12 Side-Splitting Books Your Kid Will Love
Is there anything more fun than making your child laugh? There is! Laughing together! To elicit some rolling-on-the-floor entertainment in your household, add a few of these seriously silly books to your storytime rotation. Afterall, these board books and picture books are designed to tickle everyone’s funny bone!
How Dinosaurs Went Extinct: A Safety Guide
Written by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Jennifer Harney
Whether you’ve got a dino lover at home or not, all kids will roar with laughter over this wacky, high-energy picture booked brimming with hilarity. How Dinosaurs Went Extinct centers around a child visiting a museum who dares to ask his parents how dinosaurs disappeared from the planet. What follows are ridiculous explanations from “dadasaurus” involving running with scissors, forgetting to change one’s underpants, swimming after eating, eating boogers, and more. Between the visual humor and the outrageous words, this is a definite storytime hit!
The Book With No Pictures
Written by B.J. Novak
Get your silly voices ready! While this super clever book is, indeed, picture-free, it’s still packed with side-splitting fun. Author B.J. Novak of The Office fame peppers this children’s book with nonsensical words and phrases, goofy songs, and even a well-placed “butt.” While aimed at kiddos 3 and up, adults will have a hard time not smiling and giggling through this read. To keep the fun going for children 5 and older, you can also get My Book with No Pictures, which is like an interactive Mad Libs version of the book that allows kids to fill in the blanks with their own goofball words.
Toot
Written and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli
Like it or not, farts are funny, but Toot isn’t just any old children’s book about flatulence. This is a 5-star children’s board book about flatulence! In Toot, our young, diapered protagonist farts his way through a trike ride, a music class, bathtime (blip, blip, blip), and more. His pets toot and his parents toot…but no two toots are the same! Just as sure as everyone passes gas, you and your little ones will bust a gut reading Toot.
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
Written by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
A kid’s book about conflict resolution, teamwork, and problem solving? Sure! But, really, the 2020 classic Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type (aimed at 2- to 6-year-olds) is all about the giggles! Here, a group of chilly cows unearth a typewriter so they can ask Farmer Brown for electric blankets. When their polite request is rebuffed, the loquacious cows go on strike. (“Sorry. We’re closed. No milk today.”) Soon more farm animals get involved—and more laughter ensures.
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Written and illustrated by Mo Willems
There are so many side-splitting picture books by Mo Willems, but if you were to restrict yourself to only one, go with Mo’s hilarious picture book debut, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus where a determined birdie begs and pleads (“I have dreams you know!”) and, frankly, tantrums (we see Pigeon throw himself on the ground, toddler-style) in order to get himself behind the wheel of the bus. All 4- to 8-year-olds—and their grownups—will surely fall for this wonderfully comic and expressive pigeon.
The Day the Crayons Quit
Written by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Duncan wants to color, but his beloved box of crayons has some things to say about his art-making decisions. Red and Blue are overworked. Beige is underworked. Pink is steaming over sexist color choices. Black just wants a chance to show their stuff. (“How about a black beach ball some time?”) And poor Peach is too humiliated to even exit the box. A pure delight to read, it’s no wonder this funny-as-heck New York Times picture book has won numerous awards, including Goodreads’ Best Picture Book of the Year and E.B. White’s Read-Aloud Award. Give each crayon its own distinct voice for top-notch hilarity—and consider, checking out the sequel The Day the Crayons Came Home, too.
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Written by Jon Sciezka, illustrated by Lane Smith
If you like your award-winning children’s books to veer toward the bizarre (and even a little sarcastic), then this is the offbeat book for you! The odd twists on familiar fairy tales—and the equally odd but delightful illustrations—make The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales an extremely funny read-aloud for the whole family. The rapid-fire silliness, peppered with one-liners is ideal for irreverent 5-and-up set…and their equally quirky grownups.
Blue Hat, Green Hat!
Written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton
With over 60 silly-goose classics to choose from, it’s nearly impossible to select just one Sandra Boynton book as the funniest. A standout, of course, is Blue Hat, Green Hat featuring a slew of animals—including one very confused turkey—trying on various items of clothing. Turkey winds up putting pants on their head, socks on their hands, a jacket on their beak, and more. With each mistake comes an “oops” and surefire giggles from your toddler. For even more laughs, pick up Boynton’s Greatest Hits boxed set that includes this book, plus: Moo, Baa, La La La!, A to Z, and Doggies.
Butt or Face?: A Hilarious Animal Guessing Game Book for Kids
Written by Kari Lavelle
This isn’t exactly a joke-y book, however Butt or Face? is pretty darn cheeky…and great at eliciting laughs. The premise is simple: The book highlights various up-close-and-personal photos of animals and your kiddo needs to determine if they’re gazing at the animals’ butt or their face! Could there be a more hilarious guessing game? For those itching for a little bit of seriousness, never fear Butt or Face? is also peppered with fascinating facts about the animals in the book. (Did you know that the Mary River turtle breathes through its butt?!) Craving even more silliness? Butt or Face? Volume 2 is available come April 2024.
We Don't Eat Our Classmates
Written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins
What happens when a carnivorous dinosaur, Penelope Rex, starts school with a classroom filled with delicious children? Well, she eats them! (Children are delicious, after all.) Once Penelope’s teacher scolds her, she promptly spits her new classmate out…and spends the remainder of the book trying desperately not to gobble them up again–even when they accidentally spill barbecue sauce all over themselves! What finally changes Penelope’s ways? When one of her classmates develops a taste for Penelope! While written for kids 3 and up, prepare to be in stitches, too!
Underwear!
Written and illustrated by Jenn Harney
Underpants are a pretty hot topic in children’s literature. Not only is there oodles of wordplay potential, anything that has to do with butts is always a big hit with the littles…and the simply titled Underwear! is no different. Here we’ve got a fun-loving bear cub who thinks of all the excuses to avoid putting his underpants on the right way post-bath. The lively text coupled with the adorable bear posing in his wrongly worn underthings is entirely too silly not to smile at.
Penguin Problems
Written by Jory John, illustrated by Lane Smith
What’s not to love about an adorable, cynical penguin?! In Penguin Problems we meet a cute-as-can-be feathered friend who attests that being a penguin is not all cuteness and waddles. In fact, Penguin spends the entirety of the book spouting about how rough they’ve got it. The New York Post might have said it best, when describing our winged protagonist as “basically Larry David in Antarctica.” If that kind of humor tickles your ribs, this is the read for you!
More Books to Add to Your Library:
- Our Favorite Books for Toddlers Ages 1-5
- Bedtime Books to Lull Your Little One to Sleep
- Animal Books for Babies
- The Best ABC Books for Babies and Toddlers
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