Book Review: Funny Girl – Funniest. Stories. Ever.

My favorite picture books are funny picture books – ones that make you think and pay attention and are filled with moments where you can’t help but laugh out loud. And the other commonality? Many of them are written by men. It’s not a bad thing necessarily, but if kids read funny books mainly by guys, do they know that women can be funny too?

That’s the idea behind this anthology of stories edited by Betsy Bird from 27 women – many are children’s authors while others work in television, are artists, editors and more. The stories range from family disasters, friendship drama to growing up and many others that are just fun to read.

This is a great collection of stories to share with middle grade girls (and guys) who are looking for new authors to read and enjoy funny stories. It’s also a great book for reluctant readers as each story is only a couple of pages long. I also want to point out that Betsy was very specific in collecting stories from a very diverse group of women, which is awesome. The book doesn’t have to scream DIVERSITY, it just is.

Twitter Booktalk (140 characters or less): “Girls are funny. Period. It’s time for the world to know it.” Funny Girl is a must-read book for funny-book-loving kids!

Title: Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever.
Editor: Betsy Bird
Publisher:  Viking Press for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 9, 2017
Page Number: 224 pgs.