What Are the Funniest Books to Make Kids Laugh?

The funniest books for kids make a grown-up say something silly, break a rule, or let a character behave badly. That is the short version. Below are tested favorites grouped by age, from read-aloud picture books to the series ten-year-olds pass around class.

Every book here lists its author, its illustrator when it is a picture book, and the year it first came out, so you can find it at the library.

Quick list: funny books by age

The age bands are a starting point. A confident six-year-old may love Dog Man, and a ten-year-old will still laugh at the Pigeon.

Funny picture books for ages 3 to 6

The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak (2014) has one rule: everything on the page has to be said by the person reading it aloud. So you end up saying "BLORK" and "BLUURF" and singing about eating ants for breakfast. The publisher lists it for ages 5 to 8, but younger kids love watching you suffer.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems (2003) was his first book for children and won a Caldecott Honor. The bus driver leaves, and the Pigeon begs, bargains and melts down. Your child gets to shout "No!" on every page.

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (2013), is a stack of complaint letters from a boy's crayons. Some feel overworked, some feel ignored. It won the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith (1992), wrecks fairy tales on purpose, from "Little Red Riding Hood" to "The Really Ugly Duckling." It was a Caldecott Honor book in 1993.

Funny early readers for ages 5 to 8

Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems started in 2007. Gerald the elephant and Piggie the pig speak only in speech bubbles, pink for Piggie and grey for Gerald, so new readers can act out both parts. Two titles, There Is a Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside?, won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal.

Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen (2005), stars a pig who loves hot buttered toast more than anything. The second book, Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, was a Geisel Honor Book in 2007.

For a classic, try Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (1960). He wrote it after his editor bet him he could not write a book with only 50 different words.

Funny chapter books and comics for ages 7 to 10

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (1997) starts the series. Fourth graders George and Harold hypnotize their grumpy principal, Mr. Krupp, and he turns into the superhero from their homemade comics. The humor is loud and full of toilets, and the series has often been challenged in US schools for it, so read one first if that worries you.

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (2016) is the Captain Underpants spin-off: a police officer who is half man, half dog. It is a full graphic novel, so it reads fast.

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey (2015) follows Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha and Mr. Shark as they try to do good deeds so people stop calling them criminals.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (1978) is set in a school that was meant to be one story tall with 30 classrooms, but was built 30 stories tall instead. There is no nineteenth floor. Each chapter is about a different student or teacher, so it works as a bedtime book.

Shel Silverstein's poetry collections, Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974) and A Light in the Attic (1981), suit this age too. He drew his own pictures, and the short poems are easy to read aloud.

The funniest books for 10-year-olds

Ten-year-olds want humor about school, siblings and getting in trouble. These three deliver.

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (2007): Greg Heffley tries to become popular in his first year of middle school, and keeps getting it wrong in his illustrated diary. See our Wimpy Kid books in order for the full series.
• The Twits by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake (1980): a revolting couple plays nasty tricks on each other until their pet monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, get revenge.
• Frindle by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Brian Selznick (1996): class clown Nick Allen invents a new word and starts a war with his strict English teacher, Mrs. Granger.

If your child has finished Greg's diaries, our list of books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid has the next step.

How to match the humor to your child

1. Start with the read-aloud. Under six, the joke often lands because you perform it. Books like the Pigeon and The Book with No Pictures need a grown-up voice. Our read-aloud books for kids list has more.
2. Follow the giggle. If your child laughs at slapstick, go Pilkey. If they like wordplay, go Sachar or Silverstein.
3. Let them pick. A child who chose the book is more likely to finish it.
4. Preview the edgy ones. Pilkey's bathroom jokes and Dahl's nasty tricks delight most kids, but read a chapter first if your family has rules about that.

Where to find funny books for free or cheap

Your public library is the easiest place to start. Ask a children's librarian for "the funny shelf," and borrow five books at once so a dud costs nothing.

To buy online and support local shops, Bookshop.org sends part of each sale to independent bookstores. Skip older lists that still point to Book Depository: Amazon closed it on 26 April 2023.