15 Laugh-Out-Loud Picture Books for Little Kids
by Iva-Marie Palmer
The thing about our little ones is this: It feels like they can (and do) spend a lot of time crying, whining, wailing, and throwing tantrums. But another, more wonderful, thing about our little ones is: Wow, can they laugh. They are excellent at it, and it’s fairly easy to get a chuckle out of them. (Though I admit that coming up with new voices for inanimate objects can get put a lot of pressure on a person.)
Maybe the quickest way to prompt a baby’s belly laugh, a toddler’s infectious giggles, or a kindergartner’s shrieks of delight is by reading aloud a silly picture book. Even the least performative of parents can get a laugh from these picks, but throw in some silly voices and, well, you may just feel like a bonafide professional comedian.
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If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur
Available from:Coming up with strange uses for familiar objects is an instantly funny trope, and it’s even funnier when that object is a dinosaur. This picture book shows just how versatile a dinosaur can be — as a can opener, nutcracker, kite, umbrella, and so much more! Kids will have a blast ad-libbing long after the book is over.
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Does This Poo Belong to You?
Available from:Kids can’t resist a book with potty humor, and this one will have them in stitches. A beetle finds a pile of poop and wants to find out who it belongs to. The problem is that nobody wants to take credit for the glittery pile of rainbow-colored poo. Bright colors, a hilarious story, and a three-dimensional poop to squish make this board book a favorite for kids everywhere!
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Look!
Available from:Brevity is the soul of wit. A few funny drawings never hurt, either. With only two words — “look” and “out” — and a very silly and attention-craving gorilla, Mack creates funny and clever scenarios on page after page.
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Attack of the Underwear Dragon
Available from:Everything is funnier with a pair of underwear on it. When the fearsome Underwear Dragon attacks his kingdom, assistant knight Cole must face the beast alone — with hilarious results. This book will have you and your kids laughing out loud every time you read it.
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A Little Stuck
Available from:Jeffers must truly be one of the most versatile kids’ writer-illustrators out there, because he can pen things very sweet (Lost and Found), delightfully strange (Once Upon an Alphabet), and extraordinarily silly. This board book edition of the picture book Stuck — a hilariously absurd quest by a boy to get his kite out of a tree — is called A Little Stuck because it’s the same tale but portable. Laughs on the go!
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I Will Chomp You!
Available from:Kids know id. And any character with a very simple wish and a desire to have something all to itself equals instant comedy, particularly if that character is a monster getting increasingly crazed at protecting his or her PRIZED POSSESSION! Kids will crack up at the chomper-in-question’s agitated state as they get closer to eyeballing the monster’s top-secret treasure. (And they’ll no doubt identify with the monster, who’s been hiding a very elaborate cake the whole time. YUM.)
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This Is Not My Hat
Available from:This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book is a must-read for kids who love deadpan, visual humor. Once you’ve read this book a few dozen times, pick up the rest of The Hat Trilogy for more rib-tickling reads!
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Wombat
Available from:Spare, clever text and dry humor make this wombat-astic book perfect for Jon Klassen and Dr. Seuss fans! Early learning concepts like counting wombat, twobats, and threebats combine with silly bats like stinkbat and fallendownaholebat. Your kids will want to read this one on repeat!
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Quackers
Available from:Quackers might look like a cat and sound like a cat, but he’s really a duck. He can’t understand why the other ducks who look like him call themselves cats. This hilarious story about a feline with a case of mistaken identity will make your little reader grin from ear to ear.
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Penguin Problems
Available from:He’s cold, he’s bored, and he feels like he’s just like everyone else: This penguin is all of us. The hilariously cranky, albeit well-dressed little guy is maybe having an existential crisis (which most adult readers can probably relate to), but you don’t need to explain that to the kids. Young readers will just be gleeful if you can heighten the penguin’s exasperation as the story progresses. Reader’s note: Adorable animals become hilarious when they’re frustrated.
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We Don’t Eat Our Classmates
Available from:When Penelope Rex goes to her first day of school, she’s surprised to learn that all her classmates are human — and delicious! Even though she tries her best, Penelope can’t resist eating them. But when one classmate develops a taste for Penelope, she learns an essential life lesson. The quirky, macabre humor will have kids crying laughing!
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Princesses Versus Dinosaurs
Available from:A group of princesses go head-to-head with dinosaurs in this hilarious book about sharing. Both groups feel the story should be about them and are unwilling to share the spotlight. As things escalate, the disagreement becomes an epic battle before they realize the book can be about all of them. Kids will love this one!
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Toasty
Available from:Toasty feels unfulfilled with his life as a piece of toast and wants to become a dog. And when he tries to play with the other pups at the dog park, he quickly realizes that snacks do not make good fidos — or do they? This hilarious picture book about a little piece of bread with big dreams will have you coming back for seconds!
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The Day the Crayons Quit
Available from:The idea of mutinous crayons is already funny. But in this awesome book, each crayon has had it UP TO HERE for different reasons. Blue feels overworked, beige feels ignored, orange and yellow are having a feud over who should really color the sun, and you don’t wanna know the issues brown is having. Give each crayon its own voice for maximum laugh-ability. And don’t forget to check out the sequel, The Day the Crayons Came Home.
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No More Naps!
Available from:You’ll love this humorous picture book from the New York Times bestselling author of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. It’s about a little girl who doesn’t want to take a nap, so she gladly hands them out to everyone she meets. But when all the naps are gone, she has no way to fall asleep!
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2017 and updated in 2023.