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The Funniest Books in Children’s Literature
Michael Rosen – children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate – recently announced the shortlist for the 2017 Scholastic Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies) which celebrate the funniest children’s books.
Having long championed humorous books for children, Michael Rosen told Primary Times, “This is a collection of 12 whizzy, crazy, hilarious books. They are guaranteed to tickle. Parents and teachers wondering how to keep your children interested in reading, why not start here? And you can always start them off by reading them out loud - funny voices an' all!"
The Lollies were created in response to findings from Scholastic’s Kids & Family Reading Report, which found that what two-thirds of children aged 6-17 looked for when choosing books for themselves were ‘books that make me laugh’.
With this in mind, Michael Rosen and his judging panel, consisting of Nicolette Jones, journalist and Sunday Times Children’s Book Editor and Katie Thistleton, presenter and host of the CBBC Children’s Book Club, were tasked with making the selected shortlist from over 130 books submitted by children’s publishers.
The Lollies are awarded in three categories: Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8s and Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13s. The shortlisted books in each category are:
Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book: Oi Dog by Kes Gray and Jim Field, Eat Your People by Lou Kuenzler and David Wojtowycz, Prince of Pants by Alan MacDonald and Sarah McIntyre, and Danny McGee Drinks the Sea by Andy Stanton and Neal Layton.
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds: Thimble Monkey Superstar by Jon Blake and Martin Chatterton, Hamish and the Neverpeople by Danny Wallace and Jamie Littler, Eddy Stone and the Epic Holiday Mash-Up by Simon Cherry, and Future Ratboy and the Invasion of the Nom Noms by Jim Smith.
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds: I Don't Like Poetry by Joshua Seigal, The Best Medicine by Christine Hamil, My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons and Laura Ellen Anderson, and AniMalcolm by David Baddiel and Jim Field.
The winning book in each category will be decided solely by children’s votes, with schools and parents encouraged to help kids get involved and vote via the Lollies website, www.scholastic.co.uk/lollies, or via the Scholastic channel on the PopJam app.
Voting is open to teachers and their pupils, parents and children. Teachers can cast up to 35 votes on behalf of their class for each category. Voting closes on 8 December and the winning books will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in January 2018.