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Read Out Loud, Laugh Out Loud: Great Storytime Reads for Fall

Time for my favorite seasonal round-up: Read Out Loud, Laugh Out Loud! These picture books are pitch perfect for silly storytimes for all readers. Use them in your library storytimes or for back-to-school classroom visits (Medusa’s Pet Rock is especially great for this!) and become every kid’s favorite librarian.

Read Out Loud, Laugh Out Loud
Penguins Don’t Wear Pants

Penguins Don’t Wear Pants

By Abi Cushman

Have you ever seen a penguin wearing pants? No? Not ever? Would you like to? Acclaimed author Abi Cushman’s signature silliness is on brilliant display in this laugh-out-loud funny, wonderfully interactive, and unpredictable picture book that is custom-made for school, library, and family storytimes. For penguin fans and readers who love Where’s Waldo? and Dragons Love Tacos.

Under absolutely no circumstances should penguins ever wear pants. Never ever. Because if they do, Something Really Bad Happens! So, there are definitely no penguins in pants in this picture book by acclaimed author-illustrator Abi Cushman. Not even one.

Full of child appeal, Penguins Don’t Wear Pants showcases engaging, hilarious illustrations featuring plenty of penguins decked out in anything but pants. The interactive, rhythmic text begs to be read aloud and is sure to have readers giggling and participating whether shared at home or in the classroom. The endpapers feature a recipe for the dreaded (and delicious) raisin cookies. Penguins Don’t Wear Pants is an excellent choice for those who love Dragons Love Tacos, Z is for Moose, and The Monster at the End of This Book.

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A Very Scary Book

A Very Scary Book

By Angela DiTerlizzi
Illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi

From NYT bestsellers Angela and Tony DiTerlizzi comes a humorous, social-emotional story about not judging a book by its cover—even if that cover is super scary!Up in the attic where no one ever goes, there lives a very scary book. He might look scary, but all he wants is a friend. When, one day, he feels brave enough to venture downstairs, he ends up frightening the other books. Will Scary ever be able to find a friend who sees him for who he truly is?

Angela and Tony DiTerlizzi, the bestselling husband-and-wife team behind A Very Cranky Book, have crafted a tale that is both a friendship story and social-emotional fable. It’s the perfect reminder that sometimes good friends can come in unexpected packages.

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Harlow the Highland Cow Doesn’t Know How to Moo

Harlow the Highland Cow Doesn’t Know How to Moo

By Brooke Hartman
Illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff

Get in the moooood for a charming story with funny rhyming text that’s perfect for fans of Pig the Pug, Giraffes Can’t Dance, and Sleepy Sheepy.

Meet Harlow!

Harlow the cow is a cute little cow, a dear highland cow who has oodles of WOW!

She can dance and sing. She knows numbers and of course, she loves to eat. She can do it all except moo! What to do?!

This humorous and sweet picture book—with a fun twist—proves that what you can do matters more than what you can’t do.

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The Pizza Brothers

The Pizza Brothers

By Lian Cho

Lian Cho, Society of Illustrators’ Silver Medal winner and creator of Pig Town Party, Oh, Olive!, and Don’t Eat Eustace, delivers another silly adventure for fans of Mac Barnett and Monica Arnaldo, featuring three brothers and their plan to make the biggest pizza the world has ever seen.

Come one, come all, and try the biggest pizza in the world!

Alejandro, Antonio, and Paolo are the lively and passionate owners of The Pizza Brothers Pizza Shop where all is fair.

Alejandro is in charge of the toppings.

Antonio kneads the dough.

And Paolo does… everything else.

There’s only one problem: no one is buying their pizzas!!!

So, the brothers hatch a plan to reel in customers; an event that’s gonna need a lot more dough, a lot more cheese, and a lot more toppings…

But on the eve of their big night mayhem ensues, and the brothers learn some delicious lessons about working together, playing fair, and the true meaning of brotherly love.

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The Lonely Fox

The Lonely Fox

By Neena Phan

Lonely? Crowded? Wolf can’t decide! Here’s a tale for anyone who’s ever wanted friendsand a little space. Perfect for fans of Grumpy Monkey and Mother Bruce.

Wolf is a very lonely fox . . .
until he’s not.

This laugh-out-loud, lushly illustrated debut about wanting friends and some peace and quiet is perfect for anyone who knows what it’s like to feel both emotions at once.

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The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards

The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards

By Mikey Please

Hilarious, surprising, and delightfully disgusting, the latest picture book from co-director of the acclaimed stop-motion tribute for Over the Garden Wall’s 10th anniversary, BAFTA Award–winning, and Oscar-nominated animation director Mikey Please expands the outrageously irresistible world of the smash hit, The Café at the Edge of the Woods.

Pests are afoot!

Uninvited guests make themselves at home under the floorboards of Rene’s café and help themselves to a meal.

In her hammock, Rene slept. Below her, little creatures crept.
Each crumb they found, of course, they kept,
to feed their hungry cublings.

Rene wants them OUT, but Glumfoot and the littlest bear come up with a better idea. The hijinks that ensue are hilarious and spread an important message about sharing space.
This riotously clever addition to The Café at the Edge of the Woods world will thrill fans of the previous installments featuring Glumfoot, Rene, and the monstrous clientele of the café.

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Medusa’s Pet Rock

Medusa’s Pet Rock

By Steph Lau

A hilarious and heartfelt picture book by Steph Lau that puts a new spin on the misunderstood mythological character Medusa. Perfect for fans of We Don’t Eat Our Classmates and the Penelope Rex series by Ryan Higgins.

Medusa’s always been the odd one out: the monster in the classroom, the kid who can’t tame her snake-laden hair, and yes, the girl who perhaps accidentally zapped a few too many class pets. She tries to be careful. She tries to stay away, but inevitably well . . . ZAP! It always leaves her feeling just a little bit monstrous.

But there just might be a class pet that even Medusa can enjoy, one who will teach her how monstrously wonderful it is to be seen—by being herself.

With its humor and important themes, Medusa’s Pet Rock is sure to enchant young readers as it’s:

  • A Clever Spin on Medusa’s Story: Everyone thinks they know the story of Medusa and her snake hair that turns people into stone. Medusa’s Pet Rock introduces young readers to an infamously misunderstood character from Greek mythology in an accessible and age-appropriate way.
  • Perfect for fans of Greek Mythology
  • Teaches Young Readers to Stay True to Themselves: Medusa struggles to fit in with her classmates but as her relationship with the new class pet grows, she learns to love herself and comes to understand that true friends will see and love you for who you are.

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