100 books like That Is Not a Good Idea!

By Mo Willems,

Here are 100 books that That Is Not a Good Idea! fans have personally recommended if you like That Is Not a Good Idea!. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of I Want My Hat Back

Amanda Noll Author Of I Need My Monster

From my list on humorous picture books from someone who loves funny kid books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I never actually stopped reading children’s literature. Even as a grown-up, I figured out a way to read picture books every day. After earning a master’s degree in education, I found myself back in the library reading to students. I love reading funny books; they are more engaging and more likely to get kids reading and keep them reading. I love humor and think it is perfect in the shorter format of picture books. 

Amanda's book list on humorous picture books from someone who loves funny kid books

Amanda Noll Why did Amanda love this book?

I love the subtle humor in this book. I also love the pattern and rhythm of the dialogue.

When the story circles back to the natural conclusion, I use the characters’ reactions and expressions to have children infer what really happened, who stole the hat, and how the problem was solved. 

By Jon Klassen,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked I Want My Hat Back as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

A bear searches for his missing hat in the bestselling, multiple award-winning picture book debut of Jon Klassen.

In his bestselling debut picture book, the multiple award-winning Jon Klassen, illustrator of This Is Not My Hat and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, tells the story of a bear who's hat has gone. And he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no (some more elaborately than others). But just as it he begins to lose hope, lying flat on his back in…


Book cover of The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse

Elizabeth Marshall Author Of The Drinking Curriculum: A Cultural History of Childhood and Alcohol

From my list on alcohol and childhood between horror and humor.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a lover of champagne and popular culture and am fascinated with how humor can be used to confront taboo topics and subvert familiar orthodoxies. As a cultural critic, I study how visual artists challenge notions of childhood innocence by adding images of drinking and drunkenness to their adaptations of children’s texts and childish objects. Through these re-imaginings, we see how children’s culture is drinking culture. The most important lessons about alcohol and childhood in the drinking curriculum walk a fine line between humor and dread. My other books include Graphic Girlhoods: Visualizing Education and Violence and Witnessing Girlhood: Toward an Intersectional Tradition of Life Writing (with Leigh Gilmore).

Elizabeth's book list on alcohol and childhood between horror and humor

Elizabeth Marshall Why did Elizabeth love this book?

This picture book is one of the only contemporary books for children that shows drinking for pleasure.

After a mouse gets eaten up by a wolf, he meets a duck that lives in “the belly of the beast.” The two become fast friends and live happily in the wolf’s stomach. Together they make soup, dance to records, and enjoy the finer things in life.  When the wolf complains of a stomachache, the duck calls up a cure for him—advising that he eat a hunk of good chess, a flagon of wine, and some beeswax candles.

After the wolf does so, mouse and duck don top hats, tuxedo jackets, bow ties and sit down to feast, raising their glasses of wine to the health of the wolf. Ultimately, duck and mouse save the wolf’s life and in return he grants them their wish to return to their home in his stomach.…

By Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

They may have been swallowed, but they have no intention of being eaten... A new comedy from the unparalleled team of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen.

"A subversive delight ... an unexpected, hilarious collaboration" Guardian

Early one morning a mouse met a wolf and was quickly gobbled up...

When a woeful mouse is swallowed up by a wolf, he quickly learns he is not alone: a duck has already set up digs and, boy, has that duck got it figured out! Turns out it's pretty nice inside the belly of the beast - there's delicious food, elegant table settings and,…


Book cover of Eat Pete

Keiko Kasza Author Of My Lucky Day

From my list on with humor and twist endings.

Why am I passionate about this?

Keiko Kasza is an award-winning author/illustrator of picture books. Though she uses animals as her book characters, the subjects are always related to issues that young children face. Humor and a surprise ending are the signatures of her work.   

Keiko's book list on with humor and twist endings

Keiko Kasza Why did Keiko love this book?

A monster goes to Pete’s house with the intention to eat him. Pete asks the monster to play with various games and toys. The monster reluctantly does so, but each time the text goes, “He didn’t want to play...because he wanted to...EAT PETE!” Then something shocking happens – he eats Pete! Let me assure you, though, the ending is very sweet.  

By Michael Rex,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eat Pete as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 2, 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

From the creator of Goodnight Goon, a laugh-out-loud friendship story that perfectly captures the high and low moments of a typical playdate!

Pete couldn't be more thrilled when a monster shows up in his bedroom. Now Pete has someone to play with! And the hungry monster couldn't be more thrilled to be there, either. Now he can . . . EAT PETE!

But Pete has other ideas. And they are all good fun and quite distracting--things like playing cars and pirates. Well, we all know the course of playing together nicely never did run smoothly. So how much longer will…


Book cover of The Hueys in It Wasn't Me

Keiko Kasza Author Of My Lucky Day

From my list on with humor and twist endings.

Why am I passionate about this?

Keiko Kasza is an award-winning author/illustrator of picture books. Though she uses animals as her book characters, the subjects are always related to issues that young children face. Humor and a surprise ending are the signatures of her work.   

Keiko's book list on with humor and twist endings

Keiko Kasza Why did Keiko love this book?

I always admire Jeffers’s work – it is ever creative and original. The Hueys are arguing when Gillespie comes by. He asks them, “What are you fighting about?” This stumps them. They don’t remember. Then comes Gillespie’s last line, which blows your mind. The ending couldn't be more perfect.  

By Oliver Jeffers,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Hueys in It Wasn't Me 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?

What's all the arguing about? There are plenty of Hueys to go around in this hilarious story from the #1 bestselling illustrator of The Day the Crayons Quit!

The Hueys are back! Oliver Jeffers'  jelly bean-shaped creatures may look the same, think the same, and even do the same things, but that doesn’t mean they always agree. The only problem is, they can’t seem to agree on what they disagreed on in the first place! Which ultimately leads to an even bigger disagreement! Confused? Well, so are the Hueys. Which only adds to the fun and hilarity.

Anyone who has…


Book cover of A Splendid Friend, Indeed

Cheryl Lawton Malone Author Of Dario and the Whale

From my list on children’s books about kindness and friendship.

Why am I passionate about this?

Fairy tales were my first love but I didn’t discover the true magic of children’s picture books until I left my 25-year career as an attorney to enter an MFA program. Wow, was I amazed. Picture books—books in which pictures tell an integral part of the story—not only create an instant connection between reader and little listener but stay with us into adulthood as memories. With this insight, I dove into the genre to discover what distinguishes picture books that are read and reread from those that fade. The answer turns out to be—tales that engender awe and wonder, yarns with heart, and narratives about friendship and kindness. Those are the stories that stay with us forever.

Cheryl's book list on children’s books about kindness and friendship

Cheryl Lawton Malone Why did Cheryl love this book?

A bear and a goose are so different. Bear is quiet and firm. Goose is loud and pushy. How could they possibly be friends? But that’s exactly what happens in this bestselling tale of a bear who wants to read in peace and a goose that needs a friend. Author-illustrator Suzanne Bloom captures the concept of making and keeping friends with toddler-appropriate language and sparse but colorful drawings. The simple text paired with hilarious illustrations make this book one of my all-time favorite read-a-louds. A Splendid Friend, Indeed is, indeed, a sweet reminder of why friendship and kindness matter.

By Suzanne Bloom,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Splendid Friend, Indeed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bear just wants to read and write and think while Goose wants to talk and talk and talk. Bear is getting increasingly frustrated as Goose keeps interrupting him. Then Goose announces that thinking makes him hungry and he needs to make a snack. Goose returns with the snack and a note that he reads to bear: "You are my splendid friend." Bear responds by giving Goose a bear hug. They are splendid friends, indeed.


Book cover of The Snow Goose

David Clement-Davies Author Of Scream of the White Bear

From my list on fantasy about animals, nature and the environment.

Why am I passionate about this?

My first novel Fire Bringer approaches storytelling and life through the eyes of the young animal hero, a brave stag called Rannoch, born with the mark of an oak leaf on his head and destined to free the deer from tyranny. An epic, it also tries to be as realistic as possible in describing both nature and human societies and so, I guess, draws inspiration from all the great books I have recommended here. It was followed by two books about wolves, The Sight and Fell, one much involving animals in The Telling Pool, and my most recent cry for environmental awareness and protection Scream of the White Bear.

David's book list on fantasy about animals, nature and the environment

David Clement-Davies Why did David love this book?

There are many ‘animal’ books I’d love to recommend and in one sense the American novella The Snow Goose is oddly set apart. It is not really about animals then, except that the Snow goose, a symbol of nature and freedom, is indeed about the Spirit itself. It is one that moved me very deeply. Set at the beginning of the Second World War in England it is essentially about the strange friendship between a girl, Fritha, and the alienated hunchback artist Philip Rhayader and in the healing of a Snow Goose, a lyric coming of age story. It is also a cry of love and gentleness, amid the horrors of life and war, for the healing and understanding of the wounded and outcast.

By Paul Gallico,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Snow Goose as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Classic storytelling from a bestselling author. Gallico's most famous story, THE SNOW GOOSE, is set in the wild, desolate Essex marshes and is an intense and moving tale about the relationship between a hunchback and a young girl. THE SMALL MIRACLE is a contemporary fable about a young boy's love for his dangerously ill donkey.


Book cover of Fly By Night

Sheila Grau Author Of The Boy with 17 Senses

From my list on middle grade with breathtaking imagination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author of five books for children. I am also an avid reader of middle grade fiction, especially speculative fiction. I love exploring other people’s imaginations. It’s not only entertaining, but incredibly inspiring. Like most people, when I discover a book that I love, I can’t wait to share it with my friends. I hope you love these selections as much as I do! It was really hard to limit myself to just five. 

Sheila's book list on middle grade with breathtaking imagination

Sheila Grau Why did Sheila love this book?

Imagination + beautiful writing. I love books that surprise me. Whether it’s with imaginative settings, intricate plots, beautiful writing, or humor. Surprise me, and I’m hooked. For me, no writer does this better than Frances Hardinge. Her books are incredibly unique. There is nobody who writes like her, who thinks up plots like her. Any one of her books is a trip on a totally new adventure. I started with Fly By Night and have read everything by her since.

By Frances Hardinge,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Fly By Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Everybody knew that books were dangerous. Read the wrong book, it was said, and the words crawled around your brain on black legs and drove you mad, wicked mad. Mosca Mye was born at a time sacred to Goodman Palpitattle, He Who Keeps Flies out of Jams and Butterchurns, which is why her father insisted on naming her after the housefly. He also insisted on teaching her to read-even in a world where books are dangerous, regulated things. Eight years later, Quillam Mye died, leaving behind an orphaned daughter with an inauspicious name and an all-consuming hunger for words. Trapped…


Book cover of Mother Bruce

Marty Kelley Author Of Almost Everybody Farts

From my list on to laugh so hard milk shoots out your nose.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a full-time author and illustrator, and a recovering second grade teacher. I visit with tens of thousands of kids at schools every year and love sharing funny books with them. I’ve written and illustrated over 30 published books and know that kids appreciate subtle humor as well as in-your-face hilarity. I love writing stories that will make readers laugh and think. But mostly laugh.

Marty's book list on to laugh so hard milk shoots out your nose

Marty Kelley Why did Marty love this book?

This is probably the most perfect picture book. The illustrations are terrific – full of detail and bold colors. The humor is spot-on and works on multiple levels. Kids will adore Bruce’s cranky (but genuinely kind) attitude while adults laugh at the small asides that ring in a slightly more sophisticated way. 

By Ryan T. Higgins,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mother Bruce 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?



Bruce the bear likes to keep to himself. That, and eat eggs. But when his hard-boiled goose eggs turn out to be real, live goslings, he starts to lose his appetite. And even worse, the goslings are convinced he's their mother. Bruce tries to get the geese to go south, but he can't seem to rid himself of his new companions. What's a bear to do?


Book cover of Chicken Thief

Nancy Vo Author Of Boobies

From my list on with sideways humor and irony.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born where the sun rose in the prairies and set behind the Rockies. Now I live on the West Coast of Canada. I am a picture bookmaker, and from my recommendations, you might think that I also have a thing for thieves: cupcake thieves, underwear thieves, hat thieves, chicken thieves, pie thieves. But I’m really here for the element of surprise and well-earned laughs in children’s picture books. They say comedy is hard, but comedy in picture books is even harder. These five picks are a great place to start if you like smartly silly picture books with a bit of off-kilter humor and a sense of irony. Bonus points for puns.

Nancy's book list on with sideways humor and irony

Nancy Vo Why did Nancy love this book?

You know those car chase movies? Well, this is a picture book version featuring animal chases. The Chicken Thief defies stereotypes in a fun wordless sequence. The reader sees that a fox has stolen a chicken and is being pursued by potential liberators. And the reader might worry that foxes like to eat chickens! Wait for the surprise ending.

By Beatrice Rodriguez,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Chicken Thief


Book cover of Rosie's Walk

Petr Horacek Author Of A Best Friend for Bear

From my list on illustrations that inspire reading and writing.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning author and illustrator of 20 board books and over 20 picture books, who very occasionally illustrates books for other authors too. I was born in Czechoslovakia, but have spent the second half of my life in England. 

Petr's book list on illustrations that inspire reading and writing

Petr Horacek Why did Petr love this book?

Rosie’s Walk is a perfect example of what a picture book should look like. The text and the illustrations are in perfect harmony, although the text tells us one story and the pictures another. 

The story is about a hen who goes for a peaceful walk across the yard, around the pond, across the field... and back home for dinner. But through the beautiful illustrations you can see a different story. The hen is followed by a naughty fox all the way. The hen was lucky and purely by luck escaped unharmed from the fox, who stepped on the rake, fell into the pond, got stuck in the haycock, and was chased away by bees. 

The book gives the child a chance to participate, take over and become the narrator who tells the story.

By Pat Hutchins,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rosie's Walk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 2, 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

Rosie the hen is going for a walk. But she'd better watch out - there's a sneaky fox on the prowl . . .

This timeless classic is the perfect combination of funny, witty, child-friendly humour and iconic retro artwork. The spare text is cleverly complemented by pictures that tell more than the words give away - ideal for building visual literacy for the very youngest readers. This is one of the must-have books for any child's library.


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in foxes, plot twists, and chickens?

Foxes 26 books
Plot Twists 49 books
Chickens 37 books