Audrey Vernick has a truly unique sense of humor—I think you'd agree, wouldn't you? I mean, who else would write about a buffalo in kindergarten, an easy friendship between a monster who feels like an outsider and the bird who sees him for who he is, or a whale who was won by a boy at a fair and now lives in a swimming pool? Sure, she's got some more straight-up projects, novels and fictional picture books and nonfiction, too, but she's also got a whole oeuvre of hilarious kid-friendly juxtapositions (which generally lead to hilarious ideas from kids at school visits).

Her latest, TAKE YOUR OCTOPUS TO SCHOOL DAY, involves a kid who isn't happy when other kids bend the rules or misinterpret the intention of things like Silly Hat Day and Backwards Day. Our protagonist does it right, and everybody else should, too! When Take Your Octopus to School Day comes along, he's pretty sure he's the only one who will comply, as his pet happens to be an octopus named Thurgood. What he learns about Thurgood—and one of his classmates, who happens to have a pet squid—blows his mind.

This hilarious text will be illustrated by the astounding Diana Schoenbrun and published by Katherine Harrison at Knopf, who also helmed Audrey's I WON A WHAT?

Congratulations, Audrey—you've done it again!

—Erin