Books for Kids - Silly Stories

Check out this list generated by our Youth Services Librarians for the Scotch Plains Public Library's annual summer reading challenge.

Updated May 4, 2023
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Inspector Flytrap
Angleberger, Tom
Paper Book
A funny and clever illustrated early chapter book series in the Flytrap Files universe, from New York Times bestselling author Tom Angleberger and Newbery Honor winner Cece Bell!   Meet Inspector Flytrap! He's a Venus flytrap and world-class solver...
The terrible two
Barnett, Mac.
Paper Book
It's prankster against prankster in the first book of the hilarious New York Times bestselling series by Mac Barnett and Jory John!   Miles Murphy is known for one thing and one thing only: pranking.   He's the best...
Let's get cracking!
Marko, Cyndi
Paper Book
Kung Pow Chicken is the superhero everyone has been waiting for! This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on...
Greetings from witness protection!
Burt, Jake
Paper Book
Nicki Demere is an orphan and a pickpocket. She also happens to be the U.S. Marshals' best bet to keep a family alive. . . . The marshals are looking for the perfect girl to join a mother, father, and son on the run from the nation's most notorious criminals. After all,...
This book just ate my dog!
Byrne, Richard
Paper Book
When her dog disappears into the gutter of the book, Bella calls for help. But when the helpers disappear too, Bella realizes it will take more than a tug on the leash to put things right. Cleverly using the physicality of the book, This book just ate my dog! is inventive, ingenious, and...
My life as a potato
Costner, Arianne
Paper Book
For anyone who has ever felt like a potato in middle school, this hilarious story about a boy forced to become the dorkiest school mascot ever will have readers cheering! "A grade A, spudtastic (not to mention FUNNY) debut. Arianne Costner sure knows middle school and middle...
The Chicken Squad
Cronin, Doreen.
Paper Book
Now an animated series on Disney Junior! They're darling. They're daring. They know their shapes! They're chicks on a mission--and on this, their first (mis)adventure, the Chicken Squad launches a galactic backyard expedition. Meet the Chicken Squad: Dirt,...
Dory Fantasmagory
Hanlon, Abby
Paper Book
Move over, Junie B. Jones and Ivy & Bean! Here comes a lovably energetic little sister with a BIG personality--and an imagination to match! As the youngest in her family, Dory really wants attention, and more than anything she wants her brother and sister to play with her. But...
The good for nothing button
Harper, Charise Mericle
Paper Book
Red Bird and Blue Bird are excited to try the button. But when they press it, they discover that the button makes them happy. Happy is something! A flabbergasted Yellow Bird insists the button does nothing. But it sure does seem to be making him mad. Mad is something! The hilarious...
Mother Bruce
Higgins, Ryan T.
Paper Book
Bruce is a bear who likes living alone and making fancy gourmet recipes he finds on the internet. But when the goose eggs he's cooking for breakfast hatch, Bruce becomes something new: a mother.  The first book in the New York Times bestselling MOTHER BRUCE series,...
The great pet escape
Jamieson, Victoria
Paper Book
The class pets at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School want OUT . . . and GW (short for George Washington), the deceptively cute hamster in the second-grade classroom, is just the guy to lead the way. But when he finally escapes and goes to find his former partners in crime, Barry and Biter, he...
Something's wrong! : a bear, a hare, and some underwear
John, Jory
Paper Book
A hilarious picture book from #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Bad Seed, Jory John, paired with new illustrator Erin Kraan, about a bear whose friends help him make it through a bad day! Oh-no. Jeff the bear has definitely forgotten something....
The big bed
Laditan, Bunmi
Paper Book
From Bunmi Laditan, the creator of the Honest Toddler blog, The Big Bed is a humorous picture book about a girl who doesn't want to sleep in her little bed, so she presents her dad with his own bed--a camping cot!--in order to move herself into her parents' big bed in his place. A twist on...
It's the end of the world and I'm in my bathing suit
Reynolds, Justin A.
Paper Book
A hilarious new middle-grade from Justin A. Reynolds that asks: What happens when five unsupervised kids face the apocalypse under outrageously silly circumstances? Twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway has concocted his most genius plan ever to avoid chores . . . especially the dreaded L...
Fly on the wall
Lai, Remy
Paper Book
In Fly on the Wall, a moving and hilarious diary-style illustrated novel from the award-winning author of Pie in the Sky, a twelve-year-old boy goes on a (forbidden) solo adventure halfway around the world to prove his independence to his overprotective family.
Grumpy monkey
Lang, Suzanne
Paper Book
The hilarious #1 New York Times bestselling classic picture book about a chimpanzee in a very bad mood--perfect for young children learning how to deal with confusing feelings. Jim the chimpanzee is in a terrible mood for no good reason. His friends can't understand it--how...
Chunky
Mercado, Yehudi
Paper Book
In this full-color middle grade graphic memoir for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Jerry Craft, Yehudi Mercado draws inspiration from his childhood struggle with his weight while finding friendship with his imaginary mascot, Chunky, as he navigates growing up in a working class Mexican...
Payback on Poplar Lane
Mincks, Margaret
Paper Book
ABC's Shark Tank meets The Terrible Two when a pair of sixth grade entrepreneurs compete to become top mogul on their block. Twelve-year-old Peter Gronkowski prides himself on being a professional businessman. Tired of the cliched lemonade stands that line his block, he...
Neck & neck
Parsley, Elise
Paper Book
In the first stand-alone picture book from the creator of the bestselling Magnolia Says DON'T! books, a giraffe's self-esteem is tested during a hilarious confrontation between unlikely look-alikes! Everybody loves Leopold the giraffe. He inspires awe and wonder. His...
Mistakes were made
Pastis, Stephan.
Paper Book
Want to aspire to greatness? Check out this edition of Timmy Failure's first adventure--featuring the bonus section "How to Draw Timmy and Total." He may be clueless, but the comically self-confident Timmy Failure is CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the...
The Tapper twins go to war (with each other)
Rodkey, Geoff
Paper Book
This bestselling first book in the Tapper Twins series is a hilariously authentic showcase of what it's like to be in middle school in our digitally-saturated world, told as a colorful "oral history" with photos, screenshots, text messages, chat logs, and online gaming digital art.
High five
Rubin, Adam
Paper Book
Discover the lost art of the high five and improve your slapping skills just in time for the annual high five contest! From hand-limbering stretches to lessons on five-ing with finesse, readers are guided through a series of interactive challenges, each goofier than the next. Acclaimed...
Stand up, Yumi Chung!
Kim, Jessica
Paper Book
One lie snowballs into a full-blown double life in this irresistible story about an aspiring stand-up comedian. On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her "Yu-MEAT" because she smells like her family's Korean barbecue...
Chez Bob
Shea, Bob
Paper Book
Welcome to Chez Bob, which seems like a real restaurant...until you realize...it's on an alligator's NOSE! Bob's got a hidden plan for his customers: "Birds will come to eat, but I will eat the birds!" As they fly in from all over the world to dine on Bob's face, something starts to...
Well, that was awkward
Vail, Rachel
Paper Book
Gracie has never felt like this before. One day, she suddenly can't breathe, can't walk,can't anything-and the reason is standing right there in front of her, all tall and weirdly good-looking- A.J. But it turns out A.J. likes not Gracie but Gracie's beautiful best friend, Sienna...

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