Read Giant Book of Jokes, Riddles, and Brain Teasers free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Michael Dahl's Giant Book of Jokes, Riddles, and Brain Teasers is a huge joke collection for 7 year olds who like to read the punchline out loud to anyone nearby.
It opens by telling your reader not to read it quietly in their bedroom. Carry it everywhere, read it out loud, fold down the corners of the best pages. That's the spirit of the whole thing.
The jokes come in themed bundles with silly headings. There's Monster Mania (the Mummy's favourite music is wrap), a long run of knock-knocks, school jokes, space jokes and a Jurassic Pork section for dinosaur fans. Some are quick one-liners. Others are little double acts between two pairs who keep coming back, Sam and Mona and Larry and Luna.
In between there are puzzles to work out, word games and even a magic trick with three dice. The secret is a bit disgusting, which will probably make it everyone's favourite. There are Tom Swifties too, where the joke hides in the last word, like "said Tina shellfishly".
It's the kind of book that gets read in bursts. Open it anywhere, groan at a pun, pass it on. Who doesn't love a truly terrible pun at the dinner table?
A few jokes are pitched more at grown-ups than at children. There's a mad scientist with a hot dog and a glass of beer, jokes about cannibals, and a long joke that ends with a pet kitten dying. None of it is nasty. But if your reader is sensitive, or quick to ask what a joke means, you might want to be nearby for a punchline or two.
It's American as well, so expect dollars, quarters, elevators and a few jokes that only make sense if you know American TV or sport. Most of the wordplay travels fine.
If you've got a reader who's always got a joke ready at breakfast, this could keep them going for weeks. It's also a good one to share, since half the fun is trying the jokes out on someone else.
For a gentler set that's lighter on the grown-up stuff, try Laugh-Out-Loud Awesome Jokes for Kids. It's quick-fire puns and knock-knocks all the way through (bananas wearing sunscreen and the like).
A library hand-picked by an English teacher, delivered through a calm, ad-free app. If your child already loves reading, we keep up.
7-day free trial. Then £7.99/month.
