This week I had a call from a mother asking for a list of "silly" books to share with her two young children. "We need something to make us all laugh!"
An appreciation of humor in children, according to Paul E. McGhee, is directly related to becoming a creative person. Since the ability to perceive humor is a developmental process, providing chances to share humorous experiences at the preschool and primary grade level is important. Incongruity of story and pictures, make believe and language play are all possible through literature. They will be ones that have slapstick events and where the young reader will be in control, knowing what's going to happen when the protagonist doesn't.This list is for you, Susan, and your children, Nick and Sarah, and everybody that needs a "rib tickler."
Since "acting up" and "acting out" are something that children can laugh at, A CHILD'S GUIDE TO BAD BEHAVIOR by Barry Smith (Houghton Mifflin) is a good place to start. If it's mealtime messes, squabbles and shrieking that causes the rowdiness, then this is just right for the ages 2 through 4. Maybe some children will even see themselves in the rambunctious pictures and funny episodes.
NOBODY IS PERFICK by Bernard Waber (Houghton Mifflin) is a behavior book that really shows the imperfections of all children. My favorite; however, is Peter Perfect who never errs and is held up for all other children to see. He is shown in the last page with a windup key on his back.
Jack Gantos' ROTTEN RALPH . . . series (Houghton Mifflin) is all about acting out. "Ralph," said Sarah, "I wish you wouldn't be so rotten." But rotten he is and children love the antics.
GEORGE AND THE DRAGON WORD by Dianne Snyder (Houghton Mifflin) is about a boy who becomes so angry that he shouts out an ugly word that is sure to show his displeasure. What he doesn't plan on is that it turns his Great-aunt Agatha into a dragon. Wordsworth, the wordmaker, helps solve the problem, but the puns and play with language is fun reading.
Anthony Browne's books on Willy, the gorilla, can always bring a chuckle. In WILLY AND HUGH (Knopf) Willy meets an old enemy and makes a new friend. Others about Willy are: WILLY THE WIMP and WILLY THE CHAMP.
Older children have loved the adventure in Bunnicula, the vampire rabbit and friends Harold, Chester and Howie. In the latest about these characters, HOT FUDGE by James Howe (Morrow), the animals work together to solve the mystery of the missing candy.
Having the impossible happen through magic is always a sure way to get a laugh. In Elvira Woodruff's SHOW AND TELL (Holiday House) Andy could never seem to find anything for sharing at school until one day he found a blue bottle with the words "Caution - Bubbles May Cause Trouble." And they do! Children will delight in wondering what Andy's next show and tell will be.
Three silly books published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux also have silly magic in them. THE TROUBLED VILLAGE by Simon Henwood is about a town where people competed with each other for naming their troubles. Reminiscent of the tale, "The Three Sillies," this story of the impossible predicament of townspeople who finally have to prop up the sky with a pole, will be read and reread.
When Malcolm finds the Green Hat in his Uncle Harold's dentist office, the trouble begins. In lyrical text, UNCLE HAROLD AND THE GREEN HAT by Judy Hindley is sure to bring laughs, especially at the end when Malcolm finds an umbrella.
CAMILLA'S NEW HAIRDO by Tricia Tusa is about an eccentric woman who "can fix her hair any way she wants." Since Camilla lives in a tall tower with lots of windows but no door, she gets her inspiration for hairdos from the world around her. From wing-shapes to parachutes, the hair becomes a way to explore the world.
A beginning-chapter book is THE MILLION DOLLAR POTATO by Louis Phillips (Simon and Schuster) in which Timothy receives $1 million in $5 bills and the instructions, "You will receive the 1 million dollars only if you promise to spend the entire sum within 24 hours . . . and you must buy only one thing with it." This is really offbeat humor and wacky characters.
Val Willis has put Bobby Bell into two adventures that are sure to be favorites. THE MYSTERY IN THE BOTTLE and THE SECRET IN THE MATCHBOX (both by Farrar, Straus and Giroux) make things come alive that are really ridiculous. Bobby wins out and becomes the hero. Children will love him!
DIAL-A-CROC by Mike Dunbleton and Ann James (Orchard Books) is about a girl who goes into business with a captured crocodile and becomes famous and rich. This is an unlikely partnership but a real friendship.
When reading about crocodiles as friends, don't forget FUNNY, FUNNY LYLE by Bernard Waber (Houghton Mifflin) which has been reissued in paperback.
Yucky things are always good for a laugh. THE OUTSIDE IN by George Ella Lyon (Orchard Books) is yucky! "What's for breakfast? Ants with ketchup." And it gets worse and worse! "Squirm in your spoon and wriggle at your chin," for example. While there will be lots of squeals about this one, the illustrations of watercolor and ink line, done by brush, are masterpieces.
One of my favorite silly books is NOT THE PIANO, MRS. MEDLEY! by Evan Levine (Orchard Books). When Mrs. Medley decided to go to the beach, she packed so many things that she needed a set of wheels. The funny thing is that she never used anything she took. Anyone who has made the mistake of overpacking will find much humor here.
There are many selections of poetry for laughing at, but some of my choices are thefour-book series of OLD MOTHER HUBBARD'S DOG by John Yeoman and Quentin Blake (Houghton Mifflin) and the revised edition of LAUGHING TIME by Fernando William Jay Smith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Children will like the takeoffs on the old Mother Hubbard nursery rhyme when the dog DRESSES UP, NEEDS A DOCTOR, LEARNS TO PLAY and TAKES UP SPORT. The four-line verses are accompanied by silly squiggly line drawings that dance across the page.
Smith's collection of humorous poetry is a classic. There are all kinds of nonsense people ("The Old Man from Okefenokee"), birds ("Cat-Whiskered Catbird"), places ("The Antimacassar and the Ottoman") and much more. The final poem, "The King of Spain," says it all: " `I like this book,' " said the King of Spain./I think I'll read it through again.' "
That's about what will happen with these books of humor; they'll be read again and again.