t believe me? Well, think about some of the titles by Rashin Kheiriyeh (who brought to life one of my favorite fables, Two Parrots). Or what about Daniel Nayeri and his particularly skewed take on life, the world, the universe, and everything in it? Now we add to that list this book from Ebrahimi and Dalvand and it is just boffo. At its core, it’s a story about familial expectations and the ways in which we try to live up to them. In Abtin’s family (the delightfully named Moleskis) you are either a champion or you’re nothing at all. All throughout his house the Moleskis are portrayed with their customary frowns of concentration and seriousness as they win athletic championship after athletic championship. Abtin studies them with all the seriousness of a scholar. Unfortunately it’s all for naught, as his disgusted relatives note that not only has he no mole on his face, “Forget about being a champion, you couldn’t even be a flagman at a race.” His solution? Let’s just say it requires a bit of out-of-the-box thinking (and ends with a delightful silent image of his father’s bright red face screaming, which is not something you see in a picture book every day). You know, books from other countries don’t have any trouble with taking their art to illogical extremes, and this book reminded me (in a way) of this year’s Sleepless Night translated from the Spanish by Micaela Chirif. Good goofy Iranian fun. 

The Day Moon and Earth Had an Argument by David Duff, ill. Noemi Vola

Meet the book that officially made me a Noemi Vola fan. This is one of those titles where I read it and liked it, and then as time went on and I kept showing it to other people, I didn’t just like it. I LOVED it. Maybe that’s just because I think the story is a funny take that I’ve never really seen before. Or maybe it’s because illustrator Noemi Vola is a certified nutjob. How else to explain art that seems to have crawled out of an Underground Comix hole circa 1969? The basic premise is right there in the title. Moon and Earth have an argument (we never really know why) and the Moon takes off in a huff. I mean, why shouldn’t it just hang out with one of the other planets instead? So it goes to them one-by-one and if you EVER wanted to get kids to know the differences between the planets, this book is my #1 recommendation for drilling that information home. That’s how you’re going to find out that Venus is toxic, Mercury moves too fast, Mars already has two moons, Jupiter has ninety-five of the darn things, Saturn has even more but also has cool rings, Neptune is really cold, Pluto isn’t really a planet and likes solitude, and Uranus is . . . . a lot man. In fact, you should pick up this book for Uranus alone. Something is wrong with that dude. Seriously. The colorful art includes things like Spielberg’s E.T.s running about, and who can resist the knee socks the Moon is sporting? Seriously, you’ll have seen nothing like this before and nothing since, but it’s a trip and a delight and well worth remembering. 

The Dictionary Story by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

Why should books with stories get all the fun? A jealous dictionary attempts to tell a tale, with incredibly disastrous results. A truly original delight of a story. The sheer SHEER amount of work that went into this book just leaves me dumbfounded. When I worked out that every single solitary definition wasn’t just original but hilarious… jaw on floor, folks. Jaw. On. Floor. And then to top the whole thing off the art is amazing AND the story is good and funny? This is the best book Jeffers has worked on since Stuck (my personal favorite and, as far as I’m concerned, the nadir of his career). Would love to know more about what the Jefferson/Winston collaboration consisted of. Did Winston make the physical book itself? I loved how tattered it looked by the story’s end. This is pretty amazing.

Dog Vs. Strawberry by Nelly Buchet, ill. Andrea Zuill

I keep this running list in my head of funny illustrators I’d love to work with someday. K-Fai Steele. Helen Yoon. Eliza Kinkz, and I think it may now be time for me to add Andrea Zuill to the list as well. There’s just something universally appealing about her characters and situations, all perfectly brought to life in her latest pairing with Buchet. Anyone who has ever watched a pet have an extended relationship with an inanimate object will feel for this competition between the dog and the strawberry. Buchet’s greatest move, however, is to tell this in the voice of an announcer. This means that as a readaloud you’ll need to polish up your vocal chords. The true gift, though, is that you’ll be able to read this one to large groups and have a LOT of fun too. Be sure to put an extra emphasis on the final, “DOOOOOOOOG WINS!” and make your small listeners do big cheers when you do. By the way, if you’ve a copy where you can remove the case cover, do so. Zuill went the extra mile with the images there. Previously seen on the Readaloud List.

The Good Little Mermaid’s Guide to Bedtime by Eija Sumner, ill. Nici Gregory

QUAIL! QUAIL, I say, before the fearsome magnificence of this most terrifying mermaid! This is an interesting deviation from the usual mermaid genre. Sort of a fourth-wall buster, in that the mermaid in question seems to have been given an insipid book called “The Good Little Mermaid’s Guide to Bedtime” and she is reacting with appropriate venom. With each namby pamby page of the book, saying things like, “The good little mermaid opens her home and invites fresh water into her room. A filtered room will create a restful atmosphere,” our mermaid heroine responds with, “The only thing I invite into my home is dinner. The only atmosphere I know is the atmosphere of FEAR that follows me wherever I go.” This is accompanied by an image of her preparing to devour a string of innocent fishies. With the aid of Nici Gregory, there are lots of nice Jaws references and this delicate walk between truly scary and what is clearly a mermaid playing at being truly scary. I imagine the reading aloud of this book would be a sheer delight. I can already hear my bad little mermaid voice (ya gotta make it scary but not too scary). This is good stuff.  Previously seen on the Readaloud List.

Hank Goes Honk by Maurie Powell-Tuck, ill. Duncan Beedie

Look at that cover. Look at that sneaky goosie side-eye. Duncan Beedie, I salute you. That’s some good book jacket work right there. And it occurs to me that when you sit right down and think about it, there should be a lot more irate geese in our picture book literature. Think Untitled Goose Game: Picture Book Edition (IYKYK). In this story we have Hank. Hank is a minor menace, not on the same scale as, say, Saracen fromFly By Night, but even a minor menace is still a menace. The readaloud possibilities with this one are pretty good. On one page you can hear how Hank interrupts with a “HONK”, which will give the person reading this book ample opportunities to say the word loudly. The repeated use of the word “obnoxious”? Par excellent. The text? Funny. The goose? Funny. The art? Worthy of your love, time, and attention. This is one to enjoy.  Previously seen on the Readaloud List.

How We Share Cake by Kim Hyo-Eun, translated by Deborah Smith

The logistics that go into fairness, particularly when you have multiple siblings to contend with. Kim Hyo-eun doesn’t just understand this concept. She’s able to render it on the page with so much verve and humor than even if you grew up an only child you’ll find yourself laughing in recognition time and time again. I particularly loved the logistics of sharing food following by a consideration of how one “shares” an uncle. You do not want to miss this.

I’m Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff, ill. Julie Kwon

Jack knocked down Zoe’s block castle and now has to write an apology. At first it doesn’t go all that well. What happened and will Jack ever learn how to write a real apology? Touching and hilarious by turns. I like an epistolary picture book that justifies its format completely, right from the start. Lukoff’s book is also rather brilliant. It’s a series of apologies, but it’s also a mystery at its heart. Why did Jack knock down that castle in the first place? This is the first book I’ve seen from Julie Kwon where I felt like she could really lean into her comic timing skills. Plus Lukoff’s story just felt so real to me. It’s the kind of book you wish you could force adults with their sorry-not-sorry apologies to read themselves. Love that the teacher is clearly guiding all of this from behind-the-scenes, and this may have my favorite post-titles sequence on the publication page of the year. Unique.

The Island Before No by Christina Uss, ill. Hudson Christie

Well, that’s a helluva thing. So this is a kind of a fascinating picture book. Wholly original. Great text. But it’s the images that are the star of the show. I like the illogical logic of the whole thing too. It’s set on an island where you’ve a bunch of pretty darn peaceful walruses who have managed to co-exist for quite some time without ever being able to tell one another “No”. These are yes walruses, through and through. As such, they are wholly unprepared when this kid appears on their island and just starts taking advantage of them wholecloth. He takes donuts without paying for them, won’t share, and generally just railroads the whole island into doing what he wants. Our hero walrus (unnamed) finally manages to convince his fellows to say the word “No” once in a while, though it’s a struggle to learn. I know many a nice kid who has a hard time with this word as well, so the metaphor is shiny and clear as day as far as I can tell. It has a satisfying ending, but the art, man, the art! Illustrator-animator Hudson Christie is described in his little bio as having grown up watching shows like Pingu and Gumby. You can see a lot of that one the page, but the sheer movement he’s able to capture is jaw-dropping. The kids look like escapees from Playmobile and the walruses are sympathetic, one and all. Maybe it’s messagey but it’s far more funny and incredible to look at. You ain’t seen NOTHING like this!

Lefty: A Story That Is Not All Right by Mo Willems, ill. Dan Santat

Huh! I guess those two Dan Santat books written for Mo’s Elephant and Piggie series weren’t just coincidental. Apparently Mo and Dan have some kind of a rapport (not all that surprising, considering the fact that Dan’s pretty much the nicest man working in show business today). Still, there’s a lot to admire in this kooky little picture book title. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but recently Mo’s been getting a lot more interested in incorporating nonfiction subject matter into his work. I’m all for it, since we desperately need more informational books for the younger set, but it is kind of bizarre to witness at first. Aside from books like Are You Big?, Mo’s writing titles like the one on lefty here. And you don’t have to be any kind of a genius to see that he’s definitely using a plotline as seemingly innocuous as how we persecuted left-handed people in the past to show how we continue to persecute people who are different today. I mean, when the hand tells you straight out that, “you can’t be born wrong,” you know what it’s saying. I have to assume that Santat and Willems must have had long conversations about the look of the book, too. Or maybe not, Maybe Santat shocked Willems with his use of photography and illustration. And yes, it’s also funny. Maybe a little message-y, but at this point in the game I’d say it’s long overdue. Is it about left-handed people? Sure it, but it’s a lot more than that. A lot more. 

Lone Wolf Goes to School by Kiah Thomas, ill. K-Fai Steele

Chronically grumpy Wolf would rather go to the movies, beach, or mountains by himself but doggone humans ALWAYS want to be friends with him? The solution? It’s not what you think. I think whoever wrote the copy for this book hit the nail on the head when they wrote, “For readers who have had enough of the buddy duos.” I’m getting STRONG Rotten Ralph vibes from this wolfie. I dunno, but there’s something about a good antisocial character in a book that really strikes me as delightful but only IF the author and artist get the tone right. I’d argue that Thomas and Steele are successful with this book. There are days when you just FEEL what Lone Wolf is going through here. I’m so happy too to see a book that makes such great use of Steele’s unique humor on the page. And if you like this, be sure to also check out its companion book Lone Wolf Gets a Pet. 

Looking for Peppermint, or, Life in the Forest by Maxwell Eaton III

Where is Peppermint the dog? Learn about what it’s like in the forest as a young girl goes searching for her lost pet in this hilarious tale. I had a devil of a time figuring out if this should go in the Nonfiction picture book section or a fictional one, and ultimately with its story about Peppermint the dog I decided the safer route was to opt for fiction. Even so, this book is so packed with information about the forest of the Adirondack Mountains that you’d have a difficult time not learning something from it. Eaton has, by this point, kind of sunk into the beauty of teaching nonfiction with humor that he’s practically a Yankee Phil Bunting. In this particular story, you get the facts, you get the overarching story of our heroine searching for her dog, and you also get flashbacks. With a lesser book creator this could all have ended up a hopeless jumble, but here it plays out more like a symphony. I absolutely loved the storytelling, the art, and now I wanna see a fisher too!

Mamá’s Magnificent Dancing Plantitas by Jesús Trejo, ill. Eliza Kinkz

Let the world know that I was such a huge fan of Trejo and Kinkz’s previous collaboration Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock that when it won a Pura Belpré Honor I was with everyone out there pumping my fist and hooting like a madwoman. It’s hard to follow up such a huge success, though, right? Naturally, the logical way to go with this is to focus now on Mamá and her overwhelming love of plants. Once again, young Jesús  is determined to (A) have a job and (B) be the best possible person in that job ever. The job? Taking care of Mamá’s plantitas. That can only mean one thing: Dance party! But sadly plants are not particularly good at dance parties and so a terrible accident occurs. Kinkz is in full swing yet again, slapping eyes on plants, pots, and everything in between. Check out the killer endpapers and get ready for some serious pathos. Love these guys. Silly, strange, and always original. 

Marina Abramović Turned Herself Into Art and Wasn’t Sorry by Fausto Gilberti

What happens when you turn yourself into your own art project? View the many performances of Marina Abramović, an artist unafraid to try anything. I guess I’d heard of various projects by Abramović in the past, but I never connected them to her and I never really knew her name. At the same time, the ding dang book is written in the first person. It’s a literary technique and it doesn’t say anything that Abramović herself didn’t think or say. So I’m willing to give it a pass, but at the same time I’d like more eyes on it. It truly is unique (and I adore that photograph of her at the end). Plus Marina did some really hilarious piece. My personal favorite is when she and her partner stood naked in the doorway of the museum and people had to push past them awkwardly.

The Museum of Very Bad Smells: A Dare to Scratch n’ Sniff Mystery by Monica Arnaldo

Ah, Monica Arnaldo. All it took was her magnificent Mr. S to come out last year and suddenly she’s the belle of the ball. And rightly! Now if you were going to follow-up a story about a Kindergarten class believing their teacher to be a sandwich, what direction would you go in? I don’t suppose you’d try to revive the old Scratch n’ Sniff genre by any chance, would you? Personally, I am very very excited about this book. As a child, I adored scratch n’ sniff titles. I feel like they really had their heyday in the late 70s/early 80s (I own a Sesame Street scratch n’ sniff that has retained its smells to this very day, which is more than a little off-putting). In Arnaldo’s case, it wasn’t enough to make her book smelly. She had to make it BAD smelly as well. The story, then, follows a mouse museum attendant who is horrified to discover that a world famous Rotten Egg has been stolen at the titular museum in question. And worse? “EVERYBODY is a suspect.” That means that you, the reader, are going to sniff out the thief. Most of the smells are bad, but not too terrible. However, I, in my infinite poor planning, chose to try out this book on my lunch break. This turned out to be a terrible terrible mistake. All I will say is that the very last smell in this book lingers. Horribly. As such, I declare this book a rousing success. And gross? You don’t know the half of it. Very accurate when it comes to dogs, though…

Parrotfish Has a Superpower by Jill Esbaum, ill. Bob Shea

I just can’t stress enough how grateful I am to these animal nonfiction books that aren’t just funny, they’re also chock full of legitimately fascinating info. I feel like this Esbaum/Shea collaboration that began with Stinkbird Has a Superpower is like a younger version of the Superpower Field Guide series by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Nicholas John Frith. But see, the thing is, if you’re going to brag about the fact that an animal has a “superpower” you better be ready to put your money where your mouth is. Stinkbird paid off in dividends but what about the parrotfish? Turns out, Esbaum seems to have a keen sense of which creatures and critters are best suited to her unique scrutiny. And to be perfectly frank, she’s dead right about the parrotfish. I guess I’d heard about its superpower before, but this book makes it just how bizarre, strange, and wonderful it truly is. And you know what? I’m not gonna give it away. Just know that this book is hilarious (thanks in no small part to the illustrious and very funny Bob Shea, doing the art) and fascinating. If you read it aloud, expect to be asked for an encore. 

Pig Town Party by Lian Cho

I was a HUGE fan of Oh, Olive when Lian Cho released it, so to see a new title coming is a definite treat. It doesn’t hurt that it recently won the Society of Illustrator’s Silver Medal for this title! The story involves a girl who gets invited to a “pig party”. What is that exactly? She has literally no clue but she is darned well going to find out! I do love a book that knows how to compound the chaos, and if that compounded chaos also involves a dance party? Win-win, my friends. Win-win.

A Pinecone! by Helen Yoon

Ah! A follow-up to the incredible Off-Limits! Where that book was undeniably a post-COVID commentary on the perils of having your office at home (if you’re a parent with an abundance of office supplies), A Pinecone seemingly follows the same daddy/daughter team as she discovers the wonders of the titular pinecones. Utilizing her fine humor skills, Yoon’s dad is thrown too and fro in the background, pulled by their irascible dog. This distracts him from his daughter’s discovery of so many pinecones. As with Off-Limits, this culminates in him coming into the house to find it floor-to-ceiling covered in the things. “Why are there so many pinecones??” “I really like pinecones.” The answer to their dilemma is cleverly created (and downright magical) at the end. A hoot. A holler. A can’t miss title. 

Spider in the Well by Jess Hannigan

Oh no! The town’s wishing well is broken and no one is getting their wishes anymore? But what’s this? Is the sneaky spider behind it the villain or is there more than meets the eye? A hilarious tale of clever kids and riches galore. Okay, this works particularly well. I mean, any book where a spider engages in side-eye this spectacular is well (ha ha!) worth considering. Is it strong? It is! Hannigan happens to be a hilarious writer, and her artistic style reminds me of nothing so much as a sneaky Byron Barton (which, obviously, would be the BEST Byron Barton). Love its twists and its turns. And love that little spider. They’re sure having a heyday in picture books, aren’t they? 

A Stickler Christmas by Lane Smith

Stickler returns! Again! You have to admire Lane Smith’s affection for his spiky, stick-loving little creation. We’ve seen plenty of picture books capable of balancing humor and heart. Buckle up now for a book that balances heart with the deeply weird. Stickler, in case you missed him before, doesn’t really slot neatly into our preconceived notions of nature’s forest denizens. Nature spirits, to be perfectly frank, don’t tend to have half the energy that Stickler exhibits. He is a creature that loves and loves deeply. So much so that when Christmas rolls around he throws a red sack across his back, pops a red cap on his head, and barebacks about, giving away precious sticks to everyone he cares about. When he encounters Doug-the-Fir, he discovers the pine is distraught. Doug’s a shy guy and the local mice have trimmed him to the nines. The last thing he wants is attention, so in an act of holiday compassion, Stickler finds a very unique solution. This is the kind of book that includes what is undoubtedly my favorite Christmas book sentence (possibly ever): “It was a weird Christmas.” That it is. Hand this one to anyone who wants to elevate their holiday picture book collection with something both emotionally resonant and downright goofypants. Also seen on the Holiday List.

That’s Not Fair by Shinsuke Yoshitake

Ask yourself this: Is it truly a great year in children’s publishing if there isn’t a new Shinsuke Yoshitake book on our shelves? The answer should be obvious. No year is complete without the man’s incredibly odd take on things. Following in the footsteps of such books as I Can Open It for You, I Can Explain, and so many others is a book that taps into a great universal feeling amongst children: Injustice. More specifically, the injustice that comes when kids realize that adults don’t have to follow the same rules as their kids. The dad in this book is a clear literary relation to Calvin’s dad in Calvin & Hobbes. You know the kind. When confronted with direct questions from his daughter (who is not afraid to break out the stink-eye when the moment calls for it) the man is prone to gross exaggerations. For example, when she asks why she has to go to bed early, he doesn’t even hesitate before saying it’s because Santa Claus’s investigators occasionally come over to check and see if kids are asleep at appropriate times. “Is that true?” “Yes. But it’s a secret.” “Is it really true?” “Uh… Daddy has to go to the bathroom.” I really do wish they credited the translators for these books and not just “PHP Institute, Inc. through Compass Rose LLC” because someone somewhere does a stellar job with these Yoshitake books. You will laugh. Guaranteed. 

You’re Going to Love This Book! by Jory John, ill. Olivier Tallec

I like this. I like this trend of pairing funny American writers with funny artists from other countries. So in the same year that you get Adam Rubin pairing with Liniers on The Truth About the Couch, you also get Jory John pairing with Olivier Tallec on You’re Going to Love This Book! Now the key component here is voice. John’s gotta get just the right tone down with his cowboy boot-wearing kangaroo narrator. Moreover, he’s gotta write this book in such a way that an adult reader, ANY adult reader, could potentially read this book to a room full of squirmy children and not simply enthrall them but highly amuse them. No small potatoes. The fact of the matter is, folks, that I think he manages it. This may have a lot to do with Tallec’s innate sense of funny. The man does more with eyeballs than most people do with entire bodies. This kangaroo, if I’m going to be honest, doth protest too much. He’s trying real real hard to convince you that this book is full of all the things kids love best. Things like loads of homework, trips to the dentist (an amazing picture which somehow manages to convey that it’s not fun without showing anything traumatizing), chores, and (best of all) early bedtimes. Now obviously not all the things in this book will be disliked by all kids. Personally, my kids like broccoli, and there may be some poor souls out there that love raisins (though personally I ascribe to the book’s description of them as being usually in a “big, sticky, gooey lump”). Give it some practice before you read it and I guarantee you’ll get a good slew of chuckles out of it by the end. You’re gonna love READING this book. 

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AND PSST! SPECIAL SNEAK PEEK TO 2025!

Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme by Betsy Bird, ill. Andrea Tsurumi

Funny? Heck yeah it is. But you didn’t hear it from me…

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December 1 – Great Board Books

December 2 – Picture Book Readalouds

December 3 – Simple Picture Book Texts

December 4 – Transcendent Holiday Picture Books

December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books

December 6 – Funny Picture Books

December 7 – CaldeNotts

December 8 – Picture Book Reprints

December 9 – Bilingual Books for Kids

December 10 – Math Books for Kids

December 11 – Books with a Message / Social Emotional Learning

December 12 – Fabulous Photography

December 13 – Translated Picture Books

December 14 – Fairy Tales / Folktales / Religious Tales

December 15 – Wordless Picture Books

December 16 – Poetry Books

December 17 – Unconventional Children’s Books

December 18 – Easy Books & Early Chapter Books

December 19 – Comics & Graphic Novels

December 20 – Older Funny Books

December 21 – Science Fiction Books

December 22 – Fantasy Books

December 23 – Informational Fiction

December 24 – Gross Books

December 25 – Science & Nature Books

December 26 – Unique Biographies

December 27 – Blueberry Award Contenders (Celebrating the Environment)

December 28 – Nonfiction Picture Books

December 29 – Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

December 30 – Middle Grade Novels

December 31 – Picture Books

Filed under: 31 Days 31 Lists, Best Books, Best Books of 2024