The All-Boy Picture Book Post

I helped a patron this week who wanted to write picture books for boys, because he was convinced there was nothing out there but princesses. So he was wrong, of course, and I wanted to send him a list of titles to explore. I asked for help on Facebook & Twitter, to make sure I got past my own personal faves, and a great crew of friends and colleagues pitched in with some super ideas. Several people wanted to see the whole list, so here it goes!

Thanks to Alice, Seth, Bob, Brian (via Anne), Ericka, Susan, Laurie, Lisa, Mary, Alyson, Crystal, Erin, Sue, Will and Simon (via the other Mary), Tracey, Betsy, Kristy, Lori, Jill, Carolyn, Carol & Amy…my patron said, “Let me just say [this list is] awesome and this alone will keep me reading/researching for many months to come.” You guys rock!

I just asked for books with “an all-boy vibe.” What does that mean? These titles! An asterisk means, go find more books by that author!

Adventures of Max and Pinky. Eaton.
Aliens Love Underpants. Freedman.
Art and Max*. Wiesner.
Bark! George. Feiffer.
Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater.
Big Smelly Bear. Teckentrup.
Birthday for Cow. Thomas.
Boy a Dog and a Frog*. Mayer.
Bubble Bath Pirates. Krosoczka.
Butt Book. Bennett.
Chicken Butt. Perl.
Chickens to the Rescue. Himmelman.
Clay Boy. Ginsburg.
Click Clack Moo. Cronin.
Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. Frazee.
Cowboy and Octopus. Scieszka.
Curious George*. Rey.
Diary of a Baby Wombat. French.
Diary of a Worm*. Cronin.
Dinosaur Train. Gurney.
Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime. Shea.
Dinotrux. Gall.
Dogzilla*. Pilkey.
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus*. Willems.
Don’t Say That Word. Katz.
Duck for President. Cronin.
Duck on a Bike. Shannon.
Dumpy the Dump Truck. Edwards.
Edward and the Jungle*. McPhail.
Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct. Willems.
Everything I Know about Pirates*. Lichtenheld.
Fifty Below Zero. Munsch.
Flim Flam Fairies. Katz.
Fly Guy*. Arnold.
Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts. Cho.
George Shrinks*. Joyce.
Go Dog Go. Eastman.
Grump Groan Growl. Hooks.
Grumpy Bird. Tankard.
Harold and the Purple Crayon. Johnson.
Harry and Horsie. Van Camp.
Harry the Dirty Dog. Zion.
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg. Johnson.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight*. Yolen.
How I Became a Pirate. Long.
I’m Dirty*. McMullan.
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean. Sherry.
If You’re a Monster and You Know It. Emberley.
Julius the Baby of the World. Henkes.
Kiss Kiss Yuck Yuck. Mewburn.
Let’s Do Nothing. Fucile.
Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. Wood.
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. Burton.
Mitten. Brett.
Monsters Eat Whiny Children. Kaplan.
Muncha Muncha Muncha. Fleming.
No David*. Shannon.
Oliver Who Would Not Sleep. Bergman.
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude*. O’Malley.
Papa Do You Love Me?. Joosse.
Parts*. Arnold.
Pete the Cat. Litwin.
Peter Rabbit. Potter.
Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea. Black.
Pigs Aplenty Pigs Galore. McPhail.
Please Don’t Upset PU Zorilla. Reed.
Punk Farm. Krosoczka.
Rhyming Dust Bunnies. Thomas.
Robot Zot. Scieszka.
Shark and Lobster’s Amazing Undersea Adventure. Schwarz.
Shark in the Park. Sharrett.
Shark Vs Train. Barton.
Skippyjon Jones*. Schachner.
Smash Mash Crash There Goes the Trash. Odanaka.
Stella Unleashed. Ashman.
Superdog: Heart of a Hero. Buehner.
Superhero ABC. McLeod.
Swimmy. Lionni.
Terrible Plop. Dubosarsky.
Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark. Geist.
Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Trivizas.
Traction Man*. Grey.
Trashy Town. Zimmerman.
Truckery Rhymes. Scieszka.
Walter the Farting Dog. Kotzwinkle.
What Color is Your Underwear. Lloyd.
What’s Going on in There. Grahn.
When Dinosaurs Came with Everything. Broach.
When I Was a Boy, I Dreamed. Matott.
Where the Wild Things Are. Sendak.
Yes Day. Rosenthal.

Last but not least, here’s the “Anything By…” list:

Mo Willems
Chris Van Allsburg
Dr Seuss
Graeme Base
Shel Silverstein
Robert McClosky
Stuarty Murphy (MathStart books)
William Joyce
Jon Scieszka
Lane Smith
Jan Thomas

So what did we miss?