The Laugh Out Loud ('Lollies') award shortlists announced

Michael Rosen, children's novelist, poet and former Children's Laureate, today announced the shortlist for the 2022 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies).

Michael Rosen, children's novelist, poet and former Children's Laureate, today announced the shortlist for the 2022 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies). The Lollies, created by Scholastic UK, celebrate the funniest children's books and this will be the fifth year of the awards after a hiatus in 2021.

Having long championed humorous books for children, Rosen said of the shortlist: "Are you looking for books for children that will get them giggling and wanting to read more? These 12 books will do just that. Funny books are so important because they encourage children to want to read. It gets them into the habit of finding fun and interest in books and the reading habit helps children succeed in life."

Voting is now open to teachers and their pupils, parents and children via the Scholastic website, and will close on 10th December 2021.  Teachers can cast up to 35 votes on behalf of their class for each category.

The Lollies are awarded in three categories: Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds and Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds.

The shortlisted books in each category are as follows:

Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book:

101 Bums by Sam Harper & Chris Jevons (Hachette)
I'm NOT a Mouse! by Evgenia Golubeva (Child's Play)
Never Show a T-Rex a Book by Rashmi Sirdeshpande & Diane Ewen (Penguin Random House)
Octopus Shocktopus! by Peter Bently & Steven Lenton (Nosy Crow)

Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds:

Anisha Accidental Detective: School's Cancelled by Serena Patel & Emma McCann (Usborne Publishing)
Cats React to Science Facts by Izzi Howell (Hachette)
Sam Wu is NOT Afraid of the Dark by Katie Tsang, Kevin Tsang & Nathan Reed (Farshore)
Wigglesbottom Primary: Break-Time Bunnies by Pamela Butchart & Becka Moor (Nosy Crow)

Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds:

Kay's Anatomy by Adam Kay & Henry Parker (Penguin Random House)
Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties by Humza Arshad, Henry White & Aleksei Bitskoff
(Penguin Random House)
The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson & Rob Biddulph (Usborne Publishing)
Zombierella by Joseph Coelho & Freya Hartas (Walker Books)

Head judge Michael Rosen was joined on the shortlisting panel by actor and writer Stephen Mangan, and teachers Ceridwen Eccles and Maaria Khan as well as Scholastic product director Kate Newport.

The winning book in each category will be decided solely by children's votes. The winning books will be announced in early 2022.

The Lollies were created in response to findings from the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, which found that what two-thirds of children aged 6-17 looked for when choosing books for themselves were "books that make me laugh".