This post is on behalf of my 8 yo fun loving and hyperactive son who finds peace and happiness in reading. He finds comfort in funny and hilarious books. So, here is a list of his favourite reads that he wanted me to share with you all.
Roald Dahl Books – Divit is a big fan of Roald Dahl books. He transitioned to chapter books with Roald Dahl’s “The BFG”, and then moved on to read the other books by the same author. The books have a direct connect with kids. Simple language but very humorous that has a natural flow and keep the kids very glued till the end. He has read almost all of his books but he wants to write about the one he started with.
The BFG – If you are wondering what it stands for – don’t think too much. It is The Big Friendly Giant! On a dark and silvery night, SOPHIE was snatched from her bed by a Giant. LUCKILY, it was the Big Friendly Giant who only eats SNOZZCUMBER AND GLUGS FROBSCOTTLE. But there are other giants in the GIANT CITY. Can SOPHIE and her friend BFG find the other giants who eat fifty “human beans” in just one night? Let’s hope so – otherwise the next child to be guzzled up by the GRUESOME GRIZZLY GIANT could be YOU.
The other books by Roald Dahl that we love are –
Fantastic Mr Fox
Matilda
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
The Twits
James and The Giant Peach
Boy: Tales of Childhood (It is his autobiography)
The Magic Finger
The Giraffe And The Pelly And Me
The Enormous Crocodile
Roald Dahl Sticker Activity Books are also available! Achira has shared some inside pages of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Sticker Activity Book in our kbc facebook group here.
ROALD DAHL CREATIVE WRITING BOOKS (on themes based on his various books!). Shaili’s kids have these.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney – This series is a total favourite of Divit. This is for a little matured readers so I would say 8/9 years+ because of the themes and language. The book is about Greg Heffley and his family; his two brothers, elder one – Rodrick, younger one – Manny and his best friend Rowley Jefferson! Why Divit likes it is because it is just too FUNNY. When he doesn’t want to do anything or read anything new, he is found in a corner with one of these books. There are three more books – Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal (read Aarini’s review here), Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure and Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories, all by the same author. This series is more like the journal of his best friend, Rowley.
Jake Books by Ken Spillman – Jake books are a total hit at our place. Short and thin books which are very funny and also convey beautiful messages. These are great reads for kids who are starting to transition to chapter books. We have the following:
Jake books are published by Scholastic. Should anyone wish to buy these books from Scholastic India, click on this special kbc affiliate link and type JAKE BOOKS in search.
Slime by David Walliams – In a town where all the people are super mean, this little boy ends up making a friend. Not a usual kinda slime friend instead. And together they are on a mission to take out all the bad, mean people. Recommended Age – 8 years and above.
The Mystery of The School on Fire by Ravi Subramanian – I got this one for Divit because I love this author’s books. And this one is equally gripping. Join the SMS (Super Mystery Solvers) gang to solve the mystery of their physics lab catching fire over and over again. Is there foul play or is there some other supernatural reason behind this? Aditya, Kabir and Akriti are determined to get to the bottom of this. Very interesting story and again wonderful illustrations. Recommended Age – 8 years and above.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B .White – This book is about the little pig Wilbur and his friends. It is a great book. A very cute story of friendship, love and compassion. Charlotte is a spider who becomes Wilbur’s friend on the farm of Mr. Zuckerman, where no other animals wanted to be the friend of Wilbur. It is she who works on saving Wilbur. Recommended Age – 8 years and above.
The Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Cook by Subhadra Sen Gupta – Such an amazing book this is. It is about Rohin and his adventurous journey to find out about a mysterious diary he finds at his grandparent’s house. Set in Lucknow, this takes one through the old culture and cuisine of the place. A very simple story which teaches a very important lesson – live your dream and don’t shy away from saying it aloud. I feel it is a great read for kids 8+ who are in that sensitive age where they want something but are often shy to open up to their parents. And of course for foodies like us. Divit was enchanted to understand the details old dum pukht and we had a detailed discussion around that. There is another one called The Secret Diary Of The World’s Worst Friend by Subhadra Sen Gupta which is a total favourite. Recommended Age – 8 years and above.
The Awesome Book Series by Adam Frost – This series has lovely books that are very interesting full of fun facts. Divit loves The Awesome Body Book and The Awesome Book of Awesomeness. Recommended Age – 6 years and above.
The Worries: Sohal Finds a Friend by Jion Sheibani – A book on dealing with the emotions for a little older kids. This is not a hilarious book but deals with worries in a fun way. It beautifully puts a perspective to the many worries these little minds often have and fear to talk about them. A must have for any “worrier” to deal with their emotions. Recommended Age – 7 years and above.
ADDED BY ASHA: There are other books in this series: The Worries: Shara and the Really Big Sleepover , The Worries: Jaz and the New Baby and The Worries: Leo Says Goodbye (about grandma passing away).
Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman – I got this book for Divit’s 8th birthday, when Asha suggested this. Oh what a book! A father who goes out to get milk for his kid’s breakfast but gets captured by aliens. His journey through space and time to get back the milk is so funny and hilarious! And there is even a dino in the book. Recommended Age – 7 years and above.
Doctor Bonkers! by Jeremy Strong – Rosie’s cosmic PJs have got her and her brothers into an adventure. They met a medieval scientist whose name was Doctor Bonkers. It turns out that the Doctor has accidentally made a machine that can make planets go SPLAT which should have been a vacuum for his lovely little grandson’s birthday. Rosie, her brothers and Doctor Bonkers have to face Vikings, Ancient Egyptians, and DINOSAURS to get back the machine. Recommended Age – 7 to 9 years.
The Secret Time Machine and the Gherkin Switcheroo by Simone Lia – Meet Marcus and Laurence. They are the best of friends. Marcus is a worm who doesn’t live in a wormhole like other worms but lives in a tree with his best friend Lawrence like the other birds. They have a lot of fun together until Laurence discovers a new and boring hobby (to Marcus). Laurence loves sitting on the couch and doing crosswords. Marcus really wants Laurence to go out and play with him, but Laurence just won’t give in, so, Marcus makes up an “Imaginative story” by telling Laurence that is auntie has made a time machine. And now Laurence is all ready to go, see that, and travel in time. But how will Marcus make it? All his efforts of reading various books to try making one goes in vain. And then an idea strikes him! Is he able to make the time machine for Laurence? Read more to find out. The illustrations are really very beautiful. Recommended Age – 7 to 9 years
Cookie! And The Most Annoying Boy In The World by Konnie Huq – This book is about Cookie. Well her name is Kanak which is a bengali name and as per the pronunciation it should be written as “Kawnawk”. (It is written in bengali in the book). Well, she is the youngest of three sisters and she hates it because there is no one she can boss over. She is also very sad because her bestfriend Keziah is moving out of town and she badly, desperately, wants a pet! To make things worse, there is this boy Jake who takes the pet that she wanted (she had named her Bluey), who moves into her class and sits right next to her and even moves next door! Will Cookie ever get Bluey as her pet? Join the hilarious adventure with Cookie to find out. Recommended Age – 7 to 9 years. There are other books in this Cookie series like COOKIE AND THE MOST ANNOYING GIRL IN THE WORLD.
Ninja Nani Series by Lavanya Karthik – A nani with superpowers! Can it get any better? Meet Deepu and his Nani. They are very good friends. But one day, when Nani was watching Chef D (her favourite show) on TV, the TV zapped her! Deepu was shocked to find out that his Nani had got the powers of Ninja Dragon Morimori (Deepu’s favourite TV show)! For some reason, Nani was mean to Deepu after that. The same night, Nani heard jingling. Deepu said that when jingling was there, there were bad guys causing trouble! As soon as she heard this, Nani leapt out of the window and ran off! To Deepu she said nothing. After a while, Nani hadn’t come back, so Deepu started to search for her. Deepu found her but so did some burglars. But at this moment, when they needed it the most, the powers went away. “Why only at THIS moment????!” said Nani. The bad guys kidnapped them. Then Nani said sorry to Deepu. And Deepu accepted it! Nani’s Powers came back and she beat the bad guys up! Now they save the world together. We have all four from the series and have had a total blast in all adventures with the pair. Recommended Age – 8 years and above.
Duckbill hOle Books – We are big fans of these books. The first one I had bought for Divit was Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles written by Arundhati Venkatesh. We got this when he was having trouble with a wobbly tooth and had so much fun being a part of the gap club. Every book bought after that is so hilarious and we cherished each one. The entire PETU PUMPKIN SERIES IS A RIOT! The latest one – A Pinch Of Magic by Asha Nehemiah, was won by Divit in a contest in Kbc and is absolutely precious for us. Recommended Age – 6+ years
P.S. I would like to thank Kids book Cafe for introducing these lovely books to us. Most of these books are bought based on the recommendations from Kbc. Thank you Asha for enriching our reading journey so much!
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the book titles & images have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
