The Laugh Out Loud Awards 2017 are designed to celebrate the very funniest books in the world of children’s fiction and today, we’re very excited to be celebrating the Lollies Shortlist announcement!
The shortlist, which you can read for the first time below, features the Lollies judges’ twelve funniest reads, ranging from picture books up to books for 9-13 years. As part of our new half-termly collaboration with Scholastic, we’re kicking off by giving you the chance to win all twelve books on the shortlist!
And Scholastic need your help – because the winners of the Lollies are decided entirely by teachers, parents and children. To start reading and voting for your favourites, go to www.scholastic.co.uk/lollies, and find out which books made the shortlist below.
After reading this fantastic list…you will also get the chance to win the ENTIRE list for you, and for YOUR choice of school or charity as well!
Picture Books
Oi, Dog! by Kes Gray/Jim Field
Hodder Children’s Books, Hachette
Frog’s had enough, he’s the changing the status quo! Cat insists that there are rules – only mules sit on stools, no one but hares should sit on chairs and however irritating, dogs MUST sit on frogs.
Eat Your People by Lou Kuenzler/David Wojtowycz
Orchard Books, Hachette
A monstrously funny story of difficult dinnertimes will have children asking for seconds! Monty definitely does NOT want to eat his people. He’ll eat his vegetables – every single one! – but he will not eat his people.
Prince of Pants by Alan Macdonald/Sarah McIntyre
Scholastic
It is Prince Pip’s birthday, and he can’t wait to choose a pair of pants to wear on his special day. But when he goes to his pants drawer, it’s empty! Where have all his pants gone? Could it be that the palace has planned a very special, pants-tastic surprise party? A royally funny picture book by an award-winning duo, with glow-in- the dark undies on the final page.
Danny McGee Drinks the Sea by Andy Stanton/Neal Layton
Hodder Children’s Books, Hachette
Can a boy drink the sea? Surely it’s impossible! But Danny McGee does just that – and now he has his sights on other things. Soon he’s swallowing trees, flies, fleas, peas, mountains … where will it end?!
6-8 years
Thimble Monkey Superstar by Jon Blake/Martin Chatterton
Firefly Press
Life is never boring now that Jams and his family have a monkey to look after. Jams and his mum love Thimble, but Dad is determined to get rid of him – to a zoo, a school, even a demolition site. But when Jams and his dad are in mortal danger, Thimble proves once and for all why he is a Monkey Superstar! Thimble is very clever and very naughty – and just the best friend Jams has been waiting for.
Hamish and the Neverpeople by Danny Wallace/Jamie Littler
Simon and Schuster
Nobody knows it yet, but the people of Earth are in big, big trouble. Like – HUGE trouble. Oh, come on, where’s your imagination? Double what you’re thinking! And it’s all got to do with a shadowy figure, an enormous tower, some sinister monsters, huge clanking and thundering metal oddballs, and people who are just like you… but not like you at all. Luckily Hamish and the PDF are around to help save the day! Aren’t they??
Eddy Stone and the Epic Holiday Mash-Up by Simon Cherry
Usborne Publishing
When Eddy Stone finds a pirate in his Gran’s bath, his miserable summer holiday turns into a treasure hunt!
Setting sail in a ship-shaped shed, crewed by an old lady and a grumpy penguin, what could possibly stop their quest for booty? (Apart from the world’s most evil shopkeeper, a man-eating beast, and the maddest, baddest villain in all the seven seas.) All aboard for an EPIC adventure…
Future Ratboy and the Invasion of the Nom Noms by Jim Smith
Jelly Pie, Egmont
When a bolt of lightning hit Colin Lamppost he was zapped millions of years into the future and turned into a half boy, half rat, half TV! With new superkeel powers and a real life sidekick in Not Bird, Future Ratboy was born. In this new adventure, can Future Ratboy and Not Bird save Shnozville from the bitey little insects that are turning everyone into zombies? Will they defeat the evil Mr X? And how will they ever find their way home?
9-13 years
I Don’t Like Poetry by Joshua Seigal
Bloomsbury Education
With poems on every topic from the power of books to the joys of fried chicken, this collection is packed with Joshua Seigal’s subversive humour and insight into the world of children. If you don’t like poetry after reading this, there’s probably something wrong with you!
The Best Medicine by Christine Hamill
Little Island Books
Philip’s happy-go- lucky life is disrupted when his mother gets breast cancer. Bad enough that your mother is seriously ill – but could she not have developed a less embarrassing kind of cancer – toe cancer, maybe, or ear cancer? Philip’s attempts to cope with his situation are both hilarious and touching. Through it all, he’s writing letters to his hero, the comedian Harry Hill, looking for advice. A hilarious take on life, love, glasses – and medicine.
My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons/Laura Ellen Anderson
Nosy Crow
Luke’s brother, Zack, and friend, Lara, have superpowers. Luke has new school shoes and a burning sense of resentment. He KNOWS that aliens disguised as gym teachers are about to attack Earth but will anyone listen? No. So one dodgy pact with a self-styled supervillain later, and Luke is ready to save the world. He just needs to find his trainers…
AniMalcolm by David Baddiel/Jim Field
HarperCollins
Malcolm doesn’t like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is NOT full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday.
The only bright spot on the horizon is the Year Six school trip, which Malcolm never thought his parents would pay for. And yet there he is, on the bus, heading to… oh no. A farm. Over the next days, Malcolm changes. He learns a lot about animals. More, in many ways, than he would like. He learns what it’s really like to be an animal. A whole series of animals, in fact…
It does make him think differently. And speak differently. And eat differently. And, um, smell differently. But will he end up the same as before?
Because sometimes the hardest thing to become is… yourself.
How to enter to win these books for you and your choice of school/charity
As always on KiddyCharts, we have made it easy for you to enter to win thse wonderful books, BUT you can also win them, not JUST for yourself, but also for YOUR choice of school or charity. So its double the benefit for half the effort!
We have kept simple, so you just need to sign up to our newsletters at KiddyCharts and Scholastic to be in with a chance of winning. Here is the entry widget from Gleam, and we wish you best of luck!
There are multiple ways to enter for more chances of winning; so you can share your entry, follow on Twitter, as well as signing up and retweeting the tweet about the awards from Scholastic UK.
As usual, we are giving you a little time to enter – the giveaway closes at 11.59pm on Thursday 29th June. Our usual competitions terms and conditions apply, and this is a UK only giveaway.
Oodles of luck to you all, and happy funny book reading too :-D
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!
Darren Sexey
Thursday 5th of October 2017
The Prince of pants looks great