Laugh out louds - Books About

Instructor, May-June, 2003 by Judy Freeman

Here are 15 of my all-time favorite funniest fall-off-your-chair-laughing books, from classics to current howlers, all to tickle your funny bone.

Bark, George By Jules Feiffer. HarperCollins, 1999 (Cr. PreK-1).

Dog George's mother wants him to bark, but every time he tries, he meows, quacks, oinks, or moos instead.

Kat Kong By Day Pilkey. Harcourt Brace, 1993 (Gr. K-B).

There's a giant kitty running roughshod over Mouseopolis in this fabulous pun-filled take-off on the classic horror movie, King Kong.

Martha Walks the Dog

By Susan Meddaugh. Houghton Mifflin, 1998 (Cr. K-A).

Encountering Bad Dog Bob, a talking dog, Martha, learns that praise works far better than disparaging words.

No, David! By David Shannon. Scholastic, 1998 (Or. PreK-K).

David zooms around the house, getting into trouble and driving his mom crazy.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

By Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith. Viking, 1989 (All ages). This tale, which features The Wolf explaining his side of the story, started a revolution in parody books for kids.

Piggie Pie By Margie Palatini. Clarion, 1995 (Or. K-2).

Gritch the Witch sets off to find eight piggies at Old MacDonald's Farm.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales By Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith. Viking, 1992 (AU ages).

Favorite fairy tale parodies that set classic fairy tales on their heads.

FICTION FOR OLDER READERS

Beezus and Ramona By Beverly Cleary, illustrated by Louis Darling. Morrow, 1955 (Or. 1-5).

Beezus's little sister, Ramona, is a nonstop whirlwind of trouble, wrecking two birthday cakes and more.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

By Barbara Robinson, illustrated by Judith Gwyn Brown. HarperCollins, 1972 (Or. 4-6).

The worst kids in the world, the horrible Herdmans, steal the best parts in the church Christmas play.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus By Barbara Park, illustrated by Denise Brunkus. Random House, 1992 (Or. 1-4).

Worried that kids on the school bus home will pour chocolate milk on her head, Junie B. hides out in the closet of her kindergarten classroom.

Operation: Dump the Chump

By Barbara Park. Knopf, 1982 (Cr. 3-5).

Oscar thinks up an eight-step foolproof plan for getting rid of his pesky younger brother, Robert the Slobert.

The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog By John R. Erickson, illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes. Puffin, 1999 (Or. 3-6).

In this first book in the series, meet Hank the Cowdog who runs off with the lowdown coyotes.

Goose Chase By Patrice Kindl. Houghton Mifflin, 2001 (Gr. 5-8). Shut up in a tower, poor orphan Goose Girl must figure out a way to avoid marriage with the king and prince who both clamor for her hand.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing By Judy Blume, illustrated by Roy Doty. Dutton, 1972 (Cr. 2-5).

Peter Hatcher has a hard time coping with the antics of his two-year-old little brother, Fudge.

Wayside School Is Falling Down By Louis Sachar, illustrated by Joel Schick. Lothrop, 1989 (Cr. 3-6).

Thirty wacky chapters highlight all 30 of the kids in Miss Jewls's class on the 30th floor.

ACTIVITIES TO ENJOY!

* Ask each child to make a decorated poster entitled: "The Five Funniest Books I Ever Read" for display. Have them each give a book talk about their favorite one.

* Ask each student to pick a laugh-out-loud paragraph from a favorite funny book, practice it, and read it aloud to the group for a "Make Us Laugh" session.

* Young authors can write and illustrate sequels to or new chapters for their favorite books on the above list. Encourage them to seek out and read existing sequels and other books by each author as well.

* Have kids make up their own wacky mad-lib style stories, then have partners fill in the blanks with the appropriate parts of speech.

JUDY FREEMAN, children's literature consultant and workshop presenter (www.JudyReadsBooks.com), is the author at More Books Kids Will Sit Still For (Libraries Unlimited, 1995) and Hi Ho Librario! (Rock Hill Press, 1997).