The Emotional Appeal of Children's Literature
The Need for Laughter
Children's lives are sometimes serious and dark. They need books to laugh at and characters to laugh with. Here are some good, funny books:
The Best School Year Ever (Robinson) | Grades 4-6 |
The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown (Byars) | Grades 5-7 |
* Henry and Mudge and Annie's Perfect Pet (Rylant) | Grades K-2 |
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (Pinkwater) | Grades 3-6 |
The Huckabuck Family and How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska and Quit and Came Back (Sandburg) | Grades 4-6 |
*The Relatives Came (Rylant) | Grades K-3 |
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Sachar) | Grades 4-6 |
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear (Namioka) | Grades K-3 |
Children may enjoy creating their own class "Laugh Book." Ask them to include riddles, jokes, reviews of funny books and quotes that make them laugh. You may want to collect this material in hard copy or have students keep an electronic book on a class computer.
* Picture books or easy readers.
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