The comedian, author, and father of three on the reads your kids will actually enjoy
Anna Bonet
Senior Writer and Commissioning Editor
Romesh Ranganathan might be best known for his hugely successful comedy career, with hit shows like The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan and The Ranganation making him a household name. But beyond the stage and screen, he is also the author of two bestselling – and very funny – memoirs, Straight Outta Crawley and As Good as it Gets – and has more recently turned his talents to writing for children.
Following last year’s laugh-out-loud kids’ book Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic, the father of three has returned with a brand-new adventure, Yasmin Bandar Levels Up!. Here, he shares the five books for children that shaped his own life and writing…
Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
“Sometimes, books stay with you because of the experience you had when you first read them. I was off sick from school and my mum was busy, so I picked up this book and read it from cover to cover in one sitting. It was the first time I had done that and I remember feeling like a proper grown up.
“The book is a funny and heartwarming story about a fox defending the animal community from three farmers who are determined to get rid of them. Back then, I very much sided with Mr Fox. Now, while I do admire his desire to feed his family, I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Boggis Bunce and Bean who are working within the very challenging agricultural industry and could really do without burglars. Still, a great book.”
Puffin, £7.99
Diary of a Big Bad Wolf by Ben Miller
“People are sometimes cynical about celebrity children’s authors, but Ben Miller is incredibly passionate about doing it well and his level of success is completely deserved. This book sees him taking a well-known fairy tale and giving it a fresh spin in a really innovative way.
“Diary of a Big Bad Wolf is beautifully written, funny, and combines tradition with the new in a very clever way. It is annoyingly good, really.”
Simon & Schuster Children’s, £7.99
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
“World building is a high-risk strategy in my humble opinion. There are so many possible pitfalls in setting up the rules and characters that you can lose your reader without enough of a compelling story. Tolkien’s The Hobbit does not have that problem.
“This was my first experience of being completely immersed in a world and being taken so far away from the place where I was reading the book. I was so completely in love with the characters – how they spoke, how they ate, and the adventures they found themselves in – that it almost made me wish there was some sort of dragon problem in Crawley.”
HarperCollins Children’s, £8.99
Big by Vashti Harrison
“This is a beautiful picture book for younger readers that is all about a girl who realises that being described as big has become a negative thing. It is an incredibly effective illustration of the effects that words have on children.
“Big comes with an important message, impeccably presented, and I wish I was as clever as Vashti, who illustrated the book as well as writing it. I think every child would benefit from reading this.”
Puffin, £8.99
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
“This is the one of the best examples I can recall of a young children’s book being equally as funny for adults as kids. Part of how clever the book is lies in the clues in the illustrations that help you understand what has actually happened in the story.
“It also has a surprisingly dark ending for a children’s book that caused a smidge of controversy when the book first came out. I personally loved it. So many children’s books for very young readers play out as you would expect, so this was a nice surprise. Spoiler alert: I would avoid if you love rabbits.”
Walker Books, £8.99
‘Yasmin Bandar Levels Up!’ by Romesh Ranganathan (Puffin, £8.99) is out now
