- Picture Books
- Ages 3–7
- Comedy
You're Called What?!
At the Ministry of Silly Animal Names, a queue of real creatures line up to swap their ridiculous names, from the Blue-Footed Booby to the Bone-Eating Snot Flower Worm. A laugh-out-loud read-aloud that happens to be all true.
- Best for3–7
- FormatPicture
- Length32 pp
- Read aloud~6 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Welcome to the Ministry of Silly Animal Names, where a very long queue of fed-up creatures are waiting to change the ridiculous names they've been landed with. As one animal after another steps up to complain, the laughter from the queue behind grows louder and louder: meet the Blue-Footed Booby, the Blobfish, the Pink Fairy Armadillo, the Monkeyface Prickleback, the Tasselled Wobbegong and, best of all, the Bone-Eating Snot Flower Worm. Kes Gray's daft, rhythmic text is a joy to read aloud, and Nikki Dyson's expressive illustrations give every exasperated animal real comic character. Then comes the twist that makes it brilliant: every single one of these creatures is real. Photographs and mini fact-files at the back reveal the science behind the silliness, turning a giggle-fest into a sneaky, delightful introduction to the wonderfully weird world of animal names.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
A read-aloud picture book for 3-7s, with the back-of-book fact-files pulling in curious readers up to around 8. It's pure silly fun with no scary content, so it suits any listener, and the real-animal reveal gives it lasting, re-readable appeal.
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- Best fit · 3–7
- Read aloud · 3–7
- Independent · 6–8
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Funny read aloud
- Animal lovers
- Nature facts
- Silly stories
Avoid if
- Wants calm bedtime
- Wants narrative story
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Saying names like Tasselled Wobbegong and Bone-Eating Snot Flower Worm out loud is pure joy, and the queue of grumpy animals wanting a change gets funnier with every page. The best bit is finding out at the end that all of these ridiculous creatures are completely real.
- Trickery and cleverness
- Talking to animals
Why parents love it
It's a proper read-aloud crowd-pleaser, rhythmic, daft and easy to ham up, and then the fact-files reveal every animal is genuine. You get the laughs and a stealthy nature lesson in one, and children keep coming back to test the tongue-twisting names.
- Shared humour
- Educational for adult too
- Quick to read
About the creators
About the creators.
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