Jim Benton

Author Information
Jim Benton's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    58 Books (7 Series)
  • First Book:
    July 1993
  • Latest Book:
    June 2023
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Full Series List in Order

Catwad

1 - It's Me. (Mar-2019)
2 - It's Me, Two (Sep-2019)
3 - Me, Three! (Apr-2020)
4 - Four Me? (Oct-2020)
5 - High Five! (Apr-2021)
6 - You're Making Me Six (Nov-2021)

Dear Dumb Diary

1 - Let's Pretend This Never Happened (Jun-2004)
2 - My Pants Are Haunted! (Oct-2004)
3 - Am I the Princess or the Frog? (Jun-2005)
4 - Never Do Anything, Ever (Nov-2005)
5 - Can Adults Become Human? (May-2006)
6 - The Problem With Here Is That It's Where I'm From (Jun-2007)
7 - Never Underestimate Your Dumbness (Mar-2008)
8 - It's Not My Fault I Know Everything (Mar-2009)
9 - That's What Friends Aren't For (Jan-2010)
10 - The Worst Things in Life Are Also Free (Jun-2010)
11 - Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers (Jan-2011)
12 - Me! (Just Like You, Only Better) (Jun-2011)
13 - School. Hasn't This Gone on Long Enough? (Jan-2012)
14 - The Super-Nice Are Super-Annoying (Jun-2012)
15 - Nobody's Perfect. I'm As Close As It Gets. (Jan-2013)
16 - What I Don't Know Might Hurt Me (Jun-2013)
17 - You Can Bet on That (Jun-2014)
18 - Dumbness Is a Dish Best Served Cold (Jul-2016)

Dear Dumb Diary Year Two

1 - School. Hasn't This Gone on Long Enough? (Jan-2012)
2 - The Super-Nice Are Super-Annoying (Jun-2012)
3 - Nobody's Perfect. I'm As Close As It Gets. (Jan-2013)
4 - What I Don't Know Might Hurt Me (Jun-2013)
5 - You Can Bet on That (Jun-2014)
6 - Live Each Day to the Dumbest (Jun-2015)

Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist

1 - Lunch Walks Among Us (Aug-2003)
2 - Attack of the 50-ft. Cupid (Jan-2004)
3 - Invisible Fran (Aug-2004)
4 - Fran That Time Forgot (Mar-2005)
5 - Frantastic Voyage (Jan-2006)
6 - Fran With Four Brains (Jan-2007)
7 - The Frandidate (Sep-2008)
8 - Bad Hair Day (Jul-2020)
9 - Recipe for Disaster (Jul-2020)
10 - Mood Science (Sep-2021)

It's Happy Bunny

1 - Love Bites (Dec-2004)
2 - Life. Get One. (Apr-2005)
3 - What's Your Sign? (Oct-2005)
4 - Good, the Bad, and the Bunny (Nov-2006)

Jop and Blip Wanna Know

1 - Can You Hear A Penguin Fart on Mars?: And Other Excellent Questions (Jul-2021)

Victor Shmud, Total Expert

1 - Let's Do a Thing! (Jun-2017)
2 - Night of the Living Things (Jan-2018)

Book List in Order: 58 titles

  • Dealing With the Idiots in Your Life

    A collection of cartoons provides a humorous look at life, including a trip to the Planet of the Moms, a society with a caste system of dudes and geeks, and a glimpse at Madonna's childhood. Original....

  • Lunch Walks Among Us

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 1

    FRANNY SAYS: PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!...

  • Attack of the 50-ft. Cupid

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 2

    Franny's mom says every mad scientist needs a lab assistant. So for Valentine's Day Franny gets just that -- a Lab assistant. Except Igor isn't a pure Lab. He's also part poodle, part Chihuahua, part beagle, part spaniel, part shepherd -- and all thu...

  • Let's Pretend This Never Happened

    Dear Dumb Diary - 1

    PERFECT GIRLS MAKE PERFECT ENEMIES Dear Dumb Diary, School was okay today. Actually, it was better than okay. Angeline got her long, beautiful hair tangled in one of the jillion things she has dangling from her backpack, and the school nurse -...

  • Invisible Fran

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 3

    There's nothing better than being a mad scientist -- at least according to Franny. So she's making in her mission to help her classmates discover their own inner mad scientists. All Franny needs for her latest experiment is a few volunteers, a half-c...

  • My Pants Are Haunted!

    Dear Dumb Diary - 2

    HAIR. BEAGLES. JEANS. IT NEVER ENDS. Dear Dumb Dairy, Anyway, Isabella said it wasn't the makeover that boosted Margaret's popularity and forced us down. It was the pants. She said it wasn't my loud "yahoo" in science that got me switched again s...

  • Love Bites

    It's Happy Bunny - 1

    It's all about the bunny. Deal with it.
    Happy Bunny presents the ideal gift book for those sick of the sickeningly sweet.


    Love. It's just like hate, but somebody gets candy.

    So, you've made the mistake of falling in love. Let Hap...

  • Fran That Time Forgot

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 4

    Goosebumps and Bill Nye the Science Guy fans, meet Franny!Franny K. Stein didn’t think the time would ever come when someone would realize what the K in her name stood for. And she REALLY didn’t think that same someone would say her middle name i...

  • Life. Get One.

    It's Happy Bunny - 2

    What do you give the graduate who has an answer for everything? It's Happy Bunny!


    In this updated edition of the classic, LIFE. GET ONE., It's Happy Bunny provides nuggets of wisdom to take with you as you go out into the world (or on to J...



  • Am I the Princess or the Frog?

    Dear Dumb Diary - 3

    LOVE IS IN THE AIR. SO YOU MIGHT JUST WANT TO STAY INSIDE. Dear Dumb Diary, I got another poem today from You -- Know -- Who ... She is the fairest blossom, true, She blooms in any weather. But I must love her from afar. We'll never be t...

  • What's Your Sign?

    It's Happy Bunny - 3

    Scholastic presents the MUST-HAVE gift for the holiday season: a full-color, full-of-laughs book based on the best art-brand license of 2004, It's Happy Bunny!


    Astrology is all about YOU! What's not to love?

    Find out: What makes YO...

  • Never Do Anything, Ever

    Dear Dumb Diary - 4

    BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP, BUT HATE GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE BONE. Dear Dumb Diary, Isabella said that she got the information about this charity online and I could help her collect for it if I wanted to, so as we made the rounds for the clothes, w...

  • Frantastic Voyage

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 5

    Goosebumps and Bill Nye the Science Guy fans, meet Franny!Franny’s faithful Lab assistant, Igor, has swallowed a doomsday device that is ready to go off at any moment! For a regular scientist, it might seem like there’s only one way to get the de...

  • Can Adults Become Human?

    Dear Dumb Diary - 5

    Read the hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice), diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true...or at least as true as it needs to be.Dear Dumb Diary,My social studies teacher, Mr. VanDoy, never smiles. I know tha...

  • Our Dumb Diary

    ONLY A SUPER GROSS PERSON READS ANOTHER PERSON''s DIARY -- unless absolutely necessary. *What are some ways in which you''ve really grossed yourself out? *If you could give Angeline a makeover, what would she look like? Draw it! *If your crush sent y...

  • Good, the Bad, and the Bunny

    It's Happy Bunny - 4

    Eeny, meeny, hiney, moe...where might It's Happy Bunny go? Presenting a snarky new take on right and wrong from the LIMA Licensing Excellence Award-Winner for Best Art Brand License of Year (2004)!

    Like a light shining through the darkness com...

  • Fran With Four Brains

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 6

    Being a mad scientist in the modern world is very hard work. With so much that needs to be done in such a short period of time, multitasking can get way out of hand. Franny needs some additional help. But for Franny there is only one person in the wo...

  • The Problem With Here Is That It's Where I'm From

    Dear Dumb Diary - 6

    THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE ELSEWHERE. THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE ELSEWHERE. THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE ELSEWHERE. Dear Dumb Diary, Beautiful glorious news! Today they told us that something went stinkfully wrong with the heating or ventilation system or some...

  • Never Underestimate Your Dumbness

    Dear Dumb Diary - 7

    MAY THE DUMB BE WITH YOU Dear Dumb Diary, Isabella is probably right. She almost always is. When I think back on all the things I've seen Angeline do, the one thing they have in common is that they're all dumb. (They're all strawberry-scented, to...



  • The Frandidate

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 7

    How do you achieve world domination? GET ELECTED! When Miss Shelly announces the election for class president, Franny launches her campaign. But when her classmates don't want to listen to her suggestions, she heads to the lab to solve the proble...

  • It's Not My Fault I Know Everything

    Dear Dumb Diary - 8

    New York Times Bestselling author Jamie Kelly is back with another hilarious, candid, and sometimes not-so-nice diary!Dear Dumb Diary,I went back and read some of my very oldest diaries. The entries say things like "I eated salad dressing" and "I got...

  • That's What Friends Aren't For

    Dear Dumb Diary - 9

    Dear Dumb Diary, So now I'm friends with Angeline. This is automatic friendship, and I have to just accept it and make the best of things. See, if I objected, then Aunt Carol might divorce Angeline's uncle, sending both of them tumbling into a ...

  • The Worst Things in Life Are Also Free

    Dear Dumb Diary - 10

    School's out for the summer, and that means no more Meat Loaf Thursdays, Sunday homework-cramming, or teachers (unsuccessfully) trying to act cool. It also means that certain Mackerel Middle Schoolers have a lot of time on their hands . . . and serio...

  • Totally Not Boring School Planner

    This tri-fold format is packed with laughs! Jamie Kelly brings Dear Dumb Diary fans a school planner with two sheets of stickers, a pen, three interactive books: Glamorously Important Notes, All About Me, and Addresses of People I Don''t Hate (Mostly...

  • Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers

    Dear Dumb Diary - 11

    Something strange is happening at Mackerel Middle School. Jamie can suddenly and inexplicably understand the weirdest and most mysterious creatures around: boys. And there's only one logical explanation--superpowers....

  • Me! (Just Like You, Only Better)

    Dear Dumb Diary - 12

    There are more than 5 million Dear Dumb Diary books in print! Bestselling author Jamie Kelly is back with an all-new, all-funny diary! But she has no idea that anybody is reading it. So please, please, please don't tell her. Dear Dumb Diary, ...

  • School. Hasn't This Gone on Long Enough?

    Dear Dumb Diary - 13
    Dear Dumb Diary Year Two - 1

    Dear Dumb Diary is a hilarious hit! Now after 12 books (each covering a month of her life), Jamie Kelly's upcoming diaries have a fresh look and a fun twist. It's Dear Dumb Diary: Year Two! The diary entries are still laugh-out-loud funny -- but this...

  • The Super-Nice Are Super-Annoying

    Dear Dumb Diary - 14
    Dear Dumb Diary Year Two - 2

    Do NOT read Jamie Kelly's top-secret diaries! "Sometimes it amazes me how ingenious I am about everything." --Jamie Kelly We've been with Jamie Kelly through her search for inner beauty, poofy bridesmaid dresses, and desperate attempts to make ...

  • Nobody's Perfect. I'm As Close As It Gets.

    Dear Dumb Diary - 15
    Dear Dumb Diary Year Two - 3

    Whatever you do, DON'T read Jamie Kelly's bestselling diaries! The bestselling Dear Dumb Diary series is a hilarious hit! Now Jamie Kelly's diaries have a fresh look and a fun twist. Dear Dumb Diary Year Two is still laugh-out-loud funny -- but ev...



  • What I Don't Know Might Hurt Me

    Dear Dumb Diary - 16
    Dear Dumb Diary Year Two - 4

    Dear Dumb Diary, Just when I was pretty sure we could let the Student Awareness Committee quietly die a dignified death like some majestic old elephant or the Square Dancing Club, Angeline has to be aware of something. Great. And, of course,...

  • The End (Almost)

    A new picture book from the hilarious author of the bestselling Dear Dumb Diary series! When Donut the bear is told his story is over and he has to leave, he donut want to do it. After all, he hasn't had a chance to have any fun! Will Donut's snea...

  • You Can Bet on That

    Dear Dumb Diary - 17
    Dear Dumb Diary Year Two - 5

    The hilarious and bestselling series from Jim Benton continues! Jamie, Isabella, and Angeline have known each other for a long time. They've even become friends -- whether Jamie likes it or not. But when the trio starts a friendly competition, all...

  • Five Stinky Socks

    In Five Stinky Socks, one silly monster searches his house for his five super stinky socks 1 stinky sock. I'll tell you why it stinks. I used it to wash dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. 2 stinky socks. I found one in my shoe. It's black and ...

  • Piggy Paints

    In Piggy Paints, one adorable pig spends his day painting pictures big and little! Piggy paints big. Piggy paints little. Piggy paints pigs with a kitty in the middle. Piggy paints little. Piggy paints big. Piggy paints a pretty little polka-...

  • Robot Kitties

    Follow mechanical cats up, down, and all around in Robot Kitties! Robot kitties everywhere! They're on the ground. They're in the air. They're flying low. They're flying high, some far away, and some nearby. Jim Benton, the international bes...

  • Where's My Fnurgle?

    In Where's My Fnurgle, kids will search the book for a mysterious creature called a fnurgle that the narrator just can't seem to keep track of! I have a fnurgle but I can't find him. Where's my fnurgle? Oh, look. My fnurgle's on the chair. Don'...

  • Live Each Day to the Dumbest

    Dear Dumb Diary Year Two - 6

    It's not easy being a middle-schooler, and nobody knows that better than Jamie Kelly. There are surprises around every corner: some good, some bad, all dumb. But when Jamie inherits a trunk of her grandmother's things, she never expects to find the b...

  • Love Is Everywhere

    My love for you goes everywhere, and anywhere you go. It follows you both day and night, through rain, and sun, and snow. You might not always see my love, but it goes everywhere. Even if you go out walking in your underwear! Jim Benton, the...

  • Where Did All the Dinos Go?

    Where did all the dinos go? Some say they vanished long ago. Could they be living way out west in cowboy books and fancy vests? King of Funny, Jim Benton, offers a new kind of search-and-find dinosaur book that will have little ones rolling ar...



  • Dumbness Is a Dish Best Served Cold

    Dear Dumb Diary - 18

    Jamie Kelly is back and dumber than ever in this super-deluxe four-color Dear Dumb Diary special edition! Life at Mackerel Middle School is as dumb as ever -- but Jamie Kelly may have finally found the key to fame, fortune, and fabulousness. Toge...

  • Man, I Hate Cursive

    “Twisted and hilarious” cartoons from the New York Times"bestselling Eisner Award nominee (R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps series).Jim Benton's first cartoon collection, Dog Butts and Love. And Stuff Like That. And Cats., was nominated for...

  • Let's Do a Thing!

    Victor Shmud, Total Expert - 1

    MEET VICTOR, TOTAL EXPERT IN EVERYTHING! (except Guy Who Cleans Up Bedrooms) With his confidence, imagination, and trusty sidekick Dumpylumps (who happens to be a duck), there's no telling what trouble he'll get into. Lucky for him, he has a knac...

  • The Handbook

    There's nothing Jake likes more than some good trash-picking, so when his elderly neighbors move out and leave an especially promising-looking pile of household refuse on the curb, he goes right for it. He only has the chance to grab one box before h...

  • Night of the Living Things

    Victor Shmud, Total Expert - 2

    Fresh from his intergalactic adventure, Victor is casting about for something new to apply his formidable know how to. The obvious next step is cello-making. However, the not so mellifluous sounds that emanate from his creations are enough to wake th...

  • Clyde

    An all-new original graphic novel by the author of The New York Times-bestselling series Dear Dumb Diary.

    Dog Man author Dav Pilkey says: "Jim Benton is a comic genius and a brilliant cartoonist!"

    When Clyde the bear decides to di...

  • It's Me.

    Catwad - 1

    From New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton, meet Catwad! He's blue, he's a bit of a grouch, and his best friend is a dim-witted cat named Blurmp who can see the bright side of anything. From pizza and computers, to love and happiness, this cra...

  • Bad Hair Day

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 8

    Franny K. Stein is back with another laugh-out-loud experimental adventure in the eighth book in the Mad Scientist series from Jim Benton, the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of Dear Dumb Diary and Happy Bunny. Franny K. Stein isn’...

  • It's Me, Two

    Catwad - 2

    Catwad, the snarky blue furball with a funny take on just about everything, is BACK in this second graphic novel in an all-new series from New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton! New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton's latest crea...

  • Me, Three!

    Catwad - 3

    Catwad, the snarky blue furball with a funny take on just about everything, is BACK in this third graphic novel in an all-new series from New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton! Catwad and Blurmp are back and ready for more adventures in thi...



  • Attack of the Stuff

    In what is described as “an 8 year old’s fever dream,” New York Times bestselling author introduces us to Bill Waddler. Bill is a duck who dreams of being smothered by farting snakes. He also has a special gift. He is able to hear appliances co...

  • Recipe for Disaster

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 9

    Franny K. Stein is back with another laugh-out-loud experimental adventure in the ninth book in the Mad Scientist series from Jim Benton, the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of the Dear Dumb Diary and It’s Happy Bunny series.Franny K....

  • Comet the Unstoppable Reindeer

    From a New York Times bestselling author with over fifteen million books in print, the hilarious story of an injury-prone reindeer who saves Christmas. It’s the night before Christmas, and Comet is ready…until he’s injured in an unexpected e...

  • Four Me?

    Catwad - 4

    There's something FOUR everyone in this laugh-out-loud Catwad graphic novel from New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton!Catwad and Blurmp reach new highs (and lows) with an all-new group of hilarious comic stories and a few bonus back-of-book a...

  • High Five!

    Catwad - 5

    Catwad, Blurmp, Pigmichael, and more of Jim Benton's hilarious comic creations return in this roaringly funny fifth graphic novel!In this poignant and emotionally wrenching tale, famous curmudgeon Catwad faces loss, fear, and struggles with his own m...

  • Can You Hear A Penguin Fart on Mars?: And Other Excellent Questions

    Jop and Blip Wanna Know - 1

    Two curious robots seek the answers to life’s most pressing -- and hilarious -- questions in this full-color graphic novel series by Jim Benton, New York Times bestselling author and creator of Franny K. Stein and Catwad! Join Jop and Blip as th...

  • Mood Science

    Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist - 10

    Fans of Goosebumps and Bill Nye the Science Guy will fall head over heels for Franny K. Stein, who is back with another laugh-out-loud experimental adventure in the tenth book in the Mad Scientist series.Franny K. Stein has had quite enough of her fe...

  • You're Making Me Six

    Catwad - 6

    It's Sixth time's the charm!Catwad and Blurmp venture out of the living room and into the world in this hilarious graphic novel! Attending a comic convention, taking a swim deep inside a toilet bowl, gazing into the future with Blurmp’s crystal bal...

  • Fann Club: Batman Squad

    ERNEST FANN IS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BATMAN…FAN! And as the most knowledgeable about all things super-heroic, it is up to Ernest to recruit the finest crime-fighters on Earth! Together with his babysitter, Harriet, his best friend, Jack, and his fa...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Jim Benton has published 58 books.

Jim Benton does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Fann Club: Batman Squad, was published in June 2023.

The first book by Jim Benton, Dealing With the Idiots in Your Life, was published in July 1993.

Yes. Jim Benton has 7 series.
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