Silly Dilly Songs

Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz and David Catrow is a picture book, but one which older boys will surely like as well. I purchased this book for my own boys and several other others in this series also. Katz makes up new lyrics set to familiar tunes such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Yankee Doodle,” and “Oh, Susanna.” One of my favorites is “I’ve Been Cleaning Up My Bedroom” set to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” Here is part of the song.

“I’ve been cleaning up my bedroom, all the livelong day

I’ve been cleaning p my bedroom, just to put my stuff away

Mom says, ‘Tidy up that pile

Sitting on the floor.’

I just nod to her, then smile

And shove it our the door!

Please clean up this mess

Please clean up this mess

Please clean up this mess today – ay-ay

Please clean up this mess

Please clean up this mess

That is all my mom can say”

Some of the songs require a little bit of practice, but at least your kids won’t care whether you can sing very well or not because they will be laughing hysterically. Soon you might be singing the new lyrics to these songs instead of the traditional ones because they are so catchy. Catrow’s illustrations are quite zany as well. The subject matter of the songs are things that kids can relate to such as a little brother with a stinky diaper, having to clean your room, not wanting to go to bed, being stuck in the car for a trip, and many others. While I love this book, my favorite is Where Did They Hide My Presents: Silly Dilly Christmas Songs. These are obviously (mostly) familiar Christmas tunes with new lyrics about all the fun surrounding the Christmas holidays. What kids (and adults) don’t love Christmas carols? Soon, you may find yourself singing “Snowball Fight” instead of “Jingle Bells.”

Would you like popcorn with that?

It is great to see all of the movies coming out based on popular children’s books. This provides a great opportunity for parents to interact with their kids. If your kids are anything like mine, they love a special treat of going to the movies. I suggest reading the book first and discussing it with your kids, then going to see the movie or renting it and comparing it to the book. This could be a great discussion of what the strengths of the movie are and what are the benefits of reading the book. Although there are plenty of books and movies to choose from these days, let me suggest a classic. Check out the Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, it recounts the adventures of a family that is shipwrecked and stranded on an island. After reading the book, find the 1960 Walt Disney movie version. It is packed with action and adventure and my kids loved it so much they asked for the movie for Christmas.

Another book classic for you and your boys to read is Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. I had personally never heard of this book before but it sounds quite funny. It is about Mr. Popper, who is a house painter, but dreams of being an Antarctic explorer. One day, he receives a gift in the mail. Surprise! It is a penguin. Soon, the house is overrun with penguins that must be taken care of. The movie version of the book comes out tomorrow, June 17^th and stars Jim Carey.

Mo Willems

I don’t know if anyone else out there has had this problem, but for me it has been somewhat difficult to find beginning reader books for my boys. In the first place, my older son did not want to sit down long enough to read period. In addition, he was a reluctant reader because reading was difficult for him at first. He still loved being read to, and loved the many adventurous stories we would read together, but he did not have the ability to read these more difficult books on his own. I had trouble finding books on his ability level that were exciting enough to keep him interested. How I wish I had discovered the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems back then! We have the entire series of these easy reader books in the library where I work and we can hardly keep them on the shelves.  I have heard numerous comments from parents that their kids (particularly boys) love them. My younger son, who just finished Kindergarten loves these books as well. It is easy to see why. They have Willems’s usual humorous illustrations starring Gerald the elephant and his friend Piggie. The expressions on the characters are wonderful and the text of the books also matches the emotional state of the characters. This is great for beginning readers because they learn how to read expressively. My son loves reading the books to us out loud and he matches his voice to the emotions of the characters. The text of the books is repetitive enough so that kids have added to their reading vocabulary by the end of the book. Despite the limited vocabulary, Willems creates fun dialogue between the characters that flows naturally and does not seem odd or forced like some easy reader books. Elephant and Piggie are so funny that adults and kids will be laughing out loud while reading. Best of all, kids will be learning a lot without even realizing it or minding. As a nice little feature, if your kids are familiar with Willems’s pigeon books, he makes an appearance on the inside back cover of every one of these books!

The joke’s on you.

Many boys really enjoy joke books. While it is hard to recommend specific joke books, here are a few I’ve perused recently that were pretty fun. The first is called Smart Feller Fart Smeller by Jon Agee. It is not your traditional joke book. It contains jokes in the form of spoonerisms. Spoonerisms are verbal mix-ups of the beginning sounds of several words. I found this book to be extremely clever and different than your typical joke book. Each joke opens with a question such as, “What did the trucker order for lunch?” Then, flipping the page you find the answer, which is a spoonerism of the correct answer. In this case, the trucker ordered a “chilled grease sandwich.” Another example is “What did the picky eater say about dinner?” The spoonerism is “I refuse to eat parrots and keys!” The spoonerisms themselves are funny, but they are all accompanied by Agee’s great black and white, cartoon-style illustrations. For those kids who don’t get the spoonerisms, they are all translated on the last page of the book. And, of course, don’t forget that “fart” is on the front cover which is guaranteed to get boys to take a second look. If kids like this one, check out Agee’s other books such as Go Hang a Salami: I’m a Lasagna Hog: and Other Palindromes. Palindromes are words or sentences which can be read both backwards and forwards and still make some sort of sense.

 

 

 

 

Another idea is Let’s Eat in the Funny Zone by Gary Chmielewski. These are jokes that are all food-related. The jokes are broken down into sections such as sweets, vegetables, and breakfast. While the jokes are probably not clever enough for the upper elementary grades, they should please younger children. The book itself is inviting because it is filled with brightly colored illustrations and colored backgrounds, and the jokes themselves are written in large, brightly colored fonts. I had this book sitting around the other day and my kids and niece found it (ages 6, 8, and 9). They amused themselves for quite awhile by reading each other jokes. This book is also part of a series, so if your kids like this one there are several others they can pick up with jokes in different subject areas such as science, sports, school, and animals.

There’s no need to fear, underwear is here!

What is so fascinating about underwear? Whatever it is, kids and especially boys seem to find potty talk in general hilarious. I distinctly remember my first grade teacher pulling underwear out of her special “U” bag to teach us the letter sound for “U.” I guess it worked, especially since nearly 30 years later I still remember that reference. If you want to get your boys reading, you need to loosen up and allow some potty humor back in your life. For younger boys, a good choice is the hilarious Walter the Farting Dog picture book series by William Kotzwinkle. Poor Walter just cannot help his flatulence problem and this leaves him being shunned by almost everyone. For example, in Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise, Walter stinks up the whole ship and is soon banned to the room where the stinky cheeses are stored. Unfortunately, Walter decides to eat the stinky cheese. As the passengers are still able to smell Walter’s farts, he is soon placed on a lifeboat tied to the ship out in the water. Then, the engines on the ship die and the ship becomes stranded. Walter, who has an extreme amount of gas build-up from the stinky cheese, finally lets loose and propels the ship back into port with his fart power. Walter becomes a hero. If your kids like this series a lot, you can even purchase a stuffed animal Walter.

 

 

 

 

If your kids are ready for more “advanced” potty humor, try out the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey. If you are having trouble getting your son to read at all, give him one of these books. The books are filled with humor every boy will appreciate, replete with underwear, fake dog poo, attacking toilets, gross cafeteria food, and more. George and Harold are two fourth graders who are constantly getting into trouble. Their arch nemesis is their principal, Mr. Krupp. One day they accidentally hypnotize Mr. Krupp and turn him into Captain Underpants, one of their superhero comic book characters that they created. Together, George, Harold, and Captain Underpants save the world from destruction. To top it off, who can resist Pilkey’s hilarious flip-o-ramas, “the world-famous cheesy animation technique that lets you animate the action!” Although your kids will enjoy reading Captain Underpants themselves, why let them? Read them to your kids so you won’t miss out on all the fun. (And make sure you get a turn with the flip-o-rama, too!)