Humor: Print Motivation's Undercover Best Friend

My daughter loves goofy humor—the sillier the better.  So, when I want to focus on the early literacy skill of print motivation, I look for wacky stories with bright illustrations.  With groups, I used to promote this area by focusing on books about loving books.  I am certain that, with my little girl, this would NOT be the best approach.  So, here is my list of books that amuse my daughter enough to warrant multiple re-read requests:

The Clown-Arounds Go on Vacation by Joanna Cole/ Illustrated by Jerry Smath—Usually, I don’t recommend books geared towards early-readers as ones for parents and kids to share.  However, a friend recommended this one to me.  It is part of a series, and my daughter devours all of the books here that we have read.  I love how involved the illustrations are because I can ask my daughter about different aspects of them for each reading.

Dumb Bunnies by Sue Denim and Dav Pilkey—Kids love to put their knowledge of the world into play.  The way the Dumb Bunnies family does everything wrong (like taking an umbrella swimming so as to “not get wet”) reinforces children’s awareness of how the world works.  They love being able to shout “No!” when you ask things like, “Do you buy popcorn in a bathtub?”   The bright illustrations complement the text, and other books in the series live up to the original’s humorous dumbness.  

Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex-- This parody of Goodnight Moon keeps to the rhyme scheme and pacing of the original book.  It has more of a Halloween feel as creepy ghosts, ghouls, and witches inhabit the pages.  Luckily, the gore and gruesomeness are very light, so that it is more likely to amuse than to scare.  This is a companion book to Runaway Mummy.

Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again by Dave Horowitz--Based on the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme, this book manages to teach perseverance between laughs.  The illustrations, complete with cartoon-talk-bubbles, definitely add to the book's appeal.

A World of Their Imagination

Preschoolers have a sense of discovery and creativity that is blossoming.  For example, my daughter recently went through both a baby duck and a baby jaguar phase.  She would take on the physical movements and sounds of these animals and only respond if I called her by the names she chose. 

Picture books generally nurture imagination because kids have to put themselves in a story outside of the “here and now.”  However, there are some books that do a particularly good job of featuring creativity.  Here are a few of my favorite books that show how imagination builds a story: 

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson 
This book is a classic for a reason.  I loved it as a child, but obviously so did many others.  I believe that the reason for this popularity is that the quest Harold undertakes as he travels through a world literally of his creation-- one drawn by his purple crayon-- empowers children to delve into any universe their imaginations allow. 

Go to Bed, Monster! by Natasha Wing
A little girl uses basic geometric shapes to form a very strong-willed and independent-minded monster.  The girl draws objects to amuse and comfort the monster.  She proves her resourcefulness in meeting his needs. The monster is definitely more cute than scary and helps reflect in a non-threatening way the fears that might overwhelm creative youngsters. 

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krause Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

I have been impressed by how well this book works as a read-aloud in large groups, although it is also perfectly well-suited for one-on-one sharing.  Two voices argue over whether an ambiguous shape is a duck or a rabbit.  The humorous take on perspective is as enjoyable a read for grown-ups as for the youngsters to whom the book is officially geared.
 

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Green Shaw

This is another classic where children identify what objects different blobs appear to be. It is a great introduction to the concept of shape in addition to promoting imagination.

Not a Box by Antionette Portis 
Whenever a critical voice asks a rabbit, who is drawn with charming simplicity, why he is playing with a box, he responds that "It's not a box!"  The things he imagine the box to be are illustrated in red, while the things that actually exist are drawn in black.  After seeing the elephant, building fire, hot-air balloon, and rocket (among others), it is likely that one will be tempted to seek his or her own box for playtime.  This delightful book also has a follow-up:  Not a Stick.