Yuks & Boos! Laugh Out Loud SpookyJokes for Kids by Rob Elliott

WHICH ROOM IS MISSING FROM A GHOST'S HOUSE?

A LIVING ROOM!


WHAT'S A ZOMBIE'S FAVORITE PAINTING?

MOAN-A-LISA!

Groans and giggles are guaranteed, in Rob Elliott's Laugh-Out-Loud Spooky Jokes for Kids (Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids) (Harper, 2016), a spooky compendium of riddles and jokes to keep the moans coming. Older kids who have lost their taste for marshmallow peanuts may want to forego trick-or-treating to try this punny paperback's classic killer-dillers on their fellow monsters. Kids a little too big for canvassing shamelessly for treats can catch a couple of laughs with this inexpensive compendium in their cauldrons. Even grown-ups may want to liven up their doorbell patter with a few of these groan-up greetings to the plastic pumpkin people on the doorstep:

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

EUROPE.

EUROPE WHO?

EUROPE TO NO GOOD ON HALLOWEEN, AREN'T YOU?

CHEEP Shots: Joking around with Chirp

WHAT DO YOU CALL A RABBIT THAT TELLS JOKES?

A FUNNY BUNNY!

WHAT DO YOU COMB A BUNNY WITH?

A HARE BRUSH!

WHY DID THE BABY CHICK CROSS THE PLAYGROUND?

TO GET TO THE OTHER SLIDE!

With a cute yellow chick acting as stand-up comic, Joking Around with Chirp: More Than 130 Feather-Ruffling Jokes, Riddles, and Tongue Twisters! (Owlkids Books, 2013) will have them all howling in the aisles with laughter. This just published comedic compendium includes updated version of oldies but goodies and many new punny riddles which are rib-sticking, rib-tickling fare for early readers as well as for older kids who have come to dote on witty wordplay.

WHY DIDN'T THE LOBSTER SHARE ITS TOYS?
BECAUSE IT WAS A LITTLE SHELLFISH!

WHAT DO YOU CALL A SLEEPING BULL?
A BULLDOZER!

And for readers who are nutty over knock-knocks, there are some nifty numbers:

KNOCK KNOCK?
WHO'S THERE?
WATER.
WATER WHO?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY?

The editors at Owlkids, publishers of Chirp, ChicaDee, and Owl Magazines, know how to make savvy use of  page design to set off what are described as 130 Feather-Ruffling Jokes, Riddles, and Tongue Twisters, mixing full-color photos of animals with speech balloons with cartoon pages with the comic Chirp delivering the punch lines. A whole menagerie of animals are featured, from cute kittens to perky puppies all in a row cracking jokes, from camels to kangaroos doing comic cameos on their own pages. In an innovative format with eye-catching photos and novel jokes that also fire kid's word skills, Joking Around with Chirp: More Than 130 Feather-Ruffling Jokes, Riddles, and Tongue Twisters! offers a giggle on every page, clever comic quips certified to crack up kids, as these ducks do!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DUCKS FLY UPSIDE DOWN?
THEY QUACK UP!

Gravy Gravitas: Thanksgiving Rules by Laurie Friedman

I AM PERRY ISAAC GIFFORD. TODAY'S THANKSGIVING DAY.

THIS IS MY EMPTY STOMACH... THIS IS THE BUFFET.

AND HERE'S A LITTLE SECRET. I'M THE THANKSGIVING PRO.

WHEN IT COMES TO TURKEY DAY, THERE'S NOTHING I DON'T KNOW.

When it comes to Everykid's Guide to Family Feasts, Percy Isaac Gifford is the Man with a Plan. In easy-going bouncy rhymes, Percy guides the modern kid through the etiquette of the day:

WHEN FAMILY OR FRIENDS ARRIVE, YOU HAVE TO BE POLITE!

BUT HERE'S A HELPFUL TIP; IT DOESN'T HAVE TO TAKE ALL NIGHT!

Percy reminds his agemates that getting neatly dressed and greeting the guests with a short "hello" and a smile goes a long way to getting you to the buffet table with charm and grace. "Moms like to set a mood," he counsels, and the sooner we get with that program, the sooner we all get to load our plates.

And don't be picky, Percy points out. There's bound to be a lot of food out there that looks a bit suspicious, but take a taste of it all and you may find your tastebuds' new best friend among the cornucopia of vittles everyone contributes. And be sure to thank the cooks!

And although Percy, like the Pilgrims, knows that the main point of a holiday feast is to feast, he also pontificates just a piddling bit on more than just the cachet of the buffet:

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT, APPRECIATION IS A BIG DEAL.
TODAY'S THE DAY TO SHOW YOU'RE THANKFUL, AND NOT JUST FOR THE MEAL.

IT'S A DAY TO SHOW YOUR LOVED ONES JUST WHAT THEY MEAN TO YOU.
SO BEFORE THANKSGIVING'S OVER, THAT'S SOMETHING YOU MUST DO.

Thanks to her relaxed rhymes and Teresa Murfin's energetic illustrations, Laurie Friedman's Thanksgiving Rules (Carolrhoda, 2009), narrated by its own gourmand of the gravy, goes down as easy as turkey and all the trimmings, slipping in a marinade of manners and taste of gourmet tips with the treats of the Thanksgiving table. Be polite and bring your appetite!

Eggshell-ent! Easter Crack-Ups: Knock-Knock Jokes Funny-Side Up by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

BUNNY!

BUNNY WHO?

BUNNY-TH THIS ROCK I FOUND AN EGG!

Combine bunnies, colored eggs, happy kids, and clever lift-the-flap tricks and knock-knock puns to dye for and what do you get? Well, if it's Easter time, you'll want to get Katy Hall's and Lisa Eisenberg's Easter Crack-Ups: Knock-Knock Jokes Funny-Side Up (Lift-the-Flap Knock-Knock Book), a springtime stalwart in the over-lightly genre of knock-knock joke books. Billed as knock-knocks funny-side-up, this standby combines eggs-traordinary pun-ditry with clever flappery to keep early elementary readers, as advertised, cracking up and turning those pages.

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

SHERWOOD!

SHERWOOD WHO?

SHERWOOD LIKE TO BE IN THE EASTER PARADE!

Those wizards of wordsmithery, Hall and Eisenberg, roll out practically every groaner in the basket in more than a baker's dozen of punny-side up fun as a group of kids come together for an Easter picnic and egg hunt ("Easter a picnic in this park today?") on the village green. For early elementary readers just beginning to appreciate the fl-egg-sibility of their native tongue, this sturdy and in-eggs-pensive little book is just what the Easter Bunny ordered:

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

ABBY!

ABBY WHO?

ABBY EASTER!

For more of Hall's and Eisenberg's holiday pun-ditry, take a look here.

Gobble Gobble Giggles: Turkey Riddles by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg

Why isn't it safe for turkeys to do math?

If they add 5 + 3, they get ATE!

What did the turkeys say when the Pilgrims passed the potatoes?

"No, thanks. We're stuffed!"

Those princesses of puns, the royals of riddledom, Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg are the go-to goddesses to turn to whenever an occasion for easy reading levity presents itself, and, after all, what is more lampoon-able than the titillating turkey? And these riddlemeisters for all seasons do not disappoint with their offerings for the Thanksgiving table:

What do you get when you cross a turkey with an octopus?

A Thanksgiving dinner with drumsticks for everyone!

And there are gobbler giggles for everyone in Hall and Eisenberg's Turkey Riddles (Easy-to-Read, Puffin), in this classic-as-green-bean-casserole favorite for the thankful season. Kristin Sorra adds to the spread with enticing full-page illustrations that set off each tasty morsel of holiday humor, leaving those beginning readers with a funnybone, er, well satisfied.

What did the sweet potatoes say to the turkey?

"Here I YAM!"