What to Read After... Bunny Vs Monkey

If the children in your life can’t get enough of the anarchic humour and energy of the Bunny vs Monkey series by Jamie Smart, we have some suggestions for further fun reads.

First, though, do check out Jamie Smart’s other hilarious series Looshkin and Flember (and Max and Chaffy for slightly younger readers).  

Comic capers 

The format of Bunny vs Monkey, with its full-colour comic strips and speech bubbles, is incredibly appealing to young readers (nd is partly due to its origins as a comic in the popular Phoenix magazine.)

If comic books are a must-have, try the InvestiGators series by John Patrick Green and Pablo and Splash by Sheena Dempsey. Both star intrepid duo animals, either crime-fighting alligators or time-travelling penguins, and contain lots of laughs.

Slightly older children (9+) will enjoy the madcap adventures of Captain Spaceington in Star Cat by James Turner and Yasmin Sheikh and the riotous action of Kitty Quest by Phil Corbett, plus the sibling rivalry of Mega Robo Bros by Neill Cameron. 

Finally, the Cat Kid Comic Club series by Dav Pilkey will inspire budding comic book artists everywhere, as the stories are about creating comic strips. Plus a variety of media is used, like collage, clay, felt tips and so on.  

Human hi-jinks 

Sometimes it’s fun to have humans, rather than animals, as the stars of the story. The Barry Loser graphic novels by Jim Smith contain five ridiculous adventures in one volume, based on ‘real life’, whereas Barb the Brave by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson is set amidst the monster wars and is full of battle action.

The brilliant Hilda series by Luke Pearson has spawned a Netflix show, while the Juniper Mae books by Sarah Soh star a genius young inventor. Finally, the slightly dark ‘fairy tales gone bad’ series by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Freya Hartas, is sure to grip young readers - try Frankenstiltskin.

Fantastic illustrated fiction 

If the children in your life would like to read a more traditional book that still has lots of pictures (or have it read to them), then these corkers will be perfect. Bad Panda by Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey is a hilarious take on ‘being bad’, while Cat on the Run by Aaron Blabey is packed with action, as Princess Beautiful tries to prove her innocence.

Children will laugh at wannabe hero Charlie Munderdrew, aka Action Dude by Andy Riley (while willing him to succeed) and cheer on real hero Marv in the super Marv series by Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles. Finally, if enthusiastic frogs sound appealing, enjoy Croaky by Matty Long, which has short chapters, colour illustrations and puzzle pages at the back. 

Join in! 

Those are some of our ideas – but what about you? What are your most-loved comic books, graphic novels and funny stories? 

Let us know by leaving your comments in the box below or tweeting us @BookTrust using the hashtag #WhatToReadAfter.