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From: Sheila Welch <sheilawelch>
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 15:36:25 -0500
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Hello!
I can recall reading aloud Seuss's The Cat in the Hat to my granddaughter when she was not yet a year old. Whenever I said the word "bump" she would go into gales of baby laughter, and she was a relatively quiet, solemn child. Her joy gave me a whole new perspective on that classic, beginning reader. When she was a bit older, around three or four years, she chuckled at Arthur Geisert's Oink!
As a teacher, long ago, I used to read those early Berenstain Bears books to my class of special ed. kids. They would laugh every time at the antics of the father bear as he tried to find honey or attempted to teach his son how to ride a bike. My own children got many giggles out of Bill Peets wonderfully illustrated tales with their outlandish situations.
Many of the children I've known (including myself!) have found the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories very funny. My daughter, now 30, recalls rolling on the floor with laughter when I read about poor Piglet trying to convince Kanga that he's not Roo. My granddaughter made little snorting noises (not quite giggles) when she and I read about Alice in her strange Wonderland. Some of my personal favorite humorous books for middle grade children are by Betsy Byars and Beverly Cleary. The former has written some passages that make me laugh out loud. And thinking about Ramona with her "brown and white" eyes makes me smile. Hillary McKay's books also, to me, have wonderfully comic segments. And then there are the Eloise books by Kay Thompson with those marvelous, funny illustrations by Hilary Knight.
For a recent release, middle grade, humorous book, check out Esther Hershenhorn's The Confe$$ion$ and $ecrets of Howard J. Fingerhut. Howie, the main character, has a lawn?re business called "A Boy for All Seasons." Publishers Weekly said that this book "may well have the audience in stitches."
I've been trying to think of a few YA books that I've found funny. Don't Care High by Gordon Korman lives up to his reputation as a humorist. In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, which deals with a very serious topic, the whole part about the Marthas is quite amusing. And Vivian Vande Velde's short story about the man who can suddenly understand animals' speech is not just clever. I guess as an animal lover, I found the twist of animals talking in an extremely limited manner (the bird says virtually nothing but "my branch" and the cat is only interested in talking about food) very funny, partly because it's so different from what I would imagine them saying. The scene in the psychologist's office in Broke Cole's Celine is wonderful! Celine ends up there by accident but manages to leave with a doctor's excuse from gym. I found parts of Patrice Kindl's The Woman in the Wall amusing, too.
Sorry this is so long, but what fun to recall all these funny stories!
Sheila Welch
Received on Mon 06 May 2002 03:36:25 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 15:36:25 -0500
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
Hello!
I can recall reading aloud Seuss's The Cat in the Hat to my granddaughter when she was not yet a year old. Whenever I said the word "bump" she would go into gales of baby laughter, and she was a relatively quiet, solemn child. Her joy gave me a whole new perspective on that classic, beginning reader. When she was a bit older, around three or four years, she chuckled at Arthur Geisert's Oink!
As a teacher, long ago, I used to read those early Berenstain Bears books to my class of special ed. kids. They would laugh every time at the antics of the father bear as he tried to find honey or attempted to teach his son how to ride a bike. My own children got many giggles out of Bill Peets wonderfully illustrated tales with their outlandish situations.
Many of the children I've known (including myself!) have found the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories very funny. My daughter, now 30, recalls rolling on the floor with laughter when I read about poor Piglet trying to convince Kanga that he's not Roo. My granddaughter made little snorting noises (not quite giggles) when she and I read about Alice in her strange Wonderland. Some of my personal favorite humorous books for middle grade children are by Betsy Byars and Beverly Cleary. The former has written some passages that make me laugh out loud. And thinking about Ramona with her "brown and white" eyes makes me smile. Hillary McKay's books also, to me, have wonderfully comic segments. And then there are the Eloise books by Kay Thompson with those marvelous, funny illustrations by Hilary Knight.
For a recent release, middle grade, humorous book, check out Esther Hershenhorn's The Confe$$ion$ and $ecrets of Howard J. Fingerhut. Howie, the main character, has a lawn?re business called "A Boy for All Seasons." Publishers Weekly said that this book "may well have the audience in stitches."
I've been trying to think of a few YA books that I've found funny. Don't Care High by Gordon Korman lives up to his reputation as a humorist. In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, which deals with a very serious topic, the whole part about the Marthas is quite amusing. And Vivian Vande Velde's short story about the man who can suddenly understand animals' speech is not just clever. I guess as an animal lover, I found the twist of animals talking in an extremely limited manner (the bird says virtually nothing but "my branch" and the cat is only interested in talking about food) very funny, partly because it's so different from what I would imagine them saying. The scene in the psychologist's office in Broke Cole's Celine is wonderful! Celine ends up there by accident but manages to leave with a doctor's excuse from gym. I found parts of Patrice Kindl's The Woman in the Wall amusing, too.
Sorry this is so long, but what fun to recall all these funny stories!
Sheila Welch
Received on Mon 06 May 2002 03:36:25 PM CDT
