The Literacy Classroom
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English teaching and learning
Lollies Shortlisted Titles
Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book
Oi Dog!
by Kes Gray
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.
'Well, I'm changing the rules,' said the frog.
'From now on, dogs sit on logs, not frogs!'
And everyone else is going to have to sit somewhere else too. Will Cat want to sit on gnats instead of cushy mats? Will spiders like sitting on gliders? Will whales be happy to sit on nails? And, most importantly, where is FROG going to sit?
Praise for Oi Frog!:
'An absolute treat.' - Daily Mail
'Everyone will love it.' - The Guardian
Eat Your People
by Lou Kuenzler, illustrated by David Wojtowycz
Do you think vegetables are yucky? Just wait until you see what Monty the Monster has on his plate!
Monty definitely does NOT want to eat his people. He'll eat his vegetables - every single one! - but he will not eat his people. This hilarious tale of fussy eating in the Monster household is guaranteed to get children giggling.
'In a funny twist on the picky eater story, this is a lighthearted way of broaching the tricky 'eat your vegetables' issue! ... my little little boy absolutely loved it and wanted to hear it again and again!' - The Bookbag
Prince of Pants
by Alan MacDonald, illustrated bySarah McIntyre
Deep inside the willow tree the last baby owl is born. He's so very small, a downy white ball. The other owls grow and learn to fly, but no matter how hard he tries, the littlest owl can't quite do it. 'I will', he says. 'Just you wait and see'. Then one night, a howling storm forces the owls from their home. Will the littlest owl make it to safety?
Danny McGee Drinks the Sea
by Andy Stanton, illustrated Neal Layton
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?!
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds
Thimble Monkey Superstar
by Jon Blake, illustrated by Martin Chatterton
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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. Illustrated by Martin Chatterton
Hamish and the Neverpeople
by Danny Wallace, illustrated by Jamie Littler
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
When Eddy finds a pirate in his gran's bath, his miserable summer holiday becomes 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.)
Future Ratboy and the Invasion of the Nom Noms
by Jim Smith
From the bestselling and Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winning author of Barry Loser comes the sequel to the brilliant Future Ratboy and the Attack of the Killer Robot Grannies! Perfect for readers aged 7-10 years old and fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates and Dennis the Menace.
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?
This laugh-out-loud, unlikely superhero comedy adventure will delight all those that enjoyed Tom Gates, Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants and Jedi Academy.
Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds
I Don't Like Poetry
by Joshua Seigal
"I'm a lovely little poem. I'm snoozing in your book. I'm like a dainty dragonfly - Come and have a look." 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
Philip is twelve years old and life is pretty good. He gets on with his mum and gets by pretty well at school - in spite of girl problems, teacher problems, bully problems and - er - poetry problems. 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 the unfunny subject of cancer; this book brings one of modern life's most prevalent illnesses into the light and gives it a human face
My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord
by David Solomons
Luke may not have superpowers but that's not going to stop him from trying to save the world!
When Luke's annoying older brother became a superhero instead of him, Luke thought he couldn't get any more disgruntled-- until his friend Lara became a superhero, too. Now Luke's feeling totally left out; even his best friend gets mad at him when Luke's attempts at crime-solving without superpowers go terribly awry. So when Luke discovers an alien plot to overthrow the world, he's got nobody to turn to who'll listen...nobody but his sworn enemy. In this hilarious sequel to My Brother is a Superhero, Luke will have to put on his big-boy Daredevil underpants and find out what heroes and villains are truly made of.
AniMalcolm
by David Baddiel, illustrated by Jim Field
From David Baddiel, the brightest new star of children’s books and winner of the LOLLIES award, comes a laugh-out-loud adventure for every child who ever wondered what it might be like to be a bit of an animal…
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.