A Round-up of Silly Funny Books

Duck's Vacation, written and illustrated by Gilad Soffer.  Poor Duck only wants to sit peacefully on the beach, but you--yes, YOU, the reader--are causing great distress by turning the pages.  With every turn of the page, something horrible happens to Duck, ruining the peaceful zen state Duck tries in vain to create.  Soffer's titular character pleads directly to the reader to stop turning the pages.  But do we listen?  No, so terrible (yet hilarious) things keep happening to Duck:  a gull poos on its head, a crab bites its foot, and there's even a sudden inexplicable snowstorm.  This meta picture book page turner keeps you giggling from start to finish, leading to a hilarious punch line that Duck had a stunt double for some of the more treacherous moments in the story.

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat, written by Deborah Underwood, pictures by Claudia Rueda.  The mischievous feline returns and has a big huge dream:  it wants to meet the Tooth Fairy! The narrator talks directly to the cat in a most amusing manner, asking our protagonist questions, responding to the character's humorous facial expressions (rendered with ace comic timing by Rueda).  After the cat tries to trick the Tooth Fairy by leaving the tooth of a comb, a strange package arrives holding a Tooth Fairy costume and a note saying "nice try" but hey, maybe the cat can work as an assistant to the legendary being.  The presence of a mouse helper adds more laughs, but a surprisingly effective lesson in friendship and teamwork follows.  Watching the cat earn its stripes is a joy.

How to Catch a Mouse, written and illustrated by Philippa Leathers.  This extremely adorable yet slyly funny story introduces us to Clemmie, a pint-sized striped orange cat who also happens to be "a brave, fearsome mouse catcher."  A wonderful disconnect between text and illustration occurs right away as the narrator brags about Clemmie's abilities, ignoring the fact that we can see the mouse sneaking around either behind the cat's back or hidden in plain sight.  There's a big laugh when we read that Clemmie is such a fearsome mouse catcher "that she has never even seen a mouse" (this follows an illustration where the mouse has been reading a how-to-catch-a-mouse-guide over Clemmie's shoulder).  Turns of the pages lead to surprises as Clemmie creeps up on what looks like parts of a mouse but turn out to be other objects.  When our feline hero realizes that she has been tricked by the mouse, there's a moment of sadness, but a sweet ending has the cat bouncing back with tricks of her own.

Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner, by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees.  This playfully absurd (and yet at times truly startling...in a funny way) cautionary tale advises children not to invite certain large creatures into their houses because chaos will ensue.  The rhyming text pleads with you not to "ask a dinosaur to dinner" because "a T. rex is ferocious/And his manners are atrocious,/And you'll find that if he's able..." (turn the page) "He will eat the kitchen table!" (larger font used).  The cartoonish, colorful illustration shows the mom fainting (who can blame her?).  More advice follows, and we learn why we shouldn't share our toothbrushes with sharks or use tigers for towels.  Even inviting a cute-looking barn owl into bed may seem snug at first, but watch out!!!  Yet we do finally learn something that will lead to a restful night sleep, and surprisingly we learn that this has been a bedtime story all along.

Nuts in Space, written and illustrated by Elys Dolan.  Dolan follows up her inventive, bizarrely funny Weasels with this delightfully madcap spoof of outer space adventures.  A bunch of furry space travelers must bring home their amazing discovery:  the Lost Nuts of Legend!  However, the trek is wild and bumpy as they become lost and encounter villains and comical mayhem along the way.  Each spread contains several comical details, punchlines, and little jokes.  Cartoon bubbles pop up over the characters' heads and for those in the know, lines spoofing Star Trek and  Star Wars abound (love that the Death Banana, a tasty spoof of the Death Star, has been "terrorizing since 1977").  Interestingly enough in all the chaos, the characters' personalities emerge and tickle the funny bone.  This is a funny book that can be visited and visited again for maximum comic impact.