What's Your Humor?

I did my application assignment on how humor in children's literature is interpreted by different age groups. When trying to find relevant books for my research, I noticed how funny children's books are. I don't know what it is about children's books but I have developed a funny bone for them.

Humor in literature is something we're all keen to, even if our senses of humor differ (which I'm sure they do). For us future teachers, it is important to show our students the humor that can be found in literature. Children will not develop their own taste in literature if they never even learn to like it. One simple suggestion in helping children develop a liking for reading is to read funny books!

My study showed that young children prefer visual and situational humor, so books like "The Bear and His Boy" will be particularly enjoyed by young audiences. Teenage audiences' humor is based more on cultural influences, like if something relates to a certain pop culture reference. Young adults and adults prefer humor that is verbal and situational, like the homophone humor found in Amelia Bedelia.

Whoever your audience is, it is important to know that they want to laugh. Purposefully choose humorous books and test out their success in the classroom.