[CaroleB]

Am looking for quirky, or weird picture books to read.   

So what are some of your favorites? (am totally open to your interpretation of "weird")

Thank you if you respond!

Carole

[olmue Posts: 3,462 Status: Offline WWW]

Company's Coming, by Al Yorinks, ill. by David Small! There's a sequel, too--Company's Going, I think it's called. The first one has a logical point, true (just because someone's different doesn't mean they're sinister)--but it's just told in a very funny way.

Another one I like is Baker Cat, by Posy Simmonds, but it's more...I dunno, scary? than just weird. Sort of graphic novel format, hard to read aloud in a classroom, but perfect for one kid and a parent. The thing about it is that the baker and wife are some seriously scary real-life bad guys--meaner than I'm used to seeing in a pb, and there have been a couple of kids I've read it to where...maybe I shouldn't have.

A long time ago I remember someone bringing up a pb here where the frog eats his one true love (a fly?) or something. Maybe someone here remembers that one?

[Artemesia Posts: 3,819 Status: Offline WWW]

Jon Scieszka's BALONEY (Henry P.) is really cute and quirky. Or really, almost anything by him.

Also ART & MAX by David Weisner.

[MysteryRobin Posts: 693 Status: Offline]

I was going to say Jon Scieszka's Squids Will Be Squids, but not sure it's truly a pb... maybe? If not, maybe Cowboy and Octopus - we LOVE that in our house. We love weird books.
I Want My Hat Back is kinda weird, too...

[LeslieG Posts: 174 Status: Offline WWW]

"Quirky" and "weird" do seem to be the PB buzzwords du jour, don't they? Some of my recent faves are Zombie in Love, Jon Agee's books, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, Avalanche, Earth to Clunk, Princess Hyacinth, and perhaps one of the grandfathers of quirky PBs, Rain Makes Applesauce.

[217mom Posts: 1,167 Status: Offline "Keep the child in view"- Charles Dickens WWW]

The Miami Giant, by Sendak and Yorkins. It's not new, but it is weird.

[Jaina Posts: 2,864 Status: Offline Just keep typing, just keep typing . . .]

Scaredy Squirrel
I Want My Hat Back
You Will Be My Friend!

[Artemesia Posts: 3,819 Status: Offline WWW]

Love Scaredy Squirrel! Love Chester the Cat, too, also by Melanie Watt.

[HDWestlund Posts: 993 Status: Offline writer and bookseller]

"Have You Ever Seen a Sneep"
"He Came with the Couch"
"Ducks Don't Wear Socks"
"Squid & Octopus: Friends for Always"

And not super weird, but adorably different, my new fav: "Dangerously Ever After".

[eecoburn Posts: 202 Status: Offline]

Spoon
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
The Best Ever Bear Book

Have Fun!

[Llehn Posts: 45 Status: Offline I'm a cool ninja cat WWW]

Frankenstein Makes A Sandwich - Adam Rex, though it might not fit in the category of your conventional PB.

[CarrieF Posts: 201 Status: Offline WWW]

Anything by William Steig. I was going to mention an Al Yorinks book, too, forget the title. It's about a fruit vendor who becomes invisible. So maybe anything by Al Yorinks, too.

[DianaM Posts: 969 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

I love anything quirky! Here are a few of my quirky faves:

"Arnie, the Doughnut" , "Extra Yarn",  "The Cow That Laid an Egg", "Beauty and the Beaks: A Turkey's Cautionary Tale", "Giant Jam Sandwich", "Chicken Dance", "Zombie in Love", "Stop That Pickle!", "Bark, George", "Bubble Trouble", "Interrupting Chicken"...

Oh, and I love "Spoon" too! And "Ducks Don't Wear Socks".

Also, "Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon.

Some of these are "weird" and some are just humorous with a wacky or sassy tone.

[Michael Sussman Posts: 179 Status: Offline WWW]

"The Shrinking of Treehorn" by Florence Parry Heide & Edward Gorey.

"Doctor DeSoto" and "Spinky Sulks" by William Steig.

"The Red Book" by Barbara Lehman

[LoriA Posts: 86 Status: Offline WWW]

CECIL THE PET GLACIER is a bit different. Also, BENNY'S BRIGADE could fit the weird/quirky list. And what about David Wiesner's TUESDAY, FLOTSAM, and SECTOR 7.

[Bigfoot Posts: 35 Status: Offline WWW]

THE BOOK THAT EATS PEOPLE by John Perry

It's weirdly (and humorously) dark.

[Franzilla Posts: 1,000 Status: Offline Gah! WWW]

Is SPOON considered weird? I love it but I wouldn't class it as weird. As DianaM said it's maybe more wacky with a humorous tone... anyway, I digress.

BEWARE THE FROG by William Bee is definitely weird, but sheer genius in my opinion.

[Bigfoot Posts: 35 Status: Offline WWW]

BEWARE THE FROG is a great one. Love that book!

How about Sean Bryan's series that starts with A BOY AND HIS BUNNY about the kid who has a bunny on his head. In the sequel, A GIRL AND HER GATOR, a girl has an alligator in her hair. The third book is a BEAR AND HIS BOY. Weird and very funny.

Also, DAYDREAMS OF A SOLITARY HAMSTER by Astrid Desbordes might qualify. It's kind of surreal and thinky.

[eecoburn Posts: 202 Status: Offline]

I guess I call it weird because...well...it's about a spoon. But you're right that the storyline is not particularly weird. Just the set up.

[DianaM Posts: 969 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

Is SPOON considered weird? I love it but I wouldn't class it as weird. As DianaM said it's maybe more wacky with a humorous tone... anyway, I digress.

I think SPOON is weird simply because it's about an inanimate object. That makes it kind of weird to me.

But then a book like SCAREDY SQUIRREL doesn't seem weird at all to me. It IS very, very funny, however.

I guess there are lots of ways to interpret "weird". Especially if you include the adjective "quirky".

Hmmm. There are probably some titles on my list that don't really, truly qualify as "weird".

[Andrea B Posts: 239 Status: Offline WWW]

I've been researching YA and MG more than PB lately, but hearkening back to my days as the Storytime coordinator for our local library (Best. First. Job. EVER.) the kids and I couldn't get enough of these ...

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, or The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, by John Scieszka. (Oldies but goodies.)

Oh! by Joss Goffin (the preschoolers LOVED that there were no words and they could "tell" the story with me .. not really "weird" as in strange/gross, but "weird" as in fantastic and unusual)

Also, I completely agree with the suggestion of I Want My Hat Back. Showed it to my 30 year-old husband a month or so ago and he loved it. (His sense of humor is a bit on the "weird" side, lol.)

Hmmm ... when I was a kid I was obsessed with Bill Peet books.

Not sure I'm thinking "weird" enough ... but hope this helps!

[Franzilla Posts: 1,000 Status: Offline Gah! WWW]

I think SPOON is weird simply because it's about an inanimate object. That makes it kind of weird to me.

But then a book like SCAREDY SQUIRREL doesn't seem weird at all to me. It IS very, very funny, however.

I guess there are lots of ways to interpret "weird". Especially if you include the adjective "quirky".

Hmmm. There are probably some titles on my list that don't really, truly qualify as "weird".

Yeah, I think 'weird' almost has a negative connotation in my mind. I've been reading a lot of Spanish-language PBs lately (as in originated in a Spanish-speaking country) and those truly are weird, as in totally off-the-wall wacky. The kind of weird that makes you go, "Huh?" when you get to the last page. I'm pretty sure that's not what US editors are after though!

So, er, just ignore me.

[Amanda Coppedge Posts: 420 Status: Offline WWW]

I love "The Roly Poly Spider" by Jill Sardegna and "The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher" by Mem Fox.

[DianaM Posts: 969 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

    I think SPOON is weird simply because it's about an inanimate object. That makes it kind of weird to me.

    But then a book like SCAREDY SQUIRREL doesn't seem weird at all to me. It IS very, very funny, however.

    I guess there are lots of ways to interpret "weird". Especially if you include the adjective "quirky".

    Hmmm. There are probably some titles on my list that don't really, truly qualify as "weird".


Yeah, I think 'weird' almost has a negative connotation in my mind. I've been reading a lot of Spanish-language PBs lately (as in originated in a Spanish-speaking country) and those truly are weird, as in totally off-the-wall wacky. The kind of weird that makes you go, "Huh?" when you get to the last page. I'm pretty sure that's not what US editors are after though!

So, er, just ignore me.

I agree that "weird" has a more negative connotation than"unique", or "quirky", or "offbeat". I usually shoot for "quirky" and I only get "weird" if I've gone too far. It's a fine line.

But I think since the OP asked for "favorites", perhaps that puts a more positive spin on "weird".

ETA: Sorry. I'm afraid my quote formatting came out weird!

[ShelliC Posts: 51 Status: Offline WWW]

I love My Mom Is Trying To Ruin My Life by Kate Feiffer. Hilarious.

[MysteryRobin Posts: 693 Status: Offline]

Frankenstein Makes A Sandwich - Adam Rex, though it might not fit in the category of your conventional PB.

We LOVE this one!
This thread is great - my kids love weird books. I'm buying like half of these...

[amberturner Posts: 142 Status: Offline WWW]

I'd say anything by Oliver Jeffers. Beautiful books.

[macdibble Posts: 102 Status: Offline WWW]

ALL Shaun Tan's PBs: http://www.shauntan.net/books.html

And Scary Girl by Nathan Jurivicious... but perhaps that's pushing into graphic novel.

[macdibble Posts: 102 Status: Offline WWW]

Oh also Terry Denton's Gasp! books.

[AmyD Posts: 147 Status: Offline WWW]

I was going to say William Steig, too! DR. DESOTO in particular is delightfully wacky.