In kidlit, the gallows humor begins early.

While most of us are likely familiar with Jon Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back, he is not the only nor the first picture book author to write about kids and kid-like animals being devoured by other animals. It’s a fact that wild animals eat other animals as a matter of course; most humans do too. These picture books put a funny twist on this circle of life, though human kids are usually saved from being eaten by fast talking and a bit of cleverness. The anthropomorphized animals, though, as in Klassen’s book, often aren’t as lucky. It’s “death by dinner,” if you will.

The books on this list range from fairly innocuous to potentially traumatizing, depending on the temperament of the child reader. Reader beware: here there be dragons (and bears and lions and sharks and dinosaurs and monsters, and they’re all very hungry).

All descriptions are from Goodreads. What’s your favorite book about animal-on-child murder?

Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman

The filming of an underwater TV show goes awry when the crew gets interrupted by a… SHARRRK! Poor Shark, he wasn’t trying to scare them, he’s just misunderstood! Then he’s accused of trying to eat a fish. Will Shark ever catch a break? After all, he wasn’t going to eat the fish, he was just showing it his new tooth! Or was he? Explosively funny, extraordinarily clever, and even full of fun shark facts, this surprisingly endearing story gets to the heart of what it feels like to be misunderstood by the people around you. With a surprise twist ending, our Misunderstood Shark will have kids rolling with laughter!

 

Misunderstood Shark: Friends Don’t Eat Friends by Ame Dyckman

This hilarious follow-up to Misunderstood Shark by New York Times bestselling duo Ame Dyckman and Scott Magoon tackles what it really means to be a good friend. Bob is already irate that Shark has eaten him, but when Shark doesn’t admit to eating him, Bob is so mad he declares that the ocean isn’t big enough for both of them! Friends Don’t Eat Friends is exploding with over-the-top humor and awesome marine facts! For example, when Shark overdoses on Finilla Ice Cream after fighting with Bob, we learn that shark teeth are coated with fluoride. Lucky for Shark, he can’t get cavities! Join Shark and the gang for another story and find out if Shark learns his lesson about friendship, or if he really is just misunderstood — again!

 

Bears Don’t Eat Egg Sandwiches by Julie Fulton

Jack has a rather grizzly visitor arrive for lunch but they don’t want to eat any of Jack’s egg sandwiches. So what do bears eat for lunch? Through quirky illustrations and funny dialogue, the bear tells Jack all about his lunchtime plans, until they’re unexpectedly foiled.

 

 

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they’re so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all. . . .

 

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Eric Kaplan

Dad has warned Henry and Eve: If you whine too much, monsters will eat you. Henry and Eve don’t listen, of course. The only problem is, when the monster comes, he can’t find the right recipe for whiny children—and neither can his monster friends! A whiny child salad doesn’t work because there’s paprika in the dressing. A whiny child cake won’t do because the flour spills all over the floor. And whiny child burgers are out of the question because the grill is too hard to light up. Arguments and hilarity ensue. And just when our persnickety monsters decide on the perfect dish…the worst thing of all happens….

 

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

The bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear’s memory and renews his search with a vengeance. Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humor– and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke.

 

I Will Not Eat You by Adam Lehrhaupt

From the award-winning author of Warning: Do Not Open This Book! and Please, Open This Book! comes a suspenseful and darkly funny new picture book about Theodore, who resists the urge to eat the animals that wander into his cave…at least for now! Theodore thinks everything is a potential meal. Lucky for the bird, wolf, and tiger, who pass by his cave, Theodore isn’t hungry…yet. But then something new approaches. A boy. Has Theodore found a new favorite food? Or something more?

 

I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon

I just ate my friend. He was a good friend. But now he is gone. Would you be my friend? This beautiful, innovate picture book from an enormously talented new creator will make you laugh out loud. The search for a true friend is something everyone can relate to – from the very young to the very old. A hilarious story about the search for friendship and belonging… and maybe a little bit about the importance of impulse control… from an amazing new creator.

 

Eat Pete! by Michael Rex

Pete couldn’t be more thrilled when a monster shows up in his bedroom. Now Pete has someone to play with! And the hungry monster couldn’t be more thrilled to be there, either. Now he can . . . EAT PETE! But Pete has other ideas. And they are all good fun and quite distracting–things like playing cars and pirates. Well, we all know the course of playing together nicely never did run smoothly. So how much longer will the monster have to wait before he can . . . EAT PETE?

 

Don’t Eat That by Drew Sheneman

Bear is hungry. Gertie wants to help. But finding the perfect snack is harder than it looks. Will Gertie and Bear silence Bear’s tummy grumbles before hunger gets the best of them? Expressive characters and funny dialogue lead the way in this pitch-perfect story about patience and teamwork, by nationally-syndicated cartoonist Drew Sheneman.

 

Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion by Alex T. Smith

Little Red sets off to visit her auntie who is poorly. A Very Hungry Lion approaches Little Red, wanting to gobble her up. But despite all the cunning plans by Lion, Little Red outsmarts him and soon has him saying sorry and eating doughnuts instead. A classic fairy tale with a twist by the bestselling Alex T. Smith.