The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh

Helen Rutter's The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh is a funny and very tender story for 9 year olds about a boy who loves jokes but can't always get the words out.

What happens

Billy Plimpton is eleven and he has a stammer. He also has a head full of jokes. (What did the llama say when he got kicked out of the zoo? You'll have to read it to find out.)

He practises everything in the mirror. His name, his jokes, how he'll answer when the teacher calls his name. Now he's starting at a new school where hardly anyone knows him, and he has a plan. He's going to say nothing at all until his stammer has gone.

It doesn't take long for that plan to wobble. On day one his teacher asks everyone to bring something in and talk about themselves in front of the class. Billy is horrified!

As it's all told by Billy you're right inside his head. He's got lists for everything and opinions on everyone. His four kinds of grown-ups are brilliant. There are the ones who finish your sentences for you (wrongly), and the rare, lovely ones who just wait.

It's genuinely funny. Billy's jokes pop up between the chapters, and his running commentary will have your reader giggling. But it's also very honest about how much it hurts when people laugh AT you rather than with you. He remembers getting stuck on one word as a sheep in the school play while other kids laughed, and a grown-up in a shop copies his stammer as a "joke".

His family feel very real too. His little sister is pony-mad and his mum fusses over his tie. Granny Bread thinks he's the funniest person alive. He's promised her he'll do a comedy show one day, and that promise sits under everything.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Worth knowing that Billy once overheard his parents arguing and still worries about them splitting up. It's handled gently, but a child who's anxious about home might want to talk about it. The words are American too (mom, middle school, fifth grade).

If your reader has ever dreaded being picked to speak, or just loves a good terrible joke, Billy will feel like a friend.

What to read next

For another boy who dreams of doing stand-up and won't let anything stop him, try I Funny. Jamie Grimm tells his jokes from his wheelchair and has his eye on a comedy contest for kids.