Top 5 funny books for kids, chosen by Anthony Horowitz

Master of the mystery novel Anthony Horowitz selects his top five books to make children laugh.

1. Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

I read this series with my children a long time ago but the laughter still echoes down the years. The bizarre story of a family of skeletons living together in a suburban house was irresistible… night after night. “Let’s go out and frighten somebody!”

2. The Donut Diaries by Anthony McGowan

Twelve-year-old Dermot Milligan is overweight. In the first book he faces the twin horrors of a psychiatrist ordering him to keep a diary of his eating habits – “everyone knows diaries are for girls” – and a visit to Camp Fatso. Funny and strangely insightful.

3. The Twits by Roald Dahl

For me the funniest Dahl. Mr and Mrs Twit are unforgettable creations: ugly, unhygienic and given to playing ferociously cruel tricks on each other. How could anyone grow a beard after reading the first chapter?

4. Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Boyce’s work is laugh-out-loud funny, but always grounded in reality. Framed is set during a financial recession and based on a true story – museum treasures concealed in a slate mine. I loved it because of what it said about the transformative power of art. 

5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Still a landmark in comic writing. Need I describe the plot which begins when Arthur Dent survives the destruction of the Earth, knocked down by the Vogons to make way for a new bypass? The answer to that – and all other questions – is, of course, 42.

Where Seagulls Dare by Anthony Horowitz is out now (Walker Books, £7.99). You can buy it from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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