Two New Hilarious and Interactive Stories for Kids by Drew Daywalt and Donna Lambo-Weidner

Funny picture books. That’s my jam. As an Elementary Literacy Coach, I read a lot of picture books to kiddos and I recognize an adorable, funny, engaging (for me and the kids!) picture book when I see one. Within minutes of perusing the newly published picture book section of the library, I had these two new hilarious tales in hand and couldn’t wait to share them with Writers’ Rumpus readers, like yourself! One of these witty works of art is written by fan-favorite children’s author Drew Daywalt. The other is the delightful, dragon-less (but not really), debut picture book by Author Donna Lambo-Weidner. Both books are prime examples of the highly engaging “break the fourth wall” (also referred to as metafiction) picture book format.

Picture Book #1

First things last, New York Times bestselling singer, Drew Nightwalt has done it again! This year, he published yet another depressing, historical fiction novel, that will have kids aged 3 -7 rolling around on the ceiling, mooing like a cow. 

Wait! No! I’ve got that alllll WRONG. Or maybe not. So goes Drew Daywalt’s hilarious new picture book The WRONG BOOK (Philomel, Feb 2024). It’s another stroke of genius by this master picture book author.

The reader follows the main “character” – an energetic yellow bookmark (that I must say, resembles Spongebob Squarepants  – no offense intended to award-winning illustrator Alex Willmore) page after hilarious page as he argues with the “cuckoo-bonker-pants” (his words, not mine) narrator who is getting everything all wrong. I’m talking about flowers making train noises, bicycles that “moo” and a yummy hamburger (that’s actually a shark) that says “Bawk, Bawk, Bawk, and Cock-a-doodle-dooo!” The bookmark continuously corrects the narrator, pleads with them to knock it off, and tells the reader, “Hey. Don’t listen to this guy! He’s getting it all wrong!” As opposed to talented author, Drew Daywalt, who, once again, got it all right.

Picture Book #2 THERE ARE NO DRAGONS IN THIS BOOK by, Donna Lambo-Weidner (NorthSouth Books, 2024)

Disregard the long spiky tail hanging off the roof. Pay no mind to the fiery blaze in the window, Because according to the narrator (albeit another unreliable one) There Are No Dragons in this Book.

Those claws are under the table, no reason to worry, it’s just a really big cat. As for that mess on the floor, “I’m sure kids did this. Kids like you. And your friends.” Spoiler alert: there’s actually a dragon in this book, but you didn’t hear that from me. When the dragon finally reveals himself, he informs us that there used to be more dragons in the book. “They disappeared into that crack,” he says, pointing to the binding between the spread where Illustrator Carla Haslbauer included little hints of fiery breath and dragon tails. Here’s where the fun amps up and the book becomes fully interactive. Similar to the wildly popular PRESS HERE by Hervé Tullet (Chronicle Books, March 2011), the reader has to jiggle the book to help shake all of the dragons out of the crack and back onto the pages. In the end, the dragon has one final question for the reader: “What’s that? You want me to change the title?”

This may be Donna Lambo-Weidner’s first picture book, but there’s no way it’ll be her last. Her bio is full of wild, fascinating adventures just waiting to be turned into more children’s books!

https://www.donnalamboweidner.com/

“Now that she’s earned a Bachelor of Arts, lived on two continents, and raised four kids, Donna writes books for children based on her childhood adventures laced with her actual life experiences—dogsledding in the arctic, spending the night in a salt cave 1,000 feet below the Earth’s surface, and reaching into an elephant’s open mouth to count its tremendous teeth, to name a few.“

Do you have a favorite funny picture book? Please share in the comments.