Don't Push the Button Books in Order

The Don't Push the Button books are interactive picture books built around a very hard rule to follow. Larry, a small monster with big reactions, tells readers not to press a button, touch a page, open a gate, or make some other tempting choice. Naturally, the invitation to disobey is part of the fun.

The first book, Don't Push the Button!, establishes the basic game. Larry presents the reader with a button and a warning, but each press changes the situation in a silly new way. The story works because children are not only watching Larry's trouble. They are being asked to cause it.

That direct back-and-forth carries through the series. In Don't Touch This Book!, Larry has to loosen up about letting others play with his book. In Don't Push the Button! Let's Say Good Night, a simple bedtime becomes a reason for one more bit of button-related mischief. The books use page turns as punchlines, so reading aloud feels a little like doing a magic trick together.

Larry also takes the setup into holiday and themed adventures. Don't Push the Button! A Halloween Treat sends him trick-or-treating near a house that looks too scary to approach. Don't Push the Button! A Christmas Adventure brings in Santa, elves, and the risk of landing on the naughty list. In Don't Push the Button! An Easter Surprise, Larry's excitement about Easter makes waiting especially difficult.

Other entries put a twist on familiar early-childhood routines. Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed borrows the shape of a counting rhyme and asks readers to comfort Larry's monster friends. Don't Push the Button: On the Farm adds animals, a gate that should stay shut, and plenty of sound-making chances. Each book has its own small situation, but the reader's actions keep the story moving.

There is no complicated continuing plot to catch up on.

That makes the series easy to enter anywhere, though the original is the best introduction to Larry and the button game. These are short, sturdy read-alouds for toddlers and preschoolers who like to be in charge. Expect repetition, simple language, comic surprises, and the satisfying feeling that the book is responding directly to the child holding it.