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Hilarious & witty books


Earthmerlin
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I love to read aloud books with my 7 yr old & we recently have tackled heavier topics, conceptually speaking. Now I'd like to lighten things up quite a bit & laugh heartily with her. I like dry & witty humor (i.e., Bryson, Vonnegut). I know humor's personal but are there any supremely funny kiddy lit titles you can recommend--ones that'll have both adult & child in tearful stitches?

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The Great Brain series

Fortunately, the Milk

Anything by Roald Dahl

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Fake Mustache

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

A Long Way from Chicago

Dead End in Norvelt (though I'd wait on that one with a 7 yo... maybe more like a 9 yo book)... oh, but Gantos has others... his Jack series would be good...

Alan Mendohlson, the Boy from Mars (though, again, I'd wait on that one... more like a 10 yo book?)... but Pinkwater has others, like The Hoboeken Chicken Emergency

The True Meaning of Smekday (though I'd wait on this one... maybe until age 8 or so...)

 

We also found the Ramona books funny. And the Fudge books. Oh, and when they were that age, they liked Clementine and she's funny. 

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  • 1 year later...

The Great Brain series

Fortunately, the Milk

Anything by Roald Dahl

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Fake Mustache

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

A Long Way from Chicago

Dead End in Norvelt (though I'd wait on that one with a 7 yo... maybe more like a 9 yo book)... oh, but Gantos has others... his Jack series would be good...

Alan Mendohlson, the Boy from Mars (though, again, I'd wait on that one... more like a 10 yo book?)... but Pinkwater has others, like The Hoboeken Chicken Emergency

The True Meaning of Smekday (though I'd wait on this one... maybe until age 8 or so...)

 

We also found the Ramona books funny. And the Fudge books. Oh, and when they were that age, they liked Clementine and she's funny.

I just re-read this thread for titles to replenish her reading basket. She's a huge fan of Dahl & those 'Wayside' books are being read mutliple times--I got her the third one ('Wayside Gets Stranger'). 'Clementine' hasn't been touched yet since I have to dole out books over time. However, I put 'The Brain' book & 'Fortunately, the Milk' in my Amazon cart for future reading. Thanks! Edited by Earthmerlin
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Definitely not a classic but we have enjoyed the Mr Lemencello Library series.  My 20 year old just got the third one and insisted I read it aloud to everyone.  I think they just like to laugh at me as I try to say the incredibly convoluted names in the book.  :-)

 

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Ideas

 

older/dry-wry wit Victorian humor

Christmas Every Day (Howells) -- I laugh so hard I can hardly get through reading this one aloud

A Wolf Story (McCleery) 

Book of Dragons (Nesbit) -- 7 short stories; some are funnier than others, but all are very creative

The Reluctant Dragon (Grahame)

 

More Recent Ideas

Mystery of the Monkey's Maze; Mystery of King Karfu; Mystery at the Club Sandwich (Cushman) -- higher level picture books

Time Warp Trio series (Scieszka)

By the Great Horn Spoon (Fleischman)

McBroom's Wonderful One Acre Farm (Fleischman)

The Whipping Boy (Fleischman)

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (MacDonald)

Half Magic, Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle (Eager)

Henry Huggins; Henry and Ribsy (Cleary)

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (Pinkwater)

 

More Ideas (haven't had a chance to read these yet myself, but they are often recommended):

Fortunately, the Milk (Gaiman)

Buckle and Squash: The Princess Plot (Courtauld)

The Birthday Ball (Lowry)

Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Sacher)

Stink (McDonald)

8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel + 1 Dog = Chaos (Velde)

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins (Spratt)

How to Train Your Dragon (Cowell)

Edited by Lori D.
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Lemoncello series!

Percy Jackson — the first is hilarious, as it introduces the whole premise of the series. I had to stop reading because I was laughing too hard.

She listened to the audiobook of Lemoncello. She also got the Percy Jackosn set for her birthday in September but has yet to dive into it. I did not know it was a funny set of books--thanks for the head's up.

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She listened to the audiobook of Lemoncello. She also got the Percy Jackosn set for her birthday in September but has yet to dive into it. I did not know it was a funny set of books--thanks for the head's up.

 

Well, I thought there were amusing *moments* in the series, and we all enjoyed the creative world of Percy Jackson, but I personally would not put it the series in the "funny, humorous" category -- rather, I'd place it in the epic-adventure series genre of books -- similar to the Artemis Fowle series -- some funny bits, but overall it's about adventure. Just my opinion. :)

Edited by Lori D.
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She listened to the audiobook of Lemoncello. She also got the Percy Jackosn set for her birthday in September but has yet to dive into it. I did not know it was a funny set of books--thanks for the head's up.

 

 

Well, I thought there were amusing *moments* in the series, and we all enjoyed the creative world of Percy Jackson, but I personally would not put it the series in the "funny, humorous" category -- rather, I'd place it in the epic-adventure series genre of books -- similar to the Artemis Fowle series -- some funny bits, but overall it's about adventure. Just my opinion. :)

Yes, I would not call the whole Percy Jackson series funny -- definitely more adventure and drama (and they get darker as the series goes on) -- but if your child knows something about the Greek gods, there is a fair amount of humor amongst the drama as the gods come to life (and maybe I appreciated the humor because it wasn't out and out silly humor, if that makes sense).  But no, probably not traditional humor.  Not like Lemoncello or Wayside School.

Edited by happypamama
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Yes, I would not call the whole Percy Jackson series funny -- definitely more adventure and drama (and they get darker as the series goes on) -- but if your child knows something about the Greek gods, there is a fair amount of humor amongst the drama as the gods come to life (and maybe I appreciated the humor because it wasn't out and out silly humor, if that makes sense).  But no, probably not traditional humor.  Not like Lemoncello or Wayside School.

 

Exactly. :)

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