“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” – J.K. Rowling

“Learning to read is half the battle. Finding a good joke book is the other 90%.” – Ralph Lane

Finding Fun Reading Material

Joke books for kids button and best children's joke books
Joke Books Kids Will Love

I have been a reading teacher for the past 30 years and a father for the past 22. I’ve also discovered that producing a generation of readers boils down to one simple task: teaching kids to enjoy reading. That is truly the key to fostering reading skills. As with anything in life, reading improves with practice. And it’s infinitely more enticing to practice reading if you enjoy reading. So as parents, our number one goal is to introduce children to books they will love. The first step in that process is to throw out any preconceived notions of what children should read and replace those notions with a treasure trove of books that children want to read. Classic novels are great, and that will naturally follow once kids have become hooked on reading. But first let’s look at some less conventional reading resources that are appealing to young readers: read and replace those notions with a treasure trove of books that children want to read. Classic novels are great, and that will naturally follow once kids have become hooked on reading. But first let’s look at some less conventional reading resources that are appealing to young readers:

  • Picture books (for all ages)
  • Comic books
  • Magazines
  • Series books
  • Popular books among youngsters

The Best Joke Books for Students

For this blog post, I’d like to focus on joke books, because the truly good joke books fit all the requirements for both reading enjoyment and reading skills development. First let’s look at what makes a good joke book for the sake of reading development.

  1. Illustrations- provide rich context for new vocabulary and skills.
  2. Uncluttered – only a couple jokes/illustrations per page
  3. Themed – Holidays make great themes for joke books.
  4. Varied – a good mix of jokes, riddles, puns, wordplay, etc.
  5. Professional – Books should be grammatically and syntactically correct.

Why Joke Books?

Next, let’s take a look at why joke books make great resources for early readers, remedial readers and reluctant readers as well as proficient readers. For one thing, they’re fun, and that’s crucial. They’re also easily broken into small chunks which is helpful for both busy kids and children with short attention spans. A good joke book can be read between homework assignments as a quick break, after a tough task for a reward or at bedtime as a fun way to end the day. Joke books are a great way to build vocabulary and improve comprehension skills. They also lend themselves to interesting discussions between children and parents. Some educators believe that the most accurate indicator of intelligence is a person’s sense of humor. Students who have the skill to unravel a punny joke are also able to comprehend new text. “Getting” jokes requires kids to apply such important reading skills as using background knowledge, reading actively and making inferences. Jokes provide opportunities for mini reading lessons that make learning new skills fun.

Joke Book Suggestions

You’ll find a wide range of fantastic books online or at your local bookstore. In fact, the toughest part about choosing a good joke book for your family is sorting through all the options. Utilizing the five suggestions that I’ve provided above, I would like to recommend the Ralph Lane Gift Books series of joke books. They are illustrated, uncluttered, themed, varied and well written. Since they are oriented to various holidays, they are fun to read throughout the year. These books are available in both paperback and e-book format and rumor has it that they will soon be coming out as Audible books. Here’s a list of some of Ralph Lane’s best joke books:

Online Joke Book Resources

To find further suggestions for good books in general and the best joke books in particular, here’s a list of websites where you can locate other reading resources for children and parents:

About the author: Kevin Purdy has a Master’s Degree in reading instruction and thirty years’ experience teaching reading from first through twelfth grades. He is a National Board Certified instructor and was nominated as Colorado Teacher of the Year. He has also published numerous books including The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol

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