Books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts

If you liked Even Monsters Need Haircuts, read Crash, Splash, or Moo!, Bubba the Cowboy Prince, or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott (Humor · grades K–3)? It’s most often read for its themes of barbers, humorous stories, and haircutting. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades K–3 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Even Monsters Need Haircuts

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Why each is a match

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Crash, Splash, or Moo!grades K–3
Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
Bubba the Cowboy Princegrades K–3
Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballsgrades K–3
Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
Substitute Teacher Plansgrades K–3
Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
The Great Fuzz Frenzygrades K–3
Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
A Lion is a Liongrades K–0
Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–0). Amazon → books like this →
Escargotgrades K–2
Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–2). Amazon → books like this →
Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the School Busgrades 3–5
Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
The Last Kids on Earthgrades 3–6
Shares themes of humorous stories and monsters and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissorsgrades 2–8
Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

  • The Monkey Goes Bananas by C. P. Bloom · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
  • This is My Book by Mark Pett · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
  • We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! by Ryan T. Higgins · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
  • Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).
  • Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and overlapping grades (K–3).

Books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

  • The Monkey Goes Bananas by C. P. Bloom · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
  • This is My Book by Mark Pett · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
  • We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! by Ryan T. Higgins · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
  • Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).
  • Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, and overlapping grades (K–3).

Books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

  • Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).
  • Banana Twist by Florence Parry Heide · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories and same genre (Humor).
  • Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories and same genre (Humor).
  • Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).
  • Double Fudge by Judy Blume · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories and same genre (Humor).

Books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

  • A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh · grades 11–12 — Same genre (Humor).
  • Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds · grades 3–10 — Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).
  • House Arrest by K. A. Holt · grades 6–9 — Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list and the same era (2010s).
  • Legend by Marie Lu · grades 6–9 — Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list and the same era (2010s).
  • Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard · grades 9–12 — Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list and the same era (2010s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Even Monsters Need Haircuts?
The 10 closest matches to Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott on ReadingList include Crash, Splash, or Moo!, Bubba the Cowboy Prince, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Substitute Teacher Plans, and The Great Fuzz Frenzy. Each is scored on shared themes (barbers, humorous stories, and haircutting), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades K–3), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Even Monsters Need Haircuts reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades K–3), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?
Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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