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.