Chris

Harris

New York Times Bestselling Children’s Poet

Award-Winning Television Writer & Producer

Travels from: Los Angeles, CA

“Better than Shel Silverstein… Said it once. Said it twice. Better than Shel Silverstein.”
— Betsy Bird, School Library Journal

New York Times bestselling children’s poet Chris Harris is the author of the acclaimed poetry collections I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and My Head Has a Bellyache. Chris is the author of several picture books as well, including The Alphabet’s Alphabet with Dan Santat and the YouTube smash hit If You Laugh, I’m Starting This Book Over.

Chris is also an award-winning television writer and producer. He’s been a writer, showrunner and/or executive producer for such programs as Frasier, How I Met Your Mother, Acapulco, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Additionally, his writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on NPR.

Chris lives with his family in Los Angeles. In his extraordinarily hypothetical spare time he enjoys puzzles of all types, including those in the annual MIT Mystery Hunt. The puzzle he’s currently stuck on is, “How do I get our dog to stop licking my face?”

Chris's Featured Titles

My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |

July 18, 2023

Children’s Poetry

This hilarious follow-up to the New York Times bestselling poetry book I’m Just No Good at Rhyming is full of surprising twists of wit and wordplay that will have readers rolling on the floor laughing!

“Highly recommended, it gets 5 stars and 8 moons and a chef’s kiss and a tip of the hat and a jump in the lake from me.”—Bob Odenkirk, award-winning actor, writer, and comedian

I’m Just No Good at Rhyming is this century’s most acclaimed comedic poetry collection so far, described as “a worthy heir to Silverstein, Seuss, and even Ogden Nash” (Publishers Weekly), “wildly imaginative…inspired and inspiring” (Kirkus), and as “everything a book for kids should be” (B.J. Novak). Now, Chris Harris delivers all that and more with dazzling new heights of creativity, kooky conundrums, witty wordsmithing, and of course, wacky laugh-out-loud fun!

There’s a whole new cast of characters to meet, from the Nail-Clipping Fairy (who delivers teeth at night), to Orloc the Destroyer (who can be defeated only by his mommy), to the Elderly Caveman (who complains about the younger generation obsessed with playing with fire). There are more mind-bending verbal and visual riddles, plus there’s plenty of hilarious hijinks hiding around every corner, whether it’s a buffalo that escapes one poem and roams through others or a meteor threatening to land on the book and obliterate everything. There’s even a mini book-within-a-book! In between it all, cartoonist Andrea Tsurumi’s diverse range of exuberant people, creatures, and anthropomorphic objects ripple through the pages with playful energy.

If your head has a bellyache as you read this book, it will only be because you’re laughing WAY. TOO. HARD!

Comedy & Humor, Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid-Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Poetry

If You Laugh, I’m Starting This Book Over

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |

September 27, 2022

Picture Book

Over 10 million views on YouTube!!

Perfect for fans of The Book With No Pictures, The Serious Goose and Press Here, this hilarious interactive picture book is guaranteed to be a major hit at storytime!

Okay, kid… I have a BIG THING that I really want to tell you. But it’s VERY SERIOUS. So please, NO LAUGHING while I read you this book. Because…IF YOU LAUGH, I’M STARTING THIS BOOK OVER!

In this riotous read-aloud from the bestselling author of I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and The Alphabet’s Alphabet, the reader insists that listeners MUST. NOT. LAUGH—but the demand NOT to laugh leads to the absolutely irresistible temptation to do just that! Chock full of silly narrative twists, giggle-worthy character names, and ridiculously goofy illustrations by Serge Bloch, this interactive romp is sure to become a new storytime essential, whether you make it to the end or not!

Comedy & Humor, Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid-Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Poetry

I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |

September 29, 2020

Children’s Poetry

Now with a bright new jacket design, this bestselling, highly acclaimed collection of laugh-out-loud poems illustrated by beloved artist Lane Smith is a must-have addition to every child’s — and whimsical grown-up’s — bookshelf!

Lauded by critics as a worthy heir to such greats as Silverstein, Seuss, Nash and Lear, Harris’s hilarious debut molds wit and wordplay, nonsense and oxymoron, and visual and verbal sleight-of-hand in masterful ways that make you look at the world in a whole new wonderfully upside-down way. With enthusiastic endorsements from bestselling luminaries such as Lemony Snicket, Judith Viorst, Andrea Beaty, and many others, this entirely unique collection offers a surprise around every corner. Adding to the fun: Lane Smith, bestselling creator of beloved hits like It’s a Book and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, has spectacularly illustrated this extraordinary collection with nearly one hundred pieces of appropriately absurd art. It’s a mischievous match made in heaven!

“Ridiculous, nonsensical, peculiar, outrageous, possibly deranged–and utterly, totally, absolutely delicious. Read it! Immediately!” –Judith Viorst, bestselling author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Comedy & Humor, Friendship & Community, Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid-Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Poetry

ELEMENTARY (K-5): THE BIG TALK

This is it! A high-energy, high-engagement, laugh-a-minute presentation that’s secretly (ssssssh!) packed with nuggets and wisdom about the building blocks of poetry, creativity and storytelling itself. I promise you’ve never seen your students as engaged and energetic as they are during this talk. We’ll play games, read poems—both as a group and with volunteers—make up our own stanzas on the spot, debate a few hot topics, maybe take a quick dive into the serious side of poetry, and laugh the whole way through. I adjust the content based on the age group and school requests, but some of the areas I love covering: (1) Poetry—and rhythm, and rhyme—is something we all have inside us, so it’s something we all can get a kick out of. (2) All my ideas start with something real—something I felt, or something I experienced—then I just add a little imagination (sometimes the story I tell about the origin of a poem gets as much laughter as the poem itself). (3) Poetry isn’t writing with more rules, it’s writing where you get to change the rules… and that’s the exciting part! As we chat, I’ll also pull back the curtain on who authors are: we’re just regular, often silly people who get frustrated at our dog and pranked by our children. The secret mission is for every single kid to leave wondering, “Wow, if that ridiculous man can write those crazy books, then I wonder what *I* can do.”

ALL AGES: POETRY I-PROMISE-THIS-WON’T-FEEL-LIKE-WORKSHOP

Let’s get writing! Picasso said, “Art is not truth; art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” I know, I know, it sounds SO super-serious and snooze-festy, but trust me, there is a whole universe inside that quote. Using that as a starting point, I’ll open the door to my own process for writing both comedic and serious pieces. We’ll kick around what makes us laugh and what makes us think, and we’ll brainstorm together off several Concepts That I Made Up Myself But Are Still Totally Valid like “the cliché flip” and “the ninth-inning curveball”—ideas that will get everyone champing at the bit to create. Along the way, we’ll also dive deeper into the big question, “What the heck IS poetry, anyway?” I’ll blaze through the different parts of a poem and forms that poetry takes, we’ll talk about WHY poetry takes all those forms, and we might just even make up our own NEW poetic form on the spot, and then take a crack at writing them. I’ve done this workshop for groups as young as kindergarten and as old as senior citizens, and every session is like a delightful improv show in its uniqueness and unexpected results.

HIGH SCHOOL/ADULT: USING HUMOR TO GET TO THE HEART

LAUGHTER IS A GATEWAY EMOTION. If we laugh together, then we’ve made a connection with each other—and then we’re more comfortable going deeper and getting to the meatier stuff. Think about how every romantic comedy starts with a funny meet-cute before the brother dies or the dad goes to jail or whatever; or how every wedding toast starts with some crack about how Uncle Ernie almost fell in the pool before it gets sentimental. It’s natural to us, and it works. Using lessons and stories from my decades of experience on such TV shows as Frasier and How I Met Your Mother, as well as my years as a bestselling children’s poet, I talk about my own journey using humor to get to the heart of things, and how we can all use that more in our own writing and speaking—whether at school, at work or in our personal lives.

“Chris Harris has done it again, and he’s gotten so much better at being ‘no good at rhyming.’ This book is a feast of rhyming, word-play, and cleverness—jam-packed, overloaded, even! If you like seeing words goofing around and enjoying themselves, then this is the book for your eyeballs to gaze upon.” ― Bob Odenkirk

“Will keep young audiences reading all the way to the (rhymed!) glossary and into the goofy title and subject indexes… Sidesplitting fun throughout for one or a crowd.” ― Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Come for the funny poems; stay because there’s so much to pore over that you can’t put this collection down.” ― Horn Book, starred review

“[Chris Harris’s] jaunty rhymes will continue to delight the next generation of Shel Silverstein and Jon Scieszka fans.” ― Booklist, starred review

“This expansive, anarchic poetry collection boasts excitement, surprises, words of wisdom, absurdist digressions, and laughs galore…. An appealingly ridiculous book, recommended for poetry and humor fans.” ― School Library Journal

“The funniest, smartest, wildest, and most wonderfully illustrated and designed book I have read in about…forever.” ― Jon Scieszka, bestselling children’s book author and first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature

“Hilarious! Witty! Fun! Chris Harris’s rhyming nonsense made me laugh so hard, now I have a bellyache!” ― Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lemoncello series

“A frolicking romp through the zany world of nonsense verse…. Visual, aural, and downright guffaw-inspiring puns and riddles abound in this wildly imaginative and cleverly illustrated debut collection. The inspired and inspiring sense of play knows no bounds.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Those who claim to hate poetry will enjoy this riotous compilation…. A surefire winner for reading aloud or for snickering with under the covers.” — School Library Journal, starred review

“Hits a poetry trifecta: high energy, rhymes that can rival Cole Porter’s, and a torrent of ideas…a worthy heir to Silverstein, Seuss, and even Ogden Nash.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A magnificently wacky romp through verse…. This moving, madcap anthem to language is sure to stand the test of time.” — Booklist, starred review

“There’s not a dud in the bunch.” — The Horn Book, starred review

“Comedy gold…. This is one collection that rewards repeat visits.” — The Horn Book, starred review

“This Hollywood writer and award-winning illustrator might just make all of us—the kids and the grown-ups—smile again.” — The New York Times

“It’s a veritable sundae of delights-layers of puns, word games, visual jokes—that I honestly would give to any kid ages short to tall.” — NPR’s Book Concierge

“This inspired collection of nonsense verse from the executive producer of How I Met Your Mother showcases a rare gift for wacky wordplay.” — People

“I’m just no good at describing how wonderful this book is. Smart and sweet, wild and wicked, brilliantly funny—it’s everything a book for kids should be.” — BJ Novak, actor and bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures

“I am a grown man and this book made me laugh out loud. When I was a kid, this was the kind of book that made me want to make comedy.” — Jason Segel, actor, screenwriter, producer, and author of Nightmares!

“This book, with its loony poems and seriously weird illustrations, is ridiculous, nonsensical, peculiar, outrageous, possibly deranged—and utterly, totally, absolutely delicious. Read it! Immediately!” — Judith Viorst, bestselling author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

“Chris Harris is a poet and everyone should know it! Love this book!” — Andrea Beaty, bestselling author of Rosie Revere, Engineer

More about Chris / Frequently Asked Questions / Infrequently Asked Questions

Honors, Awards & Recognition

A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Editors’ Choice
2017 Cybils Poetry Award Winner
An NPR Best Book of 2017
An Amazon Best Book of 2017
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017
A News & Observer Wilde Award Book of 2017
A Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017 Selection
A Kirkus Best Middle-Grade Books of 2017 Selection
School Library Journal‘s Best Books of 2017
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2017
An Iowa Public Radio Best Children’s Books to Give in 2017
100 Scope Notes Top 20 Books of 2017
School Library Journal‘s Fuse #8 Blog – 2017 Poetry Books for Kids
A Nerdies 2017 Selection
NCTE’s 2018 Notable Poetry Books
ALA-ALSC Notable Books for Children List 2018
A Parents’ Choice Award Gold Winner for Audio Books 2018
A 2024 ALA-ALSC Notable Book for Children
A Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book
Winner of the rare and coveted “didn’t totally hate it” rating from Chris’s younger son