by Katrina Morse for Family Reading Partnership
When will a baby laugh at the game of peek-a-boo? At the time in their development when they start knowing what is expected and unexpected in their world. This first sense of humor revolves around the physical
world and slap-stick scenarios like mom or dad pretending to drop an egg or playing dress-up with the dog.
As children learn more words, start to see different perspectives, and have practiced stretching their imaginations, language-based jokes become very funny. They will laugh at unlikely combinations of words, double meanings, and incongruous situations. They are now ready for some children’s books that will tickle their funny bones!
Get ready to laugh out loud while reading some of these books:
- “Grandpappy Snippy Snappies” by Lynn Plourde, illustrated by Christopher Santoro. Grandpappy has some super useful suspenders that can make everything wrong turn right with just a snap. This fast paced story with rhyming text is full of surprises. When Grandmammy is in trouble and the suspenders are worn out, how will Grandpappy save the day?
- “Those Darn Squirrels” by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri. Old Man Fookwire loves painting pictures of the birds at his backyard feeders, until the birds fly south and the squirrels take over! This grumpy old man changes his tune when the squirrels come up with a plan.
- “Silly Tilly” by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by David Slonim. “Tilly is not an ordinary goose. She takes her baths in apple juice. She wears a pancake as a hat. She tries to ride the farmer’s cat.” She’s not like any of her farm animal friends. When Tilly’s silliness gets to be too much, the barnyard animals demand that Tilly stop being silly. But then the farm is much too quiet and they miss their silly friend Tilly.
- “I’m Bored” by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. A little girl is so very bored with life, until she meets a potato that actually talks. But the potato decides that kids are boring. The little girl is determined to show this potato that he is wrong about kids.
“A Little Stuck” by Oliver Jeffers, author and illustrator of “The Day the Crayons Quit.” What would you do if your kite was stuck in a tree? Floyd tries to knock his kite down by throwing his shoe at it, then his other shoe, then a whale, a firefighter, an orangutan and more and more unlikely items as the story continues.
Family Reading Corner 