The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2024

Here’s to keeping it interesting. Pushing the envelope. Pushing boundaries. Pushing buttons. Here’s to children’s books that expand our assumptions of what a children’s book can be.

Interested in owning the books below? I created a list of all the books mentioned in this post in Bookshop – an online shop that supports brick-and-mortar independent bookstores. I apparently might get a few cents as well, but that’s not why I’m doing it – I just figured it might be helpful to share a good place to purchase them.

Previously . . .

The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012

Where Is My Nose? by Lucas Zanotto

Tra Publishing | March 26

Why it’s unconventional: You know when grandpa would swipe a hand in front of your face and then say “Got your nose!”, but it was just his thumb? Grandpas still do that, right? Because it’s a classic move and I would hate for that one to disappear. Anyway, Where Is My Nose? is sort of like the book form of that trick. Each page presents a new possible nose for our dog main character, which is revealed to be not at all a nose after lifting the flap.

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Meeselphie by Claude Ponti, translated by Alyson Waters

Elsewhere Editions | April 2

Why it’s unconventional: When School Library Journal erects the Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Book Hall of Fame someday, French author/illustrator Claude Ponti will be the first person we induct. Dude basically rents a room on the Astonishingly Unconventional list. It’s like this list is an Air BnB that works out really well and so Ponti keeps coming back to it year after year. Side Question: Should Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Book Hall of Fame inductees get a trophy? A nice blazer? Either way, Ponti will be there, looking all Ponti-ish. He’ll probably give a really weird speech that will be funny, but also slightly disturbing. That’s Ponti for you. His work, Meeselphie included, exudes unconventional-ness. A boy goes through the proverbial looking glass and encounters all manner of surreal, dangerous, and whimsical allies and foes.

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Animal Albums from A to Z by Cece Bell

Walker Books US | March 26

Why it’s unconventional: Oh, you know of a lot of other books that coincided with their own exclusive vinyl release and Spotify compilation? If you do, I’d like to talk to you, because you probably know about some cool books I don’t know. In Animal Albums from A to Z, Bell draws upon her love of vintage album artwork to create a whole new musical landscape of lyrics by favorite artists from an imagined past. It’s psychedelic. It’s groovy. It’s silly. It’s astounding. It’s absolutely like no other book you will read this year.

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Future by María José Ferrada Ferrada, illustrated by Mariana Alcántara, translated by Kit Maude

Tapioca Stories | May 14

Why it’s unconventional: It seems like all future-based storytelling falls into two camps: post-apocalyptic wasteland or Jetsons techno utopia. Future (released in both English and Spanish) tells of an alternative. The poem-like text shows a society that has fully embraced nature, without sacrificing the cool stuff like jet packs and robots.

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K is In Trouble by Gary Clement

Little, Brown Ink | January 16

Why it’s unconventional: Because it’s like Curb Your Enthusiasim meets Kalfka. I can hear the theme song now:

The main character (the appropriately named K) is a magnet for awkward situations and trouble. The poor kid can’t seem to avoid it. Told in five sometimes surreal comic vignettes, K suffers greatly (and relatably).

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John the Skeleton by Triinu Laan, illustrated by Marja-Liisa Plats, translated by Adam Cullen

Yonder | October 1

Why it’s unconventional: No Astonishingly Unconventional list worth it’s salt would be complete without some sort of skeleton picture book. John is a classroom skeleton, but after suffering a few broken bones, the teacher decides John is ready for retirement, and sends him home with an elderly couple. But what first appears to be a macabre story soon reveals itself as a touching ode to mortality.

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The First Week of School by Drew Beckmeyer

Atheneum | June 25

Why it’s unconventional: Where do I start? The UFO landing on the playground on the second day of school. The alien named Nobody. The unique text that doesn’t spin a linear narrative as much as it updates you on what all the characters are up to. The dry humor. The crayon illustrations. This all adds up to a book that is completely delightful and completely unconventional.

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The Museum of Very Bad Smells by Monica Arnaldo

Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins) | July 16

Why it’s unconventional: Monica Arnaldo is no stranger to unorthodox mysteries – remember 2023’s fantastic Mr. S? But this book takes the inventiveness (and absurdity) up a level by incorporating a scratch-and-sniff element into the sleuthing. When the World Famous Rotten Egg is stolen, everyone is a suspect. Readers must use their noses to find the culprit.

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Thank You Everything by Icinori, translated by Emilie Robert Wong

Enchanted Lion Boos | November 19

Why it’s unconventional: It appears to be one thing and then turns into something else. As the main character wakes up, the text begins with simple thank you statements (THANK YOU SINK. THANK YOU GLASS), but it soon becomes apparent that these images are building on each other and an adventure is taking shape. Visually stunning and open to interpretation, as a good unconventional book should be. Alanis Morissette would be pleased.

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Open Me…I’m a Dog! by Art Spiegelman

TOON Books | October 8

Why it’s unconventional: Originally published in 1997, this one returns as a glorious reissue. Remember when Kramer wrote a coffee table book about coffee tables that actually turned into a little coffee table? I was reminded of that absurd fictional literary achievement when I got my hands on a copy of Art Spiegelman’s latest. Because Open Me…I’m a Dog! has a leash. Yes, I repeat, when you buy this book, it has little leash attached to the top of the spine. And that’s just the first of the host of playful, inventive, and even tactile elements that litter (pun) this little book about a dog transforming into a book.

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Endfixer by Noemi Vola, illustrated by Rosa Churcher Clarke

Berbay Publishing | April 23

Why it’s unconventional: Everything doesn’t end well. Actually, most things don’t end well. What Endfixer presupposes is . . . what if they did? In this book, our narrater sets out to fix those bad endings – you know the ones that are too complicated, too mushy, and too confusing. Featuring the world’s first blurcled earthworm spread.

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Amazing Grapes by Jules Feiffer

Michael di Capua Books (HarperCollins) | September 24

Why it’s unconventional: You might not be surprised that the guy who helped make The Phantom Tollbooth, and who has been making some of the most unconventional picture books of the last 50 years is back at it again. This time, with a surrealist graphic novel that follows three siblings lost in a psychedelic alternate dimension.

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