A One More Book shelf
Books that make everyone laugh.
Some books make you chuckle. These are the ones that actually make everybody laugh out loud — where the grown-up doing the reading laughs as hard as the child on their lap. Deadpan wit, gleeful silliness and one very disgusting blob, for ages 3 to 7.
A large, hungry ogre arrives at a small café at the edge of the woods. The café owner has a menu, the ogre has demands, and Mikey Please has verses of such precise and glorious absurdity that this book deserves to be read aloud immediately. A major award winner and instant picture book classic.
A very funny mock-warning about why fish are definitely not to be trusted, illustrated with Dan Santat's big comic energy. It is a strong newer pick for children who like absurd animal facts, conspiracy-style silliness and read-aloud comedy.
A brilliantly gross, funny and slightly scary retelling of the classic folktale, with Mac Barnett's comic rhythm and Jon Klassen's shadowy deadpan art. It is ideal for children who enjoy traditional tales with a mischievous modern bite.
A girl named Aggie moves into a house that already has a tenant, a ghost who is very particular about his privacy. Matthew Forsythe's picture book about an unlikely friendship between the living and the dead, rendered with his signature deadpan warmth.
A masterclass in deadpan comic timing, built from tiny movements, long pauses and an enormous rock that may or may not fall from the sky. It is odd, dry, suspenseful and very funny for children who enjoy subtle visual humour.
A funny, rhyming bedtime book that turns disgusting monsters into cosy sleepyheads. It is gross, sweet and beautifully painted, with enough silliness to make bedtime feel fun rather than saccharine.
Hank the goose cannot stop honking. He honks at everyone, through everything, all day long, and the results are glorious. A riotous read-aloud built for maximum noise and maximum laughs, with a loveable disaster of a protagonist.
Three monkeys want the mango on the ground. They just need to check, is that a tiger in the shadows? Maybe... Chris Haughton's funniest book: escalating tension, minimal text, and a punchline that children see coming and love regardless.
A brilliantly simple interactive comedy where children try to make a stubborn duck blink. It is a crowd-pleasing read-aloud for preschoolers who like being directly challenged by a funny character.
A bear's missing hat, a rabbit who is obviously wearing it, and a punchline that has delighted adults and startled children since 2011. Jon Klassen's deadpan debut is the picture book that proves less text and flatter faces can be funnier than anything.
A modern read-aloud classic that proves a picture book can be wildly visual without pictures. It is one of the strongest laugh-out-loud choices for adults willing to perform the silliness properly.
A modern rhyming picture-book staple built on one brilliantly simple rule: animals must sit on things that rhyme with their names. It is funny, loud, highly repeatable and excellent for phonological awareness.
A little frog gets a drum. Her parents immediately regret this. She goes outside and plays, and plays, until every animal in the forest is marching behind her, including one who is there for a different reason. Matthew Forsythe's deadpan debut is the picture book to give anyone who loved Jon Klassen but wants more noise.
Doug keeps being told not to do a thing. Doug does the thing. Powell-Tuck and Beedie's third book in the series introduces an irresistible new character, the animal protagonist with catastrophically bad impulse control, and builds an entire comedy from one repeated warning.
Three people have a plan to catch a bird. Ready, and... the bird flies away. A small child just says hello. Chris Haughton's most quietly subversive book, funny, perfectly repetitive, and with a gentle moral that lands without ever being announced.
A playful Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris picture book about imagining tomorrow in silly, surprising ways. It is a better fit for families who like deadpan concept books than for readers who need a conventional plot.
A deadpan modern classic about two boys digging for something spectacular while the reader sees what they miss. Brilliant for visual irony, page-turn comedy and adults who enjoy picture books with ambiguous endings.
Bethan Woollvin's Little Red is not like other Little Red Riding Hoods. She isn't scared of the wolf. She isn't even particularly bothered. A sharply funny, boldly illustrated feminist retelling that subverts the classic with wit, darkness, and a deeply satisfying twist.
A very funny interactive read-aloud that begs the child not to keep turning the pages. Perfect for preschool and early primary children who like rule-breaking, direct address and silly grown-up performance.
A tiny comic masterpiece about animals putting clothes on correctly while one turkey gets it spectacularly wrong. Ideal for toddlers learning colours, clothing, pattern recognition and the joy of a perfectly timed repeated joke.
The café's favourite ogre, Glumfoot, lives in a cave just downwind, and now the café is coming to him. Mikey Please returns with all the absurdist verse comedy and illustration density of the first book, this time taking the adventure into new and considerably smellier territory.
A landmark interactive comedy in which the reader is trusted with one job: do not let the Pigeon drive the bus. Brilliant for performance, defiance, negotiation and children who love being put in charge.