I've been thinking a lot about 'funny' children's books, mostly in light of the fact that it feels like so many comedic celebrities are lining up to become children's authors.
Some seem to naturally slide into that role, able to adapt to the mindset of kids and tap into what they actually genuinely laugh at.
We've seen it so many times in recent PR blurbs. "A hilarious book" or "So funny it nearly made me wet my pants" - and quite often we read these amazing rib-ticklers only to come out the other end with barely a smirk across our faces.
C is now witheringly critical of so-called 'funny' books, but isn't quite as humourless as her old man. In fact her highly developed sense of humour is what I'm tapping for inspiration for this ReadItTorial with a few writerly observations about what really makes her laugh - and by laugh, I don't just mean a polite titter or two but a full-on belly laugh or snorting snigger-a-thon. So here are six things we love to see done properly in funny books.
1) "Surprise!"
Sometimes, laughs come straight out of left field, completely unexpected. It's like the author has been playing us all along before sliding something into their text that has us erupting into gales of laughter.
When reading Maz Evans' divine "Who Let The Gods Out" it was her description of a particular teacher's remarkable 'aroma' that gave us our first real laugh of the book (there are so many other brilliantly funny - and quite heart-wrenchingly bittersweet moments in WLTGO so if you haven't already read it, get on it right away!).
Surprising kids with something that they really couldn't see coming is a brilliant comedic ploy.
2) "How Rude!"
Sadly, despite trying to encourage, nurture and develop a sophisticated sense of humour in C, she will inevitably still find toilet humour cacklingly funny. Though thankfully she's managed to progress past the usual poo, fart, wee, sicky type of stuff, I'm afraid to say that Jamie Smart's "Looshkin" comics seem to be able to tap a part of her humour centre so well, that recently she almost began to hyperventilate reading one particular strip (I can't even remember what the gag was, but even to a hardened cynical dad I actually have to agree with her that Looshkin is VERY funny). If you really must lower the bar to toilet-level humour, you'd better do a durned good job of it because again, it's not merely enough to mention bottoms, wees or poos any more. Kids have moved on and require smarter laughs.
3) "Yup that happened to me too!"
This is a tough nut to crack for a would-be comedic writer. If you can somehow put yourself into the mindset of a kid the age of your intended audience, and somehow find that one thing they will readily identify with, you're onto absolute gold dust. Again, it seems a lot of adult comedy writers might have never grown up themselves, as they seem to be able to tweak this particular centre of humour so very well.
Observational humour is also great in children's books in cases where adults will knowingly nod in recognition of a particular grown up character's plight. Both my wife and I will quite often politely smile at certain books - such as the recent "What's for Lunch, Papa Penguin?" - where the author perfectly summarises and captures a particular behavioural trait common to most kids (in this case, an adult going to hell and back to find a tasty treat for their kid, only to find said kid tucking into a piece of bread and cheese at home).
4) "Just Desserts"
This again is a fairly subtle and difficult to perfect element of comedic writing and the laughs here aren't so much rib tickling, as a laugh of the joy of seeing someone get royally served a hefty dose of humble pie in a book. Sure it's not the deep down belly laugh you're probably seeking from your young readers, but anything that can make a kid shout "YESSS!!! IN YOUR FACE!" about a nefarious character's plight is a win-win.
5) "Pun flew over the cuckoo's nest"
Oh my god, puns. I remember reading something that described the use of puns in children's books as 'a good way to sail your humour right over a kid's head' but kids absolutely LOVE puns and can't resist any clever use of the language to twist and warp the text of a story. I guarantee you that if kids will endlessly repeat a particular quote from a book, it'll be something pun-tastic.
6) "Adults are stupid, specially mum and dad"
I quietly take umbrage at this one, as it does seem to be poor "Dad" who ends up in the firing line more than mum when it comes to seeing core characters in children's stories doing the most ridiculous things, or being shown up as a bit of a comedic prat-falling dullard.
Some books manage to get this right though, and it's worth polishing this particular story element up - because nothing amuses kids more than to see mum or dad ending up at the literal wrong end of a pie in the face. If you've ever managed to survive not being made to look like a complete gibbon after a reading of "The Book With No Pictures" by B.J Novak, then you're failing at life!
Hopefully the tips above and this list of favourite comedic story elements of ours might give you pause for thought when penning your own rib-tickling comedy story. Mostly though we spend our entire book blogging year waiting for such a tiny handful of real, genuine moments where we're left completely breathless by how funny a book is - but heck, they're usually worth waiting for.