Books like Jelly Belly

If you liked Jelly Belly, read The War with Grandpa, Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job, or Fudge — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: The War with Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith

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Looking for books like Jelly Belly by Robert Kimmel Smith (Realistic Fiction · grades 4–6)? It’s most often read for its themes of weight control and weight loss. 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 4–6 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Jelly Belly

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Why each is a match

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The War with Grandpagrades 4–7
Is by Robert Kimmel Smith, the same author, both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Jobgrades 3–8
Both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Fudgegrades 4–6
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaretgrades 4–6
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Shiloh890L
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Class Clowngrades 3–5
Both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridgegrades 3–5
Both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Allergicgrades 4–6
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Because of Winn-Dixie610L
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Bunniculagrades 3–6
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Jelly Belly for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester · grades K–3 — Both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
  • Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes · grades 4–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • El Deafo by Cece Bell · 420L — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell · grades 3–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–6).

Books like Jelly Belly for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes · grades 4–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • El Deafo by Cece Bell · 420L — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell · grades 3–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson · grades 3–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–6).

Common questions

What books are similar to Jelly Belly?
The 10 closest matches to Jelly Belly by Robert Kimmel Smith on ReadingList include The War with Grandpa, Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job, Fudge, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and Shiloh. Each is scored on shared themes (weight control and weight loss), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Jelly Belly reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–6), 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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