Looking for uplifting, cheery books for kids
April 4, 2019 9:13 AM Subscribe
My 11 year old likes to read and loves a good book. Lately, the well-rated stuff I have picked up for him he has loved -- but he's reported they've been pretty sad with close family and friends dying. (I didn't know it when picking them up) He's had more than his fair share of close family die lately so I am looking for a few light-hearted books.
Books he's read and liked lately - Crispin, Maniac Magee, Freak the Mighty, and Circus Mirandus.
He seems to read at about his grade level.
James Patterson has a couple of kids series that my son loved - Treasure Hunters, Jacky Ha Ha, and I Funny.
posted by lyssabee at 10:20 AM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by lyssabee at 10:20 AM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Judy Blume’s Fudge books (starting with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing). At his age I thought they were the funniest things in the world.
posted by sallybrown at 10:22 AM on April 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 10:22 AM on April 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
The Soup series by Robert Newton Peck might be about right. I loved them as a child.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Ms Vegetable at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
I loved Maniac Magee, still have my copy! Another book from around that time I remember fondly is The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown. It's does have some heavy stuff - not as much as MM - but there are a lot of laughs. Gordon Korman's McDonald Hall series was also a favourite.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:17 AM on April 4, 2019
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:17 AM on April 4, 2019
A few more recent books that might work for him:
Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship by Chitra Soundar is a great story collection/Indian folktale retelling that's kind of reverse trickster tales (trickster-type cleverness but used to help others)
Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott (fun fantasy with some serious elements, but nothing too dark or sad)
The Vanderbeeks of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
I second the suggestions of Rick Riordan's imprint -- he's using his fame to promote wonderful, fun fantasy by authors of color. (I just realized this was suggested in a different thread, so I nominate and await a second...)
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (also his Jack books, beginning with Heads or Tails)
posted by tangosnail at 11:52 AM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship by Chitra Soundar is a great story collection/Indian folktale retelling that's kind of reverse trickster tales (trickster-type cleverness but used to help others)
Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott (fun fantasy with some serious elements, but nothing too dark or sad)
The Vanderbeeks of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
I second the suggestions of Rick Riordan's imprint -- he's using his fame to promote wonderful, fun fantasy by authors of color. (I just realized this was suggested in a different thread, so I nominate and await a second...)
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (also his Jack books, beginning with Heads or Tails)
posted by tangosnail at 11:52 AM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Someone else here recommended the Squirrel Girl novels and I thought they were super fun and cheerful, with a nice little Marvel tie in if your son is a fan. I don’t think anyone dies and even the bad guys go to jail instead.
posted by bananacabana at 12:13 PM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by bananacabana at 12:13 PM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Request for more info: what genres/interests would be appealing to your son? I don't think "happier" is quite enough info ...
posted by mr. remy at 1:16 PM on April 4, 2019
posted by mr. remy at 1:16 PM on April 4, 2019
Response by poster: At the request of more info... So far he doesn't have a genre he prefers. He likes magic and the underdog and zombies and nature and historic novels. He thinks he doesn't like nonfiction but he actually enjoys some. He had some challenging non-fiction books assigned to him so he doesn't think it's too fun. Not into sports stuff. That's about the only thing.
Thanks for the help so far!
posted by beccaj at 6:06 PM on April 4, 2019
Thanks for the help so far!
posted by beccaj at 6:06 PM on April 4, 2019
My daughter recently enjoyed Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman. It’s a hilariously ludicrous story about a father’s trip to the store to buy some milk. I think there are pirates and time travel involved.
Also, Escape from Mr. Limencello’s Library. It’s about 12 12-year olds who have to solve puzzles to escape a library in a non-scary way. Silly and full of riddles and puns.
posted by defreckled at 6:26 PM on April 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
Also, Escape from Mr. Limencello’s Library. It’s about 12 12-year olds who have to solve puzzles to escape a library in a non-scary way. Silly and full of riddles and puns.
posted by defreckled at 6:26 PM on April 4, 2019 [3 favorites]
I came to say Fortunately, the Milk.
The Phantom Tollbooth.
The Mysterious Benedict Society, maybe. I find those books witty and fun but they are quite long and require a fair amount of commitment.
posted by BibiRose at 7:29 PM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Phantom Tollbooth.
The Mysterious Benedict Society, maybe. I find those books witty and fun but they are quite long and require a fair amount of commitment.
posted by BibiRose at 7:29 PM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Just a warning that one of the Fudge books features a dead turtle. I found it extremely upsetting as a child and still do now, to be honest, despite the comic circumstances under which this occurs.
posted by Acheman at 1:17 AM on April 5, 2019
posted by Acheman at 1:17 AM on April 5, 2019
Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain (which begins with The Book of Three) is a wonderful fantasy series, with some funny characters to leaven the adventure. I think it's one of the all-time great children's series, and I'm always amazed it isn't more famous.
Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series (which starts with The Amulet of Samarkand) is witty and imaginative and great fun.
Stroud's Lockwood & Co series (which starts with The Screaming Staircase) is equally page-turning. It's occasionally a little grimmer than the Bartimaeus books. But it's grim in a spooky, lightning-flickering-over-a-haunted-castle way, rather than a depressing my-mom-has-cancer way. Plus there's plenty of humor along the way.. If your son loves zombies, I don't think he'll have any problem with it.
Book Scavenger by Jen Bertsman is a fast-paced adventure about kids whose love of books gets them entangled in a mystery.
One more recommendation that I have to give with a caveat. If you want to show your son how much fun non-fiction can be, I highly recommend Two Truths and Lie: It's Alive by AJ Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson. Each chapter has two strange-but-true essays and one that's entirely made up, and you have to figure out which the made-up one is. My only caveat is that AJ Paquette is my literary agent so I am obviously biased pretty heavily in her favor. But my kids loved the book, too, and they don't really care who dad's agent is.
posted by yankeefog at 4:06 AM on April 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series (which starts with The Amulet of Samarkand) is witty and imaginative and great fun.
Stroud's Lockwood & Co series (which starts with The Screaming Staircase) is equally page-turning. It's occasionally a little grimmer than the Bartimaeus books. But it's grim in a spooky, lightning-flickering-over-a-haunted-castle way, rather than a depressing my-mom-has-cancer way. Plus there's plenty of humor along the way.. If your son loves zombies, I don't think he'll have any problem with it.
Book Scavenger by Jen Bertsman is a fast-paced adventure about kids whose love of books gets them entangled in a mystery.
One more recommendation that I have to give with a caveat. If you want to show your son how much fun non-fiction can be, I highly recommend Two Truths and Lie: It's Alive by AJ Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson. Each chapter has two strange-but-true essays and one that's entirely made up, and you have to figure out which the made-up one is. My only caveat is that AJ Paquette is my literary agent so I am obviously biased pretty heavily in her favor. But my kids loved the book, too, and they don't really care who dad's agent is.
posted by yankeefog at 4:06 AM on April 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Patricia c wrede’s dragons quartet.
posted by triage_lazarus at 6:53 AM on April 5, 2019
posted by triage_lazarus at 6:53 AM on April 5, 2019
He is exactly the age at which I discovered Daniel Pinkwater's Lizard Music and I think it would be perfect. No deaths, no lost friends - instead, it's a kid who's indulging in a bit of a "home alone" situation (his parents are on a lengthy vacation and his older sister's supposed to be babysitting, but she secretly ran off on another vacation with her friends) and has a bit of an adventure involving a dude with a pet chicken and sentient lizard people doing jazz concerts on late night TV.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:53 AM on April 5, 2019
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:53 AM on April 5, 2019
I loved (and still do love) most books by Gordon Korman - especially the MacDonald Hall books.
"No Coins, Please" always cracked me up - just re-read it the other day for fun, and it's still a hoot.
Jia at Jezebel likes him too: Gordon Korman, King of the Dumb Boys...
Gordon Korman started writing at age 12, and his stories are/were always super funny - 12 year old me and 32 year old me agree! lol.
posted by NorthernAutumn at 7:19 PM on April 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
"No Coins, Please" always cracked me up - just re-read it the other day for fun, and it's still a hoot.
Jia at Jezebel likes him too: Gordon Korman, King of the Dumb Boys...
Gordon Korman started writing at age 12, and his stories are/were always super funny - 12 year old me and 32 year old me agree! lol.
posted by NorthernAutumn at 7:19 PM on April 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. He needs the Treehouse Series books. Be sure to start with the first volume which is The 13 Story Treehouse. They are so ridiculous that they make Fortunately, the Milk look like Tolstoy.
They're about two friends, Andy and Terry who continually add stories to their treehouse while writing a book and answering to their publisher Mr. Big Nose. The stories on the treehouse include things like the "unbirthday room" where you'll turn into a baby if you stay too long, killer shark room, and ninja snail room. They also meet other characters like Professor Stupido who is the greatest un-inventor in the world, and it's all just insane. They're like a wittier more innovative and age appropriate Bevis and Butthead team, and I, a 40 year old exhausted mother of three, have laughed out loud in public while remembering a particularly hilarious incident from the books.
posted by defreckled at 5:23 PM on April 7, 2019
They're about two friends, Andy and Terry who continually add stories to their treehouse while writing a book and answering to their publisher Mr. Big Nose. The stories on the treehouse include things like the "unbirthday room" where you'll turn into a baby if you stay too long, killer shark room, and ninja snail room. They also meet other characters like Professor Stupido who is the greatest un-inventor in the world, and it's all just insane. They're like a wittier more innovative and age appropriate Bevis and Butthead team, and I, a 40 year old exhausted mother of three, have laughed out loud in public while remembering a particularly hilarious incident from the books.
posted by defreckled at 5:23 PM on April 7, 2019
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Might be a bit old for him, but I liked the Daniel Pinkwater books' sense of humor, particularly The Education of Robert Nifkin. I also remember laughing out loud at Anne Fine's books (she wrote the book that Mrs. Doubtfire is based on, along with many others).
Lois Lowry has a really funny book for about that age, called Switcharound.
posted by cpatterson at 10:16 AM on April 4, 2019 [3 favorites]