100 books like The Robbery

By Joaquin Camp,

Here are 100 books that The Robbery fans have personally recommended if you like The Robbery. 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 Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

DK Ryland Author Of Have You Seen My Acorn?

From my list on where the reader knows more than the character.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a picture book author/illustrator who writes humorous stories. One of my favorite techniques for instilling humor in my writing is for the illustrations to show the reader more than the characters’ know. It’s so much fun for kids to realize and be in on the joke before the characters in the book. I love a storytime where the kids get engaged and start pointing out what’s really happening and start talking to the characters to try to change their actions. I also love a good twist ending that makes the reader say, “How did I not see that coming?!” and these are the perfect kind of books for it. 

DK's book list on where the reader knows more than the character

DK Ryland Why did DK love this book?

Sam and Dave are digging for something spectacular and get so close to treasure that they keep deciding to change directions right when they are about to find it. I love this because, as a reader, you can see the treasure and how close Sam and Dave get.

The ending on this one is so fascinating because it’s open-ended, and that’s especially rare for a picture book. It's also a great conversation starter. 

By Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Sam & Dave Dig a Hole 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?

With perfect pacing, the multiple award-winning, best-selling team of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen dig down for a deadpan tale full of visual humour.

From the award-winning team behind Extra Yarn, and illustrated by Jon Klassen, the Kate Greenaway-winning creator of This Is Not My Hat and I Want My Hat Back, comes a perfectly paced, deadpan tale full of visual humour. Sam and Dave are on a mission. A mission to find something spectacular. So they dig a hole. And they keep digging. And they find ... nothing. Yet the day turns out to be pretty spectacular after all.…


Book cover of Mr. S: A First Day of School Book

DK Ryland Author Of Have You Seen My Acorn?

From my list on where the reader knows more than the character.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a picture book author/illustrator who writes humorous stories. One of my favorite techniques for instilling humor in my writing is for the illustrations to show the reader more than the characters’ know. It’s so much fun for kids to realize and be in on the joke before the characters in the book. I love a storytime where the kids get engaged and start pointing out what’s really happening and start talking to the characters to try to change their actions. I also love a good twist ending that makes the reader say, “How did I not see that coming?!” and these are the perfect kind of books for it. 

DK's book list on where the reader knows more than the character

DK Ryland Why did DK love this book?

The premise of this book is just hilarious. On their first day of school, a class thinks their teacher is a sandwich sitting on the desk at the front of the class. What?! Hilarious!

Because we see the scene through the classroom window, the reader knows that the teacher’s car was smashed by a fallen tree, and he’s stuck in the parking lot dealing with it. But the twist at the end has the reader questioning how much they actually knew all along! 

By Monica Arnaldo,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Mr. S 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?

Prepare for plenty of giggles as a kindergarten class arrives for their first day of school, but can't find their teacher-only a delicious-looking sandwich and the words "Mr. S" scribbled on the chalkboard. Chaos ensues as the kids argue whether or not the sandwich must be their teacher. A comical, first day of school book of mayhem and chaos by Monica Arnaldo, perfect fans of Miss Nelson Is Missing.

"This might be the funniest first-day-of-school book I've ever read." -Adam Rex, New York Times bestselling author of School's First Day of School

It was the first day of school.

But…


Book cover of Max the Brave

DK Ryland Author Of Have You Seen My Acorn?

From my list on where the reader knows more than the character.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a picture book author/illustrator who writes humorous stories. One of my favorite techniques for instilling humor in my writing is for the illustrations to show the reader more than the characters’ know. It’s so much fun for kids to realize and be in on the joke before the characters in the book. I love a storytime where the kids get engaged and start pointing out what’s really happening and start talking to the characters to try to change their actions. I also love a good twist ending that makes the reader say, “How did I not see that coming?!” and these are the perfect kind of books for it. 

DK's book list on where the reader knows more than the character

DK Ryland Why did DK love this book?

Max is a brave kitten who chases mice… if only he knew what a mouse looked like. When Max finally meets a mouse, the mouse tricks Max into thinking he’s actually a monster. It’s so fun to read this book knowing what the mouse actually is and cheering Max on as he gets the last laugh in the end. 

By Ed Vere (author & illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Max the Brave as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

Meet Max - the mighty kitten and New York Times bestseller.

Max is Brave, Max is Fearless, Max is a Mouse-catcher...

But, in order to be a Mouse-catcher, Max needs to know what a mouse is, so off he goes to find out.

This hilarious new picture book from the phenomenally-talented Ed Vere introduces a new and lovable character, with Ed's trademark bold illustrations and clever story.

Other Ed Vere titles to look out for:
Banana; Bedtime for Monsters; Mr. Big; The Getaway


Book cover of Lou

DK Ryland Author Of Have You Seen My Acorn?

From my list on where the reader knows more than the character.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a picture book author/illustrator who writes humorous stories. One of my favorite techniques for instilling humor in my writing is for the illustrations to show the reader more than the characters’ know. It’s so much fun for kids to realize and be in on the joke before the characters in the book. I love a storytime where the kids get engaged and start pointing out what’s really happening and start talking to the characters to try to change their actions. I also love a good twist ending that makes the reader say, “How did I not see that coming?!” and these are the perfect kind of books for it. 

DK's book list on where the reader knows more than the character

DK Ryland Why did DK love this book?

Lou is the most lovable fire hydrant who thinks he is only a toilet for dogs but eventually realizes his full potential. I love that the main character doesn’t know what the reader does about Lou’s real purpose. There is also an entire storyline happening in the background that is hilarious and gives this book the perfect balance of humor and heart.

By Breanna Carzoo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lou 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?

Don't miss this humorous and heartwarming picture book by debut creator Breanna Carzoo about an unlikely everyday hero: a fire hydrant! Perfect for fans of The Good Egg and The Bad Seed.

Meet Lou. Lou has an important job . . . as the neighborhood toilet for dogs on their walks.

Useful as he may be, he gets the feeling that deep down inside, there might be more to him than that. He just doesn't seem to know exactly what yet. When disaster strikes, will Lou find out what he's made of and save the day?

From debut creator Breanna…


Book cover of True Grit

Sabrina Reeves Author Of Little Crosses

From my list on a fierce female protagonist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in Boston and New York and currently live in Montreal. I have worked primarily in writing performance texts and plays. I founded the performance company Bluemouth Inc., with whom I have written and staged over a dozen works. In 2018, I completed an MFA in Creative Writing at Concordia University, where I was awarded the Dean of Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Creative Writing. As for my expertise in compiling this list, I am the daughter of a strong force-of-nature woman who fought for what she had and taught her kids they can get through anything as long as they have humor, music, and books.

Sabrina's book list on a fierce female protagonist

Sabrina Reeves Why did Sabrina love this book?

Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross has got grit.

This book was recommended to me by my firefighter brother, who often reads what I call “he-man” books. The titles always have words like mutiny, bullets, gangsters, firestorm, etc. So, when he suggested I read this book, I had my reservations. (In fairness, the books he recommends consistently end up on my list of all-time favorites–I guess that’s what I get for pre-judging!) In any case, over the years, I have learned the one thing we both love in a protagonist–and now I have a name for it–is grit. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

By Charles Portis,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked True Grit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There is no knowing what lies in a man's heart. On a trip to buy ponies, Frank Ross is killed by one of his own workers. Tom Chaney shoots him down in the street for a horse, $150 cash, and two Californian gold pieces. Ross's unusually mature and single-minded fourteen-year-old daughter Mattie travels to claim his body, and finds that the authorities are doing nothing to find Chaney. Then she hears of Rooster - a man, she's told, who has grit - and convinces him to join her in a quest into dark, dangerous Indian territory to hunt Chaney down…


Book cover of The Great Pet Heist

Kristin O’Donnell Tubb Author Of A Dog Like Daisy

From my list on books for kids told from a dog’s point of view.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the author of eleven books for middle-grade readers, including three books from a dog’s point of view. These books have won five state book awards between them, and have been published in other languages. I’ve been writing for young readers for over 20 years. I also live with four furry friends of my own: Cookie (a cockapoo), Myrtle (a pug), Nala (a calico cat), and Daisy (a sweet mutt cat). I miss my big-hearted goldendoodle Lucky every day. And, like my dogs, I can be bribed with cheese.

Kristin's book list on books for kids told from a dog’s point of view

Kristin O’Donnell Tubb Why did Kristin love this book?

Pets+heists=hilarity.

There are so many things to love about this funny, fast-paced story: the pets refer to their human as Mrs. Food. The sneaky plan they devise and why. The relationships between the entire cast of characters which includes not just Butterbean the dog but also Oscar the mynah bird, Walt the cat, a pair of rats named Marco and Polo, and others.

It is delightful, and you and your young reader will chuckle all the way through this one. 

By Emily Ecton, David Mottram (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Great Pet Heist 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?

Ocean’s Eleven meets The Secret Life of Pets in this “classic caper” (Booklist) following a ragtag group of pets who will do whatever it takes to avoid being sent to the pound.

Butterbean knew she wasn’t always a good dog. Still, she’d never considered herself a BAD dog—until the morning that her owner, Mrs. Food, fell in the hallway. Admittedly the tile was slipperier than usual, mostly because Butterbean had just thrown up on it.

Now Butterbean and her fellow pets have to come up with a grand plan to support themselves in case Mrs. Food is unable to keep…


Book cover of Barn 8

Meredith Walters Author Of This Animal Body

From my list on make you wish you could talk to animals.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember. When I was young, girls my age were seeking out babies to admire. I was around the corner looking for puppies, frogs, or any other animal I could get my hands on. I’ve spent decades seeking out animals, and the more I learn about them, the more I realize how much they can teach us, point out what we otherwise might have missed, or offer a startlingly different (and often more helpful) perspective on things. The following books are some of my favorites that bring to light the unique and profound truths animals reveal to us.

Meredith's book list on make you wish you could talk to animals

Meredith Walters Why did Meredith love this book?

In most stories, animals don’t exist for their own reasons—their purpose is simply to serve the needs of the main characters or the machinations of the plot. In Barn 8, however, chickens not only have agency and their own raison d’etre, but they catalyze every single major turn of events.

I love the premise—a group of unlikely activists decides to free the million-plus chickens suffering on an egg farm—and its quirky, clever style. But the best part is the chickens at the heart of the tale. Unferth gets inside their heads, showing their loyalty and love, their distinctive personalities, and their undeniable, fierce intelligence.

It's a captivating glimpse into the inner world of extraordinary animals who deserve to be the heroes of their own stories.

By Deb Olin Unferth,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Barn 8 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One disaffected administrator, one disenchanted teenager, four hundred and twenty-one vegan extremists, sixty trucks, and nine hundred thousand grumpy layer hens awaiting liberation. In barns. Six barns. No, wait, seven. No, wait ...

Two auditors for the US egg industry conceive a plot to liberate an entire egg farm's worth of animals, with catastrophic results. This wildly inventive but utterly plausible novel about a heist of a very unusual kind swirls with a rich array of voices: a farmer's daughter, hundreds of activists, a forest ranger who stumbles upon forty thousand hens, and a security guard abandoned for years on…


Book cover of The Ten-Year Nap

Stephanie Newman Author Of Barbarians at the PTA

From my list on mom culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a practicing clinical psychologist, teacher of psychotherapy theory and technique, and author (Barbarians at the PTA, Madmen on the Couch, Money Talks) who writes about the psychopathology of daily life for various online and print publications, I am a participant in/observer of mom culture. I love a juicy mother-child story. 

Stephanie's book list on mom culture

Stephanie Newman Why did Stephanie love this book?

This is mom culture at its best: Wolitzer traces the members of a clique who drop their kids at pre-k and enjoy over the ensuing years the gravitational pull of parenting, school volunteering, and part-time work.

She explores familiar dilemmas about aging, career versus family, and female friendship, while offering a sometimes heartbreaking, but always realistic, look at the choices moms face as they watch their kids grow.

By Meg Wolitzer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ten-Year Nap as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestselling novel by the author of The Interestings and The Female Persuasion that woke up critics, book clubs, and women everywhere.

For a group of four New York friends the past decade has been defined largely by marriage and motherhood, but it wasn’t always that way. Growing up, they had been told that their generation would be different. And for a while this was true. They went to good colleges and began high-powered careers. But after marriage and babies, for a variety of reasons, they decided to stay home, temporarily, to raise their children. Now, ten…


Book cover of White Noise

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been captivated by interesting people since I was a kid. Family members always thought I asked too many questions of people, trying to learn more about who they are. For that reason, when I started reading fiction, I looked for characters with originality who opened new horizons and who I wanted to hang out with. (That’s also why I host the Novelist Spotlight podcast.) I agree 100 percent with novelist Larry McMurtry, who said: “For me, the novel is character creation. Unless the characters convince and live, the book’s got no chance.” The books I placed on my list reflect this belief. I hope you dig them.

Mike's book list on character-driven books with colorful, eccentric and dysfunctional protagonists and antagonists

Mike Consol Why did Mike love this book?

I found this book hysterically funny, and the dialogue more imaginative than any book I’ve ever read. The characters are without equal in terms of their originality, including the children of Jack and Babette Gladney.

The sheer number of meaningful topics this story covers is also without equal. The author’s observations are extremely keen. At its core, it is about the fear of death, though it is not a depressing story in any sense. It’s no wonder why it won the 1985 National Book Award.

By Don DeLillo,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked White Noise as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The National Book Award-winning classic from the author of Underworld and Libra-an "eerie, brilliant, and touching" (New York Times) family drama about mass culture and the numbing effects of technology-soon to be a major motion picture starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig

White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultra modern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event," a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent…


Book cover of Blue Movie

Nathan Abrams Author Of Kubrick: An Odyssey

From my list on fiction and nonfiction books about movie directors.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was old (or young) enough to have only seen two Kubrick films in the cinema: Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut. I began teaching film studies and Hollywood in 1998, and I have been teaching and researching Kubrick intensively since 2007, visiting his archive in London on numerous occasions. At one point, I held the record for the researcher who had spent the most hours in the Archive. I also met Christiane and Jan and spoke to many others who knew and worked with Kubrick. Having been familiar with Robert Kolker’s work, it became clear that collaborating with an international authority on film was a necessity as well as a pleasure.

Nathan's book list on fiction and nonfiction books about movie directors

Nathan Abrams Why did Nathan love this book?

This novel follows a famous Hollywood director called Boris Adrian but known as "King B" who is shooting a big-budget arthouse porn film.

The auteur was allegedly based on Kubrick, with whom Southern collaborated on Dr. Strangelove, and the book is dedicated to "the great Stanley K" whom Southern alleges wanted to make such a film. As Southern also had screenwriting credits for Easy Rider and Casino Royale, it offers a first-hand account, albeit fictionalized, of someone who worked with the director but also with others in Hollywood.

By Terry Southern,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Blue Movie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With a new introduction by Marianne Faithfull

“Terry Southern writes a mean, coolly deliberate, and murderous prose.” ―Norman Mailer

King B., an Oscar-winning director, is now determined to shoot the dirtiest and most expensive X-rated movie ever made. Displaced to Liechtenstein (which, in order to boost tourism, has negotiated the exclusive rights to show the film for ten years) and fueled by suspiciously rejuvenating vitamin B-12 injections, the set of The Faces of Love is fraught with monstrous egos and enormous libidos ― the kind of situation that could only come from the imagination of the irrepressible Terry Southern.


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in outlaws, Argentina, and robbery?

Outlaws 48 books
Argentina 61 books
Robbery 33 books