Fantastical, funny stories for kids (and adults)

Books are the quintessential gift of the holidays. They offer endless varieties that can be thoughtfully personalized and easily wrapped. Still, despite the benefits, books as gifts are notoriously hard to get right, especially for children, who are the harshest, most honest critics.

Children are highly intelligent art connoisseurs with sophisticated and varied literary tastes. There’s no one book that all kids like, which means there’s an inherent risk when it comes to gifting them, but it’s not impossible.

Knowing a child’s interests helps, but if that’s a mystery, try paying attention to the children’s books you like. Great art for kids is great art for adults. Typically, the best children’s books entertain all ages. Whether they’re funny, challenging, experimental or fantastical, a good story is a good story. Thankfully, since kids’ books are short, you can quickly judge their merits.

If you’re still unsure, you can use this list, which highlights 10 engaging and meaningful children’s books that kids (and adults) will love.

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?

Written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick, 2023) It’s the great Christmas Eve mystery we’ve all tried to solve: How does Santa go down the chimney? No one knows. Thankfully, Oakland children’s author Mac Barnett and illustrator Jon Klassen have some ideas. Whether Santa is donning night-vision goggles, doing laundry in his heart-print skivvies or simply using the key hidden under the flowerpot — you know, the flowerpot that no one is ever supposed to mention — he gets the job done. Barnett and Klassen are a classic comedic duo, the likes of Abbott and Costello, with a signature blend of delightful, subversive humor that children and adults can’t get enough of.

There Was a Party for Langston Written by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey (Atheneum Books, 2023)

New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds’ debut picture book is about a “boogie boogie wiggling wild” party in Harlem honoring the king of letters, Langston Hughes — but it’s also a celebration of language, libraries and Black literary luminaries such as Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka. The playfully exuberant prose shimmies and shakes alongside the Pumphrey brothers’ lively hand-stamped illustrations — brilliantly capturing a jubilant moment in time and then swinging it in different directions, re-imagining libraries as one big dance party where everyone can be physically, mentally and emotionally free.

Dim Sum Palace By X. Fang (Tundra Books, 2023)

During the pandemic, in the early days of lockdown, author-illustrator X. Fang found herself lonely, bored and craving her favorite food and pastime: dim sum. Her droolinducing daydream soon turned fantastical — she didn’t just want to eat a dumpling; she wanted to become a dumpling. This wild fantasy inspired her to create her award-winning debut picture book, “Dim Sum Palace.” Fans of Maurice Sendak’s classic cosmic fantasy, “In The Night Kitchen,” will love this deliciously surreal adventure of a little girl whose ravenous imagination sends her to a dim-sum dreamland where she inadvertently transforms into a mouthwatering dumpling.

Mr. Fiorello’s Head By Cecilia Ruiz (Enchanted Lion Books, 2023)

Mr. Fiorello has great hair, beautiful-wind-blown-whileriding-a-motorcycle-at-sunset hair, but he’s forced to reevaluate what’s important when he loses all but three sad, straggly hairs. He may not be able to regain his long-gone locks, but he can channel his grief into growing a garden. In vibrant pink and green illustrations, Ruiz tells a playful, philosophical, laugh-outloud story of losing your identity and trying to make the most of it.

Oh, Olive! By Lian Cho (HarperCollins, 2023)

Gleeful and exuberant, Lian Cho’s author-illustrator debut picture book is a delightful celebration of creativity over conformity. Olive lives in a drab black-and-white town with her austere artist parents who only paint monochromatic geometric shapes. They hope Olive will become an artist just like them, but she prefers to paint outside the lines, with color and flair. Despite her parents’ doubts, Olive is unapologetic about her art, and when she and her schoolmates colorfully repaint their dull town, her parents finally recognize it’s a brighter, happier place thanks to Olive’s spirited artistry.

The Apartment House on Poppy Hill

Written by Nina LaCour and illustrated by Sònia Albert (Chronicle Books, 2023) Nine-year-old Ella Josephine Norwood lives with her family in a tall, pink, greentrimmed apartment building on Poppy Hill in San Francisco, where she eagerly attempts to befriend her fellow neighbors, but not everyone shares her neighborly enthusiasm. The elusive upstairs tenants, the Robinsons, are a mystery Ella is determined to solve. It’s a bighearted middle-grade debut celebrating community, inclusion, family and friendship from San Francisco’s

bestselling young adult author, Nina LaCour, with beguiling black-and-white illustrations by Sònia Albert.

Something, Someday

Written by Amanda Gorman and illustrated by Christian Robinson (Viking Books for Young Readers, 2023)

The new picture book by presidential inaugural poet and bestselling author Amanda Gorman is a hopeful message to children. It begins, “You are told that this is not a problem, but you’re sure there’s something wrong. You are told that this can not be fixed, but you know that you can help.” The powerfully simple prose leaves room for interpretation, allowing children to write their own narrative. And the dynamic illustrations, by Oakland’s Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Christian Robinson, tell their own story of community, diversity, age, ability, patience and hope. Beautifully crafted, this book reminds us that even in the bleakest times, we can create positive change.

The Puppets of Spelhorst

Written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Julie Morstad (Candlewick, 2023)

When you visit children’s author Kate DiCamillo’s website, you’re greeted by a welcome message: “The world is dark and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.” It’s a message that lies within all of her award-winning books. Her latest, “The Puppets of Spelhorst,” the first in a trilogy of fairy tale novellas, is a brilliantly layered tale of five puppets longing to discover their destiny — to become a part of a story. But who will help them tell it? Lyrically written and enchantingly illustrated, it’s an instant classic created by two masters in their craft.

Just One Flake

By Travis Jonker (Abrams, 2023)

It’s a familiar childhood aspiration: trying (and most often failing) to catch the perfect snowflake on your tongue. After a few hilariously unsuccessful attempts, a shiny snowflake finally lands, not in Liam’s mouth but on his mitten — and he discovers that great inspiration is often the result of the unexpected. A one-of-a-kind debut with a knockout cover, perfect for Bay Area kids who rarely get to experience snow and can’t wait to catch just one flake!

The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom

Written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Shawn Harris (Katherine Tegen Books, 2023)

The Moon Queen has been poisoned … by soup! It’s up to her trusty friends, the First Cat and Loz 4000, to help find an antidote to save her. The adventure marks the second volume in “The First Cat in Space” graphic novel series by award-winning Bay Area children’s book creators Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris. The epic quest takes the iconic trio far and wide across the moon, where they encounter a hilarious cast of friends and foes as they endure wildly theatrical adventures. It’s an action-packed suspense saga that will have readers singing, cheering and laughing from beginning to end.