Pete Holmes

Spells to Cast on Your Parents Pete Holmes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Comedian and actor Pete Holmes conjures up a tale where kids run the show in this hilarious interactive picture book. With a wisecracking dragon heckling from the sidelines, young readers will cast delightfully ridiculous spells that turn grown-ups into giggling, snoring, clucking bundles of chaos.

“Pete has created something really amazing here—a book you can read to your kids and you’re BOTH laughing. I loved it.” —Judd Apatow

“This is THE greatest idea for a children's book. It’s a lot of power wielding for someone who still needs help reaching the cereal, but since I’m scheduled to moo at 4PM, it clearly works.” —Tig Notaro

Snakes that slither, frogs that leap,
Make my grown-up FALL ASLEEP!
SIP-SAP-SOAP-SHHHHH!

Featuring a snarky dragon named Jesse—and YOU as the narrator—Pete Holmes’s debut children’s book celebrates silliness, imagination, and the magic of reading together. Each page invites young readers to cast a spell on their grown-up—causing them to fall asleep mid-sentence, talk in slow motion, make animal noises, or speak total gibberish.

Spells to Cast on Your Parents isn’t just a picture book—it’s a full-blown performance, an instant family event, and a fun twist on the traditional bedtime story. And beneath all the mayhem, it’s a story that celebrates the power and wonder of being a kid. With mounting mischief, interactive call-and-response, and pitch-perfect comedic timing, this is a book children will demand again and again.