Too Cool for School? Flip and Fin: We Rule the School by Timothy Gill

HOW DO FISH GET TO SCHOOL?

ON THE OCTOBUS!

Flip and Fin, the sand shark twins, crack each other up with their sea-themed riddles.

But now they have to train for a new challenge--the annual school Joke Day! If they can't be the standout stand-up comic kings, how can they rule the school?

Flip falls flat when he forgets the punch line of the old groaner, "Orange Who?" knock-knock. He needs practice!

Flip works on his routine all week, with his twin Fin acting as straight man:

"WHAT DID THE OCTOPUS SAY TO HIS GIRLFRIEND?"

"I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND, HAND, HAND, HAND, HAND, HAND, HAND, HAND!"

The sand shark twins polish their quips all week, and Fin is confident he is ready. Flip is not so sure.

When the big day comes, Flip feels stage fright setting in as he listens to his pals cracking up the class. Even Celia Starfish knocks-knocks them dead with the old Orange Who? riddle. Flip is not feeling confident when he takes the stage.

"AH...  AH.... ER...."

But his twin Fin has his back. From the audience Fin feeds Flip his line:

"HEY, FLIP! WHAT DID THE BEACH SAY TO THE WAVE?"

And Flip snaps back with his best toothy grin...

"LONG TIDE  NO SEA!"

Seasoned joke fans will fall for the sandbar fare in Timothy Gill's Flip & Fin: We Rule the School! (Greenwillow Books, 2014). Flip and Fin are two brash and toothy characters whose call-and-response act offers kids some simple and sophisticated riddle fare, set off by Neil Numberman's jolly and bright bottom-of-the-sea illustrations of deep-sea students. For twin fin trouble, double this one with one of Bruce Hales's tales of Clark the Shark, (see reviews here).

Bwaa-Ha-Ha! Halloween Howlers by Michael Tertelbaum

KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO'S THERE?
HOWL.
HOWL WHO?
HOWL I KEEP FROM LAUGHING IF YOU KEEP TELLING THESE DUMB JOKES?

Some grownups love knock-knocks and some hate 'em, but most kids old enough to "get" a pun adore the genre. And thankfully for this Halloween, here comes a brand-new collection, Halloween Howlers: Frightfully Funny Knock-Knock Jokes (Harper Festival, 2011), written by Michael Tertelbaum and illustrated in jolly cartoon style by Jannie Ho.

Tertelbaum provides a frame story for this collection, recapitulating a trick-or-treat expedition by a couple of kids, beginning with the "Home Scene" as the kids get into their gear and the "Street Scene" as they mix and mingle with the other costumed kids:

KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO'S THERE?
ZOMBIE.
ZOMBIE WHO?
ZOMBIE AFRAID! IT'S JUST A COSTUME!

Their venture soon takes them to the local haunted house, where the setting is bury scary:

KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO'S THERE?
DISPLACE.
DISPLACE WHO?
DISPLACE IS A WRECK!

The two trick-or-treaters go on to make the party scene, where they play the usual games and eat the usual treats, and finally loaded down with their boo-tiful boo-ty, they think about calling it a night.

KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO'S THERE?
HORROR!
HORROR WHO?
HORROR YOU GONNA CARRY ALL THAT CANDY?

There are plenty of moaning groaners and horrible howlers herein, and creepy critters and more jokes hide under the flaps which are well integrated into the illustrations, making this one an outing that will leave readers saying "Fangs for the funnies, folks," and hoping for more Halloween har-hars in their futures.

KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO'S THERE?
BOO!
BOO WHO?
DON'T CRY! HALLOWEEN WILL COME AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

Howls and Groans: Boo Who? And Other Wicked Halloween Knock-Knock Jokes by Katy Hall

"Knock, Knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Ben!"
"Ben who?"
"Ben waiting for Halloween ALL YEAR!"

What's more fun than a festival of Halloween knock-knock jokes? Well, how about lifting the flap and finding the zinger (or groaner, as the case may be) under a cleverly integrated flap on each page. Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg, who have given us such holiday riddle flap books as Hearty Har Har: Valentine Riddles You'll Love (Lift-the-Flap) Easter Crack-Ups: Knock-Knock Jokes Funny-Side Up (Lift-the-Flap Knock-Knock Book) and Gobble, Gobble, Giggle: A Book Stuffed with Thanksgiving Riddles (Lift-the-Flap Riddle Book), have a drop-dead funny collection of Halloween knock-knock jokes which also tell a nifty little story of two trick-or-treaters, a lady bug girl and a pirate boy, approaching an appropriately dark, spooky house (with a mailbox which reads R. U. Scairt), ready to knock on the weathered old door. Two watching ghosts wonder to themselves

"Knock, knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Howl!"
"Howl who?
"How'll we scare these kids?"

while the lady bug asks the pirate sincerely

"Knock, knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Wicked!"
"Wicked who?"
"Wicked turn around and go back home!"

Of course, the intrepid two persist, encountering a mummy in the entry, a vampire named Ivan ( "Ivan who?" "Ivan to velcome you to our home!") behind a portrait, two ghosts under the draping on the sofa ("Sofa who?" Sofa we haven't scared these kids yet!"), and a spider-webbed library, with a slacker spider spinning his web from the top shelf ("Spin who?" "Spin a long time since I read a whole book!").

Behind one bookcase flap, the two children find a secret passage and ask the appropriate question:

"Knock, Knock,"
"Who's there?"
"Weirdo"
"Weirdo who?"
"Weirdo you think this hallway leads?"

Trekking through a creepy attic and a beastly bedroom, the kids finally find themselves in a decked-out dining room all set for a party, with a table set with platters of terror-fried eggs and spook-ghetti, greeted by the mummy, Derek Q. La the vampire, and the rest of the usual suspects all ready to celebrate the holiday. When the horrible hor d'oeuvres are done, the two depart their new friends with a final joke from their haunted hosts:

"Knock, Knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Fangs!"
"Fangs who?"
"Fangs for coming!"

Boo Who?: And Other Wicked Halloween Knock-Knock Jokes (Lift-the-Flap Knock-Knock Book) provides several knock-knocks per page in addition to the flap joke, and the illustrator provides plenty of sly visual jokes, such as two books in the library, Spooky Nights by "Al Getcha" and Are You Scared by "U. Betterbe." As corny as these puns are, such wordplay is actually a springboard to consciously lively writing for young wordsmiths, and this little book provides a haunted house full of clever howls and ghostly giggles for the young reader.