February 21, 2025
For those silly individuals not following Maddie Frost, you might not have seen this post she wrote:
This post stopped me in my tracks. I spit out my drink, I threw my laptop to the floor, I cried out “Dear god, I am not the only one!” Being super lowkey about my reactions is a trait many people admire about me so I am always doing it super well and I delivered in that moment.
But once the dust had settled, I felt seen and validated. Maddie Frost and countless other good looking and phenomenal authors are writing hilarious books. Have you picked up, Bear in a Bathrobe? This book was so so funny and yet in the back of my mind I thought, I wonder how this will sell. It’s a well known fact in the writing community that funny books rarely win awards. And they don’t get the same marketing. Why? I don’t have an answer. I’m actually asking. And what if you are a new writer and trying to break into the market? Better not try with humor. No one will pick it up.
Almost every agent/editor I query enthusiastically says that they love humor! They love it! They can’t get enough! Please send me humor! Hahahaha!! But… do they? The picture books I see get signed are usually serious books. Quiet books. Books that are interesting to adults. Stories with morals and lessons. Which are all important and some of my favorite books are listed as serious, quiet etc… and I write SEL and serious books too. But that can’t be all we publish. (Please never ask me in public about books that publishing houses *think* kids will like, because I will try and speak calmly but by the end I WILL have tasmanian devilled myself into a frenzy screaming KIDS WANT TO READ... You know what? I’m going to stop while I’m ahead.) Here’s the hill I’m going to trek up lathered in sweat and die on. Kids want funny. Kids need funny. You want to make a reader out of your kid? Make them laugh. Ingrain in them the memory that reading is fun. Reading is an activity that brings joy.
The world is scary. And it will force your kids to face hard truths and grow up fast. Pause it. Please. Laugh with your kid about a Knight Owl going to Knight Night School because he is nocturnal. Laugh when a family’s To Do List gets mixed up and they accidentally bathe the cat. Laugh when a little girl named Mahogany outwits the wolf trying to eat her and her grandma.
I’m going to say two negative things really quickly so we can acknowledge them and move on. Unless you are a white man or a celebrity, the publishing industry doesn’t seem to think you’re funny. But we need other voices. We need other perspectives on funny topics. And kids need us to show them that reading is awesome. And funny.
Here’s the link to Maddie’s post if you want to read the whole thing.
