There are few sounds during story time quite as satisfying as a child suddenly bursting into laughter.
Not the polite little laugh that acknowledges something was supposed to be funny. We mean proper laughter. The sort that stops the reading altogether because the child wants to hear the ridiculous part again.
Humour has an important place in children’s stories because laughter creates enjoyment, and enjoyment gives children a reason to return to books.
A funny story can transform reading from something a child is expected to practise into something they actively want to do.
And sometimes all it takes is an animal behaving in a thoroughly unexpected manner.
Humour Can Encourage Children to Read
One of the challenges parents and carers sometimes face is encouraging children to read when books are competing with many other forms of entertainment.
Telling a child that reading is good for them is unlikely to be enough. Giving them a story they genuinely enjoy is considerably more powerful.
Funny children’s story books create an immediate reward. Something happens, the child laughs, and reading becomes associated with pleasure.
They want another page, another chapter and perhaps another book.
For children developing confidence as readers, that motivation matters enormously.
Children Understand the Ridiculous
Children have an excellent sense of absurdity.
They know perfectly well that animals do not usually wear top hats, organise picnics or behave like eccentric people. That is exactly why these things can be entertaining.
Humour often begins by establishing what ought to happen and then doing something completely different.
The more seriously a character takes themselves before everything goes wrong, the funnier the situation may become.
Funny Characters Do Not Need to Be Perfect
Some of the most memorable characters in children’s stories have significant flaws.
They boast. They rush. They misunderstand instructions. They become distracted. They are convinced that their latest plan is brilliant when the reader can already see that it is going to end terribly.
These imperfections create opportunities for humour.
They also make characters feel more individual.
A character who always makes the correct decision may be admirable, but a mischievous character who makes a questionable decision can generate an entire adventure.
Children’s Adventure Books and Humour Belong Together
Adventure requires uncertainty. Something has to go wrong.
Someone may become lost, encounter a problem, make a mistake or discover something unexpected.
However, children’s adventure books also need changes of pace.
If every page contains danger, the story can become exhausting. Humour provides breathing space.
A tense chase might be interrupted by something ridiculous. Someone attempting to hide may sneeze at precisely the wrong moment.
The problem remains, but the emotional temperature changes.
Repetition Can Make a Joke Even Funnier
Adults sometimes assume that once children know what is coming, the joke is finished.
Children frequently disagree.
Repetition can be one of the pleasures of humorous children’s stories.
Perhaps a character has a peculiar expression whenever trouble begins. Perhaps someone confidently announces, “Leave everything to me,” shortly before causing another catastrophe.
The first time, the child laughs. The second time, they recognise the pattern. By the third time, they may start laughing before the event happens.
The child is no longer simply receiving the story. They are participating in it.
Illustrated Children’s Books Can Hide Humour Everywhere
Illustration gives humour another dimension.
The words might describe a serious conversation while something completely different is happening in the background.
These visual jokes reward children who examine illustrations carefully.
That is one of the pleasures of illustrated children’s books. Pictures do not merely need to repeat what the words have told us. They can add another piece of the story.
Humour Can Support Books for Children Aged 7 to 8
Children around seven and eight are developing increasingly sophisticated senses of humour.
Simple silliness can still be tremendously funny, but they can also understand misunderstandings, exaggeration, surprise and characters behaving contrary to expectations.
This makes humour particularly useful in books for children aged 7 to 8.
At this age, many children are moving towards longer stories and greater reading independence.
Humour can help bridge that transition. If the child knows something entertaining is likely to happen, there is a reason to continue.
Laughter Can Help Children Understand Characters
Humour is not simply about inserting jokes.
Often, the funniest moments tell us something about a character.
Suppose a character is enormously proud. Put them in a situation where maintaining their dignity becomes almost impossible.
Suppose someone insists they are not frightened of anything. Then introduce the one tiny creature that sends them running.
The humour comes from personality.
Funny Stories Can Build Vocabulary Naturally
Humorous situations also provide wonderful opportunities for language.
A character might stomp, tumble, scramble, mutter, wobble or gallop.
Children do not necessarily need every unfamiliar word explained before the story continues. The action, illustration and surrounding sentence often provide clues.
This is one of the benefits of reading for children that can happen almost invisibly.
Reading With Children Makes Humour Better
Funny books are particularly enjoyable when shared.
Reading with children allows adults to exaggerate voices, pause before the punchline and give different characters distinctive personalities.
Soon, familiar passages can develop their own family performance.
The child may insist that a particular voice must always be used. They may join in with favourite sentences or ask for the funniest page again before bedtime.
Humour Can Make Difficult Moments Feel Safer
Children’s stories sometimes explore fear, embarrassment, mistakes and disappointment.
Humour can make those experiences easier to approach.
A character may fail spectacularly and discover that failure is survivable. They may make a foolish mistake, put it right and continue.
Stories can quietly demonstrate that not every mistake is a disaster.
Not Every Laugh Needs a Lesson
It is tempting to search for educational value in everything children read.
Books certainly contribute to vocabulary, comprehension, imagination and emotional understanding.
But sometimes laughter is enough.
Children are allowed to enjoy nonsense. If a child has spent twenty minutes laughing, listening, examining illustrations and asking for another story, reading has already achieved something valuable.
It has become pleasurable.
The Characters Who Make Us Laugh Stay With Us
Many adults can remember funny fictional characters long after they have forgotten the details of their adventures.
We remember their peculiar habits, disastrous plans and the expression on their face when everything went wrong.
Humour creates affection.
Eventually, returning to a familiar character can feel rather like meeting an old friend, particularly when we already suspect that the friend is about to cause trouble.
Why Fresh Green Classics Makes Room for Laughter
At Fresh Green Classics, we believe children’s stories should contain plenty of room for imagination, adventure, surprise and laughter.
We want children to meet characters who are brave without always being sensible, clever without always being right and lovable without ever being perfect.
Sometimes the adventure will become mysterious. Sometimes things will go wrong.
Because when children laugh at a book, something important happens.
They want to keep reading.
And the next page is waiting.