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The Best Young Adult Books of November
Posted by Hayley on November 09, 2017
Posted by Hayley on November 09, 2017
A lake transformed by the storms of a half-human girl, a hospital where one patient's silence sparks an intricate mystery, and a deadly world where the last humans must unite for survival…
Welcome to the world of irresistible young adult fiction! Every month, our team takes a look at what books are being published—and how early readers are responding to them. We use this information to curate a list of soon-to-be-beloved favorites, from contemporary tales set in the suburbs to fantasy epics in realms of mystery and mischief.
For November, we've got three buzzy debuts as well as a highly anticipated dystopian series from bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon. Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments.
Welcome to the world of irresistible young adult fiction! Every month, our team takes a look at what books are being published—and how early readers are responding to them. We use this information to curate a list of soon-to-be-beloved favorites, from contemporary tales set in the suburbs to fantasy epics in realms of mystery and mischief.
For November, we've got three buzzy debuts as well as a highly anticipated dystopian series from bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon. Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments.
Kat hates talking to people, and Meg hates being alone. When a year-long science project throws them together, they bond over their mutual love of online gaming.
After a horrific virus nearly wipes out the human race, a small band of teens with unusual abilities takes the planet back from a heartless alien race.
The daughter of the lake, Anda is only half human. She lurks in storms, terrifying sailors and sinking ships, until a haunted young man comes to her for help.
In the wake of her ex-boyfriend's tragic death, Jessa packs up his things...and begins to question both the relationship and the boy she thought she knew.
The fashion trend of the future: recoding your DNA. Gene-hacking prodigy Cat dives into a world of killer technology to prevent a global catastrophe.
Alternating between "then" and "now" chapters, Hadley's heartbreaking story of a forbidden love, a fragile family, and a dark, terrible secret slowly unfolds.
Plus we've got a fan Q&A with The Becoming of Noah Shaw author Michelle Hodkin.
What recent YA book would you recommend? Share it with us in the comments!
Check out more recent blogs:
From Ph.D. Student to YA Novelist
24 Books that Won NaNoWriMo
16 Books to Read After You Binge Watch Stranger Things
Check out more recent blogs:
From Ph.D. Student to YA Novelist
24 Books that Won NaNoWriMo
16 Books to Read After You Binge Watch Stranger Things
Book Look: A Tribute to Typewriters
Posted by Cybil on November 10, 2017
The new art book Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing celebrates everything from the creation of the QWERTY keyboard to the world's first portable typing machine.
Actor Tom Hanks is a huge fan of these beloved writing instruments. He's also a new author and wrote the foreword to this book.
In his introduction, Hanks says there are only 11 reasons to use a typewriter:
"1. Your penmanship is illegible. I mean, unreadable, so cocked-up and irregular that you use block printing and flowing script in the same five-letter word. The kind of handwriting that one of those legal experts would examine for a trial and say, 'Oh, he's guilty!'
2. You can't afford or are just too thickheaded to figure out a computer.
3. Your religion forbids the use of machinery invented after 1867, when John Pratt came up with the Pterotype.
4. The Communists are back in power. Their technology sort of maxed out with space rockets and typewriters, at about the same time.
5. You want the assurance that your letter/note/receipt/speech/test or quiz/school report will, most likely, be kept for a long time, perhaps forever. It's a fact: no one chucks anything typewritten into the trash after just one reading. E-mails? I delete most before I see the electronic signature.
6. You take great pleasure in the tactile experience of typing—the sound, the physical quality of touch, the report and action of type-bell-return, the carriage, and the satisfaction of pulling a completed page out of the machine, raaappp!
7. If what you are writing is lengthy, the distraction of rolling another page into the carriage allows you to collect your thoughts.
8. You are an artist, equal to Picasso, and everything you type is a one-of-a-kind work. The combination of paper quality, the age of the ribbon, the minute quirks of your machine, the occasional misuse of the space bar, and the options of the margins and tabs all add up to make anything you type as varied and unique as the thoughts in your head and the ridges of your fingerprints. Everything you type is a snowflake all its own.
9. You own a typewriter. It has been serviced and works just fine. The ribbon is fresh. You keep the machine out on a table at the correct height, not locked away in a closet still in its case. You have next to it a small stack of stationery and maybe some envelopes. The typewriter is ready and easy to use any time of the day.
10. You really want to bother the other customers at the coffee place.
11. Typewriter = Chick Magnet."
All images ©Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing, published by Chronicle Books, 2017.
Posted by Cybil on November 10, 2017
Actor Tom Hanks is a huge fan of these beloved writing instruments. He's also a new author and wrote the foreword to this book.
In his introduction, Hanks says there are only 11 reasons to use a typewriter:
"1. Your penmanship is illegible. I mean, unreadable, so cocked-up and irregular that you use block printing and flowing script in the same five-letter word. The kind of handwriting that one of those legal experts would examine for a trial and say, 'Oh, he's guilty!'
2. You can't afford or are just too thickheaded to figure out a computer.
3. Your religion forbids the use of machinery invented after 1867, when John Pratt came up with the Pterotype.
4. The Communists are back in power. Their technology sort of maxed out with space rockets and typewriters, at about the same time.
5. You want the assurance that your letter/note/receipt/speech/test or quiz/school report will, most likely, be kept for a long time, perhaps forever. It's a fact: no one chucks anything typewritten into the trash after just one reading. E-mails? I delete most before I see the electronic signature.
6. You take great pleasure in the tactile experience of typing—the sound, the physical quality of touch, the report and action of type-bell-return, the carriage, and the satisfaction of pulling a completed page out of the machine, raaappp!
7. If what you are writing is lengthy, the distraction of rolling another page into the carriage allows you to collect your thoughts.
8. You are an artist, equal to Picasso, and everything you type is a one-of-a-kind work. The combination of paper quality, the age of the ribbon, the minute quirks of your machine, the occasional misuse of the space bar, and the options of the margins and tabs all add up to make anything you type as varied and unique as the thoughts in your head and the ridges of your fingerprints. Everything you type is a snowflake all its own.
9. You own a typewriter. It has been serviced and works just fine. The ribbon is fresh. You keep the machine out on a table at the correct height, not locked away in a closet still in its case. You have next to it a small stack of stationery and maybe some envelopes. The typewriter is ready and easy to use any time of the day.
10. You really want to bother the other customers at the coffee place.
11. Typewriter = Chick Magnet."
All images ©Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing, published by Chronicle Books, 2017.
Love a typewriter? Tell us why these vintage machines appeal to you!
Check out more recent blogs:
The Best Young Adult Books of November
From Ph.D. Student to YA Novelist
24 Books that Won NaNoWriMo
Check out more recent blogs:
The Best Young Adult Books of November
From Ph.D. Student to YA Novelist
24 Books that Won NaNoWriMo
Irresistible Books for History Buffs
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Some readers are stuck in the past. Help them feed their obsession with fascinating recommendations from Jones that explore true tales of monarchs and explorers, conquests and politics.
"Life is boundlessly complex, but good history is simple," Jones says. "These eight books, all published in the last decade, cover more than two thousand years of human endeavor, ranging from the rise of the Roman Republic to the election of Donald Trump. What they share is masterful, vivid storytelling by authors totally in command of their material."
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Dan Jones is the author of The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England and The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors. His latest book, The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors, brings the dramatic history of knights, warriors, bankers, priests, and heretics to life.
Some readers are stuck in the past. Help them feed their obsession with fascinating recommendations from Jones that explore true tales of monarchs and explorers, conquests and politics.
"Life is boundlessly complex, but good history is simple," Jones says. "These eight books, all published in the last decade, cover more than two thousand years of human endeavor, ranging from the rise of the Roman Republic to the election of Donald Trump. What they share is masterful, vivid storytelling by authors totally in command of their material."
What books would you recommend for history fans? Share them with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Books That Celebrate the Spirit
Fantastic Books for Fantasy Fanatics
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Books That Celebrate the Spirit
Fantastic Books for Fantasy Fanatics
Bone-Chilling Books for Horror Fans
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Not everyone wants a pleasant story. Have readers on your gift list who prefer chills and thrills? Scare them silly with recommendations from Hill.
"Goodreads asked me to share the 12 books that terrified me most—innocently forgetting that 12 is one short of the devil's lucky number," Hill says. "Here are 13 to thrill, a butcher's dozen to cure you of your need to sleep."
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Joe Hill is the author of Horns, Heart-Shaped Box, NOS4A2, and The Fireman, last year's Goodreads Choice Award winner for Best Horror. His latest book, Strange Weather, is a collection of four terrifying novellas that explore the darker, weirder side of the imagination.
Not everyone wants a pleasant story. Have readers on your gift list who prefer chills and thrills? Scare them silly with recommendations from Hill.
"Goodreads asked me to share the 12 books that terrified me most—innocently forgetting that 12 is one short of the devil's lucky number," Hill says. "Here are 13 to thrill, a butcher's dozen to cure you of your need to sleep."
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What books would you recommend for horror fans? Share them with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Books That Celebrate the Spirit
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
Fantastic Books for Fantasy Fanatics
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Books That Celebrate the Spirit
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
Fantastic Books for Fantasy Fanatics
Thought-Provoking Books for the Business-Minded Reader
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Do you have anyone on your gift list who wants to know how everything works? Help them conquer at least some of their curiosities with these eye-opening recommendations about the art of persuading, the history of Wall Street, and more from Thaler.
"In selecting these books I thought about what readers of Nudge and Misbehaving might want to read next," Thaler says. "Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow is a great companion to Misbehaving—and Kahneman and I have been friends for forty years. The Undoing Project tells the story of Kahneman's friendship with his collaborator Amos Tversky."
"My ringer is a classic by Tom Schelling, an early friend of behavioral economics, on a topic that is unfortunately current."
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Economist Richard H. Thaler is the author of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness and Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. This year he received the Nobel Prize in Economics for his contributions to behavioral economics.
"In selecting these books I thought about what readers of Nudge and Misbehaving might want to read next," Thaler says. "Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow is a great companion to Misbehaving—and Kahneman and I have been friends for forty years. The Undoing Project tells the story of Kahneman's friendship with his collaborator Amos Tversky."
"My ringer is a classic by Tom Schelling, an early friend of behavioral economics, on a topic that is unfortunately current."
What books would you recommend to business fans? Share them with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Tasteful Cookbooks for Foodies
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Tasteful Cookbooks for Foodies
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
"My favorite television show when I was very small was The Clangers, a wonderfully low-tech British series about strange pig-like creatures who lived on a planet far from ours, ate blue string pudding, and spoke in unintelligible squeaks. As I grew older, I loved books about other worlds (like the Earthsea trilogy, the Narnia books, the Lord of the Rings, Elidor, or the Chrestomanci books of Diana Wynne Jones). I loved the idea of going through a looking-glass, through a wardrobe, or through my own drawings (as in Marianne Dreams) to find an entirely different, but still comprehensible, way of life.
"The past is another country"—as the great novelist L. P. Hartley famously wrote (in The Go-Between, another highly recommended novel). I love reading and studying the literature of ancient Greece and Rome because it takes me to worlds that seem in some ways even more distant and strange than the planet of the Clangers—and yet, like the Clangers, these people's stories can be touching, funny or terrifying, and can give us a quite different perspective on our own culture and world.
Part of the joy of watching The Clangers is the soothing, gentle voice-over style of the narrator, the late great Oliver Postgate, who interprets the utterances and actions of the characters for the viewer. Translators are often unnoticed or invisible, but a good translator can bring as much to the reading experience as Postgate's voice brings to his strange creations—to interpret, contextualize, and bring to life the words and actions of these strange beings from another time and place. This is a great time to read or re-read classical literature in translation, because there are so many great new versions of ancient texts, which bring them to life in entirely unfamiliar ways."
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
Emily Wilson is the first woman to translate The Odyssey into English. Here the expert on the ancients helps find the perfect books for your friends and family who like to keep it very old school.
"The past is another country"—as the great novelist L. P. Hartley famously wrote (in The Go-Between, another highly recommended novel). I love reading and studying the literature of ancient Greece and Rome because it takes me to worlds that seem in some ways even more distant and strange than the planet of the Clangers—and yet, like the Clangers, these people's stories can be touching, funny or terrifying, and can give us a quite different perspective on our own culture and world.
Part of the joy of watching The Clangers is the soothing, gentle voice-over style of the narrator, the late great Oliver Postgate, who interprets the utterances and actions of the characters for the viewer. Translators are often unnoticed or invisible, but a good translator can bring as much to the reading experience as Postgate's voice brings to his strange creations—to interpret, contextualize, and bring to life the words and actions of these strange beings from another time and place. This is a great time to read or re-read classical literature in translation, because there are so many great new versions of ancient texts, which bring them to life in entirely unfamiliar ways."
The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides
edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm
edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm
"This is a collection of new translations of some of the greatest tragedies staged in fifth-century Athens, including famous works like Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and also lesser known but equally fascinating plays like Euripides' Helen (in which the beautiful wife of Menelaus turns out to have spent the whole Trojan War innocently stuck in Egypt, waiting to go home)."
"This is the entertaining, twisty traveler's tale of a man who gets turned into a donkey by some witches—with hilarious, scary, and sexy results. Written by a North African living in the Roman Empire in the second century CE, this gripping, influential, wonderfully meandering, and funny novel has also been read as a philosophical or religious meditation on the journey of the soul. It includes the famous story of Cupid and Psyche, Love and the Soul, which is echoed in the later fable of Beauty and the Beast. Ruden's carefully-crafted translation brings out the stylistic range and downright zany weirdness of the original in all its crazy glory."
"What we tend to think of as 'Greek Myth' can also be called 'Stories from Ovid.' This subversive anti-epic poem, which probably infuriated the then-emperor Augustus, tells the story of the world from the time of the Flood, weaving in tales of gods, goddesses, and mortals. Ovid's tone is smooth and sly, but his poem—which is about power, art, time, change, sex, and power—includes many brutal acts of violence or rape; readers should be careful of possible triggers. The Charles Martin translation is fluent, metrical, and wonderfully readable as it takes you on Ovid's circuitous journey through the dark woods of mythical fantasy."
"This absorbing novel, set in Athens in the time of Socrates, brilliantly evokes the period of the Peloponnesian War and provides a dense portrait of classical Athenian culture, including a sympathetic and intimate treatment of the relationships between elite men and teenage boys."
"The great poet-classicist Carson provides a precise and bittersweet version of the poems and fragments of the only surviving female poet from archaic Greece—with the Greek text printed on the opposite side of the page."
"If you like tales of adventure and true love foiled by pirates, abductions, shipwrecks, and misunderstandings, you'll love this absorbing collection of romances and melodramas from around the second century CE—which gives us a rare glimpse of what people in antiquity read for fun. The collection also includes the ancient sci-fi/fantasy novel Lucian's True History, which features a journey to the moon."
"Often dubbed the 'father of history,' Herodotus was also the first anthropologist; his entertaining, richly anecdotal account of the wars between the Greeks and Persians shows a deep curiosity about the cultures and customs of non-Greek people, including the Egyptians."
"Plutarch, a Greek who lived under the Roman Empire (first to second centuries CE), was one of Shakespeare's favorite authors; this set of five of his Roman biographies tells the story of Rome's dramatic and violent shift from republican government to one-man rule, with Plutarch's usual keen psychological insight."
"Logue knew no Greek, but his wonderfully anachronistic poetic 'account' of Homer's Iliad brilliantly evokes the ancient Olympian gods and makes vivid cinematic use of the Homeric simile."
"Seneca—a philosopher who was Nero's tutor and then political advisor and speechwriter—wrote the only surviving tragedies from ancient Rome. These bloody, bombastic, often darkly funny plays trace characters whose emotions and behavior are wildly out of control—providing a terrifying picture of the horrors that humans are capable of."
"Virgil's great epic, about the founding of Rome and the tension between duty and love, has been translated many times, but one of the greatest versions is still Dryden's (1697), which maps the struggles of imperial Rome onto the Britain of his time."
"A beautifully illustrated retelling of some central classical myths; sex and violence are kept to a minimum, so kids of any age, and parents of any ideological persuasion, should be able to enjoy it."
What books would you recommend for fans of the classics? Share them with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Thought-Provoking Books for the Business-Minded Reader
Books that Celebrate the Spirit
Irresistible Books for History Buffs
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Thought-Provoking Books for the Business-Minded Reader
Books that Celebrate the Spirit
Irresistible Books for History Buffs
Thrilling Pageturners for Mystery Lovers
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
We all have at least one armchair detective in our lives, the astute reader who solves crimes—or, more often, follows along—with the real sleuths. For those readers, we've got you covered with recommendations from Lapena.
"I love to give (and receive) books for the holidays," Lapena says. "They make the best gifts! The following list contains, in no particular order, some of my favorites—some old, some new. What they have in common is that they are all utterly engrossing reads."
Posted by Hayley on November 13, 2017
Shari Lapena is the author of The Couple Next Door, a 2016 Goodreads Choice Award finalist for Best Mystery & Thriller. In her latest book, A Stranger in the House, obsession and paranoia threaten to overtake one woman's seemingly perfect marriage.
We all have at least one armchair detective in our lives, the astute reader who solves crimes—or, more often, follows along—with the real sleuths. For those readers, we've got you covered with recommendations from Lapena.
"I love to give (and receive) books for the holidays," Lapena says. "They make the best gifts! The following list contains, in no particular order, some of my favorites—some old, some new. What they have in common is that they are all utterly engrossing reads."
What books would you recommend for amateur investigators? Share them with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Irresistible Books for History Lovers
Great Gifts for Middle-Grade Readers
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Irresistible Books for History Lovers
Great Gifts for Middle-Grade Readers
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
"Are you looking for the ideal gift for the bookworm in your life, but aren't quite sure which labyrinthine narrative they're dying to dive into, and which one they'd rather avoid?"
"With the following list of coffee table books for lovers of literature, you'll be guaranteed to please even the most discerning of tastes. From the sartorial choices of literary giants to a comprehensive overview of how the library has influenced American identity, these books combine substantive content with stunning visual beauty," Breisch says.
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
Kenneth Breisch is the author of American Libraries 1730-1950, which traces the origin of America's libraries from roots in such examples as the British Library to the 1950s.
"Are you looking for the ideal gift for the bookworm in your life, but aren't quite sure which labyrinthine narrative they're dying to dive into, and which one they'd rather avoid?"
"With the following list of coffee table books for lovers of literature, you'll be guaranteed to please even the most discerning of tastes. From the sartorial choices of literary giants to a comprehensive overview of how the library has influenced American identity, these books combine substantive content with stunning visual beauty," Breisch says.
What coffee table book would you recommend? Share it with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Irresistible Books for History Buffs
Tasteful Cookbooks for Foodies
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Books for the Classics Lover
Irresistible Books for History Buffs
Tasteful Cookbooks for Foodies
Hilarious Reads for Kids of All-Ages
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
ADAM: Hi, I'll be right with you after I ask my five year-old something.
Henry? Some people want to know what funny books we like. Can we talk about that? It'll go on the internet.
HENRY: It'll go on the internet?!
ADAM: Yes.
HENRY: I want to do that.
ADAM: Okay, me first.
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
Adam Rex, the author of the hilarious Nothing Rhymes with Orange, turned to an expert for help on picking out funny books for kids of all ages: His five-year-old son Henry. Steal Adam and Henry's picks this holiday season!
Henry? Some people want to know what funny books we like. Can we talk about that? It'll go on the internet.
HENRY: It'll go on the internet?!
ADAM: Yes.
HENRY: I want to do that.
ADAM: Okay, me first.
ADAM: This isn't a children's book, but I read it for the first time at eleven and I turned out fine. The astonishing, acrobatic use of language in this story of an ordinary man who has his planet exploded and learns his best friend is an alien (all before page 25) probably influenced my own writing more than anything else. As a kid, this book made the world seem bigger.
Now you, Henry.
HENRY: I like it when…um…in the movie? When Captain Underpants says, "Stand down, Poopypants."
Now you, Henry.
HENRY: I like it when…um…in the movie? When Captain Underpants says, "Stand down, Poopypants."
ADAM: And that movie was based on this book, right? Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pilkey. Why do you like the book?
HENRY: Because it's so funny. And weird.
ADAM: What kind of funny? Smart, fancy funny, or gross, silly funny?
HENRY: Gross silly funny. Because it has Professor Poopypants.
ADAM: Okay, next!
HENRY: Because it's so funny. And weird.
ADAM: What kind of funny? Smart, fancy funny, or gross, silly funny?
HENRY: Gross silly funny. Because it has Professor Poopypants.
ADAM: Okay, next!
ADAM: My heart takes flight when I visit the comics shop, and there's a new issue of Marvel's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. This earnestly all-ages comic is about a young woman who has both the "powers of a squirrel and the powers of a girl." Yes, she eats nuts and kicks butts, but half the time she prevails by listening to her enemies and getting to the root of what they're really upset about.
What is this book by Laurie Keller called?
What is this book by Laurie Keller called?
HENRY: The Scrambled States of America. It's about them changing states. The states go to different places.
ADAM: They get all mixed up and rearranged?
HENRY: Yeah.
ADAM: And do they like it?
HENRY: Uh, no.
ADAM: How come?
HENRY: Becaauuse…because Florida is freezing, and he doesn't like that. Minnesota got a sunburn!
ADAM: And what about Arizona? (That's where we live.)
HENRY: It's messing up her hairdo! The ocean waves.
ADAM: Do you think this is a good book for learning about the states?
HENRY: Yeah.
ADAM: They get all mixed up and rearranged?
HENRY: Yeah.
ADAM: And do they like it?
HENRY: Uh, no.
ADAM: How come?
HENRY: Becaauuse…because Florida is freezing, and he doesn't like that. Minnesota got a sunburn!
ADAM: And what about Arizona? (That's where we live.)
HENRY: It's messing up her hairdo! The ocean waves.
ADAM: Do you think this is a good book for learning about the states?
HENRY: Yeah.
ADAM: This is a perfect, utterly satisfying illustrated middle-grade novel about rival pranksters in an otherwise quiet, cow-filled town. Do you remember how much you loved the crazy one-upmanship in the short-lived 1984 Jason Bateman sitcom It's Your Move? No? You weren't born in 1973? Weird. Anyway, it's like that.
ADAM: You asked to talk about this next one.
HENRY: I like it at the end because there's something really weird at…oh, I like that part!
ADAM: Read it.
HENRY: "Inside the Slidy Diner, the floors all…"
ADAM: Slant.
HENRY: "Slant, and the tables tilt. When a sticky bun rolls onto the floor…"
ADAM: Ethelmae.
HENRY: "Ethelmae sweeps it up and serves it again…to you." Ewwww!
ADAM: Tell everyone what that sticky bun looks like.
HENRY: Poo-poo!
ADAM: What's stuck to it?
HENRY: Flies and hair.
ADAM: Is this a little bit of a funny book but also a little bit of a spooky book?
HENRY: Yeah, it is.
HENRY: I like it at the end because there's something really weird at…oh, I like that part!
ADAM: Read it.
HENRY: "Inside the Slidy Diner, the floors all…"
ADAM: Slant.
HENRY: "Slant, and the tables tilt. When a sticky bun rolls onto the floor…"
ADAM: Ethelmae.
HENRY: "Ethelmae sweeps it up and serves it again…to you." Ewwww!
ADAM: Tell everyone what that sticky bun looks like.
HENRY: Poo-poo!
ADAM: What's stuck to it?
HENRY: Flies and hair.
ADAM: Is this a little bit of a funny book but also a little bit of a spooky book?
HENRY: Yeah, it is.
ADAM: Here's a comic that is decidedly not all-ages, but great for YA readers—Marvel's ongoing Runaways series. I loved Rowell's Fangirl, so I was pretty excited when I heard she was reviving this series about kids and young adults whose lives were upended the night they learned their parents were a cabal of supervillains.
If you know Rowell, you know this series is going to be heartfelt and dramatic; but also suffused with such a natural, graceful humor that will make every character feel like your new best friend.
If you know Rowell, you know this series is going to be heartfelt and dramatic; but also suffused with such a natural, graceful humor that will make every character feel like your new best friend.
ADAM: Was President Taft a large man? And was his bathtub too small?
HENRY: Yeah. He tries to get out!
ADAM: Do they call everybody in the cabinet to try different plans to get him out of the tub?
HENRY: Yeah. The bathtub exploded!
ADAM: Who wants to make the bathtub explode?
HENRY: The secretary of war! Kaboom.
ADAM: And finally they all pull on President Taft's arms and legs and…pop!
HENRY: Ohhh! I can see his butt!
ADAM: (Note to parents: You can't quite see his butt.)
HENRY: Yeah. He tries to get out!
ADAM: Do they call everybody in the cabinet to try different plans to get him out of the tub?
HENRY: Yeah. The bathtub exploded!
ADAM: Who wants to make the bathtub explode?
HENRY: The secretary of war! Kaboom.
ADAM: And finally they all pull on President Taft's arms and legs and…pop!
HENRY: Ohhh! I can see his butt!
ADAM: (Note to parents: You can't quite see his butt.)
What hilarious books for young readers would you recommend? Share it with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Gifts for Middle-Grade Readers
Enchanting Picture Books to Delight The Youngins
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Great Gifts for Middle-Grade Readers
Enchanting Picture Books to Delight The Youngins
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
Enchanting Picture Books to Delight The Youngins
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
"I never loan books. I always just give them away, partly because they never come back, but mostly because I like to see the book continue its journey of impacting people. I also love to buy books as gifts because it's like giving someone a piece of your mind (without getting punched)," says Daywalt.
"So when the fine folks at Goodreads asked me if I'd like to make a list of my favorite picture books to give as gifts for this holiday season, I was psyched to oblige. Enjoy!"
Posted by Cybil on November 13, 2017
Drew Daywalt is the two-time Goodreads Choice Award winner in Best Picture Books for The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home. His latest book, The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors, tells the fantastical story behind the school-yard game.
"I never loan books. I always just give them away, partly because they never come back, but mostly because I like to see the book continue its journey of impacting people. I also love to buy books as gifts because it's like giving someone a piece of your mind (without getting punched)," says Daywalt.
"So when the fine folks at Goodreads asked me if I'd like to make a list of my favorite picture books to give as gifts for this holiday season, I was psyched to oblige. Enjoy!"
"Nothing goes together quite like funny and scary, and this one by Seuss has been one of my all-time favorites since I was like, I dunno, five? The concept that I could be a little bit frightened and also laughing at the same time came directly from reading this book. And the absurdism of What Was I Scared Of? went right into my DNA as a storyteller."
"Nothing satisfies a kid like finishing a story and knowing that everyone got what they deserve. And this crocodile is such a jerk. When he finally gets his at the end of the book, it couldn't be more pleasing (and funny). Thank you, Mr. Dahl, for thinking so far out of the box—and an even bigger thank you to the publisher brave enough to publish it."
"Technically this isn't a picture book, but it has pictures and it's a book, so…ya know. Anyway, when I was a kid, I'd read this one with my mom, and we'd howl with laughter. Bill Watterson has always been one of my literary heroes, and I think it's great to read him with my kids."
"Bob Shea is the funniest person I know. Literally. I wait for his books to come out like a dog under the table waiting for scraps. Only I don't lick his hands. That'd be weird. What I'm trying to say is you should go buy this book, not hide under Bob Shea's dining table."
"At six years old, I didn't know I loved messages about anti-consumerism and the pointlessness of the eternal class struggle—but I did. And I still do. Also Sneetches are super cute. And this Dr. Seuss guy, he really has a future in picture books. Keep an eye on him. He's gonna be huge."
"Jory John is the funniest person I know. I know I already said that about Bob Shea, but I really mean it about Jory. I meant it about Bob, too, but I mean it about Jory just as much. Maybe more. I dunno. We should maybe put them in a cage and let them funny it out and see who emerges victorious. Anyway, nothing is better than penguins…except maybe complain-y penguins."
"I hate picture books with overt lessons…I really do. And so do kids. But I love books about brats who get eaten by lions. And so do kids. So go buy this. You're welcome."
"Okay, this book has it all—Jory John's words, Benji Davies' pictures, a grumpy bear, an insomniac duck, and dialogue so angry and frustrated that you can just feel the swearing under the surface. This one's a winner with kids in the same way that watching Daffy Duck rage against the machine always was."
What picture books would you recommend for young kids? Share them with us in the comments!
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Hilarious Reads for Kids of All-Ages
Great Gifts for Middle-Grade Readers
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
See the complete coverage of our Gift Guide including:
Hilarious Reads for Kids of All-Ages
Great Gifts for Middle-Grade Readers
Coffee Table Books for Bookworms
