Books like Mr Stink
Mr Stink by David Walliams reads as heartwarming, humorous. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.
What Mr Stink is like to read
A warm, broadly comic children's story about an unlikely friendship between a girl and a homeless man, mixing gross-out humor with a tender message about looking past appearances. Best for: middle-grade readers who enjoy Roald Dahl-style comic mischief with a heartfelt core.
The Boy in the Dress
David Walliams · 2008
A warm, funny middle-grade story about a lonely boy whose secret love of fashion collides with school, soccer, and family — comic hijinks tipping into real feeling about acceptance.
The BFG
Roald Dahl · 1982
A romp of invented words and giant-sized whimsy that turns into a genuine child-hero adventure to save the world's children.
The astounding broccoli boy
Frank Cottrell Boyce · 2015
A funny, warm-hearted middle-grade romp told from an anxious boy's perspective as he reframes a bizarre medical mystery as a superhero origin story, gradually bonding with his former bully.
The illustrated mum
Jacqueline Wilson · 1999
A child's-eye account of loving a mother whose mental illness keeps upending home life — tender, sad, and quietly hopeful without softening the hard parts.
How to Speak Dragonese
Cressida Cowell · 2005
A fast, funny middle-grade romp told in Hiccup's earnest, self-deprecating voice, full of Viking mishaps, dragon banter, and narrow escapes.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Louis Sachar · 1978
Thirty short, absurd classroom vignettes that read like tall tales for kids — silly, breezy, and cheerfully surreal.
Ramona the Pest
Beverly Cleary · 1968
An episodic romp through Ramona's first months of kindergarten, warm and gently funny as she navigates being labeled a 'pest.
The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society #1)
Trenton Lee Stewart · 2007
A puzzle-driven middle-grade adventure where four gifted misfits solve mind-bending tests and infiltrate a strange boarding school.
I was a rat!
Philip Pullman · 1999
A fairy-tale inversion where a transformed boy becomes a lens for examining childhood vulnerability, social belonging, and the violence of rigid categories—delivered with Pullman's
The magic Faraway Tree
Enid Blyton · 1943
A cozy, episodic romp where children climb a magic tree into a new topsy-turvy land each visit, meeting Moon-Face, Silky and the Saucepan Man.
Flora & Ulysses
Kate DiCamillo · 2013
A whimsical, comic-inflected romp where a squirrel's superpowers crack open a lonely girl's cynicism — episodic misadventures with genuine heart underneath the silliness.
This can't be happening at Macdonald Hall!
Gordon Korman · 1978
A breezy, gag-driven school caper about two inseparable friends scheming their way back together, full of slapstick pranks and comic mismatched roommates.
About Mr Stink — what the genome says
Is Mr Stink a complete story or a cliffhanger?
It's a complete, standalone-satisfying story.
Who is Mr Stink for?
It's written for middle-grade readers (roughly ages 8-12).
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