Editorial Review

Starting with the name, the Hah-larious Joke Books series relies heavily on wordplay in entries that find humor across subjects from space to sports. In each slim volume, the spreads focus on specific categories linked to the title’s theme (soccer and horse racing in Sports Jokes, for example) and present mostly straightforward lists of question-and-answer jokes. As is the case in any joke book, the humor here is hit-and-miss, and kids will likely skip right over the groaners and somewhat obscure offerings and move on to the entries that double as clever puzzles, puns, and language games. Doctor Jokes, for example, has fun with proverbs: ‘Q: Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? A: Only if you aim it well enough.’ In Holiday Jokes, a joke reads, ‘Q: What do you have in December that you don’t have in any other month? A: The letter D.’ The wordplay in Space Jokes folds in basic physics concepts: ‘Q: What’s an astronaut’s favorite drink? A: Gravi-tea.’ And Sports Jokes introduces vocabulary that may be new to some American kids: ‘Q: What’s an insect’s favorite sport? A: Cricket!’ Color cartoon drawings illustrate the bright pages that feature the jokes in large, easily read type. Good choices for either browsing or classroom sharing.