My Head Has a Bellyache, Chris Harris
My Head Has a Bellyache, Chris Harris
List: $14.99 | Sale: $10.50
Club: $7.49

My Head Has a Bellyache
And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups

Author: Chris Harris

Narrator: Robert Petkoff, Chris Harris, Jozie Harris, Isla Muchmore, Lisa Cahn, Jack Caleb

Unabridged: 2 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/18/2023

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

This hilarious follow-up to the New York Times bestselling poetry book I'm Just No Good at Rhyming is full of surprising twists of wit and wordplay that will have readers rolling on the floor laughing!

“Highly recommended, it gets 5 stars and 8 moons and a chef's kiss and a tip of the hat and a jump in the lake from me.”—Bob Odenkirk, award-winning actor, writer, and comedian

I'm Just No Good at Rhyming is this century's most acclaimed comedic poetry collection so far, described as "a worthy heir to Silverstein, Seuss, and even Ogden Nash" (PublishersWeekly), "wildly imaginative...inspired and inspiring" (Kirkus), and as "everything a book for kids should be" (B.J. Novak). Now, Chris Harris delivers all that and more with dazzling new heights of creativity, kooky conundrums, witty wordsmithing, and of course, wacky laugh-out-loud fun!

There's a whole new cast of characters to meet, from the Nail-Clipping Fairy (who delivers teeth at night), to Orloc the Destroyer (who can be defeated only by his mommy), to the Elderly Caveman (who complains about the younger generation obsessed with playing with fire). There are more mind-bending verbal and visual riddles, plus there's plenty of hilarious hijinks hiding around every corner, whether it's a buffalo that escapes one poem and roams through others or a meteor threatening to land on the book and obliterate everything. There's even a mini book-within-a-book! In between it all, cartoonist Andrea Tsurumi’s diverse range of exuberant people, creatures, and anthropomorphic objects ripple through the pages with playful energy.

If your head has a bellyache as you read this book, it will only be because you're laughing WAY. TOO. HARD!

About Chris Harris

Chris Harris is the author of Uprising, the UK Dark series, and the Zombie Castle series.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Betsy on August 14, 2023

Better than Shel Silverstein. A bold statement. Unprovable too. Strictly a matter of personal opinion. And, considering the fact that my generation was raised on a healthy diet of Silverstein (with just a smattering of Jack Prelutsky as a palate cleanser) one might even go so far as to call it a dang......more

Goodreads review by Cover Lover on May 26, 2023

Fun! Fun! Fun! My Head has a Bellyache is an amusing, funny, punny, flippant, rhyming, nonsensical, entertaining read. It’s the perfect book to take on a long road trip to fill the ride with silliness and laughter! I’ll be the first to admit, even though this is intended for children, I enjoyed every......more

Goodreads review by Melinda on July 29, 2023

Reaching for the Shel Silverstein comparison seems like an easy go-to with children’s poetry, but this is one of the few cases where it’s merited. The same magic, the same perfect balance of poignancy and absurdity, the same profound respect for and understanding of kids and their weird busy brains.......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on January 02, 2025

This was an absolutely wonderful collection of poems and small stories. A great combination of Shel Silverstein’s funny poems and The Stinky Cheese Man, with some truly beautiful entries that brought a tear to my eye. The narration in the audiobook was fantastic, and I found myself laughing out loud......more

Goodreads review by Olivia on December 01, 2023

LOVE LOVE LOVE. Hilarious, entertaining, and heartwarming. I never thought I’d find poetry like shel Silverstein again but this almost surpasses it??......more


Quotes

* "Will keep young audiences reading all the way to the (rhymed!) glossary and into the goofy title and subject indexes... Sidesplitting fun throughout for one or a crowd."—Kirkus Reviews

“The funniest, smartest, wildest, and most wonderfully illustrated and designed book I have read in about...forever.”—Jon Scieszka, bestselling children’s book author and first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature

“Hilarious! Witty! Fun! Chris Harris’s rhyming nonsense made me laugh so hard, now I have a bellyache!”—Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lemoncello series

“Chris Harris has done it again, and he's gotten so much better at being 'no good at rhyming.'  This book is a feast of rhyming, word-play, and cleverness—jam-packed, overloaded, even! If you like seeing words goofing around and enjoying themselves, then this is the book for your eyeballs to gaze upon. Highly recommended, it gets 5 stars and 8 moons and a chef's kiss and a tip of the hat and a jump in the lake from me.”—Bob Odenkirk

Praise for I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups:

A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Editors' Choice
An NPR Best Book of 2017
An Amazon Best Book of 2017
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017
A News & Observer Wilde Award Book of 2017
A Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth 2017 Selection
A Kirkus Best Middle-Grade Books of 2017 Selection

School Library Journal's Best Books of 2017
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2017
An Iowa Public Radio Best Children's Books to Give in 2017
100 Scope Notes Top 20 Books of 2017

School Library Journal's Fuse #8 Blog - 2017 Poetry Books for Kids
A Nerdies 2017 Selection
NCTE's 2018 Notable Poetry Books
ALA-ALSC Notable Books for Children List 2018
A Parents' Choice Award Gold Winner for Audio Books 2018


* "A frolicking romp through the zany world of nonsense verse.... Visual, aural, and downright guffaw-inspiring puns and riddles abound in this wildly imaginative and cleverly illustrated debut collection. The inspired and inspiring sense of play knows no bounds." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Those who claim to hate poetry will enjoy this riotous compilation.... A surefire winner for reading aloud or for snickering with under the covers." —School Library Journal, starred review

* "Hits a poetry trifecta: high energy, rhymes that can rival Cole Porter's, and a torrent of ideas...a worthy heir to Silverstein, Seuss, and even Ogden Nash." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A magnificently wacky romp through verse.... This moving, madcap anthem to language is sure to stand the test of time." —Booklist, starred review

* "There's not a dud in the bunch." —The Horn Book, starred review

* "Comedy gold.... This is one collection that rewards repeat visits." —The Horn Book, starred review

"This Hollywood writer and award-winning illustrator might just make all of us—the kids and the grown-ups—smile again." —The New York Times

"It's a veritable sundae of delights-layers of puns, word games, visual jokes—that I honestly would give to any kid ages short to tall." —NPR's Book Concierge

"This inspired collection of nonsense verse from the executive producer of How I Met Your Mother showcases a rare gift for wacky wordplay." —People

"I'm just no good at describing how wonderful this book is. Smart and sweet, wild and wicked, brilliantly funny—it's everything a book for kids should be." —BJ Novak, actor and bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures

"I am a grown man and this book made me laugh out loud. When I was a kid, this was the kind of book that made me want to make comedy." —Jason Segel, actor, screenwriter, producer, and author of Nightmares!

"This book, with its loony poems and seriously weird illustrations, is ridiculous, nonsensical, peculiar, outrageous, possibly deranged—and utterly, totally, absolutely delicious. Read it! Immediately!" —Judith Viorst, bestselling author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

"Chris Harris is a poet and everyone should know it! Love this book!" —Andrea Beaty, bestselling author of Rosie Revere, Engineer