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.
Boyz n Books 