Books like Sheep in a Shop
By Nancy Shaw
Sheep in a Shop turns a birthday errand into total chaos, right up to the moment those sheep reach the register and realize they haven't got a single coin. The rhymes make kids chant along, and they ask for it again before you've even closed the cover. Here are more books for that same kind of gleeful mess.
A dog who hates baths buries the scrubbing brush and runs off for a day of adventure, getting so filthy that his own family no longer recognizes him.
A pesky old black fly buzzes through the alphabet on a hot summer day, landing on the apple pie, bothering the baby, and driving one household to the edge — until someone finally swats him.
Five little monkeys jump on the bed after saying goodnight to Mama — and one by one, they fall off, bump their heads, and get a call to the doctor.
A little boy tosses a coin in a well and wishes for a pet unicorn, not realizing unicorns shed everywhere, poke holes in ceilings, and make an enormous mess.
If your kid loves watching things spiral out of order in a rhyme, Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty does that with chores instead of a shopping list.
Less rhyme, more talking back. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems hands your kid the power to say no instead of just laughing at sheep doing wrong.
A child gets ten minutes to get ready for bed while a growing crowd of hamster tourists pours through the front door for a wild, wordless-countdown tour of the house.
The sheep get caught without cash, and this cat gets caught red-pawed too. Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd turns getting away with it into the whole joke.
A persistent pigeon really, really, REALLY wants a puppy and begs the reader directly, promising to take great care of it — but only the reader can decide if he's actually ready.
A young boy heads to town to shop for six farm eggs, a cake for tea, a pound of pears, and bacon, but distractions along the way twist his simple list into something else entirely.
Where the sheep get caught short on money, Burglar Bill by Allan Ahlberg follows someone who takes things outright, then has to face what that means.
Want something shorter and giggly for the littlest sibling? Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton keeps the rhyme and joy, drops the plot entirely.
