OK, so this one isn’t a laugh-out-loud side-splitter but it is important to me. I LOVE humour that takes you to unexpected places and what could be more unexpected than an alphabet primer with a body count? Gorey paints it black: a child dies on every page, and while it’s only about 200 words long they’re 200 words of gasp-shock-funny. For me, it was a lesson in how dark you can go with children’s humour. The Gashlycrumb Tinies was a major influence on a book I wrote called How to Cook Children, which was a recipe book for witches using kids as ingredients.
I had to include Frankenstein here. Mary Shelley’s nineteenth century novel has been cited as the first ever work of science fiction – and Victor Frankenstein’s shocking creation, while not a robot, is certainly an artificial intelligence of sorts. Frankenstein explores what it means to be human and examines the ethics and unforeseen consequences of creating a self-aware being. Would the rest of this list even exist without it?
The Colour of Magic was Pratchett’s first Discworld book. It came out when I was thirteen and I gobbled it, and then every other book he ever wrote. It was different from anything that had come before: sui generis, I think posh people call it. In a class of its own. Rubbish wizards, elderly barbarian heroes with false teeth, a flat planet carried on the back of a giant turtle … The Colour of Magic took tired ideas in fantasy writing and turned them on their head, creating something completely new and fresh. Also, did I mention funny? So, so funny. I still read the entire Discworld series from start to finish at least once a year and it always makes me think the world is a better place for having had Terry Pratchett in it.
For various reasons I have an emotional connection with all the above books, but there’s loads of other amazingly funny stuff out at the moment. I would have sponged up today’s funny books when I was a young reader. Jennifer Killick’s Alex Sparrow, Swapna Haddow’s Dave Pigeon series, Sam Copeland’s Charlie Changes into a Chicken, Dashe Roberts’ Bigwoof Conspiracy … I could go on and on. Elys Dolan’s ‘… For Beginners’ (Knighthood, Wizarding, Royalty) books stand out because they’re exactly my sense of humour: absurd, unexpected, and deeply, deeply silly. Just when you think the adventures of Dave the dragon and his mate Albrecht the goat cannot get any more ridiculous, Dolan somehow finds another level of absurd. Dragons in legwarmers doing lunges? Count me in!
Fasten your seatbelts and brace yourself for a rip-roaring adventure into the cosmos. Brimming with humour, imagination and all things wacky, The Cosmic Atlas of Alfie Fleet is reminiscent of the stories of Douglas Adams written with a younger audience in mind. With a plot that feels like anything could happen next, this is the kind of story that will appeal to readers who love to laugh at the wacky and the unexpected. Read our full review on the blog.
Alfie Fleet and the Professor are on a planet-hopping quest-keep up if you can! With the Universal Travel Agency about to open its doors, Alfie’s adding the last few entries to his Guide to the Universe when disaster strikes in the form of an old adversary. Alfie needs help fast… and he only has to travel through a few galaxies to find it!
I love all funny books, but it’s rare for one to make me actually laugh out loud… the Mr Gum books never fail to make this happen. This particular one is probably my favourite in the brilliant series, not least because of the song, ‘Crazy Barry Fungus’, which is a work of total genius. If my daughter and I want to make each other laugh like drains, we just quote the song’s line, ‘You stupid dangerous weirdo’ at each other and proceed to fall about in fits of giggles for the next week or two. Our lives were incomplete before we discovered Polly, Friday O’Leary, Alan Taylor (the best name for a gingerbread man with electric muscles EVER) and of course the always-foul Mr Gum and Billy William. These books always cheer me right up.
Hooray for super-cute and funny Claude, and his brilliant sidekick Sir Bobblysock, who has wormed his way into my heart like no sock before or since. His sandcastle prowess in this book is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and I think of him every time I’m on a beach with sandcastle-show-offs around. Gorgeous, whimsical and a little bit bonkers.
This book has very few words but it does such an incredible job of introducing the ideas of emotional literacy and mental well-being to very small children. Sadness turns up on the doorstep one day and follows our main character around. We don’t know why it came or when it will leave but it’s there. By embracing Sadness (taking it for a walk or drawing with it), the emotion becomes easier to live with until, one day, it completely disappears.
I’m a little bit biased with this one as I wrote it but I really wanted to include a picture book that gently introduces consent. I believe all children should have autonomy over their bodies and be encouraged to express it. If they don’t want to kiss someone goodbye, so be it; if they don’t want to be tickled then that’s OK.
Bobo, an orangutan, romps through the jungle cuddling animals without asking. It’s not until the very end, when Elsie the elephant does the same to him, that he realises the errors of his ways.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments