100 books like Noodleheads Find Something Fishy

By Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, Mitch Weiss

Here are 100 books that Noodleheads Find Something Fishy fans have personally recommended if you like Noodleheads Find Something Fishy. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Payback Time!

Steve Metzger Author Of The Bumble Brothers: Crazy for Comics!

From my list on graphic reads for reluctant readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a classroom teacher for 15 years who transitioned to writing children’s books. Starting with picture books, I now write graphic novels. My target audience is 2nd-5th graders and they really get my wacky sense of humor. My passion for silly comedy, from Abbott and Costello to the Marx Brothers, started at an early age and infuses my mission to help reluctant readers become enthusiastic and proficient readers. I feel strongly about this goal because I was once a reluctant reader and I can appreciate what these kids might be going through.

Steve's book list on graphic reads for reluctant readers

Steve Metzger Why did Steve love this book?

I have a confession to make.

Reading was not one of my favorite activities growing up. That might sound strange from a children’s book author, but it’s true. Nowadays, I like all kinds of books.

This hilarious graphic novel, which is chock full of wacky illustrations, is definitely one of them. Where were graphic novels when I was a kid?

Big Nate (actually he’s not that big) is a funny, mischievous, lovable 11-year-old, who gets into all sorts of ridiculously tricky situations with friends, family members, and teachers that keep the action moving and reluctant readers of every age actively engaged.

By Lincoln Peirce,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Payback Time! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

The latest in this NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING series

Look out, Big Nate fans, it's Payback Time! In this newest Big Nate collection, everyone's favorite sixth-grade renaissance man is up to his usual schemes and misadventures - developing a strange allergy to Mrs. Godfrey, inflating his goalkeeper statistics, and even mentoring a kid in detention. But he's not the only one creating mischief. Francis, Teddy and Chad trade blows in an ongoing snowball fight, a bully finds an unexpected surprise in his locker, and Nate's rivalry with Gina takes a Halloween twist. Nate also courts disaster when a lunch room…


Book cover of Action Presidents: George Washington!

Steve Metzger Author Of The Bumble Brothers: Crazy for Comics!

From my list on graphic reads for reluctant readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a classroom teacher for 15 years who transitioned to writing children’s books. Starting with picture books, I now write graphic novels. My target audience is 2nd-5th graders and they really get my wacky sense of humor. My passion for silly comedy, from Abbott and Costello to the Marx Brothers, started at an early age and infuses my mission to help reluctant readers become enthusiastic and proficient readers. I feel strongly about this goal because I was once a reluctant reader and I can appreciate what these kids might be going through.

Steve's book list on graphic reads for reluctant readers

Steve Metzger Why did Steve love this book?

Do you remember when learning about American history was mostly dry and boring?

I do…but that’s not the case anymore. This fact-based graphic-novel series of biographies make Washington and other Presidents come alive with wacky, slapstick humor that’s just right for middle-grade kids!

The true events of George Washington’s tumultuous and heroic life – from birth to death – are hilariously presented in jump-off-the-page illustrations and told through irreverent dialogue and silly jokes. All the big battles are here, but there’s no list of endless names and dates.

The father of our country was admirable and flawed, after all he was a slaveholder, but learning about him has never been more interesting.

By Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Action Presidents as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

"A delightful, educational spin on history-and plenty of jokes," said School Library Journal.

"Sheer joy," praised Booklist in a starred review.

Finalist for the 2019 Excellence in Graphic Literature Award in Middle Grade Nonfiction

U.S. history comes to life like never before in this full-color graphic novel! We all know that George Washington was our first President and a hero of the American Revolution. But did you also know that he didn't want to be president, never thought he would fight in a war, and had teeth so bad that he hated to smile?

Wimpy Kid meets the Who Was...…


Book cover of InvestiGators

Steve Metzger Author Of The Bumble Brothers: Crazy for Comics!

From my list on graphic reads for reluctant readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a classroom teacher for 15 years who transitioned to writing children’s books. Starting with picture books, I now write graphic novels. My target audience is 2nd-5th graders and they really get my wacky sense of humor. My passion for silly comedy, from Abbott and Costello to the Marx Brothers, started at an early age and infuses my mission to help reluctant readers become enthusiastic and proficient readers. I feel strongly about this goal because I was once a reluctant reader and I can appreciate what these kids might be going through.

Steve's book list on graphic reads for reluctant readers

Steve Metzger Why did Steve love this book?

I love “noir” movies…don’t you?

Well, John Patrick Green has done the incredible job of combining a dark mystery with a graphic-novel format to create the first book in this irresistible series: InvestiGators.

When Gustavo, the world-famous cupcake chef, goes missing, Mango and Batch, two bumbling crime-fighting alligators, are on the case!

Packed with crazy gadgets, running gags (a mustache that incomprehensibly travels from face to face), dopey puns, and zany characters like Cici Boringstories (the news reporter), Dr. Jake Hardbones (the brain surgeon), and Houdino (don’t ask), this page-turner will have reluctant-reader middle graders – including my inner ten-year-old – laughing out loud and asking for more!

By John Patrick Green,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked InvestiGators as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

Meet the InvestiGators. With their gadgets, know-how, and super-fast transportation system (they flush themselves down toilets to speed through the sewers!), Mango and Brash are the scourge of the super-villain landscape! As vest-wearing employees of the Special Undercover Investigation Teams, they solve all kinds of mysteries and frequently butt heads with their archnemesis: a former agent known as Crackerdile.

Riddled with puns, potty humour, absurdism, and hilarious twists, InvestiGators is the perfect series for Dog Man fans looking for their next great read! It's kid-friendly comics at their best.


Book cover of Cat Crusader

Steve Metzger Author Of The Bumble Brothers: Crazy for Comics!

From my list on graphic reads for reluctant readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a classroom teacher for 15 years who transitioned to writing children’s books. Starting with picture books, I now write graphic novels. My target audience is 2nd-5th graders and they really get my wacky sense of humor. My passion for silly comedy, from Abbott and Costello to the Marx Brothers, started at an early age and infuses my mission to help reluctant readers become enthusiastic and proficient readers. I feel strongly about this goal because I was once a reluctant reader and I can appreciate what these kids might be going through.

Steve's book list on graphic reads for reluctant readers

Steve Metzger Why did Steve love this book?

While growing up, superheroes were a significant part of my life – from TV’s Mighty Mouse as a young child to my elementary school years when comic books featuring Superman and Spider-Man took over.

I’m sure I would’ve been more invested in reading books at an earlier age if these “super” characters were featured in them.

With bright-and-bold illustrations and goofy pun-filled speech bubbles, this hilarious action-packed misadventure depicts how Max Meow acquires his powers (including a tail that shoots electric bolts), and combines forces with Mindy Microbe (scientist extraordinaire), to track down a magical space meatball.

When Max temporarily loses his superpowers, he learns that “You don’t need superpowers to be a hero.” Good advice for children of all ages.

By John Gallagher,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cat Crusader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

Meet a secret superhero with CAT-ITUDE--Max Meow, Cat Crusader--in this purr-fectly awesome, hiss-sterically funny graphic novel series just right for fans of Dog Man and InvestiGators!

Max is just a regular cat in Kittyopolis, trying to make it big as a podcaster UNTIL he accidentally takes a bite of an RADIOACTIVE SPACE MEATBALL at his best friend Mindy's SECRET LAB. Then before you can say MEOWZA, Max becomes...The CAT CRUSADER! Being a super hero is fun--but not if you get so cocky, you forget your best friend! Will Max and Mindy make up? And together, can they save Kittyopolis from…


Book cover of Bad Panda

Rachel Hamilton Author Of Louie Lets Loose!

From my list on by British authors to get kids laughing out loud.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Rachel Hamilton and I’m the author of the Exploding series with Simon & Schuster and the Unicorn in New York series with OUP and Scholastic. I love making people laugh, especially when it's intentional rather than accidental. As well as writing books, I write comedy sketches and have performed standup as part of the Funny Girls tour in the Middle East. It's hard to do humor well, so I have huge respect and admiration for the authors on this list, because they do it fantastically. I hope you love their stories as much as I do. 

Rachel's book list on by British authors to get kids laughing out loud

Rachel Hamilton Why did Rachel love this book?

I’ve been a huge fan of Swapna and Sheena’s since I first read Dave Pigeon, which is so good it’s now a set text on the Creative Writing degree I teach. These two are champions of slapstick, silliness, and subversive creatures with big hearts. And Bad Panda is, arguably, their greatest creation. She’s SO desperate to be bad, but she is scuppered at every turn by the fact that everything she does looks so ridiculously cute. The result is panda-monium (groan!)

“Are you sick of being utterly adorable?
Tired of being cuddled and hugged?
Fed up of having your head confused for your bottom because you just so happen to be SOOOOPER-DOOOOOPER fluffy?
Lin: If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you’re in the right book.”

By Swapna Haddow, Sheena Dempsey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bad Panda as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Are you sick of being utterly adorable?
Tired of being cuddled and hugged?
Fed up of having your head confused for your bottom because you just so happen to be SOOOOPER-DOOOOOPER fluffy?

Lin: If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you're in the right book.

Everyone thinks that Lin is the cutest panda in the world. So much so that they ship her off to the local zoo, away from her beloved brother, to be ogled at by the masses. But Lin HATES being cute, and now she will do everything in her power to prove that…


Book cover of Ranger Ralph Comic #5

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Author Of The Dragon in The Closet, Book One

From my list on graphics and comics for kids learning to read.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been writing and drawing children’s books and comic books for kids for over 23 years. I've always loved the comic book format and visual storytelling. Reading pictures is actually very stimulating for kids and adults alike. I’m also a parent to three daughters and teach art at an elementary school locally, so I work with children and see what captures their imaginations and inspires them. As someone who’s written and illustrated numerous graphic novels for kids, moderates a children’s book review group, and reads so many of the newest books available, I selected these graphic novels as some of the best I’ve read in the different genres that have been released recently.

Carolyn's book list on graphics and comics for kids learning to read

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Why did Carolyn love this book?

Ranger Ralph and his sidekick, Elvis, the deer return in this hilarious new issue of Ranger Ralph.

After a large frozen meal of Hungry Ranger dinners Ralph falls asleep in front of the news on the TV. Even Elvis falls asleep and he misses his date with Windy. To make it up to her he decides to gather a bouquet of flowers from the side of the road. An entire hive of bees seek their revenge and Rager Ralph is in trouble again!

Very cute short stories that kids will love. The slapstick humor, bright colors, and detailed art come together to make this a great series of comics. This new issue, released in 2023, is no exception to the quality that Ranger Ralph fans have come to expect. The reading level is perfect for middle grade readers.

By Steven Oerding,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ranger Ralph Comic #5 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ranger Ralph Comic #5 continues the story from comic #4 and is the only continued story from a previous comic in the series. We follow our hero and his companion home to their log cabin in the suburbs. Redmund makes a Hungry Ranger Frozen dinner that expands into a huge 9 course meal after its cooked as we watch him devour it. He ends up asleep with Elvis on the couch in front of the TV as the neighborhood listens to him snore. They all think of ways to help stop  from snoring as we look in. The next morning…


Book cover of The Wishmakers

Amanda Hamm Author Of Beyond Wisherton

From my list on fantasy to read with your kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

My favorite books—to read and to write—have always been funny Christian romances. But all four of my kids prefer fantasy. They want me to read with them, and they’ve been asking me to read nothing but fantasy for years. Now I can say it’s my second favorite genre. In fact, I learned to like it so much I eventually started writing a children’s fantasy series of my own, in between all the mushy stuff. Beyond Wisherton is the first in that series.

Amanda's book list on fantasy to read with your kids

Amanda Hamm Why did Amanda love this book?

There is a fine line between silly and slapstick. This book manages to stay just barely on the good side of that line. Basically, we have two kids with genies being chased by bad guys. The danger motivates the kids to make wishes. The wishes are unlimited, but so are the consequences. Little wishes have little consequences while a big enough wish comes with death. Reading about the kids being forced to hop up and down, clap their hands and make weird noises as a result of the wishes is highly entertaining. But there are also a lot of openings for serious discussion as the kids try to negotiate smaller wishes to achieve similar results.  Which consequences would you accept?  

By Tyler Whitesides,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wishmakers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

"Looking for a fantastically fast-paced and funny read? Your wish is granted!" -Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Twelve-year-old Ace's life is about to change in the most unexpected and magical ways-all because of a peanut butter jar.

When he opens it, he inadvertently releases a genie named Ridge. Now a Wishmaker, Ace is given a week to complete a seemingly impossible quest, and if he fails the world will end in the most tragic (but cuddly) way imaginable.

Luckily, Ridge can help by granting Ace an unlimited number of wishes...as long…


Book cover of Goldfish-Finger

Cristy Burne Author Of Ultra Violet: Down to Business

From my list on funny graphic novels for kids when you need a mood boost.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love inventing inventions and experimenting with experiments–all in aid of blending science and story to inspire innovation and positive change. My career covers six countries, 15+ novels for primary-aged children, and jobs that include science journalism at CERN (home of the Large Hadron Collider), exploding things at Questacon (as part of a science circus), and collecting bins in the back of a ute (as a garbage analyst). I write for children because I believe (and it’s scientifically proven) that our children are the future. 

Cristy's book list on funny graphic novels for kids when you need a mood boost

Cristy Burne Why did Cristy love this book?

Smart writing, eclectic characters, and actually funny jokes that range from ferocious puns and hilarious slapstick to sophisticated humor; I love all the Secret Agent Mole books, and my kids do, too.

Seeing the underdogs take on evil and (spoiler alert!) save the day is super satisfying. I love the variety of clever jokes: some are one-liner laugh-out-louds, and others build and build across the entire book, and then wham! Extra points to creator James Foley for dreaming up such a diverse crew of spies.

It’s fast, funny, and fabulous–just what I want in a graphic novel for primary-aged kids.

By James Foley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Goldfish-Finger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Max is a mole on a mission. With Helen Hippo and June Bug by his side, Max must stop the evil Goldfish-Finger from stealing a priceless, solid gold fishfinger. This dangerous, top-secret mission will involve explosions, a naked mole rat, and being flushed down a giant toilet. Will Max and the team defeat the fiendish fish? Time to rock and mole!


Book cover of Dog Man

Steve Breen Author Of Sky & Ty 1: Howdy, Partner!

From my list on graphic novels for young readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been an editorial cartoonist and author of children's books for years, and I've always wanted to try my hand at a graphic novel. I'd want to explore this art form even if I didn't have kids. Editorial cartoons deal with serious, heavy issues. Comic strips can get monotonous, and picture books tend to skew young. Graphic novels for kids, however, are 'Goldilocks' projects for me—just right. They allow you to imagine incredible adventures for your characters, they give you an excuse to incorporate wacky humor, and the format provides a chance to have fun with art and design. What's not to love?

Steve's book list on graphic novels for young readers

Steve Breen Why did Steve love this book?

This book is immensely entertaining due to its blend of slapstick humor, imaginative storytelling, and simple illustrations. In my mind, no other cartoonist or illustrator can convey so much silliness with so few lines!

Pilkey’s creation of a half-dog, half-man hero who finds himself in hilarious predicaments is a simple but genius premise. There are all kinds of wonderful supporting characters, too, like Evil Petey and cute Cat Kid. The comic book style format, drawn by mischief-makers Harold and George, adds to the charm here.

Clever wordplay, puns, and relatable themes of friendship, bravery, and perseverance will show you why this book was such a home-run success.

By Dav Pilkey,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Dog Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, 8, and 9.

What is this book about?

Howl with laughter with the FIRST book in the hilarious
full-colour illustrated series, Dog Man, from
the creator of Captain Underpants!
George and Harold (the co-stars of the enormously popular Captain
Underpants series) are in big trouble again!

George and Harold have created a new breed of justice -- one that
is part dog, part man, and ALL HERO!

With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound
digs into deception, claws after crooks, rolls over robbers,
and scampers after squirrels.

Will he be able to resist the call of the wild to answer…


Book cover of Dog in Charge

Karen Kaufman Orloff Author Of Dudley's Day at Home

From my list on books about dogs from a dog person.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a dog person. Sometimes, I think I am a dog whisperer, as I feel like the dogs in my life have always understood me, just like I understood them. They were often so human-like that I wondered what they did at the house when I was out. So, it didn’t take much of a leap to come up with the idea of “Dudley’s Day at Home,” where Dudley and his best cat pal, Buttercup, enjoy lots of human activities while Sam and his mother are away. 

Karen's book list on books about dogs from a dog person

Karen Kaufman Orloff Why did Karen love this book?

This is a very funny picture book about an obedient dog who is just trying to do the right thing –watching the somewhat unruly cats while the owners are out.

I love the relationship between the cats, who love the dog, and the dog as a responsible “babysitter.” It’s wonderfully written with humor and heart. Fun pictures, too! 

By K L Going, Dan Santat (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dog in Charge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

When the going gets tough, Dog . . . takes a nap

Dog can Sit.
He can Stay.
He can even Dance.
But when he's in charge, can he keep the cats in line?
All one, two, three, four, five of them?

Illustrated by Caldecott winner, Dan Santat, and packed full of slapstick silliness and utterly earnest charm, Dog will quickly wiggle his way into preschoolers' hearts.


Book cover of Payback Time!
Book cover of Action Presidents: George Washington!
Book cover of InvestiGators

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