Humorous

Junie B. Jones's First Boxed Set Ever! (Books 1-4)

Outrageously sassy Junie B. Jones will make young kids crave their daily dose of reading. And with this handy four-volume boxed set, whether they start with Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying or Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth, readers will laugh out loud at Junie B.'s hilarious mishaps and breathtakingly horrible grammar. Although the books should come with a caveat--Kids, don't try this syntax at home!--alert parents and teachers can use her malapropisms as learning opportunities for their impressionable charges. The set contains the first four titles in Barbara Park's extensive series (energetically illustrated by Denise Brunkus), including Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business and Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. All are great for reading aloud. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

Junie B. Jones's First Boxed Set Ever!

Ta-daa! It's me! It's Junie B. Jones! And guess what? This attractive box has my first four books in it! I can't wait for you to read them!

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (Joey Pigza Books)

Joey Pigza has problems. Big problems. He was emotionally abused by his grandmother. He has never met his dad. He can't get along in his elementary school classroom because of his mood swings and his "dud meds." We gradually see that Joey must have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which is not being effectively controlled with his current medication. Joey's life is a terrifying roller-coaster ride, and Jack Gantos, author of the Rotten Ralph books, drags the reader along to see what life is like with ADD. The story is written from the boy's point of view in a sharp, worried style that veers out of control when Joey does. Joey's control of his own behavior slips away as we read, horrified to see this boy trying to get a grip on his life and failing. He disrupts the class field trip; he puts his finger in a pencil sharpener and injures himself; he swallows his house key. Then he runs through the classroom holding open sharp scissors. When he trips and falls, seriously injuring a classmate, he is transferred to a special-education program in another school. Here, thankfully, he encounters a caring teacher who recommends further medical evaluation, and Joey is eventually able to return to his former school. There is hope for Joey on the last page--he sits in the Big Quiet Chair to read. Gantos has achieved an unusual feat with this book. We want to turn away from Joey's shifting prison of emotions. But for those who stick with him, he shows us what his life is like. We walk a mile in his shoes, our feet hurting all the way. For young readers touched by ADD--and for their teachers and parents--Joey gives us the key to his world. (Ages 10 and older) --Marcie Bovetz

Joey Pigza can't sit still. He can't pay attention, he can't follow the rules, and he can't help it -- especially when his meds aren't working. Joey's had problems ever since he was born, problems just like his dad and grandma have. And whether he's wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey's problems are getting worse. In fact, his behavior is so off the wall that his teachers are threatening to send him to the special-ed center downtown.

Joey knows he's really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right?

Wired bad, wired mad, wired sad, or wired glad . . . there's no doubt about it -- Joey Pigza is wired. He can't sit still, he can't pay attention, and he can't follow the rules. The doctors say he's got Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. Joey just feels like he's on a roller-coaster ride and can't get off -- especially when his meds aren't working. And lately Joey's behavior is so off the wall his teachers are threatening to send him to a special ed center downtown. Joey knows he's really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right? In Joey Pigza, award-winning author Jack Gantos has created one of the most irrepressible, irresistible characters to come along since Beverly Cleary's Ramona. A seriously comic tale of life in the hyperfast lane, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is a book that will make readers stand up and cheer.

The New Captain Underpants Collection: Box Set (Books 1-5)

"Faster than a speeding waistband... more powerful than boxer shorts..." It's Captain Underpants! Young readers will devour this fancy new boxed set of the first five paperbacks in the side-splitting, potty-humored (literally) Captain Underpants series. These books are award-winning--but really, who cares about awards when you're reading about talking toilets and the perilous plot of Professor Poopypants? The "epic" collection includes The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets, Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space, Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants, and Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman. (Ages 5 to 12)

The Ramona Collection, Vol. 1: Ramona the Brave / Ramona and Her Father/Ramona the Pest/Beezus and Ramona

Stop in the Name of Pants! (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson)

Time to gird the loins and pucker up.

Blimey O'Reilly's trousers! Three maybe-boyfriends is a lot for any girl to handle—red-bottomed or not. What with Robbie the Sex God back from Kiwi-a-gogo land wanting to "get coffee" and whatsit, Masimo the Luuurve God saying things like "Ciao, Georgia, see you later" (the good see-you-later or the bad see-you-later??), and her mate Dave the Laugh snogging her in a pond, it's enough to make any girl mad.

Good thing she has the ace gang to keep her sane. Ish.

But now that she has tearfully eschewed Robbie the Sex God with a firm hand, Georgia is left with two potential snoggees to choose from, and it's high time she left the cakeshop of love for good. This time with a gorgey Italian cakey. Or a nip-libbling Dave the Tart. But certainly not both. Maybe.

Wayside School Boxed Set: Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, Wayside School is Falling Down, Sideway Stories from Wayside School

There'd been a terrible mistake. Wayside School was supposed to be built with thirty classrooms one on top of the other...thirty stories tall! (The builder said he was very sorry.)

That may be why all kinds of funny things happen at Wayside SChool...especially on the thirteenth floor. You'll meet Mrs. Gorf, the meanest teacher of all, terrible Todd, who always gets sent home early, and John who can read only upside down--along with all the other kids in the crazy mix-up school that came out sideways. But you'll never guess the truth about Sammy, the new kid...or what's in store for Wayside School on Halloween!

There was a terrible mistake-Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high! (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in America / Cigars of the Pharaoh / The Blue Lotus (3 Complete Adventures in One Volume, Vol. 1)

Day My Butt Went Psycho

While wisely rated G for Gross ("Contains immature material not suitable for adults"), Andy Griffiths' very funny debut novel will almost certainly blow away--perhaps literally, stinkingly--anyone of any age who's ever suspected that their backside might be up to something.

Translated from the Australian (sold Down Under as "The Day My Bum Went Psycho"), this adventure begins with the nighttime flight of our 12-year-old protagonist Zach's pale little heinie and doesn't let up for over 200 pages--most of which are filled almost exclusively with the word "butt." At first, Zach believes his butt might be leading some sort of minor butt rebellion, but the plot quickly thickens to include a global army of feral butts, the "greatest buttcano in the history of the world," and a head-butt "rearrangement" conspiracy that goes all the way to the... um, bottom. Our well-meaning but naive hero Zach soon gets mixed up with the butt-fighting "B-team" (the Kicker, the Kisser, and the Smacker, who all "love the smell of freshly smacked butt in the morning!"), fires his very first 4502-LL ("The LL stood for Laxative Launcher"), learns how to "butt-hop" ("The average butt has enough gas to propel itself and a rider for twenty minutes...."), and goes on a long, wild chase involving cluster butts, buttcatchers, kamikaze butts, stinkants, and even the fearsome Stenchgantor, "the Great Unwiped Butt." (And that's not even counting all those seagoing butt piranhas and poopoises.)

Griffiths surely likes the cheap laughs and doesn't miss a single opportunity for buttly wordplay (from "high-frequency emissions" to the smell-ranking "Rectum scale"), but that doesn't make The Day My Butt Went Psycho any less clever--the fast-moving plot has as many double-crosses as double entendres, and Griffiths weaves in some pretty brilliant ideas. Who knew you could have a death throe scene between a butt and its owner? Also includes a snarky butt glossary in the book's... uh, rear. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

Goodnight Max (Max and Ruby)

"Goodnight, Max," says Max's sister Ruby. But Max can't get comfortable. First he spills a glass of water. Then there are all those itchy cookie crumbs in his bed...and the moon shining through his window. Will poor Max ever fall asleep? Rosemary Wells' beloved Max and Ruby are back in an irresistibly touchable book that is also a satisfying bedtime story. Toddlers won't be able to resist all the tactile elements--fourteen tempting things to touch, move, even smell--while a gently humorous story makes this the perfect book for bedtime, naptime, or anytime!

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (Avon Camelot Books)

From the first day of third grade, when Ramona Quimby meets her eventual nemesis Yard Ape, life moves on at its usual wild pace--usual for the boisterous Ramona, that is. Soon she is accidentally squashing a raw egg into her hair at the school cafeteria, being forced to play Uncle Rat with her annoying young neighbor, and, worst of all, throwing up in her classroom. The responsibilities of an 8-year-old are sometimes daunting, especially in a family that is trying to squeak by while the father goes back to school. But Ramona is full of too much vim and vigor to ever be down for long.

In her second Newbery Honor Book about Ramona (the first was Ramona and Her Father), Beverly Cleary presents another slice of the Quimby family life. Author of more than two dozen children's books, Cleary has a true knack for understanding the tangle of thoughts and emotions in a child's mind and heart. Empathic, witty, and astute, she has earned many other awards, including the Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Alan Tiegreen's clever line drawings have charmed countless readers of Cleary's books over the years, and his style is now inextricably tied to hers. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Ramona feels quite grown-up taking the bus by herself, helping big sister Beezus make dinner, and trying hard to be nice to pesky Willa Jean after school. Turning eight years old and entering the first grade can do that to a girl. So how can her teacher call her a nuisance?