This Book is Funny!

Fart! 

Burp!

Tushy!

You can't help but giggle, right?

But it isn't just potty humor that I find funny. Any humor will do. In fact, I find that I surround myself with funny on purpose. Funny people. Funny T.V. or Movies. And definitely funny books.  I know there are a lot of well written movies and books that are suspenseful, dramatic, and heart wrenching, and every now and then I will read something knowing it's going to make me cry, but I would much rather laugh than anything.   Why?  I don't know. It feels good. And apparently, it's actually beneficial to your health. So the next time your husband wants to watch Rambo 4 in the movie theatre in the front row, where you will spend the entire movie holding your ears and covering your eyes, let him know that such a movie just may take a few years off your life. (True story.)

And now that I have a child, the funny is simply nonstop. He gives me a reason to be silly all the time. And he's so much funnier than I realized kids would ever be.  Just a few crazy funny faces that keep me laughing..

I mean seriously, with all those crazy faces, how can I not be laughing all day long?

One of my first blog posts, I ever wrote on Mondays with Mandy or Mira was about using humor to hook readers.  This has always been one issue I've been passionate about because there is so much value in it.

Humor is what turns struggling readers and nonreaders into real readers. I know this to be true from being a previous "book-hater" as a child as well as being a classroom teacher.

Which is why I am so excited to have recently discovered This Book is Funny!  This Book is Funny! was conceived by author/illustrator Alex Milway, though it is run by a co-operative of authors, comics artists and illustrators.

(From their website)
This Book is Funny! has one main goal, and that’s to promote funny books for children. If a book is funny, we want to know about it.

If you’re a publisher of funny books and you’d like us to feature or review your book, please get in touch.

If you’re a librarian, a bookseller, or a teacher, and you’d like some of our stickers in order to tag your favourite funny books in a display, just contact us here. We will also send through posters highlighting our latest favourite funny books, which also allows you to shine a light on your own funny books at the same time. We will ask you for feedback, as we feel it’s a necessary part of making This Book is Funny! as good as it can be.

Check out this video of Alex explaining about his brilliant idea. 

I am really excited about this idea and I think it's really going to take off. I can't wait to order some stickers and posters and start spreading the funny throughout my school and public library. 

And I noticed on twitter that Alex was looking for recommendations of some newer pictures books that deserve a This Book is Funny sticker. Therefore, I'd like to recommend that you check out the following three books I just purchased that will cause you to say:

What I love about all three of these books is that the funny is there on the cover right from the start. Instant conflict!  A wolf who is dressed up like a bunny. A frog shouting I Don't Want To Be A Frog! And Sweet Little Bunny Foo Foo with that sly little smirk on her face. (And let me tell you, the ending to Foo Foo is so fantastic!)

What books would you slap a sticker on?  Comment below or follow Alex on twitter @ThisBookIsFunny and let him know!

Let's get more funny books into the hands of readers and turn those non-readers and struggling readers in readers that are rolling on the floor laughing out loud!

Mandy Yates is currently an elementary reading specialist and children's book writer. She has an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and has been published multiple times in Highlights Magazine. 

She also assists Mira in teaching The Craft and Business of Writing Children's Books. http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/writing-childrens-picture-books.html, as well as The Chapter Book Alchemist  http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/the-chapter-book-alchemist.html .

Find some of her teacher resources over at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mandy-Yates.