Bad Book Books in Order

The Bad Book series grew out of Andy Griffiths' urge to write the wrong version of all the stories adults usually tidy up for kids. Instead of good behaviour and neat morals, these collections celebrate gleefully awful choices, terrible puns and endings that often explode.

Each book is a grab bag of short pieces: twisted nursery rhymes, spoof fairy tales, fake safety posters, comics, mock dictionary entries and very brief stories. Terry Denton's prickly, scribbly artwork runs across every page, turning simple jokes into full-blown visual slapstick.

You will meet characters like Bad Baby, Bad Daddy and Bad Jack Horner, plus cranky Santa stand-ins, disaster-prone superheroes and families who are comically hopeless at basic kindness. Everything is exaggerated so far past real life that it is clear you are meant to laugh at, not copy, their behaviour.

Because most pieces are only a page or two long, readers can jump in anywhere and find something that makes them snort. The humour leans heavily on gross details and mock horror, which is exactly what many eight to twelve year olds are looking for when they pick up a book on their own.

If you are already a fan of the Just books or the Butt trilogy, the Bad Book collections feel like a more chaotic cousin. They give Andy and Terry room to try out wild ideas, push jokes as far as they will go, and remind readers that bad on the page can be a very good time.