The judging committee has stopped giggling long enough to announce the shortlisted books for the 2025 Joan Betty Stuchner — Oy Vey! — Funniest Children’s Book Award.
The winners will be announced at a Zoom extravaganza on Scavenger Hunt Day, May 24. Every two years, two prizes of $752.81 are awarded to the Canadian books for children that tickled the judges’ funny bones the most.
Shortlist
Picture books
[in alphabetical order by author]
- How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich in 17 Easy Steps, written and illustrated by Bambi Edlund, Owlkids
- Squirrel-ish, written and illustrated by Bambi Edlund, Owlkids
- Cone Dog, written by Sarah Howden, illustrated by Carmen Mok, Owlkids
- The Island Before No, written by Christina Uss, illustrated by Hudson Christie, Tundra
- Parker’s Place, written and illustrated by Russ Willms, Clarion
Chapter books
[in alphabetical order by author]
- Izzy’s Dog Days of Summer, written by Caroline Adderson, illustrated by Kelly Collier, Kids Can
- Pluto Rocket: New in Town, written and illustrated by Paul Gilligan, Tundra
- Mortified, written by Kristy Jackson, illustrated by Rhael McGregor, HarperCollins
- At the Speed of Gus, written by Richard Scrimger, Scholastic
- Scaredy Squirrel Gets Festive, written and illustrated by Melanie Watt, Tundra
ABOUT JOAN BETTY STUCHNER
Joan Betty Stuchner was a children’s author who loved to make people laugh. She passed away unexpectedly in 2014. The Joan Betty Stuchner – Oy Vey! – Funniest Children’s Book Award honours her warm and generous spirit by encouraging authors and illustrators to keep her life-affirming humour alive.
For more information, visit http://www.joanbettystuchneraward.org.
From the Oy Vey! Committee
Cindy Heinrichs, Ellen Schwartz,
Nathalie Patel, Gina McMurchy-Barber,
Alison Acheson