Nonna's Reading Guide to Laughter

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Laughter is the best medicine! Really.

We love to make each other laugh -- you should hear my Little Guy follow along when I try to teach him a Knock, Knock joke!  Of course, he is too young to understand the humor or even that jokes exist.  But he is not too young to benefit from laughing with his Nonna -- even when he doesn't know why we are giggling so much.

Laughter really is the best medicine for all sorts of things, including strengthening the immune system, improving social skills, developing resilience and reducing stress hormones and anxiety. A strong sense of humor can be relied upon your whole life. It is a wonderful privilege for parents -- and Nonnas -- to help children develop their own delightful humor. And who doesn't love reading a funny book with a child?!

Children's books can be over-the-top hilarious or offer a subtle wackiness, they can use witty word-play or impossible situations, and often it is simply the juxtaposition between the words and the illustrations which starts the laughter.  Children love to laugh with parents -- and grandparents -- even when they don't yet understand what's so funny. But modeling your laughter is the best part anyway.

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Week of April 5th

Our family loves witty word-play and these books are just the ticket!

Teaching manners can make any parent feel like a nag, but "please," "no, thank you," and "may I be excused" are hilarious in Joslin & Sendak's What Do You Say, Dear?

Caring for a sick child can be a challenge but a bit of humor almost always helps.

Even the most stuffed up nose will enjoy Little Louie's challenges in getting his Mom's attention when he calls her name.

Stein's first book in the Interrupting Chicken series was a challenge to read when I was a school Director -- I laughed more than the kiddos whenever I read it to a class!  It's a similar challenge with reading Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise: it cracks me up just reading it to myself!

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Week of April 12th

Children love it when we turn something familiar on its head or share the silly side of important things and these books will create lots of smiles and laughter.

Retelling a classic fairy tale with a twist has been quite popular in young adult novels for some time, but even younger children can laugh at how Little Red outwits the Lion.

Truth and facts can be quite funny! Older children will appreciate Wackiest White House Pets and chapter titles like Snappiest Pet - a visiting crocodile  - and Most Suspicious - a dog gifted from Krushchev - while learning some pretty amusing history.

Don't be surprised when your child recites all 40 of the Roosevelt family's pets!

Mayhem and chaos are also funny when children know it's impossible!  Enjoy what happens when all 50 States decide to move somewhere else in Scrambled States of America.

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Week of April 19th

Talking animals. Absurd events. Hilarious illustrations.  All the ingredients needed for some big belly laughs in these books.

A camel who dreams of racing in the far away city of Dubai argues with his master, causes a traffic jam, runs away with school children, makes a friend in Donkey, and joins a wedding procession -- all in a single day!

Again, the perfect ingredients for laughter!

George & Martha are old friends of the family! The stories are filled with the gentle humor of the ups and downs of friendship between hippopotamuses. And Sendak's illustrations are just shy of surreal -- Martha playing saxophone in bed, George standing in front of the fridge in his green fluffy slippers -- in their simple lines and colors.

Tripp's illustrations are iconic. From his Pawprints greeting cards to Amelia Bedelia books more than two generations have laughed over his humorous illustrations of animals and people.  "Stand Back," is no exception!

Hearty laughs are good for the soul,    
Nonna