Funny books - what are your favorites?

It's a holiday and I'm listening to kids giggle and giggle as they make cookies. "We forgot the chocolate chips!" they are laughing, as the cookies are already in the oven. Kids love to laugh - they are full of it, at all times of day. What better way to get kids to enjoy books than to share with them funny books. Easy, right? Wrong. Finding a funny book is much harder than it sounds. Everyone's humor is different - what's funny to one kid is corny to another. But given how sweet the reward is, it's well worth searching out books you and your family find funny. Just to hear those giggles, guffaws and laughs, I'll go out of my way to find funny books.

So, my theme for June is FUNNY BOOKS. All month, I'll be searching out books kids of all ages find funny. Picture books, poetry books, easy readers, chapter books and novels. Some reviews may be shorter than usual - I'd like to try to share 10 - 15 funny books this month. But I'd love your help!

Does your family have any favorite funny books? Please share! Email me, or leave a comment below.

To start us off, I'd like to share Alan Katz's silly dilly song books. Katz has a knack for turning songs like "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" to silly versions that will have you and your kids laughing. I am no singer, but I had a group of 1st graders laughing with Katz's version of "Skip to My Lou" called"I Always Lose". It starts with a kid losing his parka, backpack, and tuba. By the end, the little kid has lost his hat, lunch box and baby brother. Here's a taste:

"Turned around, lunch box was gone
Could've sworn I had a hat on
There's no sign of baby bro Ron
He's a pain, but he's darling."

The lyrics don't always scan perfectly with the songs, but they will bring out laughs in your young kids. Katz turns "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" into "He's Got the Whole Beach in His Pants". Catrow's illustrations are goofy and over the top - brilliant for this collection, and eye-catching to draw your child to it. When I read this to the 1st graders, kids were clamoring to check them out and have their parents read/sing them at home. Here are several of Katz's collections:

Take me out of the bathtub and other silly dilly songs
by Alan Katz
illustrated by David Catrow
NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2001
ages 4 - 8
available on Amazon and at your local library

I'm still here in the bathtub : brand new silly dilly songs
by Alan Katz
illustrated by David Catrow
NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2003
ages 4 - 8
available on Amazon and at your local library

Going, going, gone! : and other silly dilly sports songs
by Alan Katz
illustrated by David Catrow
NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009
ages 4 - 8
available on Amazon and at your local library

These books will either make you groan or laugh along with your kids. To get a taste of Katz's goofy humor, listen to him sing "On Top of the Bleachers" - an ode to all the things you get while you're at a ball game.



The review copy came from our school library. Please note that if you make a purchase on Amazon using these links, a small portion will go to Great Kid Books at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.