K is for Knifeball: An Alphabet of Terrible Advice

by Avery Monsen, Jory John

From the authors of the breakout bestseller All my friends are dead. (more than 175,000 copies sold) and in the humorous vein of Go the F**k to Sleep comes a laugh-out-loud collection of bad advice that turns the children's alphabet book on its head. Adorable illustrated characters lead readers down a path of poor decision-making, and alphabetical, rhyming couplets offer terrible life lessons in which O is for opening things with your teeth, F is for setting Daddy's wallet on fire, and R is for Raccoon (but definitely not for rabies). With plenty of playfully disastrous choices lurking around every corner, this compendium of black humor may be terrible for actual children, but it's perfect for the common-senseless child in all adults.

Genres: Humor, Picture Books, Fiction, Comedy, Graphic Novels, Adult, Young Adult

80 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Avery Monsen is a writer, actor, and artist who lives in Los Angeles. He illustrated and co-authored the national bestseller, All My Friends Are Dead, as well as I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York and K is For Knifeball. He’s also written for the television shows, Billy On The Street and Trip Tank. His writing and drawings have been published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Believer, and several newspapers around the country, and he was recently named one of the New Faces of Comedy at the 2017 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. As an actor, he’s appeared on 30 Rock, The Tonight Show, High Maintenance, Maron, Adam Ruins Everything, and Alexa & Katie.

Reviews

[Kimmylongtime · Rating 4 out of 5]

So my silly self saw an illustrated book by a man who previously wrote children books. So it didn’t dawn on me that K is for Knifeball was an adult parody on a popular childrens book method. It had ABC’s and bright colors and my son was interested. Lol, yeah I know I messed up by by letter D I knew something was up and my son being the slick guy he is was like nah it’s a kids book continue.

Lol, upon further investigation down the future pages I knew this was a comedy that could rival South Park on a good day and I loved it. I silently finished the book and then pulled out Pete the Cat for my son. With all that went on with the book in the beginning stages I still enjoyed it.

However, please don’t read this to your kids. If it wasn’t in my kindle I would have caught on sooner but the new update starts all stories( Novels too) after the prologue/intro and straight into the first pages of the story. This story was hilarious and the images were spot on. I love a very versatile author and I would read this again and recommended to a friend.

Happy reading everyone 🥰😍😘😍

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dos mesmos autores de Todos meus amigos estão mortos, eles certamente foram influenciados pelo Gorey, mas numa vibe mais colorida. Só indico para adultos.

[Sabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So humorous! I didn't expect to laugh this much. You'll like it if you like some black humor.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious starting with the Waiver. An excerpt from the waiver:

"By reading this, you agree that you will read this book, laugh at the jokes, buy a few copies for your friends, write a glowing review online, and, most importantly, not hurt yourself or someone else or both.

And if you do hurt yourself, you won't get a lawyer. And if you do get a lawyer, rest assured that we'll get 12 lawyers, all of them inside a giant coat, talking at the same time."

[John of Canada · Rating 4 out of 5]

My nephew and his wife just started a new family a few months ago. I'm pretty certain that their son will benefit from this book in a few years. My gift to them.

[ᛚᚨᚱᚲᚨ × ᚠᛖᚾᚱᛁᚱ (Semi hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kind of book I'd buy for a child I love. And hate. But mostly love.

Seriously though, funnier than the All my friends... series!

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS WAS SUCH HORRIBLE ADVICE! But really funny

[Giuliana Gramani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bom, entendi nem qual é o propósito desse livro, HAUHAUHAUHAUAHUAHUA, mas vou dar duas estrelas porque, em comparação com o último livro deles que li, que era tenebroso, esse não parece tão horrendo.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

more like good advice for keeping the population down! give this to kids you hate, don't tell their parents, and then leave the country!

[Allyson Maclay · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved this book it was really funny and would make a great coffee table book for people without kids

[irene ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is okay, but the humor was absolutely not for me. I really disliked it.

[Gabriel Maracle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's funny and short

[MsElisaB · Rating 3 out of 5]

simpatico

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly this is a must-own. A wonderful alphabet book full of important lessons and great ideas. I cannot endorse this enough.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that this is labeled a children's book when it's clearly satire and as my sister pointed out should be read to older kid's.

I loved the humor in this starting from the beginning with a waiver. Yes a waiver! and then it gets to the alphabet and this is definitely not the one I grew up with especially the letter "D" which Drifter... really? 😂

This is definitely not for everyone but I found it to be funny and as I read it aloud to my sister, I found it to be even funnier.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omfg! This book was over the top and hilarious from beginning to end. When I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did! And I'm happy for it. Definitely not a book for kids at all. But a great adult humor book. Every one of the alphabet was my favorite and I'm still trying to figure out why there was a pickle at the end of the book. Randomness I guess which is awesome!

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned/the content of this book made me feel…

…that I need to buy this for friends kids, just to continue the anarchy!

[Farah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the disclaimer ⚠️

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah i'm reading short "kids" books so i can finish this goddamn reading challenge so what!

[Coyora Dokusho · Rating 3 out of 5]

I laughed at the illustrations, they were really funny!!! and the advice... the advice was so bad... so very, very bad... >.< but funny!!! and that's the important thing~

[Isabel Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

K is for Knifeball is a highly comical, what-not-to-do type of book. It would make a funny gift for a high school or college graduate, but don't even think about giving it to a graduating Kindergartener or anyone else in grade school. Not only will they not understand the type of humor it exudes, but they may also attempt to engage in some of the false advice mentioned in the book. We certainly wouldn't want that!

For adults, however, this alphabet book is hilarious and entertaining. It doesn't always follow the traditional alphabet order, which is unexpected, silly, and original. The non-advice is whimsical and creative. Lastly, the illustrations are bright and energized. What's not to like? If you're looking for a good laugh, something a little different, and some quirky fun, look no further... K is for Knifeball is your one stop shop for an all-around good time.

[Cale · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was originally going to write a rhyming review that would have been as long as the book, but then I realized the book wasn't worth it. It took me less than five minutes to read, and I regretted the time spent. Any book that has to start with MULTIPLE disclaimers not to do anything in it is going to have a hard time with me, and this 'parody' of children's alphabet books didn't do anything humorous enough to justify the warnings. It's cynical and unpleasant and the artwork is the best thing about it (which isn't a high bar). If you like other books by these authors, you'll probably enjoy it. Otherwise, steer clear.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 2 out of 5]

We have this sitting at the customer service desk at my work and I never paid any attention to it until today, when a coworker started reading it out loud and I instantly became alarmed that a child might find it and read it and sic their enraged parent on us.

This is a highly inappropriate alphabet book that seems to derive all its humor by telling 'kids' to do horrible things, like take in a drifter or write on the walls of their school. I appreciated some of the humor, particularly when the drifter pops back up wearing moms blouse long after we've gotten past the letter D, but the gimmick gets old fast. Considering how not for children it is, most of it is pretty childish humor.

[Julio Biason · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would happen if you mix "Please Go To Fucking Sleep" with an ABC book? "K is for Knifeball".

It's a "for-kids-but-not-kids" kinda of book: For example, "D is for Drifter, which you should call to get in when your parents aren't at home" and "F is Food, which you should give for the drifter living under your bed" (or something around those lines)... Pretty much what "Go To Fucking Sleep" does.

Surely one wouldn't recite the book to a kid anyway, and being really short, I'm not sure about the re-readability of it. Still, it is somewhat amusing.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this in a daily deal email and then saw it was available from my library so I just had to borrow it. I mean who doesn’t want to know more about knifeball? Yes, it’s funny, yes it’s politically incorrect, yes the illustrations aren’t the best, and yes it hasn’t aged well… Because in the world of fake news some people would actually say these silly and absurd things and other people would believe them as gospel. Also there’s an inconsistency to the whole thing, why don’t some things rhyme? Funny but forgettable.

[Julie Rocha · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN’S BOOK. It is, however, brilliant and I love it. I laughed so much, but tbh my humor is very broken and I love satire, so it might not be for everyone. It’s definitely not for kids. Please don’t let your kid read this. As someone who reads a lot of children’s books both for fun (because sometimes you just need something light and easy to process) and to work with kids in therapy, sometimes the rhyming and silly themes get annoying, and the way the authors use this as a parody was truly hilarious.

[Scott Ravede · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books loved by kids, but hated by parents and teachers. They are probably sneaking it to school in their backpacks right now. But how does a kid get a hold of a book like this? That’s the one piece of bad advice not offered in K is for Knifeball. So, let me give my advice. Parents: buy this book. You and your kids will enjoy it. Of course, if you have one of those kids that takes everything literally, you may want to reconsider.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious parody on children’s ABC books—I totally would never give this to a child though, unless I knew for sure they knew how to take sarcasm because it lists a host of awful ideas like “d is for the drifter staring into your house—let him in when your parents aren’t home.” The waiver at the beginning of the book is hilarious too in absolving the authors of any guilt they might have over all the bad ideas they give people in this book.

[Dream.M · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب #کودک محصول مشترک نویسندگان طنز، اوری مونسن  و جوری جان عه. اونا به خاطر کتاب "All My Friends Are Dead"  شهرت دارن.
​همونطور که از عنوانش پیداست، کتاب از A تا Z، رو آموزش میده و برای هر حرف، یک موقعیت خنده‌دار، پوچ و کاملاً غیرقابل استفاده و خطرناک یا احمقانه رو به همراه تصویرسازی‌های ساده و بامزه ارائه می‌ده.

خیلی خیلی کوتاه و باحاله. ولی خب هیچ ایده‌ای ندارم چقدر برای بچه ها مناسبه 🤩

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly did a binge-read of Avery Monsen and Jory Johns's books, but I waited until after I got home from school to read this one and I legit almost peed my pants because I was laughing so hard. These people are dark humor geniuses honestly.

Overall, another 10/10 for these authors. They're seriously hilarious.