What books are similar to The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors?

The 10 closest matches to The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors by Drew Daywalt on ReadingList include Arnie, the Doughnut, Dog Breath, No More Dead Dogs, Max and the Midknights, and Rodrick Rules. Each is scored on shared themes (humor, adventure, and rock-paper-scissors (game)), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 2–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 2–8), 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.

Books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors

If you liked The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors, read Arnie, the Doughnut, Dog Breath, or No More Dead Dogs — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors by Drew Daywalt (Humor · grades 2–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of humor, adventure, and rock-paper-scissors (game). 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 2–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Arnie, the Doughnutgrades 2–8: Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon →
Dog Breathgrades 2–8: Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon →
No More Dead Dogsgrades 2–8: Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon →
Max and the Midknightsgrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor and adventure and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Rodrick Rulesgrades 4–7: Shares themes of humor, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
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 →
The Best School Year Evergrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
The Last Strawgrades 4–7: Shares themes of humor, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
A Royal Conundrumgrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor and adventure and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Banana Twistgrades 4–6: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon →

Books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors for younger readers (K–2)

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

Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
Geronimo Stilton: Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton · 530L — Shares themes of humor and adventure and overlapping grades (2–5).
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of humor and adventure and overlapping grades (2–5).
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Scat by Carl Hiaasen · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).

Books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–5).
Double Fudge by Judy Blume · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Geronimo Stilton: Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton · 530L — Shares themes of humor and adventure and overlapping grades (2–5).

Books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
Double Fudge by Judy Blume · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of humor, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–6).
My Horrible Secret by Stephen Roos · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of adventure and overlapping grades (5–9).
Divergent by Veronica Roth · grades 8–12 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, overlapping grades (8–12), and the same era (2010s).
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds · 720L — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2010s).
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, overlapping grades (7–10), and the same era (2010s).
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of humor.

Book data last updated 2026-07-07. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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