RESPONSES OF SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS TO TWO TYPES OF HUMOR PRESENT IN FICTION FOR CHILDREN, AND AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TYPES OF HUMOR FOUND IN BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE GRADE READER Dissertation for the Degree of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ROBERT LOUIS NELSON 1973 !"Ji h.-fi‘.hh. I I {y A I. T?!" ‘ '13? Michigan flats: University ‘4: This is to certify that the thesis entitled RESPONSES 0F SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS TO THO TYPES OF HUMOR PRESENT IN FICTION FOR CHILDREN. AND AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TYPES OF HUMOR FOUND IN BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE GRADE READER presented by Robert Louis Nelson has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for PIMD . degree in MOD / I . a a? ' ' & ((1214 £411" 7L~Zd 4” f? ’7ch Major professor Date Janna; ! 11. L9?“ 0-7639 ‘5' ”N‘DING BY HOAG a SUNS“ anon BIIIIIERY nu: LIBRARY ”OER: W ~— : I- I I ABSTRACT RESPONSES OF SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS TO TWO TYPES OF HUMOR PRESENT IN FICTION FOR CHILDREN AND AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TYPES OF HUHOR FOUND IN BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE GRADE READER By Robert Louis Nelson Problem The purpose of the study was two—fold. The first purpose was to examine the responses of 216 sixth-grade youngsters to two general types of humor found in fiction written for middle-grade children to see which type they preferred if any. The two types of humor employed were humor based on a physical action of some sort typified by stupid blunders, incongruities, and general confusion including some falling or tumbling about; and humor based upon the words used by the characters in the stories which included items such as word repetition. word rhyming. mispronunciation or words. and misunderstanding of meanings. The second purpose was to examine selections of humorous literature written for middle grade children in order to classify the general type of humor found in them as either action humor or word humor. G" ‘52-. 2‘: *4?" Robert L. Nelson Prycedure For the first part of the study 216 children were randomly selected from eighteen sixth grade classrooms. Six of these classes came from the inner-city type schools, six from suburban area schools. and six from rural school settings. Twelve youngsters. six boys and six girls, par- ticipated from each class. Groups of six were consulted at a time. These groups of six were arranged by sex. Four humorous selections taken from four middle grade children's fiction books were chosen. then recorded for playing to the pupils. Two of the selections represented humor based on a physical action while the other two represented word humor. The youngsters listened to the selections. then were asked to respond to a written instrument presented them. The instrument consisted of questions that asked which story the children preferred. (the selections were presented in pairs. one representing action humor. the other word humor): whether the stories made them feel happy. indifferent. or unhappy! and how they would rate the stories as to humor quality. Oral comments made by the students concerning the stories were taped for evaluative purposes too. The second part of the study entailed the reading. evaluating. and categorising of approximately 193 humorous type books written for children at the middle grade level. These books were categorized as to the basic kind of humor Robert L. Nelson they contained; that is physical. verbal. or physical and verbal both. Results obtained from the written instrument used with the youngsters were tabulated in percentages and mean scores. Results obtained from classifying the books as to the type of humor present in them were totaled and listed by percentages. lajgr Findings 1. The majority of children in the study did feel happy after hearing the humorous selections. 2. The inner-city youth in this study favored action humor more than the rural and suburban students, but the rural youth showed a higher percentage for word humor than did the inner-city and suburban pupils. 3. Sex was not a major factor in the type of humor preferred. 4. Humor is a very individual trait. What one person finds to be funny. another may view as tragic or at least not humorous. 5. There are not enough humorous books available for the average sixth grade child. 6. The majority of humorous books available for the sixth grade child are based on physical action type humor. 7. Children indicated in their oral comments that‘ Robert L. Nelson they would read humorous books if more were available to them e 8. Word humor of a more subtle nature is not easily comprehended by the average sixth-grader. RESPONSES OF SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS TO TWO TYPES OF HUMOR PRESENT IN FICTION FOR CHILDREN. AND AN INVESTIGATION OF THE TYPES OF HUMOR FOUND IN BOOKS FOR THE IEDDLE GRADE READER 3! Robert Louis Nelson A DISSERTATION Submitted to lichigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Education 1973 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the advice. assistance. and encouragement of the following people this dissertation would not have been possible: Mrs. Catherine Nelson Dr. Patricia Cianciolo Dr. James Snoddy Dr. Paul lunsell Dr. Ronald Rex Dr. Martha King Dr. Edgar Dale ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABI'ES I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Vi LIST OF FIGURE I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Viii CHAPTER I.THE PROBLEM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1 Reason for the Study ..................... 2 3 HumorDefi-ned .IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Need for Humor and Need for Humorous Literature .................... 7 Purpose ... ......... . ...... ......... ...... ll Assmptions I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 000000 I I 13 Hypotheses IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1“ overView IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1“ II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................. ..... . 17 Intellectual Development of Young People as Related to Language Power and vocabulary IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 17 Psychological Aspects of Humor Development ............................ 21 Reading Interests of Children Relative to Humor ...................... 32 Responses to Humorous Literature and What Makes the Literature Humorous ..... 36 Summary .......................... ........ 53 Concluding Statements .................... 55 III. DESIGN 0? TE STUDY ..IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 5? The Sample ............................... 5? Experimental Design ...................... 65 HypOtheses I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 82 Analij-8 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 83 Summry I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 85 iii CHAPTER Page IV. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS ....... ........... . 88 Part I: Four Hypotheses Pertaining to Children's Responses to Specific Humorous selections IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 88 Part II: Hypothesis Pertaining to Analysis of the Humorous Children's Literature ....... 132 Summary Statements ...................... 139 Chaptersummary IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 139 V. SUIIARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................... IQZ summary IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII luz Implications Of Results IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 11‘s concluaiom IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 150 Implications for Further Research ....... 155 APPENDIX A COPIES OF SELECTIONS RECORDED FOR PUPIL LISTENING .IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. 159 B EVALUATION SHEET - HUMOROUS CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IIIsoIseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 167 c INSTRUIBNT USED FOR RECORDING CHILDREN'S RESPONSE eseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 169 D STUDENT ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON EVALUATION INSTRUMENTS .................... 170 Inner-City Schools ...................... 170 suburm SOhOOl. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 189 le schOOJ-a I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 205 s COIIENTS or STUDENTS RECORDED FOLLOWING THE LISTENING TO THE RUROROOS STORIES 219 F ANNOTATION AND CATEGORIZATION OF HUMOROUS BOOKS FOR HIDDIE GRADE CHImREN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 22? Contemporary and Fantasy Type Humor. Basically Rumor of Action ............. 228 iv APPENDIX Contemporary and Fantasy Type Humor. Basically Humor of Words .............. Contemporary and Fantasy Type Humor. Humor Containing Elements Based onACtion and wows IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Folk Tales. T331 Tales. All Basically Action Type Humor ........... Collection of Humorous Works. Basically Rumor of Action ............. Collection of Humorous Works. Basically Humor of Words .............. Collections of Humorous Works. Humor Containing Elements Based on Action andwords IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Books Not Annotated Because Humor Was Inconsequential 0r In PoorTaste IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Books Not Recommended as Humorous Books ........................ Humorous Books Identified But Unable to Locate ...................... Annotations of Recommended Humorous Books ........................ BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE ............. 300k. and Pamphlets eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Dissertations ........................... PIPIOOIOBIS IIeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS OF WIT AND HUMOR FOR ”DD“ Gm: STUDENTS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Page 232 233 23h 236 237 238 239 2“ 243 2% 279 279 282 283 287 TABLE 3 . 01 3 e02 3-03 3.0“ 3 «‘05 3'406 3 .07 3508 3 .09 3 e‘lo “3‘01 “.02 LIST OF TABLES SCHOOL TYPES. AND NUMBERS OF POP!“ I“ scuoom IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AGES AND NUMBER OF YEARS IN PRESENT SCHOOL FOR SUBJECTS IN INNER-CITY SCHOOIS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AGES AND NUMBER OF YEARS IN PRESENT SCHOOL FOR SUBJECTS IN 308"” scnoom IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AGE AND NUMBER OF YEARS IN PRESENT SCHOOL FOR SUBJECTS IN Rum, SCHOOIB IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII MEANS OF YEARS IN PRESENT SCHOOLS AND AGES FOR THE CLASSE OF SCHOOLS .......... RANKING OF HUMOROUS SELECTIONS B! m” IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PILOT STUDY RESULTS - 1W1” SCHOOL IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PILOT STUDY RESULTS - SUBUM SCROOL eeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeee PILOT STUD! RESULTS - RURAL SCHOOL eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee PILOT STUDY RESULTS - COMPARING THREE TYPES OF SCHOOLS IN FINAL RESULTS ........ SCHOOL TYPE RAN TOTALS AND PERCENTAGE FOR ANSNERS TO QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTION AND WORD HUUR ............ INNER-CITY RAN SCORES FOR ANSWEB TO QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTION AND WORD HUUR .................... vi Page 58 6O 62 66 69 73 710 76 77 90 92 TABLE “.03 4.04 “.05 “.06 “.07 “.08 4.09 “.10 “.11 “.12 4.13 n.1u 4.15 4.16 Page RURAL RAW SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTION AND WORD HUMOR 93 INNER-CITY MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FIVE AND SIX ................... 95 ' RURAL MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FIVE AND SIX ................... 96 SUBURBAN RAW SCORES FOR ANSWERS T0 QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTION AND WORD HumR 00000000000000000000 103 SUBURBAN MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FIVE AND SIX ................... 10“ RAW TOTALS AND PERCENTAGES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTION AND WORD HUMOR BY SEX ............. BOYS' AND GIRLS' MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FIVE AND SIX ........ BOYS' RAW SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTIO" AND w0RD mma 00000000000000000000 GIRLS' RAW SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTION FOUR. CHOOSING BETWEEN ACTION AND "ORB HU'OR ..OOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOO RAW SCORES AND PERCENTS FOR ANSWERS TO QUETIONS ONE AND NO ......OOOOOOOOOOOOCO INNER-CITY MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ONE AND TWO .................... SUBURBAN MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUETIONS OMANDNO ......QIOOOOOOOOOOO. 115 118 119 121 125 12? 128 RURAL MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUETIONS ONEAND .mo ......OOOOOOOOOOOOO. RAW TOTALS AND PERCENTAGES OF BOOKS ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF HUMOR FREE“! O....OOIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0...... 129 133 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1 RAW TOTALS OF HUMOROUS BOOKS ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF HUMOR PRESENT ................ 13A viii Chapter One The Problem “Per A Sense of Humor” It was pretty funny Lerd I have t0 admit. But does the laughter always have to be at my expense? I'm not the enly one who uses the wrong word or gets caught in an absurd situation. I turn out to be the butt of everyene else's joke - more so lately, or does it only seem that way? An I getting tee touchy tee quick to defend myself against anything that would make me -- well. like the rest of humanity. I guess. Next time. help me to see the huner in the situation and net imagine that people's merriment is prompted by unkindness. After all. I am a bit foolish at times and I suppese I had it coming. Amen. 1'Per a Sense of Humor.” Christogher News Notes. NO. 195. JIIHO. Jilly. 19720 Rgaggn fgr thg Stag: This is a serious age indeed. The problems of war. famine. unemployment. drugs. disease. racial and religious bigotry. and crime literally abound. Both children and adults are faced with these seemingly unconquerable problems. and life at times for all seems grim. To maintain some sort of healthy mental balance one needs to find the good in life. and one needs to be able to smile and laugh. In other words a person needs humor. Children need humor. That is basically what this piece of research is about. humor. humor as it applies to children. General Eisenhower once told a group of students at Columbia University to have fun in life. He said. “The day that goes by without having some fun.-- the day you don't enjoy life -- is not only unnecessary but unchristjen."2 One source from which children might satisfy their need for humor is in the books they read. This source is not an extremely generous one. however. After checking the book reviews in £99k List and guggogiptign Review from 1937 through 1971 and the 1970 edition of the §lgmggtggyg§ghpgl Lib;gg:_§gl;gg§igg only about 199 titles of books that were rated humorous could be found for children in the fourth. fifth. and sixth grades. the general age group with which _ 2Bob Hope. ”The Importance of Having Fun.“ Readers' 21829.3. Jan's 19720 Do 500 this writing is concerned. This finding is of particular significance to this study. Twenty-one years of teaching have convinced this writer of the need for this piece of research. Laughter is needed in the classroom if it is to be a humane place. and by laughter is meant laughter with someone. not at someone. humor should not be a source of cruelty. There is enough of that around as it is. humor should be a soothing balm. a calming lotion. a relaxing tonic. Children need humor. humgr Defined Before discussing how experts in the fields of Reading Instruction and Children's Literature feel about the need of humor for children. a working definition of the term is necessary. The Random House Dictionary3 defines humor as a comic quality causing amusement. comical writing or talk in general. Elliott Landau in a discussion of humorous children's books stated unequivocally. “I would agree with Kronenberger when he said that 'Humor is not a matter of being brisk... it is an inward way of looking at life.’ ... true humor ought to take some of the stuffing out of stuffed shirts; but it is important that this be done with a gentle picking at the threads of the shirt's Jghg gipgom House Dictio f the_Egglish ‘ngggggg. 0 age Edition. 1 9. p. . seams. not a razor slash.”“ This researcher feels too that humor should take the stuffing out of ”stuffed shirts.” but disagrees with Landau when he says if we laugh a thing is either funny.gg humorous. Landau places a more or less negative connotation on the word funny as opposed to a more positive definition for humor. Edwin J. Brown5 differentiated between humor and wit claiming there is a clear distinction between the two. that wit often flashes and stings while humor tends to soothe and comfort. Leonuones6 in discussing intelligence and a sense of humor concluded that a sense of humor is an intellectual insight into some characteristic cultural pattern or con- figuration with an accompanying appreciation of the pleasure connected with such insight. Eastman? in his essay 'Wit and Nonsense” took Proud to task contending that Freud's greatest sin against humor. and against the art of enjoying it. is that he makes it all furtive. Eastman contended that humor is an element: the “Elliott D. Landau. “Quibble. Funny? Yes. Humorous. No!” R rm 3 k. April. 1962. p. 56. SEdwin J. Brown. ”The Rumor of the School.” School W. Sept" 1930. p. 35. 5Leon.uones. 'Intelli ence and a Sense of Humor.” Joggngl g; the ggceptional C ld. March. 1939. p. 150. 7lax Eastman. T e S nse f Humor. (New York: Charles Scribner s Sons. 19 . PD. 7 . 87. atom of humor is an unpleasantness or frustration taken playfully. A joke is a compound: the jocular molecule contains an atom of humor mixed with an atom or atoms of no matter what other kinds of value. Eastman soundly rejected Freud's furtive theory of humor. Stephen Leacock defined humor as: A humorous plot arises out of any set of circumstances that involve discomfiture or disaster of some odd or incongruous kind. not connected with the ordinary run of things and not involving sufficient pain or disaster to overweigh the pleasure of contemplating the incongruous distress.8 Bergson's rather detailed treatise on Laughter includes ”Bergson's Law” which describes comic situations in general. This law states. ”Any arrangement of acts and events is comic which gives us. in a single combination. the illusion of life and the distinct impression of a mechanical arrangement."9 In discussing comic situations, Bergsonlo listed three general types that cause laughter. They are: repetition. such as meeting a friend you haven't seen in some time. three or four times in one day: inversion. where certain characters have their roles inverted. as a prisoner at the bar lecturing the magistrate: and reciprocal 8Stephen Leacock Humor and Humanity. (New York: Henry Halt and C00. 1938;. D0 790 9Henri Bergson. Lagghter. (New York: The Iacmillan COe: 1937)e p. 690 10.132.21.21... pp. 90-96. 118. interference of series which can be defined as a situation which is invariably comic when it belongs simultaneously to two altogether independent series of events and is capable of being interpreted in two entirely different meanings at the same time. Bergson also stated that a series of words instead of situations can become comic through the same three types of situations. There is no general agreement as to what humor is with Opinions varying from Leacock's11 definition of humor as arising from any set of circumstances that involves discomfiture or disaster of some odd or incongruous kind to Eastman'slz running battle with Freud. that humor does not have to be furtive. but that humor is an element. that it is an unpleasantness or frustration taken playfully. Action humor. for purposes of this dissertation. is defined as that humor generated from some physical activity such as stupid blunders. absurd doings. incongrui- ties. embarrassment of someone due to an accident. general confusion including some falling and tumbling about. and turning the tables on someone. Verbal humor is that based upon the words used by the characters in the story and includes word repetition. word rhyming. mispronunciation of words. misunderstanding of meanings. and humor developed 11Leacock. gp. cit. 12Eastman. op. cit. through implication. humor as used in this paper means the quality that makes a person laugh or smile and consequently feel good. even if but for a brief moment of time. Need for hump; and Need forghumorous Litegaturg If as previously stated there is a need for children to laugh and that literature can be a vehicle to help them attain this goal. then more should be known about the effects of humor upon children and the kinds of humorous literature available for them along with their reactions to humorous writing. Armed with this information. teachers. librarians. and parents. could provide young people with the humorous types of books that they would truly enjoy. First some comments on the need for humor itself will be presented. Donald w. Click advised. humor makes the classroom a warmer place to be. If used judiciously and wisely. a joke can locate the student who cannot smile. We have found it advisable to beware (or try to help) the Student - or teacher — who cannot smile.1 . According to Beatrice hurley. children of all ages need fun and nonsense as a balance to the overserious tendency of today's living. She stated. 13Donald W. Click. “humor and Comprehension." Egglish Journa . June. 1952. p. 321. Life has a way of becoming a deadly serious business all too soon. In forgetting how to laugh grownups sometimes fail to realize how vital an ingredient laughter is to the healthy growth of a child's personality. Laughter acts to counterbalange the problems of everyday living. Raley and Ballman15 felt the need for developing a way of estimating a person's sense of humor as well as his other individual characteristics since they felt that a sense of humor is vital in this age of overanxiety and insecurity: that it is a facility in seeing things in their Preper perspective and in being able to laugh at oneself and at others would surely be a “saving sense." From the psychological viewpoint Gesell and Ilg Stated that the sense of humor is a pliant sense of propor- tion and emphasize its need further with the proposition that“ Its function is to keep the individual from becoming mechanized and hardened. It is a play of the mind akin to the spirit of free- dom. When a teacher has it she protects her own mental health and that of her pupils. humor is a safeguard against undue tensions and all the severities of unwise discipline. An over serious schoolroom violates for children the igffersonian right of pursuit of happiness. M-.. C 1“Beatrice D. hurley. “What Children Find humorous.“ hi cod Educgtiog. hay. 1956. p. #2“. * ” lSSister Agnes Lucille Haley. and Christine Bellman. JThOoreticaI Implications for a Psychology of the Ludicrous.” ~22£nal of Social Ps cholo . #5 (1957). pp. 19-23. t 16Arnold Gesell and Francis Ilg. he Child from Five ~2—229. (New York: harper and Brothers. 19365. p. 35. '”" Stressing the health factor of humor Gesell and Ilg reported. “Children would not indulge in so much spontaneous and (apparently to us) meaningless laughter if it did not have a wholesome effect upon their behavior and mental growth."17 They said further that the sense of humor is not only an.effective response in its own right. but that it plays an important role in the hygiene of the emotions - the emotions of parent as well as child. A quote by P. J. Laux concludes this section on the need for humor. Laux said. We need laughter in our lives as surely as a plant needs sunshine. A person who has forgotten how to laugh at the world. and himself. is in a serious state indeed. A world that has forgotten is even sadder. Give your children this most precious gift -- the gift of laughter. It may be all they have to sustain them in later years -- when they have children of their own.18 Regarding the need for humorous literature for Children Leland Jacobs stated. humorous literature gives the reader or listener healthful release. It provides respite from intensity in living and learning. It allays apprehensions. alleviates annoyances. stretches the imagination -- all to the end of pure unadulterated enjoyment. \_ ...- 171b1d.. pp. 28k. 285. s 18?. J. Laux. ”The Gift of Laughter.” Catholig ~£hool Journal. Dec.. 1969. p. 25. l9Leland Jacobs. ”Very. Very Funny.";nstructgg. Nov.. 1965. p. 3n. 10 If humorous stories can do this. teachers and others involved with children's reading need to know about appro- priate books that will do the job. Fenner20 in writing about humor in stories made two important points concerned with this writing. First. she said that humor is often the starting point toward a love of reading. Second. she felt that what children think is .ffiarmny changes with their age. She does think though that Children of all ages need pure nonsense. Finally. Hurley claimed the following regarding the role of literature in relaxing children. There can be no doubt as to the role literature may play in the building of a sense of humor and in the enjoyment of laughable events and situations. Teachers will do well to cultivate a sense of humor in children through the broad use of many humorous literary selections.... It is good to laugh even though we may not always be able to categorize the stimuli which bring it forth. Enjoyment of humorous situations provides a release from miserable little tensions which all 00 frequently beset folks of all ages.2 The opinions of the experts in the fields of ecingestion and psychology emphasise the child's need for hulllor and humorous literature. If there are such needs for children then there is a need for this investigation since A - 20Phyllis Penner. “Funny Is It?“ Libragy Journgl. 0. 1960. p0 1350 Zlhurley. gp. c1;.. pp. uzo. u27. 11 it deals directly with how children feel about humor and with one of the ways to add humor to a child's diet. namely through exposure to good humorous literature. To satisfy these needs it becomes necessary to know how children react to humorous selections and to what selections they do react favorably so that they can be helped to a well-balanced reading menu that will enable them to see the happy side 01' life as well as the ever-present gloomy moments. P urpose The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first PUrpose was to examine the reactions of 216 sixth-grade c>hildren to two general types of humor found in fiction wI‘itten for middle grade children. The two types of humor e“1ployed were humor based on physical actions and humor generated by verbal statements. The second purpose was to e3Camine selections of humorous literature for children and c: lassify the type of humor found in them. and to determine which type is more prevalent. Four short humorous selections were taken from four children's books. two representing humor developed by physical action. two humor based on verbal statements. These selections were taped. then presented to the groups Of children. Following each selection the children were a‘3ked to mark their feelings concerning the reading on a Wbitten instrument presented them. At the completion of 12 the four selections the students were asked to orally comment on the contents. Their verbal statements were taped. A set of questions was prepared to help elicit eXpressions of opinion from the boys and girls. Originally six stories instead of four were planned for the study. but the Pilot Study. which was conducted With eighteen students. six from each of one inner-city. one suburban. and one rural school proved six readings to be too long a period of concentration for the pupils. Reduction to four stories out the time for the experiment Per group of six students from about sixty minutes to approximately forty to forty-five minutes. In order to assure that the four selections read did indeed represent humor based on physical actions and hunor generated by verbal statements. five selections of 8flash type of humor were submitted to four experts in chil- dren's literature for analysis. All four of these people were teaching classes in Children's Literature at Michigan 3 tats University at the time the stories were submitted to them for examination. The three stories of each humor type tFlat received the highest ratings from these instructors were used in the original Pilot Study. The second part of the study entailed the reading. a"aluating. and categorizing of approximately 193 humorous ‘2pr children's books written for pupils at a middle grade 1°Vel. Originally 199 books were identified. but of this 13 total six could not be located by the investigator. Identification was accomplished by reading reviews printed in ngk List and Subscription Review from 1937 through 1971. Books with an interest level that generally varied from grade two through grade seven were picked. As a further Check on the identification process. the subject categories Were studied in the 1970 edition of Th9 Elementamm AL 925;! Collectign edited by Mary V. Gaver. Following the reading of the 193 books they were categorized according to type of humor. that is physical or verbal humor. They Were also categorized as to the kind of humorous book: that 13. collection of tales. folk tales. tall tales. contemporary l'l‘mlior. Finally the books considered most humorous were al'n'iotated . W Whenever one deals with human beings as in this a“flatly. (216 of them). and whenever the affective domain of 1earning is being considered. there are some assumptions that must be taken into consideration. These assumptions are presented below. 1. That sixth grade children are able to indicete when something is funny to them. 2. That the girls in the study will have matured sooner than the boys as psychologists claim. This would suggest a tendency to more advanced humor preferences. 14 3. That sixth grade children are able to recognize when something makes them happy - A. That the investigator can distinguish humorous books based on physical action from humorous books deriving their humor from words. W 1. humor based on words will be preferred by a higher percentage of sixth-grade children in rural schools than by children in inner-city schools. 2. humor based on words will be preferred by a higher percentage of sixth-grade children in suburban schools than by children in rural schools. 3. humor based on words will be preferred by a higher percentage of girls than boys. O. A majority of the children exposed to humorous stories will recognize that the stories made them feel happy. 5. A higher percentage of the humorous books reviewed will be based on action humor as opposed to word humor. $212fisrview The standard thesis organization is being utilized for this study. In Chapter Two the pertinent literature :1‘3 reviewed. This review has been divided into four com- ponents. namely: intellectual development of young people 2‘3 related to language power and vocabulary. psychological as1>ects of humor development. reading interests of children I‘elative to humor. and responses to humorous literature and 15 warmest makes the literature humorous. In Chapter Three a description is presented of the sample of youngsters employed in the study. The experimental design is explain- ed . and the hypotheses are stated. An analysis of the Study and chapter summary conclude Chapter Three. It is in Chapter Four that the findings of the study are listed and analyzed. The hypotheses are restated and their acceptance or rejection explained. Many of the actual oral and WI‘itten comments of the students who took part in this in- vestigation are recorded in the chapter. Chapter Four concludes with five summary statements and a chapter sum- mary. In Chapter Five. the final chapter. there is a general summary of the dissertation as a whole. a discussion 5—8 presented on the implications of the results obtained. concluding statements are given. and fourteen implications for further related research are suggested. Six appendices follow the regular chapters. These include copies of the selections recorded for pupil listen- ing. the evaluation sheet designed for use with the chil- dren's literature experts. the instrument used for recording the children's responses. the youngsters' written responses obtained from the evaluation instrument. the text of the oral comments made by the students following their listening to the humorous stories. and an annotation and categorize- tion of the humorous books identified and read for the S‘tudy. The last appendix named categorizes the books both 16 by the type of book read: that is. contemporary and fantasy. folk tales and tall tales. and humorous collections: and by kind of humor. namely action humor. word humor. or both action and word humor. There are two bibliographies. The first one is a compilation of the professional literature reviewed. The Second one lists all the books of wit and humor for middle grade students read for this study. Chapter Two Review of Literature The amount of research that has been completed with humor as related to Children's Literature and chil- dren is not abundant. Apparently this is a field in which much more might be done. For organizational purposes the review of the literature has been divided into four components. The first section is a category that concerns the intellectual development of young people as related to language power and vocabulary. The second deals with the psychological aSpects of humor development. the third reading interests or children relative to humor. and the fourth. the actual studies that have been completed regarding humorous 1literature including individual responses to this form of elllotional expression. tual ngelopment of chg People AsJelated t9 We e P wer and V cabul The first studies reviewed concerned language development in.chi1dren. These works were considered rfilevant to this study which deals with children's I‘Sactions to two types of humor. action humor. and verbal 1? .l P‘.’ w. A" '0 ‘Q “I 18 Imaxmnor. In order to react to word humor. youngsters would tateeed to have a certain degree of sophistication in the use of words. Thus studies that have dealt with children's growth in the use of language could be expected to shed some light on this phase of the investigation. Children in the inner-city are often behind in use (>1’ the so-called standard English due to many reasons such £153 cultural differences. poor schools. lack of books and reading in the home. and economic deficiencies which lead ‘tcs health problems such as frequent absences and lack of attention. White in Tactics for Teaching the Disadvantageg. ESaid. "The disadvantaged child's standard English has been ’létpothesized to be about fifty percent of the average middle class child."1 Rural families on the other hand do rlot fare much better although Clifford Archer in his study 1?€31t there was hope for them when he stated. Intelligent and effective leadership in rural areas. so much needed today. tends to emerge through the group activities made possible by a truly functional language program. The h-h Clubs and similar groups recognize the value of language facility by providing training 2 in public speaking as part of the program. \ lWilliam F. White. Tactics for Teachi the Dis- '§E§£!§ptaggg. (New York: Mc'Graw-hill Book Co.. 19715. p. 29. A. 2Clifford P. Archer. Elementagy Education in Rural ~451ggg. (New York: The Ronald Press 00.. 195 . p. 09. 19 Studies on education in rural areas. edited by Monroe3 which included the use of intelligence tests containing vocabulary items. brought lower scores for farm children than for village and urban boys and girls. 0n achievement tests involving skill in the use of language. Archer“ stated that farm youth generally gave evidence that their‘written language experiences had not been as numerous as the written language activities of children of nonfarm areas. Noore and King5 compared the achievement of rural and urban students who graduated in 1962 from a hickman High School in Columbia. They found that the urban children who spent twelve years in urban schools had a larger proportion of students in the upper fifth of class rank in the ninth grade. There was also a greater proportion of rural chil- dren. those who spent their first eight years of school in a rural school. in the lower two-fifths of the ninth grade class rank. At the end of twelfth grade there was no difference in achievement between the same groups. 3Walter S. Monroe (ed.). “Rural Education III. Elementary Schools.“ ¥gcyclgpedig of Educational Research. (New York: The hacmil an 00.. 9 O . pp. 1 2. l 3. “Archer. cit . p. 110. 5James C. Moore. and Paul J. King. “A Comparison of Rural and Urban Pupils on.Achievement.' 56erica's Other thldreg. ed.. George henderson (Norman: n versl y 0 Oklahoma Press. 1971). pp. 120. 121. 20 Concerning sex. Gesell said. The pa chology of a ten year old girl is signif cantly distinguishable from that of a ten year old boy of equivalent breedi and eXperiences. The girl has 'more po so. more folk wisdom. and more interest in matters pertaining to marriage and family. Intellectually it is the girls who are more interested in school work. In discussing sexual differences in children Strang said. “Since girls in general mature faster than boys and are apparently more interested in language. in the United States they tend to have larger vocabularies."7 Susan Ervin Tripp8 in a review of language develop- ment in children stated that the sound of words rather than their meaning is salient to the preschool child. She went on to say that recent connotative factor structures indicate that at age seven the factors of value. strength. magnitude. and activity already dominate as has been found with literate adolescents and adults in many parts of the world. In addition. warmth. tautness. sometimes novelty or salience 5Arnold Gesell. and Francis Ilg. The Child from Five :2 Top. (New York: harper. l9h6). p. 213. 7Ruth Strang. Intr ducti n tg_Child Stud . (New York: The Macmillan Co.. 1959). p. 276. 8SusanErvin Tripp. ”Language Development.” Review 9; Child ngglggmgnt Resggrgn. ed.. Lois W. hoffman and lartin L. hof Russell Sage Foundation. 1966). PF. 620 64. 650 3¢ee an to -,.. t ‘“on 5:11 A“ 21 appeared in the children's judgments. According to Tripp. judged similarities between words in various classes alter with age and as a result of these grammatical changes. the adult structure is achieved at least by age seven. In a detailed explanation on the nature of language acquisition in children. Ronald W. Langacker.9 explained that regardless of general intelligence. a child succeeds in mastering a complex system of rules and underlying representations that specifies an infinite set of sentences. Children may vary on minor points such as volubility or size of vocabulary. but they do not vary with respect to the significant structural features of linguistic organiza- tion. The works cited this far have dealt with language development in children. c c l cts of humor Develo ment Leo Graham10 in reporting on the maturational factor in humor defined the trait as any object or situation. or any part of an object or situation. which would elicit directly or indirectly. the language response. ”This is 9Ronald W. Langacker..L§!£!§82_§nd Structure. (New York: harcourt. Brace and World. Inc.. 1963). p. 239. loLeo Graham. ”The Maturational Factor in humor." ggurnal 9: Clinical Psycholggy. July. 1938. p. 326. r... :5.- I". n“ It at: Idtvl ' ’4‘. Mfu‘ ... 22 funny.” or some equivalent expression. his test studied the hypothesis that a relationship exists between the perception of humor and the level of growth and development of the personality. Sixty pupils. twenty each in grades one. three. and five. were examined using forty-four cartoons arranged in eleven sets of four. Each subject indicated which cartoon in each set he considered to be the funniest. The results revealed significant differences. The first graders tended to select cartoons which were markedly different from those selected by the other two grades. Graham concluded by saying that apparently there is not only greater homogeneity in the perception of humor among the first grade pupils but there is also a shift in the types of things perceived as funny with increased maturity and/or experience. The nature of the shift was beyond his study. In reporting on children's responses to humor. 11 affirmed that the maturing of a sense of katharine Kappas humor does indeed parallel an individual's intellectual and emotional development. Books with multiple levels of appeal must be carefully evaluated to determine the nature of this appeal for the different age levels that will constitute their audience. In discussing age levels and responses to "' D a-..” nKatharine Kappas. ”Children's Responses to humor." Critical A roach t Children's Literature. ed.. Sara Feanck (University of Chicago Press. 1937). PP. 67-77. 23 humor. Kappas alleged that much of the five year old's humor is provoked by his own motor activity. his physical posturing and play. he delights in slapstick humor. he also responds to anything strange or unusual. including misery or despair. thinking them funny or amusing. This child who is beginning to understand the relationship of objects and sizes and learning his numbers as well will find much humor in the exaggeration of each of these. Kappas was in agreement with what Graham discovered because when speaking of nine year olds she declared that far less homogeneity of humor is found among the nine year olds than among five year old children. At this stage the child's verbal humor is increasing. and he now partakes in the ready-made moron jokes. in puns. and in more complicated riddles. The degree of ”self-objectification” this child has achieved over the five year old permits him occasion- ally to accept jokes about himself expressed by others. By the age of fourteen. the considerable individual differences in sense of humor which are so evident among adults are already well formed. From this age on verbal wit and humor will become increasingly dominant. According to Mary St.Clair heater. ”The play on words does not appear as a type of joke in children under 2b ten."12 She found that a sense of humor among normal persons is unrelated to intelligence. Amongst preschool age children the surprise element ranked highest. For these youngsters. physical situations and calamities prevailed. Zigler. Levine. and Gould13 tested a group of child- ren in grades two through five with a series of fifty cartoons in an attempt to measure the development of child- ren's appreciation of humor. One of their conclusions was that the part played by cognition in humor should receive its clearest demonstration in those years of childhood characterized by evolving cognitive structures. As the child progresses from one cognitive 0r developmental level to the next. what is humorous and what is not should also manifest a meaningful progression. Their findings indicated that there is a general positive relation between cognitive ability and humor expression. Futhermore. they continued. although there can be little doubt that personality dynamics. interacting with the particular content of the 12Mary St.Clair hester. ”Variations in the Sense of humor According to Age and Mental Condition.” Psychological Bulletin. Dec.. 1933. p. 756. 13Edward Zigler. Jacob Levine. and Lawrence Gould. ”Cognitive Processes in the Development of Children's Appreciation of humor." Child Devel nt. Sept.. 1966. pp. 507-518. 25 humor stimuli. are important in determining the overt humor response. the positive relation between cognitive ability and humor expression from grades two through four makes it clear that cognitive ability should be recognized as another important factor. An unexpected finding in the study was the decrease in the mirth response between grades four and five. From this the investigators hypothesized that cartoons which make few cognitive demands are per- ceived as being less funny than those that are in keeping with the complexity of the child's cognitive apparatus. In commenting on children's humor. Ruth Strang affirmed. ”It seems quite clear that children's sense of humor parallels their intellectual and emotional develop- ment.'14 She stated that the humor of ten year olds seems to center around nonsense rhymes. comics. and caricatures. School children laugh about comical situations within their own experience. especially those having elements of incongruity. discomfiture of others. and grotesqueness such as clowns. minstrels. and performing animals. Strang gave as an example one metaphysically minded eleven year old girl who wrote. ”I think the funniest thing was that I was taught that God is everywhere. for if he is everywhere. he would be fat and thin. and long and wide."15 _- fl ‘— 1“Ruth Strang. IntroductiogHtp Child study. (New York: The Macmillan 50.. 1959). p. 393. 15.1.1211“ 1» 393. 26 .Ernest harmsl6 distinguished three stages which juvenile humor passes through before it reaches maturity. The first stage according to harms lasts until the age of three. At this level humor is expressed in direct response to any pleasing approach. During the next two or three years. anything that appears unusual to the child calls for laughter. he may laugh at a fat person or someone with a black eye. In other words he sees humor but he does not personally feel it. The third stage is the school age. At this point in time the child no longer laughs about a fat woman as such but about the situations in which she may be involved. The humor now contains something of the child's own experiences. harms states that only rarely does one find traces of humor of a verbal character in this period and that real humor does not appear in the juvenile make-up before adolescence appears. Real humor is defined as the ”great humor” which is always based upon a deep life experience. a profound understanding of facts. especially the tragic and problematical facts of life. and a wisdom enabling one to accept them kindly and wholeheartedly. In discussing humor development in young children Gesell and Ilg17 declared that the three year old is 1éErnest harms. “The Development of humor.” Journal 2; Abnormal and Social Psycholggy. July. l9h3. pp. 357-359. 17Gesell and Ilg. o cit . pp. 285. 286. 27 already refining the gross motor humor of the two year old. his humor is becoming more verbalized. he enjoys the verbal play of tossing a word like "golly" back and forth with someone who will play with him. At five years he enjoys slapstick humor. more or less verbalized. which he himself initiates. The age of six is not notably a humor age. but at seven he somewhat ineptly perpetrates hackneyed jokes. he seems to sense the social aspect of humor and will delibrately do something ludicrous in order to get a laugh. but he is still bound somewhat by his subjectivity. Gesell and Ilg say the eight year old has a high sense of humor. he likes to catch a teacher in a mistake. but still dislikes humorous references to himself. particularly at home where he has a status and prestige to protect. At nine and ten the humor sense. as it matures. becomes more robust. The child can now perpetrate practical jokes and even take one on himself. he may even be able to laugh off teasing which is an excellent achievement. In studying the sense of humor in childhood and adolescence. A. Laing concluded that the development of a sense of humor was found to run parallel with general intellectual and emotional growth.18 18A. Laing. ”The Sense of humor in Childhood and Adolescence.” gitish Journal of Educational Psychology. 9 (1939)! P. 2010 u ,- :4 '4 28 In an attempt to estimate a person's sense of humor as well as his other individual characteristics Raley and Ballman19 developed a scaling technique using cartoons as the material for judgment. Captioned humorous cartoons were submitted to the senior author by girls from the sixth to the twelfth grades inclusively. They were sorted into eight categories that were distinct and unique in them- selves. The categories were: Men. Women. Romance. Chil- dren. Cars. Animals. Sports. and Soldiers. Two forms of a scale resulted from the sortings and judgments of 100 girls who were of the same age and grade ranges as those listed above. Approximately 700 more girls helped to further standardize the scale. The most tentative conjecture based on current findings. according to Raley and Ballman. was that. concerning the matter of humor as well as all other personality traits. there are definite and well-defined differences that occur due to adolescent development. Florence Justin20 completed a study of laughter provoking stimuli with ninety-six children. twelve boys and 19Sister Agnes Lucille Raley. and Christine Ballman. “Theoretical Implications for a Psychology of the Ludicious.” Jgugngl of Socigl Psychology. #5 (1957). pp. 10-23. 20Florence Justin. ”A Genetic Study of Laughter Provoking Stimuli.” Child Develgpgent. June. 1932. pp. llh-l36. 29 twelve girls at each yearly age level from three through six years. They were chosen from homes representing a cross section in socio-economic status of the Minneapolis population. These children.were checked for reactions to theories of surprise and defeated expectation. of superiority - degradation. of incongruity or contrast. of play. of relief from strain. and with the social smile as a stimulus. The results of the study showed an increase in responsiveness to the fifth year of age. then a decrease in the sixth. This change with age was not due to a sudden shift in the relative effectiveness of one type of situation in eliciting responses. Actual situations. in mean seconds of response. were the most effective at all age levels. At three. four. and five years. the verbal presentation was next in effectiveness. By the sixth year. pictorial pre- sentation was more effective than verbal. Other conclusions were that girls smile more than boys but boys laugh more than girls. that there was greater responsiveness of the children in the upper occupational group and that a positive relationship between 1.0. and laughter response was evident. Roberts and Johnson21 worked with twenty-eight 21A110n r. Roberts and Donald M. Johnson. “Some Factors Related to the Perception of Funniness in humor Stimuli.“ ougggl 0; Social Psychology. Aug.. 1957. PP: 57-63- 30 mental hospital patients and tested two hypotheses concerning humor with them. The first derived from the theories of Freud and G. h. Mead was that the perceived funniness of a humor stimulus is positively related to the degree to which the perceiver is able to empathize with the characters depicted in the humor stimulus. The second was that a positive relation exists between the degree of reality contact of an individual. and that person's perception of humor stimuli as being funny. The investigators found that individuals who rank cartoons as being particularly humorous tend to be able to assume the roles of the cartoon characters to a significantly greater extent than persons who do not perceive the humor stimuli as being so funny. It was also found that those persons who rated the cartoons as being the funniest responded with significantly more laughs and smiles than those who did not derive so much pleasure from thQMe In a study of the relation of sense bf humor to intelligence completed with seventy high school freshmen girls. Cunningham concluded. From the results of this one experiment. it appears that humor as measured by the Raley Cartoon Test is not related to intelligence as measured by the Thurstone Test of Mental Alertness. These findings. however. cannot be generalized to conclude that no relation- ships exist between sense of humor and intel- ligence: other studies. using different ' instruments to measure sense of humor and intelligence with varied populations would 31 have to be attempted beforg such conclusions could be made. 2 So Cunningham's study does not agree with many previous studies made on the relationship between humor and intelligence. A final work examined for this section was a review of experiments on humor by Ruth Perl. Perl observed. Neither intelligence nor personality type appears to be closely connected with appreciation of humor in general. but catagcries of jokes that are preferred seem to be influenced by these factors. College students appreciate naive jokes or those based on the mental inferiority of another. while the surprise element ranks high with children. Extroverts prefer jokes based on superiority of the exposure of unrevealed thoughts. while introverts prefer jokes having to do with repressions such as fear of sex. Individual differences in affective tone and emotional connections influence judgments of humor. Physiological states seem to influence and be influenced by humor. Suggestion. no matter whether given to suggestible persons in the form of positive suggestions of humor or given to normal subjects by the social facilitation in a group situation. seems to play :3 important part in judgment of humor; 22Ann Cunningham. ”Relation of Sense of humor to Intelligence ' qgggg; of Social Psychqlogy June 1962. pp. 116-1%. ' ' 23Ruth Eastwood Perl. “A Review of Experiments in huggr.23:ho Psychqlggiggl Bullgyip. Dec.. 1933. pp. 7 ‘7 o 32 Rggding Interests of Children Relgtiyemtoihumgg The classic study in this area was the huge task done by George Norvell. Whgynggy§,and=§irls Like to Read.2u Approximately 2b.000 children and 1.200 teachers partici- pated in Norvell's survey. The report was based upon 960.000 expressions of opinion by more than 24.000 child- ren in grades three to six. This particular work was a follow-up of Norvell's earlier check done for grades seven to twelve. For grades three to twelve. the conclusions of this monumental task are based upon more than four million expressions of opinion from 124,000 children. The study as a whole was in process more than twenty-five years. Caution should be taken in interpreting these results which were garnered in a period of time extending over so many years. In twenty-five years people change. ideas change. things change. life changes. Results would be affected. Regarding humor as an interest factor Norvell found several pertinent points for this writer's study. In every age classification. the bright girls. (I.Q. better than 110). rated humor higher than did the students in general. Bright boys were also more favorably disposed to humorous selections than the boys in general. however the bright boys rated 2“George Norvell. What Bo s and Girls Like to Read. (horristown. N. J.: Silver Burdett Co.. 1953). PP. 1+. 43:179. 33 only one classification (subtle humor. prose). higher than all girls. and this by a very small margin. More specifically concerning children in grades four to six. selections of the following classifications were about equally enjoyed by the two groupings of children. superior and all: myths and legends. selections concerned with adventure. patriotism. home and mother. humor (except limericks). and animals. Of the many conclusions that Norvell drew from his efforts the following is the most significant to this dissertation. “When children of all ages are considered. humor is the most enjoyed characteristic of reading materials."25 Gates and Peardon26 surveyed the reading interests of 2.332 pupils in grades one to three in twenty-four schools. using 268 selections. They found that 72.3% of the pupils favored narrative materials as compared to 27.2% for informative type selections. Thirty selections were read to the children in various pairings until each selection had been compared with the others a sufficient number of times to yield a fairly reliable measure of the children's interest in it in comparison with the field as a whole. Six varieties of material were used. They were 251bid.. p. 183. 26Arthur Gates. Celeste Peardcn. and Ira A. Sartorius. “Studies of Children's Interests in Reading." Elementagy School Journa . hay. 1931. pp. 662. 663. listed as follows: 1. Family and personal experiences. 2. Unusual experiences. adventures. 3. Funny and humorous #. Fanciful. unreal. supernatural 5. heroic. patriotic 6. Informational Ratings obtained from the results placed humor in fourth position among the story elements liked by the children. Ahead of humor came the elements of surprise. liveliness. and animalness. Ten other categories followed humor in the rankings. These writers concluded by saying that no one quality. in and of itself. was responsible for the interest which the children showed in the thirty selections. Evangeline Malchow27 presented ninety reading titles to 1.387 junior high school boys and girls in LaCrosse and Oconto. Wisconsin. For the boys. humor came in eighth position as a choice behind animals. adventures. mischief and trouble. new lands. war and fighting. real boys. and much action. Malchow stated that an appreciation of humor was most frequently mentioned by pupils whose intelligence quotients were 110 or more. Itis interesting to note that among these boys mystery stories came in fourteenth place and sports stories sixteenth. The girls 27Evangeline Malchow. "Reading Interests of Junior high School Pupils.“ The School Review. March. 1937. pp. 176-182. 35 rated humor number six following mysteries. home life. everyday life. adventures. mischief. and trouble. They placed animals fourteenth. school fifteenth. and action twelfth. Regarding the girls lalchow claimed that humor appeals more definitely to girls of high intelligence quotients than to boys of similar ability. Few girls of lower than average ability mentioned humor as a favorite element. Witty. Coomer. and hc'Bean28 conducted an interest study in six Chicago public schools of mixed socio-economic class and in four schools in three smaller cities. A total of 7.879 school children were involved. A written question- naire was given those pupils in grades four through eight which provided space for the youngsters to list the five books they had read and enjoyed most during igua - 1945. The selections listed were ranked according to the frequency of mention. The results showed fun and nonsense type books ranking on top for students in grades four through six. but dropping out of the lead with the seventh and eighth grade pupils who preferred adventure. sentimental stories. animal stories. and sports-type books. 28Paul Witty. Ann Coomer. and Della Ic'Bean. ”Children's Choices of Favorite Books: A Study Conducted in Ten Elementary Schools.“ £22£D§1 gf’Educhtional W. 19%. pp. 266-27 . 36 The purpose of Ruth c. Smith's investigation29 was to determine how nearly the interest categories found in basic preprimers and primers designed as an introduction to reading for first grade children matched the reading interests of these children as evidenced by their "free choice” selection of reading material from the library. The 113 first grade children participating in the investiga- tion withdrew 556 books in fourteen library visits. The five interest categories which ranked the highest in the children's free-choice reading were: humor - Fantasy. Real Animals. Nature - Science. holidays - Birthdays. and Fairy Tales. humor scored highly in all the studies reviewed. Respgnggg t9 humorous Litgratuggaghgmhhat Makes-hhg Literature humorouq. Ruth Wells30 did a study of tastes in literature among students of junior and senior high school. Four types of humor were used by Wells: slapstick-boisterous. predica- ment caused by an accident: absurdity. incongruous situations: satire. ridicule of customs. institutions. usually through exaggeration: and whimsy. the presentation of truth. often 29Ruth C. Smith. ”Children's Reading Choices and Basic Reader Content.“ lemghtagy ghglygh. March. 1962. 30Ruth Wells. ”A Study of Tastes in humorous Literature Among Pupils of Junior and Senior high School.” Johyhgl of4§ducational Research. Oct.. 193“. pp. 81-91. 37 ludicrous or incongruous in an imaginative or fantastic way. Parts were taken from books considered humorous by children in the writer's experience as a teacher. from books included in high school reading lists. from collections of humorous literature. and from books and articles sug- gested by many educators and students. Forty samples were chosen. There were ten groups of selections. each consist- ing of one sample of each of the four types of humorous selections. and these were arranged so that the selections in each group were similar. The students were told to scale the selections in each group one. two. three. four as indications of the ones they liked best. second. third. and least. The selections were presented to #00 pupils in grades seven. nine. eleven and twelve. Pertinent results obtained included the following: In all grades absurdity was the favorite type of humor. slapstick second. satire third. and whimsy fourth. The taste for slapstick varied little through the grades. absurdity decreased slightly. while satire and whimsy increased as the students grew older. The pupils from a higher cultural level showed greater appreciation for satire and whimsy. less taste for slapstick and absurdity than those in the lower cultural level. Except for slight variations in ninth grade. the girls appeared to like slapstick and absurdity less and satire and whimsy more than did the boys. As far as this study was concerned. the grade in school and social background 38 were shown to have more relation to tastes in humorous literature than did mental ability or social adjustment. From this Wells implied that it becomes the teacher's opportunity to lead towards a broadening of the apprecia- tions of pupils with fewer hone privileges. An investigation of laughter was carried on in certain schools of New York City with pupils in grades three to six by Brumbaugh and Wilson.31 Through administra- tion of a preli-inary questionnaire and a check list sheet called “A Funny Test” given to 800 children. the investi- gators attempted to find out what things were funny to children and why they thought certain things funny. After examination of the results it was concluded that there is little doubt that many undetermined factors were operating in the responses of the children. and even in the case of the sinplest and most general incitors to laughter. probably different factors appealed to the risibles of different children. The third dissertation reviewed for this chapter was the study done by Dianne Manson32 which was written on children's responses to humorous situations in literature. 31Florence Brumbaugh and Frank Wilson. “Children's Laughter.” eggngl 9f Genetic Psychology. Sept.. 19b0, pp. 3-290 32Dianne Ionson. "Children's ReSponses to Humorous Situations in Literature.” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Minnesota. 1966). pp. 139-153. 39 Manson used 635 St. Paul. Minnesota fifth graders as her subjects. They were asked to reSpond to five types of humor; humor of character. of surprise. the impossible. of words. and of situations. The instrument used had four different forms. Form one was unstructured. The children were asked to write their own ideas of why they thought a particular selection was funny. Forms two. three. and four used true - false and multiple choice items for responding. Each child had seven selections to read. The reading level of each selection was no greater than fourth grade with a total reading and testing time of about fifty minutes. The test length was planned to coincide with the estimated length of the average reading period in fifth grade.' The schools which the children attended were selected by a‘ stratified random sample based on socio-economic level. The criteria used for judgment of this level were income of family and the number of years of schooling the parents had; Important conclusions drawn from the study are listed as follows: 1. Differences in the responses made by children in structured and unstructured treatment groups were greater for boys than girls. Boys more frequently judged selections humorous when they were presented in a structured situation. 2. Differences in the responses of children in structured and unstructured treatment groups were greater for the low socio-economic groups. Children in the low #0 socio-enonomic group more often judged selections humorous when they were presented in a structured situation. 3. A greater percentage of children in the low and middle reading groups as compared to the high group judged excerpts humorous when they were presented in a structured situation rather than when they were presented in an unstructured situation. a. Children in the high intelligence group more often judged excerpts humorous than did children in the middle or low intelligence sections. 5. There were few differences in the choices of categories of humor made by the groups studied. Significant differences in choices of humor among groups were most often explained in terms of the differences in patterns of group members rather than in terms of the category of humor in the selections chosen by the greatest percentage of members in each group. i 6. Children in the high socio-economic group and the high reading group were more alike in their choices of category of humor than were children in the other classes. ' 7. Choices of category of humor made by boys and girls did not differ significantly. 8. Responses to some of the selections indicated that a greater percentage of children in the low intel- ligence group and in the low socio-economic section chose humor of words more frequently than did children in the \ #1 middle and high groups. honson concluded that persons responsible for assessment of literary appreciation should be aware of the possibility that children's responses to literature will vary according to the type of item which is used to elicit the responses. Also teachers and librarians should be aware of the possibility that different children in a group will see different elements as being the reason for laughing. She claimed that teachers should present literature in such a way that the children will become aware of the meaning behind the wordsw An investigation designed to compare the relation- ship between the humor response of normal and mentally retarded children when matched on the basis of developmental age was completed by Donald Potter.33 More specifically. it was the purpose of this werk to determine if there was a significant difference between the humor responses of these children to two experimental tests. the "Children's Mirth Response Test” and the "Iovie Cartoon Inventory.” Forty children. twenty boys and twenty girls. with a developmental age of seven were employed in the investigation. In commenting on the interest in humor Potter felt that 33Donald R. Potter. "Response to Humor Stimuli of Normal and Retarded Children of Comparable Developmental Age.” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of South Dakota. 196?). pp. 1-9. #2 interest in the subject has been reawakened in the last few years. and that an advancement in theoretical under- standing of humor may be forthcoming. He went on to say that while later theories might become more simple. they will in all probability still be concerned with the basic factors of superiority. suddenness. insight. incongruity. surprise. relief. and surplus energy. In discussing the relationship of humor to intelligence. Potter stated. "In summary. the early research evidence concerning the rela- tionship between humor and intelligence was inconclusive."3u Another relative point made by Potter was that there is a general consensus that a sense of humor is at least in part a result of experiential background and that it shows evidence of change and growth throughout the developmental period.35 Conclusions drawn by Potter as a result of his work with the forty South Dakota children are summarized as follows: 1. It would appear that normal and retarded children when matched on developmental age. respond similarly to silent moving picture cartoon sequences. There appear to be no significant differences in the amount of facial mirth response shown nor in the comprehension of silent moving ”Dale.” pp. 25. 26. 35.1.2119... p. 29. “3 picture cartoon sequences between normal and retarded children. 2. The factor of intelligence appears to have no material effect upon the facial mirth response to nor on the appreciation of picture cartoons. 3. The factor of intelligence appears to have a material effect upon the humor comprehension of picture cartoons. Potter's principal conclusion drawn from his results was that apparently normal and retarded children express their appreciation of picture cartoons in similar fashion.36 In an attempt to find out what circumstances and situations fourth grade children. who are comparatively slow readers. consider funny. Louisa B. Merchant37 asked a group of mainly Italian-American and Black-American children to tell what was funny about a number of books to which she exposed them and to explain why they thought those parts funny. By analyzing the children's reports Merchant classified the funny situations as follows: 1. Situations which the child himself had experienced 3§l2igi. pp. 72. 73. 37Louisa B. Ierchant. ”Children's Laughter." Elementary English Review. Jan.. 19uo. pp. 15-17. 27. and in which he could readily imagine himself acting in the same manner. No matter how unusual the circumstance. how- ever. it must have a happy ending or in the child's mind it ceases to be funny. 2. Situations in which animals. birds. or insects did things the children never expected them to be able to do. situations in which animals acted or spoke like human beings. 3. Situations including an unexpected outcome. such as rain at a picnic or a sudden change in action. Again a happy ending is needed. u. Some found any action of either children or animals funny which was exaggerated. but preferred it was not too highly imaginative. 56 Any stories of toys that were animals and had exciting eXperiences that were within the grasp of the child's imagination. Merchant concluded that by placing before the child a wealth of humorous literature his desire for something funny will be satisfied and he will be less likely to seek his chance to laugh in the comics and in the misfortunes of others. Elliott D. Landau38 investigated the relationship 38Elliott C. Landau. ”The Relationship Between social Class and What Sixth Grade Children Say is Funny in Selected Excerpts from Children's Literature." (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. New York University. 1955). pp. 1-8. 27-38. 87-93. 192. 193- 45 between social class status and what sixth grade children said was funny in selected excerpts from children's lit- erature. Landau's study was completed with 120 sixth grade children from three New York City and one Westchester schools. The youngsters were put into three social classes based upon paternal occupations. The first class included professionals. proprietors of large businesses. semi- professionals. and lesser officials of large business. Class two consisted of clerks and kindred workers. skilled workers. and proprietors of small businesses. The third class was made up of semi-skilled workers. unskilled laborers. and domestic servants. Half of each of the three classes of children heard the examiner read twenty-six selected excerpts from popular children's books while the other half read them silently. The children were then asked to rate the stories on a scale that was weighted from one to six points. one point given for a story considered not funny at all. six points for the funniest story ever read or heard. They were also asked to complete the follow- ing two statements: 1. This is 3333 I think was funny. The part.where 2. This is ghy I think it is funny. It was funny because . Landau listed the following conclusions as a result of his work: 1. The children in the study reacted to humorous #6 material in a significantly more positive way when they listened to it read as compared with reading it to them- selves silently. 2. Children in Social Class I reacted more 'positively than those in Class II. those in Class III more positively than Class II children. 3. There were no significant differences between the reaction of the children in Classes I and III. 4. The children of Social Class II consistently rated individual excerpts lower than either of the other twO‘groups. 5. Neither sex. I.Q.. religion. or national back- ground produced any significantly different results. 6. The children's written explanations of why excerpts were funny were similar regardless of the social group to which they belonged. There was less difference between groups than within groups. 7. The children of all groups recognized ”incongruity" as a factor which made most excerpts funny. ”Impossibility.” "the unusual.” ”the feeling of superiority” also were given as reasons for funniness. 8. There was no apparent difference between the groups in the manner in which they expressed their reasoning. 9. Evidence indicates that when events or actions in stories differ from those in real life (when things are incongruous). the children were likely to think it very funny. (+7 Of a slightly different nature was the work of Glenn H. Skelton39 who did a study of children's responses to selected poems with a group of 270 fourth. fifth. and sixth grade students from two public elementary schools in Mill Valley. California. The pupils were of above average intelligence. reading ability. and socio-economic background. They gave free responses to four poems following their listening to and reading of them. The study examined the type of responses the children gave. the changes that occurred in the responses as the poems increased in difficulty. and the changes in the answers when checked with differences in intelligence. grade. reading ability. and sex. Results obtained by Skelton suggested that typical poems are harder for children than sometimes supposed. The subjects presented a response pattern dominated by a prosaic reiteration focused on the surface elements of the poem. followed closely by a type of response so subjective and intuitive that the intentions of the poems themselves were largely ignored. In general. the study suggested to the teacher. that since the subjects respond fairly comfortably to the poems. the problem lies in taking them beyond this point through improving their interpretive approach. This study seemed to particularly point out the need to encourage thechildren 39Glenn H. Skelton. ”A Study of Children's Responses to Selected Poems in the Fourth. Fifth. and Sixth Grades.” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of California. 1963). PP- 35-370 76‘850 #8 beyond an idiosyncratic ”reader connotative" approach to an interpretive “author connotative" approach. It suggested that the teacher must not only be aware of the children's thoughts and feelings about poetry. but that he must also be willing to evaluate and work toward improving their ability to interpret poetry. A conclusion drawn by Skelton concerning humor in poetry was that the research on child- ren's likes and dislikes in poetry suggested that children tend to like narrative and humorous poems. C. Heim"O in judging individual reactions to thirty- two jokes had his subjects check one of the following five humor ranks: not funny. slightly funny. funny. very funny. and extremely funny. The presentation of the jokes was accomplished by having some of them read to the participants while the rest were read by the twenty-one men and twenty- nine women involved. Twelve of the jokes were basically pictorial. twenty were written. Heim felt that the main result of the experiment was to make one exceedingly chary of setting up any rules on the subject of humor. and to allay the great temptation of classifying types of humor and senses of humor. According to him. it looked as if this task would merely involve a listing of individual jokes and individual people. “0C. Heim. ”An Experiment in Humor.” The British Journal of Pa cholo . 1936. 37. p. lh8-l6l. 49 Louise Omwake“1 also used a five category system which was used to determine student reaction to twelve jokes. Her scale ran from one point to five points for the following classes: among the poorest jokes I have heard. below average in humor. average in humor. above average in humor. and among the best jokes I have heard. Omwake hoped to discover whether the response to jokes is determined by the inherent humor of the jokes or by the eye-ear factor of presentation and whether there is a relation between intel- ligence and sense of humor. Ninety-four students in the second. third. and fourth years of high school made up the test population. One group of students was presented the jokes visually. the other orally. The results according to Omwake showed that the visual presentation promoted better comprehension of the jokes. The points of several jokes were not understood by a significantly larger percent of the students who listened to the jokes on a recording than by those who read the jokes. As far as the intelligence of the subjects was concerned. it was shown not to be a deter- mining factor in the comprehension of the twelve jokes used in the study. The categories used in these last two studies to judge reactions to humorous situations are similar to the 41Louise Omwake. “Factors Influencing the Sense of Humor.” hg Jgggngl of Social Psycholggy. Feb.. 1939. P. 93. 50 divisions for this investigator's dissertation. They are: not funny at all. not very funny. a little funny. funny. very funny. funniest I've heard. The final work reviewed for this section by Sister lary Cordelia Berding."2 was a critical analysis of repre- sentative humorous books written for children since the middle of the nineteenth century. She used seventy-five books in order to discover how authors of humorous books for children have managed their material so as to appeal to the reader's pleasure in what is ”funny”. The reading level of the books varied from first grade to sixth with some junior high books employed. Illustrations were not considered. The books were divided into two categories: 1.) those that contained sustained humor throughout and these were further sub-divided into books with a single plot versus those with a series of episodes: 2.) those that contained incidental humor. Examples of books representing these catagcries were: WM where the entire plot is funny. well-defined. and builds to a climax: £122; Longstockigg which contains a series of funny episodes and has no major climax: and‘fighpitgflill. a book in which the plot itself is “ZSister’Mary'Cordelia Berding. "Humor as a Factor in Children's Literature.” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of linnesota. 1966). pp. l-l6. 186-196. 51 not humorous. but which contains humorous elements and characters. Of the seventy-five books studied. Sister Berding found that the pattern of employing a single plot with sustained humor occurs most frequentlyp In forty-two of the seventy-five books this was found to be the case. Sustained humor on the other hand is seldom found in books for younger children. Separate books are published instead. taking into account the young child's short attention span. She also discovered that such factors as stupid blunders. absurd doings. incongruities. and exaggeration are the principal means used by authors to develop a humorous story. Surprisingly enough. traits of characterization were not used much to produce humor in the books analyzed. She felt it likely that children would rather read about the actions of characters than the descriptions of their appearance or behavior. Sister Berding listed the following criteria for a good humorous book: I; The author must conceive a plot that will hold the interest of the reader. 2. The plot may be realistic or fantastic but whichever is used it must be consistent. 3. The most frequently used way to produce a humorous story is the single plot with sustained humor throughout; 52 h. Incidental humor in a serious plot must form an integral part of the story. 5. The most effective types of humor upon which to build a humorous plot are absurd doings. stupid blunders of a character. incongruities or exaggeration. 6. Humorous incidents involve such factors as the embarrassment or discomfiture of someone. turning the tables. or a general confusion or hub-bub usually including some falling or tumbling about. 7. In a realistic story. none of the incidents should be so exaggerated that they become impossible. 8. The style an author uses is of great importance in producing a good humorous book for children. 9. The stylistic device which best produced humor in books for younger children is repetition of word. phrase. or sentence. A rhythmic pattern makes repetition even more effective. 10. When subtle humor. produced through implied meanings. is used in books for older children. it should be kind and gentle and never harsh or bitter. 11. The clever and original expressions of authors as well as play on words are effective stylistic devices for producing humor. 12; The best way to describe a humorous character for children is through a vivid and graphic description of his dress and features of his department. 53 13. Humorous qualities of'a character can best be inferred through the character's actions without the author actually describing them. m This chapter on the review of the literature was divided into four components: Intellectual Development of Young People as Related to Language Power and Vocabulary. Psychological Aspects of Humor*Development. Reading Interests of Children Relative to Humor. and Responses to Humorous Literature and What Makes the Literature Humorous. The first studies concluded that the disadvantaged child's use of standard English words is about fifty per cent of that of the average middle class child. that rural chil- dren do not fare well in written language and in general achievement in the elementary grades. and that girls in general are apparently more interested in language than boys. Language development was described as a very complex process that constantly changes as a child matures. Among the related research regarding the psychologi- cal aspects of humor development. there was general agree- ment that humor in children does proceed through orderly steps. and that it matures from the homogeneity of the pre-scheoler to a more diverse appreciation once the child enters school. The very young child. according to the sources. is really unable to appreciate humor of a verbal 54 character which.really doesn't develop until about the age of nine. This concept holds important implications for this paper. Cunningham"3 concluded from her study that humor was not related to intelligence. This was in opposi- tion to the findings of many other studies. She warned that her findings cannot be generalized to conclude that no relationship exists between the sense of humor and intel- ligence. Hester's“u findings agreed with Cunningham. that humor among normal persons is unrelated to intelligence. Humor when related to reading interests ranked very high in the investigations reported. Two of the studies related a correlation between high intelligence and a preference for humor. The last section regarding the responses of individ- uals of all ages from varied sociological and economic backgrounds to literature and what makes the literature humorous revealed many diverse points. Monsonu5 concluded that different children in a group will see different elements as being the reason for laughing. Brumbaugh and Wilson.“6 and Merchant“7 reached somewhat the same “3Cunningham. gp. cit. ““Hester. Q2. cit. “5Honson. gp. cit. “6Brumbaugh and Wilson. op. cit. “7lerchant. gp. cit. 55 conclusion. Wells“8 found that the grade in school and social background were shown to have more relation to tastes in humorous literature than did mental ability or social adjustment. According to Potter.“9 normal and retarded children expressed their appreciation of picture cartoons in a similar fashion. Landauso discovered that the higher and lower social class children reacted more positively to humor than did the children from the middle class states. In a study of children's responses to selected poems Skeltonsl summarized that children tend to like narrative and humorous poems. Finally in an analysis of representative humor in children's books. Sister Berding52 found that the pattern of employing a single plot with sustained humor occurs most frequently but that sustained humor is seldom found in books for younger children. Cpncluging Spatements Several implications for this investigator's study are evident in the literature reviewed. They are summarized as follows: 48Wells. pp. cit. ugPotter. op. cit. 50Landau. op. ci . SISkelton. pp. ci . 52Berding. pp. cit. 56 1. Humor appears to mature in orderly steps. The age of nine was signified as the age that verbal humor begins to develop. The subjects of this investigation.were mostly eleven years of age. p 2. The interest studies listed humor as being popular with children. If this holds true. the children in this study should rate humor highly. 3. Several studies concluded that different children in a group will find different elements that make a story funny to them. M. One researcher reported that the children reacted more favorably to humorous studies when they heard the stories as opposed to when they read them. All the stories used in this present work were read to the children. 5. The subjects' sex did not appear to be a big factor in humor preferences. A direct analysis of this factor will be made in the dissertation. Chapter Three contains a description of the sample. operational measures. testables hypotheses. analysis section. and chapter summary. Chapter Three Design of the Study In Chapter Three the sample. the experimental design. the hypotheses. and analysis section are reviewed. The chapter describes a unique feature of the study. its dual purpose. the investigation of children's reactions to humorous literature and the review of the books themselves. It concludes with a chapter summary. The Sample The children involved in the study were randomly selected from three general types of schools classified by geographical location. Table 3.01 lists the pupil breakdown by school type. One sixth-grade class from each of six inner-city schools was involved. Six boys and six girls made up the population from each class. This made a total of seventy-two youngsters from inner-city schools. thirty-six boys and thirty-six girls. Two sixth grade classes from each of three schools made up the suburban subjects. These six classes furnished six boys and six girls apiece. totaling seventy-two students in all. Five rural schools were employed in the study. One sixth-grade class came from each of four schools. The fifth rural 57 58 TABLE 3.01 SCHOOL TYPES. AND NUMBERS OF PUPILS IN SCHOOLS ... r;— Number Rooms Boys Girls Total Typo Schools School Room Room Per School of For Per Per Students Inner-City 1 1 6 6 12 2 l 6 6 12 3 1 6 6 12 4 1 6 6 12 5 1 6 6 12 6 1 6 6 12 Sub-totals 6 6 36 36 72 Suburban l 2 2(6; 2(6) 2“ 2 2 2(6 2(6) 24 3 2 2(6) 2(6) 2# Sub-totals 3 6 36 36 72 Rural 1 2 2(6) 2(6) 2“ 2 1 6 6 12 3 1 6 6 12 u l 6 6 12 5 1 6 6 12 Sub-totals 5 6 36 36 72 TOtali 1b 18 6 6 216 59 school contributed two sixth-grade classes. The six rural school classes altogether had seventy-two pupils involved. the same total as in the innerbcity and suburban schools. The six inner-city schools were located in Detroit's central city. These schools had essentially the same features: namely: a location in poor. run-down. but high population density areas: very old buildings that had been in service upwards of fifty years: small and crowded black- top play areas: and a great racial mix including Afro- Americans. Polish-Americans. Chicanos. Greek-Americans. American Indians. and Maltese. Six boys and six girls. all sixth graders. were randomly selected from each of the six schools. seventy-two students in all. The twelve students from each school all came from the same classroom. Table 3.02 summarizes the ages and numbers of years in the present schools for these boys and girls. Their ages varied from a low of 136 months to a high of 176 months. a difference of forty months. A majority of the students were in the 1&0- 150 month age bracket. As to years in the present school. the figures ranged from a low of one-half year (one student). to a high of seven years (twelve students). Forty pupils had spent six years in their respective schools. The second group of schools was suburban in nature. Three schools. all with at least two rooms at each grade level were used in this study. The three schools were in Walled Lake. Michigan. a short drive by expressway from 6O I 1 ! ‘l‘l'-|ll O men s m Hes m m osa m m oma o a mod n : mna \ o m sea a m Hen e m mas o a and m m was m m and N m and o m and a m use 6 a use m u Had a m ore n a mas o s end a a one N a nos 6 2 sea a a mas o a was n a oea a a mas o a and m 2 mad a m use 6 x ooH o a nee a x and o a one o s was a s flea n a 35:05 Hoonom mom Amspsozv Hoonom Mom 35:33 Hoosom New 34 economm anaconom om< Pseudo.” mnaoosom 0&4 «momomm nuaoosom 5" name” an nude» 5 male» Hes o m can 6 m oea o a and o m was N a mas o 2 Has 0 m mas o m use o a med m m ans 0 m cad o x med 6 m ans 0 m osa m a ass 0 m Hes o m and a : mna o a sea N a --- s a me” o a mas o a use a a and o a mas o x cud o a mad 6 a med 6 s o a o a men H x osa o a and a m and a a was s : osa ~ m Amnesolv Hoonom New Amsvsoxv Hooscm New A2385 Hoomom mom om< vsomemm undocmom om< Psomomm mnaoosom omc vmomoum «laconom CH undo» fl.“ mkdofi fl.“ :NOM geomom EHOImmzzH zH magnum mom Aoomom azmemm zH mma mo mag: 02¢ mmo< No . m am am.ms Hausa some: mo.sm saacm suc> ac.os apHouucscH n.o s.~ m.mHma.sn 6.0: 0.0 «.4 s.cHHm.ss o.Hm s.o +5.0 m.o~ m.mm «.ms AHHIwwp . .H .m M.=.> .s.> .p .H .m .x.> .o.w1..= .H .m .m.>p auHouuoccH scoHaooHom HH< _ u . n Hm uschooHcm Humans: huo> I.D.> Hangman: 4.: «unouomuwucH I H a .H cschcoHcm Moss: sodvo< I omuo nova HHH< one I usom :o«pooaom noes: who: I szoa ow moou cop «ovum I conga :oavooaom hofisx who; I SPOODHHOB Bovcdnm one I 039 SOAHOOHom moss: soavo< I imam.scouw ammow I oco coavooaom Aw: .N moavfls wzflhdm: hmvh< Hook 50% can 30: .Nv Ann .H mmawwa w:HMMom hovk< doom 50% can 30: .Hv 039 92¢ uzo monBmea OB mmmzmz< mom mazmommm Qz< mmmoom 3 " , “6.00 Havoa M hand: no.wa anus: zho> um.oa Hausa n.o .H.m .m.om o.cs m.cH\q o.o. H.N w.w~wc.wa.w.om s.o H.~ n.nw+H.nslo.mH _ HHHcv . , l _ l t r‘ e h . l u 1 apnoouom H w 0 mm mme mm s o . n44 H: 4‘0“ c on H n as mm mm HHHHSVW.H..mH;t> 5J¥.=fl.Hg.: Jtfi.?? 5. H mslfimg. H93: ssoHpochm HH< n .m uccHoocHom . a .H usoHpocHom hams: no hamwm huo> swans Hausa _ zoos: Amwaos sass: aao> .sn csnusnsm o.o «.4 m.om n.os.m.sm 0.01 c.s m.mH,o.em c.mn o.o s.o.m.- m.c¢ m.o~ l HHHcv M r\ 4‘ . s w r H P p upcooaom o M NH cc H cHH 00H 1 oIH HH ma 9 as an _ o , H 4 mm so me HHH . 0: 0H O: wexo> _.O.DO>1 0: CH 1 ex exempo> 0: CH CZ Omo>4 ggpsm H r occHoocHom HH< n .N msmHsooHom w .a .HtoscHsocHom > H hand: huo> I.D.> rhmnognp v.9 .PsoaouuaucH I.H .hnna: u.x .hnnam “90> I.:.> cossHasco I- NH.s cHnsa 12? TABLE 4.13 INNER-CITY MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ONE AND TWO (1. How Did You Feel After Hearing Titles 1. 3?) (Heggy ReedI Inc. and Paddin ton Goes t Town) (2. How Did You Feel After Hearing Titles 2. 4?) (The Phantom Tollbooth and ghe Alligator Case) (Selections l. 4 Action Humor; Selections 2. 3 Word Humor) Very Happy. Happy. Indifferent. Unhappy. Very Happy Title Title; lean Mean One Four] 1. 4 Two fighree‘ 2. 3 rgAll School - A g 4 : g ; Boys .ue67 “.67 ’ ue67 1 4.00 4.50 i 4.25 : ueué Girls ,4.OOW4.§0 4.25 3e67 ue82;% “e7§<$_ue50 SChOOl - B 1 t . Boys 3.33 “.17 i 3.72 2.17 “e67 ‘ 3.42 ; 3057 Girls -3.12 - 4.50 338 ueOO 4.1] i “099 . 3097 Schogl - C _ T -, Boys ;4.67 . 4.83 4.75 4. 00 4.83 i 4.44 4.56 Girls 14333_i4.67 4.50 3.17 4.50 1 3.84 4 4.17 Schoong ' g T j Boys :3.50 5.00 ' 4.25 g 4.17 4.17 ; 4.17 3 4.21 Girls 24.67 3.00 g 4.84 ; 4.17 4.83 i4.30 4.67 School - 3‘ Y F ‘ . ? 7 Boy. “.83 “.50 I “.67 “.17 3.67 “.17 Girls 33.50 25.00 %4.75 i 2. 22 4.83 g 4.08 A 4.42 Schgol - Pg ? T g j Boys 3.50 3.83 - 3.67 ' 4.67 4.67 f 4.67 4.17 Girls 3.50 3.50 . 3.59 . 4.17 134.25‘fi 3.88 Total ~ ; i 1 (son 4. 08 50 ; 4. 29 ' 3.70 4.50 . 4.10 4.20 (Girls)~ 4. ”Q3 4. 33 5 4. 28 3.28 ;'4. 56 934.12 34.23.~ Total . ~ ' M68118 j ' g . , (All) 44. 06 4.52 g 4.29; 3.74 ;4.53 4.314 3 4.22 (1. How Did You Feel After Hearing Titles 1. 3?) Paddingtgn Goes to Town) (Henry ReedI Inc. and 128 TABLE 4.14 SUBURBAN MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ONE AND TWO (2. How Did You Feel After Hearing Titles 2. (The Phantom Tollbooth and The Alligator Case) (Selections 1. 4 Action Humor. Selections 2. 3 Word Humor) Very Happy. Happy. Indifferent. Unhappy. Very Happy Scores Weighted from 1.0 - 5.0 'TitleT Title? lean Title Title'r mean lean One iiPour , 1. 4 Two Three‘ 2. 3 All School - A ' r j - Boys 3.00 ‘ 3.50 = 3.25 3.00 ; 4.67 s 3.89 3.57 Girls 3e83 L e33 5 “.58 ‘ “.17 4 5.00 '_ “03“ “e“ School - Bi 4T 1 T . T Boys -4.17 f 4.17 = 4.17 ; 3.17 i 4.17 f 3.67 3.92 Girls 3.67 L 4.67 274.174. 3.67 ;.4.67 344.17 4.17 School =_Q r f I E , Boys 3.83 , 4.83 g 4.33 , 3.83 i 5.00 4.42 4.38 Girls 3.33 g 4.50 ; 3.92 5 3.00 4.17 A 3.59 3.76 School - D ' ' f 5 ‘ Boys 4.00 4.00 1 4.00 ' 3.50 i 4.83 4.17 4.09 Girls 3.00 L 4 17 1 3.59 2.67 I 4.17 3.42 3.51 Schgol - E S - T T Boys 5.00 3.67 4.34 , 4.50 ; 5.00 4.75 4.55 Girls 4.00 L 5.00 4.50 . 3.83 L 4.67 4.25 4.38 School - F ‘ E g Boys 4.50 ' 4.83 4.6? 3.50 , 5.00 4.25 4.46 Girls 3.83 , 3.50 3.6? 3.67 i 3.50 3.59 . 3.63 Total 5 T leans l (Boys) 4.08 4.17 4.13 3.58 | 4.78 4.18 4.16 (Girls) 3.61 4.36 .99 l 3.50 L 4.26 .3293 .96 Total ' leans 7 (All) .3.85 4.27 4.q§_; 3.54 j 4.57 4.06 4.06 129 TABLE 4.15 RURAL MEAN SCORES FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ONE AND TWO (1. How Did You Feel After Hearing Titles 1. 3?) (He Reed Inc and Paddi ton Goes to Town) (2. How Did You Feel After Hearing Titles 2. 4;) (The Phantom Tollbooth and Tge Alliggtor Case “— (Selections l. 4 Action Humor: Selections 2. 3 Word Humor) Very Happy. Happy. Indifferent. Unhappy. Very Happy cores Weighted from 1.0 - 3.0 'Title‘ Title mean Title? Title lean ) lean ' One AFour l. 4 Two 3 Three; 2. 3 All School - A‘ 5 Boys 3.50 3.6? 3.59 3.33 i 4.17 a 3.75 3.67 Girls 24.17 3.33 3.75 3.33 4.67 » 4.00 ‘ 3.88 - School - Bf > 7 BOYS 3.67 3.67 3.67 3.33 ' 4.17 3.75 3.71 Girls -3-00 3 4.83 3.92 33.00 4.00 43.50 3.71 School - C. ' . ' Boys 3.00 4.50 3.75 5 3.50 3 4.50 4.00 3.88 ..Eflsfls1_,14-00 .23.00 23.50 3igg_+_§,oo 3.50 3.50 School - 0 r . Boys .3-67 ‘ 4.33 ; 4.00 3.33 f 4.33 3.83 3.92 Girls :3.83 43.83 ._3.83,:_3.8322 4.17 4.00 3.92 Sghool - E j ' Boys 73.33 , 3.50 3.42 3.17 1 4.50 3.84 2.63 Girls .4.17 J 4.50 . 4.34 4.33 1 4.50 4.42 .3 Sghggl - F. 7 E ‘7 224 53-33 229 fist-g: 32.3 ms .2. .- 3'33 1‘ B 7 e L e i e '- e L e 1 o L e Total I T f T I? Y leans i i 3 ‘ 2 (Boys) 3.47 ; 4.11 ; 3.79 i 3.50 ’ 4.28 3 89 Q .84 (Girls) 3.70 * 3.94 5 3.82 9 3.5021 4.25 ;_2A882; 3.85 Total ’ ; E f f 7 leans ; I § ; 5 (A11) g3.59 : 4.03 3.81 5 3.50 : 4.27 i 3.89 - 3.85 130 pupils gave higher good feeling ratings for the word stories over the action stories. The rural boys scored word humor feelings 3.89 to 3.79 for the action. the girls favored the word type 3.88 to 3.82. Both inner-city boys and girls scored their feelings from the action stories higher than from the word stories. the boys 4.29 to 4.10 and the girls 4.28 to 4.17. The suburban scores were split. the boys rating word humor 4.18 to 4.13 for action. the girls 3.99 for action to 3.93 for word. These results generally complement what was discussed earlier in this chapter. In addition to checking a “feeling box” the students were asked to write in their own.w0rds what made them feel the way they did. Appendix D is a compilation of these (statements. Many of the written replies were similar to those given for rating the humor of the selections. Other comments were directly related to feelings as some of the following illustrates Well. I checked the way I felt because I couldn't tell whether I was happy or not so I put indifferent. It made me feel unhappy because all the peeple had a big dinner but one man had to eat his words or nothing. (Again Tollbooth story was not truly understood.) In the first story I marked happy because they found the turtle. It is hard to eat square feed. 131 The stories were kind of funny and brightened up the day a little. The story number two had a happy ending. The stories were funny and made the day brighter. The second story. (Tollbooth). I really didn't understand. I felt very happy because it isn't everyday you see a man eat like that. It wasn't really the stories. I was feeling ”indifferent" when they were played. During the taped discussion period the youngsters were asked how they thought the reading of humorous books affected the way people felt after reading them. A few of the rather revealing comments are reproduced here: We had a teacher last year who made jokes. We learned a lot. You need funny books because all your life will be settling down. Puts you in a better mood. After reading a sad book you feel sad. Some people would feel good. some wouldn't. They make you feel better. To relax. read humorous books. The figures cited in Tables 4.12. 4.13. 4.14. and 4.15 led to the acceptance of the fourth hypothesis. 132 Part II. Hypothesis Pertaining to Analysis of the Humorous ChildrenflggLiteggture. A higher percentage of the humorous books reviewed for the investigation would be based on humor of action rather than humor developed by words. The final hypothesis had to do with the 193 humorous books identified. then read for the study. It was assumed that this investigator was competent enough to distinguish whether the type of humor employed in the books read was based upon the words used by the characters in the stories or upon some physical action such as stupid blunders. incongruities. general confusion. tumbling about. and the like. It was contended that most of the humorous books written for middle grade children would be based on action type humor. This was eXpected since it is taken for granted that books are generally written to appeal to various age classifications. Child psychologists have stated that humor does go through developmental stages in a child's growth. and that humor of a verbal character isn't really appreciated by a youngster until he is at least nine years old. So the books should reflect this knowledge. The figures enumerated in Table 4.16 and graphed in Figure I. definitely affirmed the hypothesis. 0f the 174 books read that were considered by the reviewer to truly contain a good degree of humor. it was found that 78.7fl were basically 133 TABLE 4.16 RA! TOTALS AND PERCENTAGES OF BOOKS ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF HUIOR PRESENT Raw Totals W Type of Humorous Basically Basically Elements of Action Books Humor of Humor of and Word Humor Action J Words Contemporary and 106 3 8 ‘ 17 Fantasy i ; Folk Tales. 22 % O 7 0 Tall Tales ! Collections 9 ‘ 3 i 1 Not Recommended 18 i l 2 0 ”WWW Totals 155 i 12 _l 26 Percentages for Recommended Books Type of Humorous Basically Basically Elements of Action Books Humor of Humor of and Word Humor Action Words Contemporary 5uo9 “o1 8o8 Fantasy Folk Tales. 11.4 0.0 0.0 Tall Tales Collections 4.? 1.6 4.7 Not Recommended 9.3 0.5 0.0 NUMBER OF BOOKS 13“ FIGURE 1 RAW TOTALS OF HUMOROUS BOOKS ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF HUMOR PRESENT 160.g_ ’ 152; 1 13 Not Recommended ‘ 140. as Humorous «Jr—...”. P9i Collections 120. égzg Folk and 7 ;Jg, Tall Tales ; Q.’ :3 1; J‘ 100. ?L;;; VIOBW Contemporary rim? and 60 o A 1 f" . .1 40. Not Recommended ' l as Humorous ._§§_l 20. : 9, Collections Collections :1?" Congegpoiary H ; an an asy 0. 833883283? 7. _ Humor Humor Action of of and Word Action onrds Humor 135 action humor stories. 6.3fi were word humor. and 15.0% contained elements of both kinds of humor. The raw totals in Table 4.16 show that 137 books were read that were basically action humor types. Examples of this type included Alphonse -vghat Bearded One by Natalie Savage Carlson. the hilarious story of a bear that is passed off as a human by his master and Pippi Goes on Board by Astrid Lindgren which is the wild tale of an orphan girl who always does just as she pleases. Pippi's wild adventures include her going on a crazy shopping spree during which she buys all the toys in a toy store. Table 4.16 shows a total of eleven books considered basically word humor stories. A fine example of this category is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster which is rich in its use of words to amuse. Samples of word humor employed are a ”light” meal consisting of shafts of colored light and a ”square” meal composed of steaming squares of all sizes and colors. Another is The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon. (I Mean Noel). by Ellen Raskin. a book that makes an innovative use of words to both amuse and mystify. In this story the simple word grape takes on a vulgar meaning as the voice cried. ”Grape. Mrs. Carillon. There should be a law." "What does grape mean?” her companion asked. "You can imagine what such filth means. It's obscene. that's what it is. foul and obscene." 136 Twenty-six of the books contained ample elements of both action and word humor. In this category were books such as Paddingtonggoes to Egan by Michael Bond which contains lots of tumbling about and a great play on words through the use of antonyms and The Limerick Trick by Scott Corbett which uses rhyming words for fun along with bumbling antics. Young Kirby Maxwell. hero of the story. got into trouble with his tough friend Bumps when he answered Bumps's question about a hammer by saying. ”Try using your bean instead: It's big and it's thick. and it's hard as a brick. so bang in the nails with your head.” In addition to the books mentioned that were based on a single plot with sustained humor. a number of humorous collections were read too. Of these. nine were basically composed of action humor. three word humor. and nine contained elements of both types. The action type included The [ggld's Most_1ggthfulghan by Harold W. Felton. a collection of wild tales actually told to Felton by Ed Grant. In one tale Ed caught a tame trout that followed him around like a dog. It got so used to living out of water that one day it fell into a pond and drowned. .9222 the Hodja by Alice Geer Kelsey is a set of Turkish tall tales about the Hodja. (teacher. master. or elder). and his many escapades. The Hodja has many escapades such as the time he shot his own coat with an arrow because he thought it a robber. and his caring for a pumpkin which he thought 137 to be a donkey egg. Only three collections were identified that were based mainly on word humor. One of these was Katherine Love's A Little Laughter. which is a book of humorous poems including some by Ogden Nash and Eleanor Farjeon. A sample poem was "A Sleeper from the Amazon.” which goes. A sleeper from the Amazon Put nighties of his gra'mazon The reason. that He was too fat To get his own pajamazon. Those collections containing both types of humor were nine in number. An example of this category was figmo the Rabbit by Hugh Sturton. a number of comical African folk tales centered around gomo the Rabbit and how he tricked his fellow animals. Zomo arranged a hilarious tug-of-war between the hippos and the elephants. and the best part was that they didn't really know what they were doing. Helen Smith's Laughing Matter has stories with lots of action and others that depend upon the wording for their jollity. One type of humor in this book is illustrated by the following limerick. A diner while dining at Crewe Found quite a large mouse in his stew. Said the waiter. Don't shout And wave it about. Or the rest will be wanting one too! It should be added at this point that the number of humorous books available for middle graders is small indeed 138 in comparison to books of other types. During the discus- sion period. the boys and girls were asked if they read many humorous books and if many were available. The answers from the students in all the school classifications were practically the same. Over and over again they claimed that few humorous books were available and those that were. were designed for primary children. A few of the sharpest replies made by the children are listed below: There aren't many humorous books. It's not the style. Publishers. all they make is sex books and books like that. That's the style today. Can't find many books. Would like to see more funny ones. Can't find too many. About the only funny books are the comics. Should be more books in our language. Anything that's funny has maybe twenty-six pages and words about that big. (Used fingers to illustrate very small words.) The humorous books available for the middle grade child are generally based on a physical action of some kind. Hypothesis number five. ”A higher percentage of the humorous books reviewed for the investigation would be based on humor of action rather than humor developed by words.” was therefore accepted as stated. 139 Mary Statem _ Based upon the information obtained from the written instruments used with the subjects in this study and from their oral comments made to the investigator. the following statements have been formulated: 1. In this investigation the inner-city youth showed the most over-all appreciation and enthusiasm for humor. and the rural youth the least. 2. In this study the inner-city youth showed the strongest liking for physical type humor. the least for word humor. while the rural youth showed a slight preference for word humor over the suburban students. 3. Sex did not appear to be a factor in humor preferences. 4. The hearing of humorous stories did have a tendency to make the majority of the youngsters feel good. 5. Most of the humorous books reviewed were indeed based upon physical action as opposed to word humor. Chapter Summapy The results obtained from working with 216 youngsters and reading 193 humorous books were applied to the five hypotheses formulated for this study. The results as stated in this chapter are summarized below: 1. The first hypothesis that the sixth-grade children from rural type schools would favor word type 140 humor over action humor by a higher percentage than the inner-city youth was accepted. The rural youth showed a 36.l$ preference for word humor compared to 27.nfl of the inner-city boys and girls choosing word humor. 2. The second hypothesis said in effect that a higher percentage of suburban youth than rural youth would choose word humor. This was rejected as actually 36.1% of the rural youth selected word humor as compared to 35.4% of the suburban pupils. 3. Hypothesis number three projected a greater percentage of girls than boys choosing word humor. This was rejected since 35.2f of the boys checked word humor. 30.65 of the girls word humor. 4. The fourth hypothesis made the statement that a majority of the students in each school classification would indicate that they felt happy after hearing the selections. This proved to be the case as 78.5% of the inner-city. 78.0% of the suburban. and 66.75 of the rural youth signified that they had some kind of happy feeling after hearing the stories. 5. The final hypothesis was concerned with the books themselves and specified that a higher percentage of the books read for the investigation would be based on physical type humor rather than action humor. Of the 174 books included. it was determined that 78.7fi were basically the physical action type story. 141 Of the five hypotheses formulated. three were accepted and two rejected. The final chapter of this study includes a summary of the dissertation as a whole. implications of the results. conclusions drawn from the findings. and suggestions for further research. Chapter Five Summary and Conclusions This final chapter contains a summary of the study. implications of the results. conclusions drawn from the findings. and suggestions for further research. Summagy Chapter One contained sections on the significance of the study. definitions of humor. the need for humor and for this study. the purpose of the investigation. and assumptions formulated. The purpose of the study was two-fold. First. it was an examination of the reactions of 216 sixth grade children to two general types of humor found in fiction for middle grade children. The two types of humor involved were humor based on physical actions of some sort and humor generated by verbal statements. Second. it was a library study of 193 humorous books that were read. with a classifi- cation of the humor found in them along with annotations of the books considered most truly humorous. These books had to be quality literature to be considered. Only a few offensive ones were discovered. 142 143 Five hypotheses were tested. Four of them had to do with children's humor preferences and feelings upon hearing funny stories. These hypotheses stated in essence that more rural school children would prefer humor based on words than would inner-city youths. that the suburban youths would prefer humor of words more than the rural children. that girls more than boys would elect humor of words over action humor. and that a majority of all the children would feel happy after hearing the narratives. The fifth hypothesis had to do with the second nature of the study. It contended that a majority of the 193 humorous books read by the investigator would be based upon action humor rather than verbal humor. Chapter Two contained a review of the pertinent research including psychological aspects of humor develop- ment in children. responses of children to literature and what makes the literature itself humorous. and an analysis of humor in children's books. Chapter Three explained the design of the study. Part I was an investigation of 216 sixth-grade children's reactions to two types of humorous literature. Part II was a review of 193 children's books identified as humorous. The sample of 216 youngsters mentioned earlier in this summary was fully described. The humorous selections used with the boys and girls were verified as to their validity by a team of 144 children's literature experts. then recorded on cassette tape and played for the groups of children. Four selections were used in the final study. two representing action humor. Henry Reed.glnc.. and The Alligator.Case: two standing for word humor. The Phgntom Tollbooth and Paddipgtpn Goes to Town. Six students were worked with at a time. The six were of the same sex. Chapter Four summarized the results obtained from working with the 216 sixth grade students and from reading the 193 humorous books. Based upon the data obtained from working with these youngsters and their reactions to four humorous selections in both a verbal and written manner. and from the informa- tion received by researching. then searching for. then reading 193 humorous children's books. the following general findings have been formulated to conclude this summary: 1. The majority of the children in this study did feel happy after hearing the humorous selections played for them. The final percentages showed 78.5fi of the inner-city students. 75.0% of the suburban youth. and 66.2% of the rural pupils expressing feelings of either very happy or happy. 2. Humor is a very individual trait. What one person finds to be funny. another may view as tragic. 3. Sex was not a major factor in the type of humor preferred. The boys totaled 2.6% for action humor to 36.3% for the girls but the boys also led in word humor preference. 35.25 to 30.6%. 7. 8. 145 There are not enough humorous books available for the average sixth-grade child. Children will read humorous books if more are available for them according to their oral comments. Among the humorous books for middle grade students reviewed for this study. the majority are based on a physical action type humor. Out of 174 books recommended as humorous 78.7% were basically action type humor oriented. The way the stories themselves are written is a determining factor in whether youngsters prefer humor of a verbal nature or of action characteristics. If the language used is easy to understand and consists of simple techniques such as use of opposite meanings. children tend to enjoy the words employed. Those stories that require high level interpretive skills are not as popular. Word humor of a more subtle nature then is not too easily comprehended by the average sixth-grader. The inner-city youth in the study favored action humor more than the rural and suburban students. but the rural youth showed a higher percentage for word humor than did the inner-city and suburban pupils. The percents es for action humor were inner-city 4 .éfi. suburban 36.1%. and rural 34.05. For word humor the rural youth totaled 36.1f. suburban 35.14. and inner- city 27.1‘. Implications of Results Of the five hypotheses formulated. three were accepted and two were rejected. The hypothesis that the sixth-grade children from the rural type schools would favor word humor over action humor by a higher percentage 146 than would the inner-city sixth-grade was accepted. The ruralites showed a 36.1% preference for word humor compared to 27.I% for the inner-city students. The second hypothesis that a higher percentage of suburban youth than rural youngsters would choose word humor did not hold up. Actually 36.l$ of the rural pupils went for word humor. while 35.45 of the suburbanites preferred word humor. The inner-city youth showed a great liking for action type humor. 48.0$ of them choosing action humor compared to 36.IK of the suburban and 34.0% of the rural youngsters. The fact that these inner-city children could be somewhat deficient in so-called ”Standard English” could account for their greater interest in action humor which includes a great deal of tumbling and falling about which would be easy for any-youngster to relate to. no matter what his language background. The relief of the tensions of inner-city life can probably best be eased through an action type humor as opposed to word humor. The word humor stories fared the best with the rural children of the three general school types. Regarding word humor. research says that children don't really under- stand word type humor until around the age of nine. Most of the students in this study were eleven or twelve and maybe in the early stages of appreciation of verbal humor. It is interesting to note that the rural students. who 147 chose word humor to.a greater percentage than did the inner- city and suburban youth. also were the students with the oldest mean age. In attempting to further explain the rural children's higher ratings for word humor in this investigation it should be remembered that the research cited in Chapter Two regarding rural families and their language problems concerned rural children that were proba- bly much more isolated than the rural children in this study. Even though the boys and girls in this investigation did indeed attend schools that in all ways would need to be classified rural. they were not that far from the city of Lansing. Michigan that they couldn't drive there in an evening or on a weekend. So they could easily pick up ways of living more city-like such as easier access to books. entertainment. stores. and the like. Then too. the occupa- tions of the parents were not identified in this study. and many parents could be commuters from the city area even though it would be a long daily drive. This would tend to make the rural child's life style very similar to that of the suburban youngster. All these factors would tend to even out differences and may have accounted for the close- ness of the percentage choices of these two groups of students. The stories chosen to represent action humor and particularly word humor undoubtedly played a large part in 148 the final figures toov The first word selection. 25; Phantom Tollbo th. which was loaded with word connotations. didn't fare as well in the suburban school as the other word selection. Paddipgton Goes to Town. which relied on a more obvious form of word humor. the confusing of literal and figurative languages The inner-city youngsters gave both word stories rather low scores. 27.8fi chose The Phantom Tollbopth. 26.4!»Paddipgton Goes t9 Town. The differences in the suburban schools was 26.4! for the ”Tollbooth.” 44ci§ for ”Paddington”: and in the rural schools. 38.9% for the "Tollbooth” to 33o3§ for ”Paddington.” Only the rural schools scored relatively high on the “Tollbooth” story# If only the "Paddington" story had been used the suburban schools would have shown up much better on word humor than the rural types; So the type of story used controls to a great degree the responses received. The number of years that the students were in their respective schools could be a major factor in choice too. It is interesting to note that the inner-city pupils were most truly representative of their class. their average number of years in the inner-city schools totaling 5r3. The suburban average was 3J8 years and the rural was 4.2 years. In this respect too. the rural and suburban characteristics were close. Hypothesis number three projected a greater percent- age of girls than boys choosing word humor. This was 11:9 rejected since 35.2% of the boys checked word humor. only 30.6% of the girls. The boys also showed a lead in their choice of action humor with 42.6% of the boys selecting it over 36.5% of the girls. The girls showed a distinct edge over the boys in the category that showed no preference for either kind of humor. The girls scored 30.6% to 22.2% for the boys in the no choice column. It appears that the choice of humor was not as important to the girls as it was to the boys. The fourth hypothesis made the statement that a majority of the students in each school classification would indicate that they felt happy after hearing the selections. This proved to be the case as 78.5% of the inner-city. 75.0% of the suburban. and 66.7% of the rural youth signified that they had had some kind of happy feel- ing after hearing the stories. These findings then agree with psychological statements quoted earlier. that humor can make you feel better. even if for only a short time. An interesting sidelight from these results is the fact that the rural schools again scored the lowest. a fact that did not really surprise the investigator based upon his observations of the groups as mentioned earlier. Without any doubt. in general. the inner-city youth showed the most interest and enthusiasm during the testing situations. the rural children the least. Could it be that the inner-city children with their few material advantages are not as unhappy and sullen as the 150 picture has often been painted? Might the fact that the rural and suburban children have so much equipment and such fine facilities make them more unappreciative of such a thing as listening to a story? These findings all appear to be related to that larger problem facing America today. the problem of value priorities. The final hypothesis was concerned with the books themselves and specified that a higher percentage of the books read for the investigation would be based on physical type humor rather than action humor. Of the 174 truly humorous books. it was determined that 78.7% were basically the physical action type story. Another 15.0% contained elements of both types of humor. while only 6.35 were the word type stories. Clearly the fifth hypothesis was verified. It seems very clear that on the basis of these figures more books with word type humor incorporated in them could be written for young people. If we expect boys and girls of this age to appreciate this type of humor they need to be exposed to it more often than they have been. Conclusions In the first chapter the feeling was expressed that humor is important as an emotion balancer in the every day trials of living. It was felt further that humorous lit- erature was a way to provide the child with a way to obtain release from the tensions that often beset him. .This study 151 in its way did show that children can be made to feel good by hearing good funny stories. It was not only the way they checked their feelings on the written instrument but the way they reacted physically to the stories that illus- trated this fact. So many laughed out loud and others grinned from ear to ear. Not all the children reacted this way of course because as it has been pointed out humor is a very personal thing and it is not natural to expect every- one to find amusement in the same things. It is a probable fact that some of the students. who did not find the stories particularly amusing. were as some of the written replies indicated. intellectually and/or emotionally above the level of the stories used. In all likelihood amusing stories of a more advanced nature could make these students feel good too. In dealing with human emotions one needs to remember also that not everyone always feels good all the time. We have our emotional ups and downs and certainly this would affect children's reactions to humorous stories at any given time. Sex did not play a major part in the children's reactions to the stories. Some girls found humor of words more interesting than boys and vice versa. The same held true for action humor. This observation is not surprising 152 and agrees with the findings of Monson1 and Landau.2 This is probably a good sign today in our drive for equality among the sexes. A point of great significance for those who work with children is the knowledge of the paucity of humorous books for children in the middle grade age range. The boys and girls gave every indication to the researcher that they would read funny books if they could find any. Maybe it is time the publishers and authors took note of this fact and printed more books of this nature. This means that the books should be written to appeal to the nine. ten. and eleven year old. This implies that the language should be suit- able for the age of this child and should not be written too simply. with ”little baby words“ as one of the pupils in the study put it. Then too. by publishing more books that use the middle grade child's language maybe humor based upon words could be introduced a little more to the child to off- set the lop-sided balance given at present to humor based upon physical action. lDianne Monson. ”Children's Reaponses to Humorous Situations in Literature.” (Unpublished Doctoral Disserta- tion. University of Minnesota. 1966). pp. 139-153. 2Elliott C. Landau. ”The Relationship Between Social Class and What Sixth Grade Children Say is Funny in Selected Excerpts from Children's Literature.” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. New York University. 1955). pp. 192. 193. 153 As far as the reaction to the two types of humor used in the study by school class is concerned. it was found that the inner-city youth reacted least favorably to word-type humor. This does not by any means indicate that these children are word-deficient compared with the students in the more affluent and modern suburban and rural areas. In fact. it was a definite observation of this investigator that the inner-city youth were most proficient in oral language usage. These were the children most willing to talk and most willing to write about the stories they had heard. What it does mean is that more books. humorous books included of course. need to be written in the language style of these boys and girls; It is time then to advocate more humorous books for children. books written at their language levels. books for both sexes. so that all those who read them can be made to feel a little better as a result of having met them. If this study were to be replicated this investigator would consider the following changes: First. the scope of this study was rather large» It probably would have been more advantageous to concentrate either on children's reactions to humorous selections or upon the books themselves. It was difficult doing justice to both. The children's responses might have been more finely categorized into the elements of humor that seemed to appeal most or least to them for analyzation purposes. 154 Finer elements could include absurdity. whimsy. and satire. The books themselves could have been examined for the same types of sub-humor just mentioned. then totaled to see which types of humor were most and least prevalent in children's literature. Second. the student subjects could possibly have been more advantageously selected. By this it is meant that student selection by parental occupation may have given more insight into the results as was done in the work by Landau.3 Third. an administration of an intelligence test or reading achievement or language power test to all the participants might have added pertinent data. In addition. if standardized reading scores. particularly the vocabulary sections. had been available. they could have been of use in evaluating the children's reactions to the word humor stories. Fourth. in selecting rural type students for study it would probably be better to go to more isolated areas. far enough away from large population centers. so that the subjects would not be tainted with suburbanitis. Fifth. the instrument used to test the children's responses could be retested. then refined so as to be made more definitive of what it asks of the children. It was 3121911 pp. 192. 193. 155 felt that the dichotomy between the humor selection and feeling questions used in this study was not as clearly drawn as it should have been. Implications for Furthep:Research There is a great deal of room for more research in the field of humorous literature for children and their reactions to it. Some suggestions for further research follow. 1. There is room for examination with children of the many sub-divisions of the broad humor categories used in this study. For example. children's reactions to absurdity and satire. or slapstick and whimsy could be measured and compared. 2; Work could be done similar to what was done in this study with both younger and older students. that is primary and junior high age pupils. 3. A long range study could be set up to follow a group of youngsters over a period of years to see how humor interests possibly change with time. 4. A selected group of students could be chosen to read two or three cppplete books over a certain time period to obtain their reactions to the humor contained in the entire stories. 5. A study could be developed in which children's reactions to humorous selections as opposed to sports 156 stories or mysteries or some other type of fiction could be measured and compared. 6. A historical study could prove revealing in which the type of humor present in children's books in the l920's and 1930's could be studied. then compared with the type of humor present in current children's books. 7. A comparison of children's reactions to fictional humor stories as opposed to non-fiction books such as science or social studies books could give insights into youngsters' reading choices and feelings about what they like. 8. Humorous selections could be read to youngsters which they would rate. A second instrument would ask them to rate current popular television comedies. It could be of value to see how children's humorous books rate with television humor in the eyes of children. 9. A study that investigated children's humor interests in relation to their standardized scores on a reliable and valid reading test would make a good research project. 10. There has been much disagreement about the relationship between intelligence and a sense of humor. A careful study in which accurate intelligence information was obtained. then studied in relation to youngsters' reactions to humorous stories might shed some light on the problem. 157 ll. Several humorous stories could be identified. recorded. then presented to a carefully controlled and selected population for their listening. These same stories would then be presented in print to another group of young- sters as similar in characteristics to the first as possible for their reading. The question as to whether reading or listening to humorous selections makes a significant difference might be answered. 12. Groups of youngsters from different parts of the country could be used to see if humor preferences vary greatly from one section of the country to another. such as in a small midwest town and a large city in the South. 13. A library study. comparing the number of recommended children's books printed in the last ten years in a field such as adventure or mystery as compared to humor. would give indications as what is really available for boys and girls to read. 14. Children's emotional reactions to humorous stories might be checked in comparison to their reaction to unhappy or frightening stories. The results obtained could prove of value to anyone interested in the mental health of children. In conclusion. there is need for further research in the area of humorous literature. Anything that is so much a part of a child's life should not be dismissed 158 lightly. Let's hope that more can be discovered so that the people who publish the books in this country will realize that kids do need books that help to make them grin. smile. and laugh out loud. This investigation began with a quotation about humor. It appropriately ends with two quotes about laughter. The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons. stratagems. and spoils. but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem. Carlyle Man alone suffers so excruciatingly in the world that he was compelled to invent laughter. Nietzsche - The Willhtp_fipgpp APPENDICES APPENDIX A Copies of Selections Recorded for Pupil Listening Hgnr Reed _Inc, PP. 12 -131 "Hey. the littlest camellia is gone.” Midge said. I looked. and sure enough. there were only five turtles in the pen. Since we had sold three. there should have been six. We examined the pen carefully but there was no hole where that turtle could have possibly slipped out. "Do you suppose somebody could have been here and have stolen it?” I asked. "Maybe we left it over at my house.” Midge said. ”Did you count them?" I hadn't counted them. I had just picked them up and put them in the basket. We decided that it was probably in Mrs. Glass's garden someplace. so went over to look for it. As we rounded the corner of the house we saw that the garden club was still there. A woman in a blue flowered dress and a big straw hat with grapes on top of it was talking about foundation planting. As we turned around to leave she finished her speech and everyone clapped. Then they all started talking at once. and some got up to congratulate the speaker. "I'm going to slip down and see if I can find that turtle.” Midge said. "I don't trust that garden club." ”They wouldn't steal a turtle.” "No. but they'd step on it. He's such a little tiny turtle. and some of those garden-club members are just plain big. and most of them have big feet." I stayed where I was and she slipped down. jumped over the wall. and began looking for the turtle. Everybody was talking so no one paid any attention. I didn't really see all that happened. but one woman. who was undoubtedly one of those that Midge meant when she said that some of the members were awfully big. got up from her chair and picked up a big black leather bag that had been lying on the ground beside her. It was as big as a small suitcase but it had one of those straps that 159 160 you hang over the shoulder and was really a purse. I guess. Holding the bag by its strap. she moved over several feet to talk to a woman who was standing by the lily pond. She raised her bag. sort of cradling it in her left arm. and then bent her head and began poking in the bag with her right hand. It must have been open already and all she had to do was shove the flap back. Suddenly she let out a horrible shriek. She dropped the purse. jumped backward about three steps. and fell into the lily pond. Everyone was too surprised to do anything. Meanwhile this poor woman was floundering on her back in the lily pond. There was nothing for her to grab and the sides of the pond were sloped so she couldn't roll over very easily. Besides. she was too fat to do much of anything for herself. No one seemed to know what to do or how to get her out of there. The only think I could think of was to call a tow truck and I doubt if they would have liked that suggestion. I stayed where I was and laughed until my sides ached. Mrsr Glass was the hostess and so she had to do something. Finally she did the only thing possible. She waded right out into the middle of the lily pond and grabbed the woman's left arm. Another woman was able to stand on the edge of the pool and take the other arm. They hauled. l fted. and puffed. and finally they hoisted her up out of there. That woman certainly was a sorry-looking mess. There was water dripping from her hair. and her soaking-wet dress stuck to her like the skin of a sausage. Somehow or other. her hat had managed to stay on her head through it all. It was a little straw hat with a lot of flowers on it. These sort of hung down over the edge of the hat like the strings of a mop. Water dripped off of them down onto her shoulders and back. Huffing and puffing. she walked forward about eight or ten steps. and then suddenly she fainted. Mrs. Glass and the other women tried to hold her up for a minute and finally gave up. They lowered her onto the grass and stood looking at her. huffing and puffing themselves. Mrs. Glass is a tiny little woman and I can see why she'd be tired. Someone said something about a doctor and one of the women started toward the house. Just then Midge joined me. "I got the turtle.” she announced. “Did you ever see such a ruckus?" I asked. Even though the woman had fainted I couldn't help laughing. Midge grinned. ”It would be a lot funnier if she hadn't splashed half of my goldfish out of that lily pond. Now I know what causes tidal waves.” "What started it all?“ I asked. "Let's take this turtle over to the barn and I'll tell you.” Midge answered. 161 ”Let's wait and see if this woman comes to.” Midge shook her head. ”Let's get away while the getting's good.” We walked across the street and put the turtle in the pen. “The reason I didn't want to stay any longer.” Hidge said. ”was the turtle was what started it all. It was in her pocketbook.” The Alligator Case PPo 3 -37 I am a detective. and I cannot forgive myself. Mr. Fish first ordered me to remove all knives and forks and glassware. and to leave only two teaspoons on his table. He thus at the start captured my attentions I blush at the memory of it all. He next shouted ”WAITER!" so loudly all conversation ceased. A waiter rushed to his table. ”Yes. sir. would you prefer the shrimp cocktail or the fresh fruit cup?” “Skip it!” bellowed Mr. Fish. ”Yes. sir. Now then. the roast beef is blood rare. or do you wish the turkey?“ ”I want pork chops well-done. and bullet peas!” “Sorry. air...” ”And paper panties on the pork chops!" ”Sorry. sir...” ”By bullet peas. I mean green peas hard and firm that bounce!” “Sorry. sir. but on Sundays...” "Stop being sorry and bring me my order!” n "It will take time. it will have to be cooked to or-- “Get out of here!” ”Yes. sir.” Needless to say. there was nervous tension in the dining room and a stunned silence broken only by the clitter- clatter of silverware and china. The uneasiness resulted in rapid eating. The Sunday feast turned into a joyless race. Most guests had finished their meals and paid their checks before Mr. Fish was served: but they sat transfixed. rather afraid to stay but too afraid to leave and miss some- thing horrible. In came the overdone pork chops with paper panties. and the bullet peas. The waiter. shaking noticeably. placed them in front of the fat red-and-gold bassoonist. Mr. Fish studied his plate. 162 He picked up a pea and rolled it between thumb and forefinger. He smiled. "Good. good. Not bad at all.“ His change of mood relaxed the charged atmosphere of the room. Guests who had been sitting stiffly in a conscious effort to mind their own business unbent a bit and risked a peek at Mr; Fishd Mr. Fish placed a teaspoon on each side of his plate. with its handle pointed forward. He placed a pea on the handle of the spoon near his left hand and picked up a pork chop with his right by its paper panty. He thumped down with his left fist on the bowl of the spoon. catapulting the bullet pea high in the air. As the pea passed his enormous open mouth he batted it in with his overdone pork chop. A small boy in the room. overwhelmed with boorish joy at this terrible display of table manners. stood up and let escape a piercing 'HOORAY!” He received a stinging slap from his mother for his efforts. Seemingly unaware of more and more eyes staring bluntly at him. Mr. Fish repeated the feat. then did it again. and again. and again. He never missed. Placing a pea on the handle of each teaspoon. thumping the peas up close to the ceiling. quickly picking up a pork chop in each hand. he batted two peas into his mouth! He smiled to himself at the success of the double action. smacked his lips. then followed up with an encorea Guests and waiters. at first cowed and apart. slowly grouped around his table. mouths open in utter disbelief. and looking oddly as though they too hoped to catch a batted bullet pea -— a foul ball off the pork-chop handle. But he never missedc As the peas vanished two by two he made the trick still harder by taking a bite of pork chop between hits. shrinking his bats. And he never missed. 163 Thg Phantom Tollbooth PP. 76;8o ”If you please.” said Milo. ”my name is Milo and this is Tock. Thank you very much for inviting us to your banquet. and I think your palace is beautiful.” “Exquisite.” corrected the duke. 'Lovely.‘ counseled the minister. ”Handsome.“ recommended the count. "Pretty.” hinted the Earl. ”Charming." submitted the undersecretary. “SILENCE.“ suggested the king. ”Now. young man. what can you do to entertain us? Sing songs? Tell stories? iomnge sonnets? Juggle plates? Do tumbling tricks? Which 8 I ”I can't do any of those things.” admitted Milo. ”What an ordinary little boy.” commented the king. ”Why. my cabinet members can do all sorts of things. The duke here can make mountains out of molehills. The minister splits hairs. The count makes hay while the sun shines. The earl leaves no stone unturned. And the undersecretary.“ he finished ominously. “hangs by a thread. Can't you do anything at all?” 'I can count to a thousand.“ offered Milo. 'A-A-R-G-H numbers! Never mention numbers here: Only use them when we absolutely have to.“ growled Azaz disgustedly. "Now. why don't you and Tock come up here and sit next to me. and we'll have some dinner?” ”Are you ready with the menu?” reminded the Humbug. ”Well.“ said Milo. remembering that his mother had always told him to eat lightly when he was a guest. "why don't we have a light meal?” "A light meal it shall be.” roared the bug. waving his arms o' The waiters rushed in carrying large serving platters and set them on the table in front of the king. When he lifted the covers. shafts of brilliant—colored light leaped from the plates and bounced around the ceiling. the walls. across the floor. and out the windowsv ”Not a very substantial meal.” said the Humbug. rubbing his eyes. ”but quite an attractive one. Perhaps you can suggest something a little more filling.” The king clapped his hands. the platters were removed. and. without thinking. Milo quickly suggested. “$011: in that case. I think we ought to have a square meal 0 -- “A square meal it is.” shouted the Humbug again. The king clapped his hands once more and the waiters reappeared carrying plates heaped high with steaming squares of all sizes and colors. 164 ”Ugh.” said the Spelling Bee. tasting one. "these are awful.‘ No one else seemed to like them very much either. agdktse Humbug got one caught in his throat and almost 0 O O o. ”Time for the speeches.“ announced the king as the plates were again removed and everyone looked glum. ”You first.“ he commanded. pointing to Milo. ”Your Majesty. ladies and gentlemen.“ started Milo timidly. ”I would like to take this opportunity to say that in all the --' ”That's quite enough.” snapped the king. 'Mustn't talk all day.“ ”But I'd just begun.” objected Milo. “NEXT!” bellowed the king. “Roast turkey. mashed potatoes. vanilla ice cream.” recited the Humbug. bouncing up and down quickly. ”What a strange speech.“ thought Milo. for he'd heard many in the past and knew that they were supposed to be long and dull. “Hamburgers. corn on the cob. chocolate pudding -- p-upd-d-i-npg.' said the Spelling Bee in his turn. 'Frankfurters. sour pickles. strawberry jam.“ shouted Officer Shrift from his chair. Since he was taller sitting than standing. he didn't bother to get up. And so down the line it went. with each guest rising briefly. making a short speech. and then resuming his place. The waiters reappeared immediately. carrying heavy. hot trays. which they set on the table. Each one contained the exact words spoken by the various guests. and they all began eating immediately with great gust0r “Dig in." said the king. poking Milo with his elbow and looking disapprovingly at his plate. ”I can't say that I think much of your choicefi' ”I didn't know that I was going to have to eat my words." objected Milo. “Of course. of course. everyone here does.” the king gruntede ”You should have made a tastier speech.“ 165. dd on G es to To PP. 2- 7 Helping Paddington to his feet Mr. Heins motioned him towards the couch in the middle of the room. 'I'd like you to lie on that." he said. "And then look up towards the ceiling and try to make your mind a blank." Paddington examined the couch with interest. ‘Thank you very much.“ he exclaimed.doubtfully as he clambered up. "but shall I be able to see your tricks?” ”My pricks ' repeated Mr. Heinz. “The man in the hall said you were going to do some tricks.” explained Paddington. beginning to look rather disappointed that nothing much was happening. ”I expect he was trying to humour...that is. keep you happy.” said Mr. Heinz. making his way back to the desk. ”As a matter of fact.” he continued casually. ”I'd like to play a little game. It's really to test your reactions 3" “A game to test my reactions?” repeated Paddington. looking more and more surprised. “I didn't know I had any.” 'Oh. yes.“ said Mr. Heinz. ”Everyone has reactions. Some people have fast ones and some have slow.” He picked up his pen again. ”Now I'm going to call out some words - quite quickly - and each time I call one out I want you to give another one which has the opposite meaning... Right?” ”Wrong.“ said Paddington promptly. Mr. Heinz paused with his pen halfdway to the paper. ”ghag's the matter?“ he asked crossly. "Aren't you comfort- a e ’ “Oh. yes.“ said Paddington. ”but you told me to say the opposite every time you gave me a word.“ He sat up and gave the man behind the desk another hard stare. For someone who was supposed to be testing reactions he didn't think much of Mr. Heinz's own ones at allv For some unknown reason Mr. Heinz appeared to be counting under his breath. “That wasn't the word. bear." he said. breathing heavily. 'Wait until I give you the go-ahead. Once you start I don't want to hear anything else. I'll give you a count-down. beginning... now. Three...two... one...go!' ”Stop!“ said Paddington. MraiHeinz opened his mouth and then appeared to change his mind. ”Very good.” he said grudgingly. “Very bad.” replied Paddington eagerly. "Look here!“ began Mr. Heinz. a note of panic in his voice. . ”Look there!” cried Paddington.wildly. Much as he had been looking forward to seeing Hr. Heinz do some tricks on his bicycle he was beginning to think the present game was 166 much more interesting and he looked most disappointed when his last reply was greeted with silence. ”Can't you think of any more words. Mr. Heinz?“ he asked. The psychiatrist spent a moment or two drumming on his desk with his fingers. He looked as if there were a number of words he would like to have said. but ignoring the temptation he picked up his pen again. "White.” he said wearily. "Black.“ said Paddington. settling down again on the couch with his paws crossed and a pleased expression on his {860$ ”Big.” said Mr. Heinz hopefully. “Small." said Paddington promptly. “Fast.” said Mr. Heinz. ”Slow.“ said Paddington. Trying several more words in quick succession Mr. Heinz began to look better pleased with the way things were going and for several minutes his pen raced across the paper as he tried to keep pace with Paddington's replies. “Fine.“ he said at last. leaning back in his chair. ”Wet.” exclaimed Paddington. "Mr. Heinz gave a chuckle. ”We've finished...” he began; “We've started.“ said Paddington. ”No we haven't.” said Mr. Heinz crossly. ”Yes we have.“ cried Paddington. d 'No...no...no!' shouted Mr. Heinz. thumping his esk; 'Yes...yes...yesl' cried Paddington. waving his paws in the air? “Will you stop!" yelled Mr. Heinz. “No I won't!” cried Paddington. nearly falling off the couch in his excitement. Mr. Heinz looked wildly about the room. "Why did I ever take this up?” he cried. burying his face in his hands. "I should have had my head examined!” Paddington sat up looking most surprised at the last remark. ”Perhaps it needs shrinking.” he said. peering at Mr. Heinz's head with interest. 'I should go and see the man in the halls He might be able to help you. He knows all about these things. As Paddington began clambering down off the couch Mr. Heinz made a dash for the door. ”I shall be gone for five minutes.“ he announced dramatically. ”Five minutes! And if you're still here when I get back..." Mr. Heinz left his sentence unfinished but from the way he punctuated it with the slam of the door even Paddington could see that he wasn't best pleased at the way- things had goneé APPENDIX B Exaluation Shegp - Humorous Children's Literature '- Directions 1; Read each sample selection. 2? Decide whether in your opinion each selection does indeed represent either humor developed through physical action or humor generated from words. (Definitions of these terms are given below.) Circlelypp or‘pp below. 3; Then give each story a rating on a 0-5 point scale as to how well in your opinion each selection does represent the type of humor specifieda Five points would mean an excellent example and zero points a very poor sample with the points in-between standing for intermediate ratings. Dgfinitions 1? Humor of action: the humor is generated from some physical activity such as stupid blunders. absurd doings. incongruities. embarrassment of someone due to an accident. general confusion including some falling or tumbling about. and turning the tables on someone. 2: Humor based upon the words used: Humor based upon the words used by the characters in the stories could include word repetition. word rhyming. mispronun- ciation of words. misunderstanding of meanings. and humor developed through implication. 167 168 Thg Sglectiops prpr pf.Action Titles 1: Mr. Popper's Penguins 2. Henry Reed. Inc; 3. Pippi Longstocking 4. Henry and Beezus 5. The Alligator Case pror of Words Title; 1. Chancy and the Grand Rascal 2c The Limerick Trick 3d Paddington Goes to Town 44 The Search for Delicious 5: The Phantom Tollbooth W1 Humor pf Action YES YES YES YES Does Represent —“ pppr of Words YES YES YES YES YES Circl Ratipg ooooo HHHHH O '1 O NNNNN UWUWU H E! 00000 HHHHH NNNNN uuuuw ##7##"? mmmmm {Fl-*3??? UlUtUlU‘kn 169 em 90 am a“ .ss: roe» .scssc goon gone .so: page usage xswzp sch some was: some means no» pen; :0» some was: mews; open; macaw so: mofimopm oven; macaw mowsopm monvo on» case moacssm noon season» as» “H .m neon reason» so» eH .m storm oco presses cos cH .s .ZOHon m no .m .m sowpmosv nomads nozms< a a a a .mmm es pemsose.smu mamas 30: O» we N .02 known spam .0 wmmmlww pnmsosp mom macaw so: op mm a .oz known ovum .m . . . r t L! 4’ «144 , 4i . a . l a m HH< p.H sense pczwsuo> pozloaosas recesses l l .psMau one so xoo goose i _ he «cocoon ores so» use scope some; .s A l ossm a AN caress 1~A:wwoaav ooepeoz one room scoopsaoe coached .ocH .ooom spec: mo>opm mwe smfimmwz one meson one scene 30% some page compose one press econ» mm: was; .m A _ .pnwaa one as.moxon on» me one xoenw I cam cheese messes: hopes some so» can com .N .pnmwm one we moxop esp mo oco xoono wfia mayday masses: seems Hook do» can 30m .H aw unmmMED unmmmfibr PQ‘mhmMMHUCH hflflmm at E0 > m _ Em> A039 use one mcowuoeaomv mamz Hoonom m 2 xon mflmzommmm mzmeAHro ozHQmoomm mom QMmD BZMEDmBmzH o xHazmmm< APPENDIX D Students Answers to Questions on Evaluation Instrument Appendix D lists the verbatim responses of the students to the two free response questions on the evaluation instrument. The number of answers varies since some students did not choose to write any comments of their own. or they were of no consequence. The replies are listed by question. school type. sex. and individual school. Only the spelling errors were corrected. Ippereggty_Schoo;p ngstipn One - (Selections One and Two) What was there about the stories. (Henry Reed. Inc.. and the Ppgntpm Tollbooth). that made you check the boxes the way you did? Sphppl A - Boys 1. I like stories about animals and especially this one. I also like funny stories. 2. When the lady fell in the water at the end. to eat words. 170 3. 5. 6. 171 Well. I guess I checked these boxes because the first one was a mystery like and the other was kind of dull. The second one was very funny because Milo didn't know anything about the king. A light dinner and a square dinner. Because it was a story that was imagining. Schppl A ._ Girls 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The stories were O.K. but they really didn't seem interesting to me. Well. I checked them the way I felt because I couldn't tell whether I was happy or not so I put indifferent. I didn't feel any different from these two stories because I like a different kind of bOOk o I felt indifferent because the kind of humor I like is more funny than the kind in the stories mentioned. In one the story was funny so I checked very happy. In two the story was a little funny so I checked happy. Well. I think the stories were both good and very humorous but one seemed more funny than two because usually you'd like something that is least a little bound to happen. School B - Boys 1. 2. 3. It made me feel unhappy because all the people had a big dinner but one man had to eat his words or nothing. The second one because the guy didn't know what to do. that's why it was unhappy. It was a funny story. but it sounded like a children's book. I like more mature books. 6. 172 It made me happy because it started when the lady saw the turtle and where she fell in the pond o Some parts made me laugh and some parts were dull. Story one was funniest because it was about a turtle that started a commotion and made a lady fall in a pond. Sphool B - Girls 1. 2. The first one didn't amuse me while the second one was fiction and it was funny. The first one didn't seem funny or sad. It seemed in-between. This one was a little funnier. It made you laugh and it made you feel happy. When you found the turtle in the purse. The first story made me feel happy and unhappy and the second made me feel happy. Well. there is a difference between the feelings of the characters. Because title two was funny. The people ate squares and made me feel different. My feelings were much different and happy. Spppol C - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. When the lady fell in the pond. When he had to eat his words. Humor and fantasy made me check the boxes the way I did. The fat lady in the lily pond. The light food and the square food. When they suggested to get a tow truck. When they expressed the kingdom. When the fat lady fell in the pond. When one of the men didn't finish his speech. 173 ‘5'“.0- o.--¢-~- 1. The way the actors expressed themselves in these books. 2. The reason she fell in the pond. 3. In the first story I liked the way the turtle got lost and then found. The second story I didn't like that much. 4. The first story made me happy when the turtle jumped and she fainted. School‘J)“: Boys 1. The first one I like that it made you happy because it was funny. 2. About the lady being dragged out of the pond. How what they said they ate. 3. The way the lady fell into the lily pond. When they started eating the squares. That you always ate your words. 4. In the first story the turtle started a lot of commotion which was sort of funny. In the second story when the people made a speech it was about food. 5. In the first story I marked happy because they found the turtle. In the second story it was just funny. 6. The first one had no feeling at all to me. The second one gave me a little feeling. Schogl D - Girls 1. In number one the incident about the turtle became a funny surprise when the turtle was in her pocket book. In number two I thought they would get what it said but they ate their words. 2& In the second story I thought we learned a great lesson. The first story was funny because of the situation. 174 3. Very funny to me because children are involved and kids make it funny. 4. The first one had some humor but the second didn't have as much as the first. 5. That how the lady weighed so cause she could have been weighing 300 pounds. How that lady was so skinny. School E - Boys 1. I liked the first one because it was very enjoyable but the second one I didn't understand. 2. I like stories about animals. 3. Because the first story was more exciting than the other and it had more feeling than the other. Sphool E :_Girls 1. Because the woman fell in the lily pond and I thought it was funny. 2. The second was fantasy. I like things that really can happen. I like stories with a problem and a solution. 3. Well. I thought the first one was happy because they found the turtle. the second one I didn't quite understand. 4. Because both of them were interesting and not boringr 893991 F - Bgys 1. It was dumb and pretty bad put together. You got to eat your own words. 2; You got to eat your own words. 3. Well. why. I thought the second one was a horror story. 4. When the lady fell in the pond. It is hard to eat square foods 5. 6. 175 Falling into a pond just because of seeing a turtle is different. The second one seems good and boring. It was funny where the lady fell in the lily_ pond. It was funny where they said eat your VIOI'dS o School F - Girls 1. 2. 3. I liked the second one because of the way he was a judge and the food he named. Well. I like when the lady saw the turtle in her purse and fell in the flower pool. That is why I checked very happy. I did not like the first one because it didn't sound right: ngstiop Qne - (Selections Three and Four) What was there about the stories. (Paddington G s t T wn. and The Alligatpr Case). that made you check the boxes the way you did? Sphppi A - Girls 1: 2. 3. 4. 5. I thought both of them were funny because of their action. I checked them like this because they were both very happy and exciting. They were both very. very funny. In fact they were hilarious! I liked the first one because animals in stories are funnier than people in stories. They said a lot of dumb things that I think were pretty funny. SChOQLA‘. BQIQ 1. I liked the way the fish guy ate. that was funny. 2. 30‘ 4. 176 When he said opposites. I like baseball. Well. it was too unreal about the first one and wasn't very funny. I think they were both very funny the way he ate the peas and the bear was mixed up with a psychiatrists Schopl B - Girls 1. 2.7 3. 4. 5. 6. They were both humorous and gave me a happy feeling. In the second story I liked the way he ate. The fourth story had some action and the third did too. but not that much. The way the bear said the words at the wrong time. The way the man played baseball with pork chops and peas. When the bear fell off the couch. And when he was arguing. They were funny and nice? I liked title four better because it is unusual to find a man eat peas the hard way. You can't find anyone eating like that. §g§gpl B - ngg ls Title three - the bear was smarter than the 2. 3d 4. 5. doctor. Title four - thieves were sneaky. Because he was distracting the people the way he ate and at the cash register the other guy was studying the money. The man's table manners in number three is what got the best vote from me. I was very happy because the bear obeyed the psychiatr at on every word he said and wouldn't stop. It sounded happy because of the bear and the psychiatrist telling him to say the opposite: 177 Sghgol C - Girls 1. 2. 3. 4. I like humorous books. I liked the way he mocked the doctor. and I liked the second one because the way he batted his food. The happiness expressed by the actors in the book: I thought number four was pretty funny when it came to the eating part. Sphopl C - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. When he did everything right wrong. When he batted his peas with a pork chops I liked the way the bear didn't stop saying the opposites; I liked when he batted the peas and the boy got a slap. Very funny and made me happy. Humor mainly gave me my feelings. The way the bear said the different words. The funny way the food was eaten. When the bear kept saying the opposite. When this man put his peas and spoon and batted them in o Girls School D - l; 2. 3. I felt they were both very funny stories because of the way each character did funny things. In the Ailigatpr Casg his food. The way he ate ite' They both were very unusual. Something that is just someone wouldn't do. Alligator Casp. Mr. Fish was very unusual! School D - Boys 1. I liked_Alligatpg Cgsg because of the fish who 178 batted peas with pork chops. 2. I think number four was happier. 3. I liked number four because funny about he ate the foods 4. About the bear laying on the sofa and saying opposites. About the man hitting peas into his mouth. 5. In the third one the bear went to see a friend in the hospital and wound up fooling around with a psychiatrist. Sphool E - Girls 1. Because they were stupid and funny. 2. I like funny stories. 3. I hope to get them both. 4. The way Paddington answered was funny and the hard pork chops and peas were funny too. Schppl E - prs l. I think four was more funnier than the other because it was more exciting. 2. I enjoyed number four when the fish shot the peas in the air. Sghppl F - Gipls l. I liked the fourth one because he told him to bring him something to eat. 2. They both were exciting. 3. Number four was more fun. 4. Because the third one was silly and the fourth one was stupid and corny. Schppi F - prs lo Because the bear was smart. The way he would eat. 179 2. When he ate some peas with his pork chops it was very funny. 3. Where the bear went to the psychiatrist. Questipn Twp - (Selections One and Two) Answer‘ppg of the following questions: 1. If you thought one of the stories funnier than the other write what made you think that way. 2. If you thought both stories funny write what you think made them both funny. 3. If you thought both stories not funny. write what made you think that way. Schpol A - Boys 1. It was just the kind of stories I like to hear. 2. The second one was funny because of the king. 3. Because the one was funny about the lady falling in the pond and the other was boring about the dinner. 4. I thought they both the same because falling in a fish pond is funny and so is eating your words. 5. Well. when the turtle was in the purse it is funny how he got in and when she opens up the purse by the water she jumped back. Schpol A - Gipis l. I thought they were the same because I don't read stories ike that. I read mysteries. stuff like that. but they were both 0.x. 2.“ 3. 4. 5. 6. 180 I thought that number one was funnier because of that fat lady that fell in the pond. just because of that little old turtle. I think number two was funnier because it was a different type of story. And I like reading humorous books about a person who is like the man in this story. The first story was funnier than the other because the lady fell in the pond and it's a usual thing in real life. The other one had too much royalty in it and not that much humor. The first one was funniest because it had lots of exciting parts in it. Well. story two wasn't as funny because it's sort of fiction and is not bound to happen. School anpBoys l. 2. 3. 4. 5. I think one was funnier than the other because the way the fat lady was explained. Because number one was funnier. the lady fell into the pond. that's why. I liked the part where the guy thought she was fate One was funnier because of the turtle and the other wasn't so funny because of the king. I didn't really understand title two. Story was funny because a fat lady falls in a pond with clothes and all. Story two wasn't funny because it didn't have anything funny in it. mas-"Girls 1. 2. q. I It was humorous fiction and I like fiction. The way the second one was worded made me laugh a little more. The way they served food too was a little weird and funny. It wasn't that funny when she found the turtle 181 in her purse. He didn't know what meal to pick. 4. Because you had to eat words you said. The lady fell into the goldfish pond. 5. Because in the first story the lady fell in the pond. And the second they served different kinds of food. 6. I think number two was funnier because I drew my feelings faster to it. I think number one was not as funny because eating squares is more unusual than falling in a pond. Schoo C - B s 1. Because the fat lady fell into a pond and because they needed a truck to get her out. 2. The thing that made number one funny was when the lady fell into the pond. 3. I thought that the first one was funnier because it seemed more realistic than the other one did and just more funnier. 4. The fat lady and the way she had to be lugged out of the water. and fainted when she saw the turtle in her pocket. 5. The story made me feel this way when the lady fell in the pond and they suggested a tow truck and said. 'Now I know what causes tidal waves!” 6. The story I thought was funny was about the turtle which was lost. I liked when the fat lady fell in the pond and when she floated into the pond. §££221_2.r”§1£2§ 1. More comical and very lively. 2. Because of the happenings. 3. The first one was funnier because the turtle got in the lady's purse and it was really funny when she fell in the pond. 4. 5. 182 The first story was funnier because the lady fell in the pond. I thought the first one was funnier because it had a lot of things happening that made me laugh. Many exciting things happening made it enjoyable. Number one was funnier I thought because the lost turtle was found jumping out of the purse when the lady fainted. School D - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The first one was funny because it was a good book who the author was. I thought that Hen Re d Inc was better because I felt what was going on in the story. I thought that way when I heard the story Hepiy Reed. It was a funny and mysterious story with a happy thought. In the first story the turtle escaped and everyone was worried and a lady opened a purse and saw him and fell in a pond. I thought the second was funnier because it was a story that could never happen. and anything could happen in the story. The first one I think was not funny as the second because in the first one they were looking for only one turtle. Sphppl D - Girls 1. 2. 3. The idea came out in a way in number one that made it funny. In number two the point didn't come clear enough. I feel the first story was funny because of the way the lady fell in the pond. and someone said I'll get a tow truck to get her out. I thought the second story was funny because it seemed like they ate their words. People having to eat their words is not all that bad. And I thought that was funny. And 183 I can imagine a fat-and quite big woman falling in a fish pond. 4. On the first I just laughed a little more and on the second I didn't laugh at all. 5. How that lady fell in the pond and they need a bulldozer to pull her up. How that skinny lady tried to pull her up. School E - Boys 1. Because the Phantom Tollbooth I didn't quite understand. 2. Because it was the funniest story I heard. 3. The time when the lady fell in the pond. 4. When the fat lady fell in the water and they couldn't get her out. 5. Because of the lady in the fish pond made it funnier. 6. Because it was more funnier and more exciting than the other. Scppol E - Girls 1. Because a fat lady falling into a pond is funny o 2. The second one was too dumb. 3. Because in the second one nothing funny happened like in the first one. 4. I thought the first one was very funny because of the fat lady. 5. I think the first story was funny. but the other one was not funny. Because it had a boring title. And mostly about words. 503991 F - prs 1. Because it was a fantasy and a good story for little children and very funny. 184 2. Well. the story number two was funny because it was when they ate squares. 3. Well. Heppy Reed. In . because the fat lady fell into the pond. etc. 4. Because the lady fell in the pond and I think it was very funny and I like it. 5. I think the second one was better because it was sort of being able to fool someone. 6. Because where the lady fell into the lily pond where she saw the frog in her purse. Sppppl F - Girls 1. The second one was about hamburgers and corn on the cob and I liked that. 2. Because the second one had more experience to it and excitement. 3. Cause I liked the food he named cause I like to eat. 4. I thought number one was very funny because the lady saw the turtle in her purse and fell into the flower pool. 5. One was funnier because I like it when the fat lady fell in the pool. 6. The reason I liked the second one better was because it had all the food and things and it made me hungry and the first one was not funny to me. ngstipn Two - (Selections Three and Four) Same questions as for Selections One and Two. Sphpol A - Girls 1. They sounded mixed up like the bear. I couldn't keep meself from giggling also with four. 2. 30' 4. 185 -I thought both of the stories were very funny was because I like stories like those: The first story was funnier because the bear answered the psychiatrist with funny answers and the second story was not that funny but 0.x. They both were funny I think. but the first one about the bear was O.K.. they were both 0.x. Schppl A - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. I thought they were both funny because they had lots of character. Well. the other wasn't that good about the bear and it was all talk. the other was different about it because it was action. Well. I really do like interesting books. The way I check them both because they were so funny. I think they were both funny because I never heard it before and they were imagined. Schppl B - Girls 1. 2r 3. 5. 6. In the first it was funny the way they always said the opposite and in the second I liked the way he ate his food. like he was playing baseball with pork chops and peas. Well,he was answering at the right time. Well. the way the man was eating. In the first story the bear was dumb but yet smart. The way he answered was the funny part. In the second story the way the man ate his food. When he was eating peas with both spoons. When heifell off the bed. The bear keep saying the opposite when he shouldn't have. He ate so funny. I never heard anyone eat so funny. I think they are really both funny because you find both in an unusual way. Finding a man eating peas a different way and a bear talking when he's not supposed to. 186 School B - Boys 1. I thought the bear playing a human being out- smarted the doctor. 2. Because not everybody should be watching him. there should be someone watching the place that . S Whyo 3. They were both funny. but I chose number two because he was just doing that so his partner could steal the stuff. 4. Because the way the man was eating wouldn't be the right way to eat. 5. I think the lesson made it funnier than the other one. 6. Both were funny because they had funny characters. Schgpl C - Girig 1. When Paddington keep on giving the psychiatrist antonyms for the words. N o The things that made them funny were the characters. A bear and a fish. for I know they can't talk. And when they're in stories they are funny. 3. The first one was funny because he kept mocking the doctor. And the second one was funny because he batted the peas in his mouth and he swallowed the pork chop. 4. I thought Alligator Case was funnier because the actors expresses its feelings. 5. I thought both stories were funny. Number one was funnier when the bear was testing his reflexes. Sch 0 C - B0 3 1. Because he was batting down his peas with a pork chop and when he opened his mouth too fast. 2. 3. 5. 6. 187 I like when the bear always said opposites. I liked when Mr. Fish was batting peas and the boy yelled and received a slap from his mother. Because what ever the psychiatrist would say Paddington would say and I think that's what made the story funny. I thought number three was better than the other one because it was set up in a very good order to make it funnier. The way Paddington kept on saying the opposite every time the head shrinker said something. The way Mr. Fish kept on taking the spoon. hitting a pea up. a batting it in with a pork Chopo I liked when the bear said the opposite and when the psychiatrist said it was enough. the bear just kept it up. I liked when he places his peas on a spoon and hit it in the air with the pork chop. Sphopl D - Girls 1. 2. 4. 5. Batting peas in your mouth is quite hard but the fish must have had some experience. I liked them both very much because of the conditions in both stories. The characters were animals and I like these kind of stories. I liked them both the same because they were interesting. funny. amusing. and last but not least exciting. The reason I think both were funny because in Paddingtgp how everytime the doctor said some- thing he would answer when the doctor wasn't ready. In the Ailigaior Case how he ate his dinner. Padgipgtpp was funny because the author made him like he was stupid. He said the opposite of every word but would never stop. Alligator Case was funny because Mr. Fish acted as a real fish. He ate very strange. 188 Schogi D - 89;; 1. I liked the fish who batted peas in his mouth with pork chops. 2. I think the Alligato§_Case was funnier because although it could not happen. you could see it in your mind. 3. I thought they were both funny because they had some really crazy things. 4. I thought the Alligator Case was funnier because of catapulting peas. School E gpgipig l. I think they were both funny because of the way the characters acted. 2. The second was more meaningless than the first. 3. Because the way the guy ate his supper. And the way the bear went to see the doctor. 4. They were both funny because I could just picture a bear answering and the man eating was funny too. 5. The first one was very funny kind of. because about the psychiatrist and bear but the other one was funnier about his manners. School E -.__B_py_§ 1. Because I liked the bear and the doctor. 2. The way he would hit the peas and batted them in his mouth. 3. Because the bear keep saying the different meanings. and number four because when he shot the peas in the air. School F - Girl; 1. I thought it was funnier than the second story because of what the first story was and about it was very intelligent. ' 189 2. Because he wanted something to eat the second one. 3. Number three seemed funny because Paddingppp did just what the doctor said and kept doing it when the doctor said to stop. Schpol F - Bgys 1. Because he ate without any disturbance and nobody said anything about how he ate his food. 2. 21Q91DE£23 was real funny because of the answers to the questions. 3. Number three was best because he got him real mad. 4. Because the man he ate the peas. but he didn't eat them rights It was very funny. Suburban Schools Question Opo - (Selections One and Two) What was there about the stories. (prpy Reei. Inc.. and.Thp_§pantomngllbpojh). that made you check the boxes the way you did? W 1. You knew what was going to happen in story one. 2. Number two was funnier because it wasn't as practical. 3. Because the second story the boy had to eat his words and the first story the lady fell into the pond. 4. I feel that they should of told him. §thpl A - Girls 1. In the first story there was mischief. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 190 Because of the way it went. It wasn't long. It was a funny story. I think that they were funny. and they weren't very serious. The stories were kind of funny and brightened up the day a little. The story number two had a happy ending. I marked box one like I did because I have read the book before and didn't care for it. School 8 - 39x8 1. 2. 3. Ihe Phgptom Tollbopth had more jokes in it than He!!:! Reed o Because I have read many Hgnpy Reed stories before and I like stories that could happen. The first story it was very funny. The second story was unhappy. Scppol B - Girls 1. 2. 3. The first story was boring to me but it didn't make me unhappy. I like the second one. Because they both had a funny ending. and it had an ending that made sense. It wasn't really the stories. I was really feeling ”indifferent” when they were played. They were happy they found what they were looking for. He was unhappy he didn't say something different or better. Schpoi C - prs 1. When the lady fell in the pond was funny. 2. When the king said he should make a tastier speech. What the turtle did. The short speech. 3. When the fat lady fell in the pond. 4. 191 Story one falling into the pond. Girls School C - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The woman falling didn't make me happy or unhappy and the words didn't make me happy or unhappy in title two: The way the people were acting and the type of actions in the stories. Because I like mysterious the best. I don't think we heard enough of the stories in order to laugh at them. They weren't gay enough or sad enough to do either. School D - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. First story when she fell into pond. Sounds very interesting. Not too much about the first story but the second story was quite corny. When the fat lady fell in the pond. When he said a light meal. The first one was a much funnier one because the words were put better. Schppl D - Girls 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. They were just not very exciting but just boring. In the first story it was funny because when she fell in the pond. Because they were both different and they were all unusual stories. The way the people talked. and what they did. In one it wasn't such a terrible thing and it wasn't great either. In two Milo had to eat a lousy supper. 19.2 Sgpopl E - prs 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. When the king said to Milo. “That's enough." after he had spoken about two words. When they were going to eat the books. When the lady fell in. I was happy because the fat lady fell in the pond o Number one because the lady fell in the fish pond and the remarks fromeidge and Henry. Number two because of the puns. I think they were funny because they both had a particular person or an animal. School E - l. 2. 3. Girls Because both of them were two different meanings and they were both really funny. The first one was a little boring. I liked the second one because it was happy. Because it was like a funny story when the lady fell in the pond. Because they got what they wanted. Sgggpl F - ngg 1. 2. 3. In the second one I know I don't want a square meal. Tidal wave and the insults from the boy. The way the king made the people say short stories. He had to get a tow truck to haul the lady out and she made a tidal wave. Schopl F - Girls 10‘ 2. In the second story it got happy then it got sad so that's what I wrote. How the lady fell in the pond and the way she got out. 3. h. 5. 193 The second one made me feel happy because it had a funny feeling about eating your own words. When the lady fell in the pond. When they had to eat their speech. They were both very good stories but at the end they got kind of sad. Qgestign one - (Selections Three and Four) What was there about the stories, (Paddington Goes to T013 and The Alligator Case). that made you check the boxes the way you did? Sch A - Girls 10' 2. 3. u. 5. 6. The bear was funny. The stories were very funny and made the day brighter. I liked the stories very much they were very funny and have lots of humor. I liked the first one better because it had more excitement to it. They were very different than other stories I've heard before. I didn't like the number two because it must be sick to eat like he did. School A - Bgys 1. 2. 3. 4. He reaped what he said in the story. Number three was better to me because funnier things were said. Because the bear said the opposite when he was telling him what to do. It made me feel 0.x. 5. 19“ When the bear said yes and the doctor said no. and they kept doing it. Girls School B - 1. 2. 3. They were funny and couldn't really have happened. They were happy and funny. The doctor was funny the way he ate. School B - Boys 1. The first story the man did not like Paddington. School C - Girls 1. 2. They were different and had unusual humors. The way everything was done. and how the action took place. School 0 - Boys 1. 2. 3. a. 5. When he was batting his peas. When he was saying the opposites. Story four. hitting the peas. The way he answered. The peas and pork chops. About the bear saying the opposite of the psychiatrist. The way he ate the peas. When Paddington said the words right. Sghgol D - Gigls 1. 2. 3. They made me happy cause they were sort of stupid. They're both about the way someone acts. The things that happened to them, the way they were written. u. 195 They are stupid. School D - Boys 1. 2. 3. It was funny when he kept mocking him. Sounded funny. When he hit the spoon and pork chops in his mouth. School E - Girls 1. 2. Because Paddington went into a psychiatrist and he got mad. The man ate by shooting the peas in the air and in his mouth. When Paddington went to see a psychiatrist. When Mr. Fisher batted the peas in his mouth. School E - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. Because how mad the shrink got. Because I wasn't happy or unhappy after I heard the stories. The part when he kept repeating. The way he ordered the waiter. It was funny when he went into the psychiatrist. Kind of funny but not as funny as Paddington. He was very unusual. Schggl F - Girls 1. 2. 3. I think the first one was kind of stupid. The second one wasn't the greatest but it was 0.x. I thought the first one was funny when Paddington and the psychiatrist were saying the opposite. The second one I liked. It made me happy because it was funny and interesting. 196 School F - Boyo 1. 2. 3. h. I like weird things. He batted the peas into his mouth. I liked when the doctor said he said something different. He kept saying the opposite thing that the doctor said. The fat guy batted peas into his mouth. Quostion Two - (Selections One and Two) Answeroogo of the following questions: 1. If you thought one of the stories funnier than the other write what made you think that way. 2. If you thought both stories funny write what you think made them both funny. 3. If you thought both stories not funny, write what made you think that way. School A - Boys 1. One. you knew what was going to happen. Two 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. was like a mystery. I think that the first was funnier because when she opened the bag she jumped. Because the boy ate his words and funnier things happened. Because the boy had to eat his words. Because the lady fell in the pond. Not funny because they should of told him what he said he could eat. The first one was funny because she fell in the lake. 197 School A -_g;;g§ 1. 2. 3. In story number two it seemed more real. It was funny because in one story they didn't use numbers unless they had to. And they had to eat their words. I thought the first one was funny when she fell in. But I've read some of his stories and all were really good. Number two I thought it was funny because everyone had a big meal but the boy. Number two. He had to eat his words and that's why I thought it was funny. I thought number two was funnier because it was more realistic. and was more of a story. School B - Boys 1. All of the jokes made them funny, I think. 2. Because one was gayer than the other one. 3. The lady that fell into the pool. Number two a. 5. wasn't too funny. The first story the lady fell in the pool. The second the king did not like numbers. Well. they had to eat their own words and that's what made it funny. School B_- Gigls l. I thought the second one was more unusual than 2. 3. #. the other one. I just liked it better. I thought that number two was funnier because of the way the little boy did his speech. Two was better because they didn't like numbers and because of their menus. The first story was more serious, which didn't make it quite as funny. 5. 6. 198 I thought it was funny when she fell into the pond and they had to pull her out. It was a little funny that he had to eat his words. They were both funny. The first one was funny because the turtle was in the purse and the second one was funny because of all the food. School_C — Boys 1. 2. 6. It was funny when the lady fell into the pond. It was funny what the king said at the end of the Story 0 They had funny parts like falling in the pond and only half speeches. The way he had to eat his words. When the lady fell in the pond and was too fat to get out. Falling into the pond. Getting any food you want 0 Where the old lady fell in. School C - Girlo 1. 2. 3. Because the words are not very funny but I think that story one was funny because of how the fat lady struggled to get out of the pond when everyone tried to help her. Title Two has a very good story title and it sounds spooky but it is a very boring story. Because in the first story a lady fell in a pond of water and in the second one they just talk about the speeches of some kids also the action taking place in the first story was a little better than in the second story. The first one was the funniest. Because there was a better action. I thought the first story was funnier because the actions were funnier and in the second one there was hardly anything funny about it. 199 5. Because the lady got upset over the frog. The frog shouldn't have caused so much confusion if it was a small one. I couldn't understand why she fainted when she was pulled out of the lily POYId 0’ School D - Boys 1. The first story when she fell into the pond. 2. Title One. I like when she fell in the pond and got wet. 3. Because the jokes in the second story were corny jokes. a. Because of the fat lady falling in the pond and the cut-downs. 5. When the fat lady fell in the pond. When he said I want a light meal. 6. The happenings were much funnier in the first one rather than the second. School D - Girlg 1. They are too simple and dull, not very exciting. 2. Because in the second story no catastrophe happened, everything was funny. 3. They both weren't very funny because they weren't old enough for a sixth grader. h. The second one was funny because of the fantasy. School E - Boys 1. I thought the first story was funny because the lady fell in the lily pond. and Henry said he now knows what makes tidal waves. 2. When the king was eating the book and the boy was eating the words. 3. Well. because the lady fell in the water. the thing about getting a tow truck. The other didn't really have any real funny things. 4. 5. School -:§ 1. Z. 3. 6. School F - l. 2. 3. 4. 5. 200 One was funnier than two because I don't think two had that many funny lines. One was funnier because it might happen and when she saw the snake by the pond. Number two was kind of funny and kind of making up stories. I thought Hengy Reed was very funny because of the lady fa ing in the water and when she fainted when she felt the turtle. The next one wasn't funny because you can't Spell your dinner. - Girls The first one was funnier because it had more confusion and they didn't know what to do. I like the first one because it had more of. there was confusion and it ended up funnier. I liked story number two better because the man was eating his words and asked for light lunches and square lunches. Number two. They didn't very much have it funny. It was just about some letters. Number one was funny about the fat lady. I thought the first story was funny when the lady fell in the fish pond and couldn't get her out they suggested to get a tow truck. I thought that it was a little funny because whatever he asked he got. What they said about the story, the dinner, and the fat lady. Bg¥§ I like exaggerations about fat people. Tidal waves. tow trucks. Because of tidal waves and tow trucks. The insults the boy said about the fat lady. Tidal waves and tow trucks. 6. 201 I liked the first one because the lady who fell in was fat and made tidal waves. gchool F - girls 1. 2. 3. h. 5. 6. I thought one story was funnier because of when the lady fell into the pond and the turtle was in the purse. I thought two was not as funny because it sounded weird in the king's speech. The first one was funny because of all the jokes they made about the fat lady and about the part when she fell in. The second one was funny because of the light meal and the square meal. Also because of the food speeches they made. The first one was funny about when the lady fell in the pond. The second was funny too. How they described the lady and the dinner. I think they were both good. I thought the first story was funny when the lady fell into the pond and couldn't get out. In number two I thought it was funny the way everyone got confused with their words. goostion Two - (Selections Three and Four) Same questions as for Selections One and Two. School A - Girlo 1. 2. 3. #. Number three was funnier than four. The bear kept on repeating everything. Number three I thought that was funnier because I liked it when the bear kept saying opposites. I just like the way they were written. I wish I had a bunch of books like them. The first one has more excitement to it and has more humor to its 202 5. Paddin ton is just silly. The Alligator Case Is kind of strange. 6. The first one was funniest because he got mad. The bear had to say the opposite and the psychiatrist got mad. School A - Boys 1. Because every word he would say he said the opposite because the guy was getting mad. 2. Story four was dull. 3. Because the bear said everything opposite to the psychiatrist even after the test was over. 4. Because it was more exciting. School B - Girls 1. Because of the way the main characters acted in the story. 2. They both did very strange and funny things. 3. They were very funny and strange. 4. The first was funny because the doctor was saying all those funny things. The second the way he ate. School B - Boyo 1. Cause of the way he ate the bullet peas. 2. Paddington kept on getting things mixed up. 3. I like the one about the men with the peas. 4. When he kept saying the opposite. The pork chops and bullet peas. 5. The first story is funny. Paddington talked back. The second one he did not have good manners. 203 School C - Girls 1. 2. 3. 4. They were unusual because of the things that happened in them. When the testing was finished the bear kept replying the opposite. The way the guy ate his meal and attracted everyone's attention. I thought the second one was better because it talks about bullet peas and pork chops. The first one isn't that funny. They were both funny because the characters were good. School C - Boys 1. 2. 3. When he was batting his peas. When he was saying the opposite. The way Paddington answered back to the man. Because he kept repeating everything that was opposite from what the other person saidc Girls School D - Id The first one was stupid and the second one was good. 2. Paddington was funnier because he did exactly 3. 4. right. Alligator Case was a little funny cause it was stupid. Because they both talk about the weird way somebody acts. Too simple. Sch 01 D - B 1. 2. 3. The first one was much funnier because the way Paddington answered. The way they acted. They were about unusual happenings and were very funny. 4. 204 When he popped the peas in his mouth and pork chop. School E - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Girls The psychiatrist was all confusing. The Alligator Case was exciting. The Paddington story was so confusing. In the first story Paddington was over doing it. On the second story the way the guy was eating. A bear got into a psychiatrist's room. Having an act. It was funny when Paddington was in the psychiatrists and he slammed the door. I liked the other one because the way he ate his peas. When he went to a psychiatrist and when he went to the restaurant. Sch E - B s 1. 2. 3. 4. When he hit the peas in his mouth. I think Paddington was funnier because he kept on saying the opposite. Because he answered the opposite when he wasn't supposed to. When he ate and ordered the waiter around. Number three was funny when he kept repeating. It was kind of funny when he ate the pork chops. 5. Zaddiogtog was a lot more funny because it was School F - 1. about an animal. The Alligator Case wasn't that funny because of the person who is eating is not funny at all. Girls I liked four better because the man put the pea on the teaspoons and hit the spoon and hit the pea into his mouth with pork chops. 2. 3. 5. 205 Story number four was funnier because in story three. you already knew what was going to happen. Story four wasn't really the greatest because you couldn't hear the rest. I think this one would have been better if I heard the whole story. I thought Eaddington was better because it was funnier and Alligator Case was confusing and I didn't understand it as well as Paddington. I liked Paddingtog better than the other story because I read Paddington before. I thought the pork chop one was good too but Faddiggton had jokes mixed in with a story. For Paddingtog it was funny because he kept saying the opposite of what the psychiatrist said. For the fourth story he kept hitting the peas with his pork chop. School F_:;Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. I like when people give other people a rough time in a funny way. The way he batted the peas into his mouth. Because the bear kept on answering the word that the scientist didn't want him to. The boy kept saying the opposite thing the doctor said. I thought it great for baseball. Rural Schoolo Question Ooo - (Selections One and Two) What was there about the stories. (Hengy ReedI Inc.. and The Phantom Tollbooth). that made you check the boxes the way you did? 206 School A :=BQXS l. The first was not sticking close to the fact that the turtle was lost all the time. Number two was full of humor and was very interesting. 2. Number one had more adventure number two was a little boring. Adventure makes it funny. 3. One wasn't as funny as the other. One taught a lesson and the other didn't. School A - Girlo l. The first story was a little funny. The second story I really didn't understand. 2. I thought that the first story was funny because of the lady fell in the pool. 3. About the turtle and the fat lady. the way they talked during the story. 4. I like movies or stories when ladies that think they're real bi something happens to them. It was dull. fNo. 2) School B - Boys 1. Number two was sort of jolly. 2. I checked the way I did in it is because I don't like slapstick. 3. The fat lady fell in and they found a turtle. 4. They found the turtle and the fat lady fell in. 5. They found the turtle. School B - Girls 1; Because I thought it was a little sad about what they said about the lady but the things he said were funny. School C - Boys No comments 207 School C “ELLE 1. 2. 3. The first one was funny because of the comparisons. The lady that fell in the pond. The first one. when the lady fell in the pond. School D - Boys 1. School D - No School E - 1. 2. 3. In the first story the idea of the fat lady at the garden party was good and the jokes about her were funny and the story was sort of a mystery. 61123 comments Boxg It was a little foolish. The lady falling in the ponds The way they had to eat their words. Going into too much depth. Girls School E - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The second story was just something you don't hear about often. The way the big fat lady fell in the pond. When they ate what they said. In title one when the lady fell in the pond. In title two when the king was kind of bossy. When the fat lady found the frog in her bag. The different shapes and sizes of the people. Like in title one the women. When the lady fell in the pond. When he said I didn't know I would have to eat my words. 208 School F - Boys 1. 2. 3. School F - 1. 2. The turtle in the purse and eating your words. The funny selections and the odd speeches in Phantom Tollbooth. When the boy turtle got in the lady's pocket- book and she fell in the pond. Girls Because they had to eat their words. Because of the way they do say things. Question One - (Selections Three and Four) What was there about the stories. (Paddiogton Goes Goes to Town and The Alligator Caso), that made you check the boxes the way you did? Girls School A - 1. School A - 1. 2. 3. I couldn't really decide on a number because I like things better with pictures. But it was funny. Wasn't too much excitement in two. Box; The words that had been said was quite funny. Number three was very cute about the casting and way of proceeding. Number four was a little strange but a bit more interesting than strange. I thought that they were funny because they both goofed off a bit. School B - Girlo 1. He was very funny about his order. 2. 209 The way they made me feel happy is the way they acted. School B - Boys 1. School C - l. 2. 3. 4. When he batted the peas. Girl; His manners were weird. I liked the first one because it's weird. When Paddington repeated everything. When Paddington kept answering the psychiatrist back when he didn t want him to. School C - Boys 1. 2. 3. Yes. I like how they eat and the bear works. The way the boy yelled out. The way they done their stunts. Girls School D - 1. 2. 3. 4. I liked the second story because of how that man ate. The first one was cool, but the second one was really out of sight. The second story I don't think was very interesting it was kind of dumb. The way he ate. School D - Boyo No comments Girls School E - 1. They were both very funny and something different. 210 2. When he kept saying the opposite. When he batted peas in his mouth. 3. When the fish batted the peas into his mouth with his pork chop. 4. In Title Four when Mr. Fish batted the peas into his mouth. School E - Boyo l. The last one was too foolish. 2. Unreal. funny. 3. The way the bear sassed back the head shrinker. When he catapulted the peas and hit them with his pork chop. School F - Girls 1. I have never heard stories that silly. 2. The second one was funny when he was batting them in his mouth and the boy got hit for yelling. 3. Because they all were kind of funny or stupid. 4. I felt very happy because it isn't everyday you see a man eat like that. School F - Boys 1. When the guy used his pork chop to bat his bullet peas into his mouth. 2. The way he ate. 3. The way he eats pork chops and peas. 4. I think it was funny the way Mr. Fish ate. Quostien Two - (Selections One and Two) Answer one of the following questions: 1. If you thought one of the stories funnier than 211 the other write what made you think that way. 2. think made 3. If you thought both stories funny write what you them both funny. If you thought both stories not funny. write what made you think that way. School A - Boys 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The first was funnier because it had more to it and more excitement. Number two was full of clever terms such as ”eating your own.words.' Because how they put the words in. Number one is funnier because it has funny things happen like a lady falling in a pond. Because it had some parts that was funny like the woman fell in the pond. The first one had fat ladies. It also had make-up stuff. Girls School A - 1. 2. 3. 4. The first story was funny. because the big fat lady fell in the pond. I thought that the first one was the funniest because it put more laughter and jokes in it. Well. they talked funnier, then they ate weird things. I also liked their speeches. The first one was funnier because of all the incidents that happened. And the way the lady fell in the water. School B - Boys 1. It was the suspense in it and sort of frolicky or weird. well not that weird. 212 2. Tho Phantog Tollbooth had less slapsticks. 3. The lady fell in a pond. 4. The lady fell in the water. 5. The fat lady fell in the pond. 6. Because the fat lady fell in the pond. School B - Girls 1. The people in the story and that they were funny. 2. The Phantom Tollbooth was funnier I thought because Title One was sort of tragic when the lady fainted. 3. The first was funnier than the second because he said all those funny things about the lady and in the second one didn't interest me and wasn't very funny. 4. The first one had a lot of splashing and thinking that the turtle was in the garden next door. 5. In one. I thought it was funnier because of the wording and the way it was told. School C - Boys 1. The number two story was funny because the boy had to eat his words. 2. Number two used funnier words but number one was dull. 3. There was nothing funny in them. School C - Girlo l. I thought it was funnier because the lady fell in the pond. 2. I liked the story of Heogy Roed because it makes you laugh. I've read other stories of Hengy Reed and I really enjoy them. 3. Because it was funny the way they put the words. 213 4. When the fat lady fell in the pond and the boy said to call a tow truck. \ 5. The Phantom Tollbooth was funnier because they had to eat their words. 6. Because the turtle started everything like started the whole thing when the lady fell in the pond. And. when the hostess had to get the lady out. School D - Boy; 1. Because of what they had to eat. 2. The lady that fell in the pond. 3. Tho Phantom Tollbooth wasn't very exciting and a little dull. 4. I thought Henry Reed was funnier because when the woman fell in the water. School D - Girl; 1. It told of fiction happening that I enjoy. 2. It was funny because of the fat woman. Number two because they liked words. 3. When the lady fell in the pond. When the boy suggested the square and light meal. 4. The woman falling in the pool. 5. The first one was O.K. but too easy to read. The second one was funny because when they made a speech and had to eat what they said. 6. The first one wasn't very funny because of the words. I didn t think the words were put together very well. School E - Boys 1. It was funny when she fell in the pond. 2. The kids looking for the turtle, and then the 3. 4. School E - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 214 woman found it in her purse and almost became hysterical. More jokes. funny names seemed more under- standable. The first story was a little funny because the lady fell in. The second one was a little funny because he ate his words. Girls Because the second one was more unusual than the firSte Because they had to eat what they said. and it was a lot. In story two they used all of them fancy words and the story was a fantasy. I liked the one because of the numbers and the fOOde In title one I thought it was funnier because that lady was so fat! When the lady found a turtle in her purse. When he said he would have to eat his own words. School F d Boys 1. 2. 3. The Phantom Tollbooth where they said I didn't want to eat my own words. The boy had to eat his words and his speech. It was funnier because it was weird about the square meal and all. Scoool F - Girls 1. 2. 3. The second one was funniest because it had more to 1te Because they had to eat their own words. Because the second one was funnier because I like where they had to eat their words. 4. 5. 215 Because of the speeches and meals. Because the second one was funny when he didn't know he would eat his words. Quostion Two - (Selections Three and Four) Same questions as for Selections One and Two. School A - l. 2. 3. 6. Girls If you would listen to them you will like it. The bear had bad manners. And they make me feel happy. In Paddington there was more excitement. I like humor stories where things go wrong. In number two nothing went wrong really. I didn't think that one was better than the other because thing were always moving. They both were good. The first was funny because the bear was funny. The way Paddington was with the psychologist. Paddington made him nervous was another reason I likfid it: They were both funny because of the way they aCted e School A - Boys 1. 2. 3. Because the bear said the opposite all the time and when he did not want him to. Because they had words that was the opposite and he got the answer back quickly. Number three had more excitement or horsing around. 4. Paddington was very exclusive of bad ways. It's funny when a dumb person makes a fool of a smart person like in number three. 216 6. The first was the funniest because he showed the scientist who was the smarter. School B — Girls 1. The Paddington story was funny because of the word that meant the opposite of the word hung. Tho Alligator Case was funny because the way the guy ate. 2. They were both funny because of the wording and the way he ordered his food and how he cooked it. Then when on number three is the way he kept saying the opposite. 3. I liked how Paddington kept saying opposites of the doctor and I liked the paper panties and how he ate. 4. I liked the way Paddington kept answering when he wasn't supposed to and when Mr. Fish kept batting his bullet peas. 5. The way Mr. Fish ate his bullet peas and his pork chop. 6. I liked the way the psychiatrist was calling the words and Pattie was giving him the opposite. School B - Boyg l. I liked it because of the way he ate peas. 2. Because he batted the pea in. 3. The way the man ate. 4. Number three was funnier because he kept playing the game. 5. I liked number three because it had a lot of humor and enthusiasm. 6. e Alli ator Case was too weird. School C - Giglo l. I liked the first one because it was funny and weird. 217 2. I liked when-how the man ate his steak. 3. Mr. Fish was funnier because the way he ate his food. and what he eats. 4. I thought it was funnier because Paddington had to keep repeating to the doctor. School C - Boys 1. The bear acted like people and the man ate the pea. 2. Both stories used funny words and used them where they were needed. School D - Girls 1. The first one was funny because of the bear. Two was funny because he never missed. 2. I don't think many of the books I've read are about table manners. School D - Boys 1. Alligator Case because when he was hitting the peas. 2. The doctor tried to get rid of him. School E - Girls 1. When Paddington was sitting on the couch he would say the words so funny like. 2. Both the same because I liked the first one because he kept shooting back the words and the other one because he could shoot peas good. School E - Boyo l. The way the bear kept saying things. 2. The third one was funny but not foolish. 3. Because it made the doctor mad. 4. Because 218 the last one was too foolish. 5. When Paddington was playing that game with the psychiatrist. School F - Girls 1. Because batting 2. The one he kept 3. Because 4. I liked not very often do you see someone peas like that. about Paddiogton was funnier because on saying the opposite. they were both silly. the Alligator Caso because the guy was funny. School F - Boys 1. Because air and 2. Because 3. The way 4. Because 5. The way when the guy hit that pea up into the caught it with his mouth. he batted the peas in his mouth. he ate pork chops and peas. no one eats like that. he eats and running into a psychiatrist. 6e Mre Fish ate queere APPENDIX E Comments of Students Recorded Following the Listening to the Humorous Stories This appendix lists the comments recorded by the researcher following the playing of the humorous selections. The conversations are organized by the questions used to facilitate the discussions and according to the classes of schools used. Question -- What do you think makes a story funny? Replies -- Inner-City Children 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Jakeae When a person does stupid things. When she did anything she wanted to as Pippi Longstocking did. When she stuck her face in the food. Greediness. selfishness; Clumsiness. being sneaky. Always having smart remarks. The stupid side of everything. When you have characters like bears that don't talk and when they do they say funny things. You know they can t talk. Something happening all the time. 219 220 11. Joke after joke. 12. The characters. 13. Vocabulary words. 14. The feelings. 15. What the characters do. 16. The situations. how everything works out. 17. The way they act. 18. The ridiculous things that kids do. 19. The title. 20. When the lady fell in the water and they couldn't get her out. 21. The things that the characters do. 22. Trying to get help. somebody throws something. 23. When the characters are funny. 24. The peeple and how they act. 25. Imagining things. 26. The pictures. illustrations. 2?. The words. 28. People won't be able to say the long words right. 29. What the characters do and say. 30. Good rhyming words. 31. The way the characters act and talk. Replies -- Suburban Children 1. People goofing up. getting into trouble. 2. The words that are used. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. l4. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 210' 221 When two peeple get involved. they start doing something. it gets in a big cemmotien. they get into treuble. Something goes wreng in the plot. The story is like a mystery and it turns into a JOkOe Something that is strange. The way it's written. An action of some kind when someone falls or trips. The words. the way it is put. The way the characters act. The title. The actions of the characters. The way something is done. Exaggeratien. Funny jekes. Twisted jekes. Saying the opposite words. The characters. The way they act. The way they talk. What they do. Replies -- Rural Children 1. 2. 3. 4. Funny words. Funny happenings. Jakes e Some illustrations make stories funny. 9. 10 e' 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 27. 222 Throwing pies back and forth. It depends on what you like to read about. The way he ate the peas and the way he ordered the waiter around. Eat your words. It had all these sayings that you say in everyday life. When it said the pork chop has paper panties. How they word its How they say it. How they tell it. How it is punctuated. If someone believed in good table manners they wouldn't think the one about the peas was funny. A little bit of mystery. action. and excitement mixed in. Something that doesn't make sense. People say ridiculous things. People make cracks. When they say you're supposed to eat your words. Humpty Dumpty. how he falls and then they can't put him back together. The way it's told. The words that are used. The way it is presented. The way the lady fell in the water. Something odd or weird. ' The characters. Unusual things. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 223 Things out of the ordinary. Taking sayings and making them sound as if they're knocking them. Wisecracks. Animals coming to life. All kinds of jokes. Talk funny. the way they make ready. Guys making other guys shut up. Something they don't expect like they ask something and get something they don't even want. People who think they're real big. high rank. somebody does something to them to show them up. Question -- Have you been able to find many humorous books to read? If so. where and what books did you find? Almost all the answers to this question were in the negative. there aren' would read The children answered over and over again that t many humorous books available and that they them if they could find them. Among the few titles mentioned were Henry and Beezus. Pippi Longstocking. and the Charlie Brown books. A few individual replies follow. Replios -- Inner-City Children 1. There aren't many humorous books. It's not the style. Publishers. all they make is sex books and books like that. That's the style today. Not enough humorous books. Can't find many books. There should be more humorous ones. 224 5. Can't find many books. Would like to see more funny ones. 6. Can't find too many. About the only funny books are the comics. 7.-Kids would enjoy funny books. 8. Think there should be more funny stories. 9. Kids would read then. 10. Once in awhile. Replies -- Suburban Children 1: No. can't find books. 2. Not many around. 3. Should be more books in our language. 4. I like sad books more. 5. Not many books around. should be more humorous books. 6e Hard to finds 7. Kids like humorous books. mysterious. Replies -- Rural Children 1. No. 2. No humorous books around. 3. Anything that's funny has maybe twenty-six pages and words about that big. (Used fingers to illustrate very small words.) 4. You have to find a good baby book if you want an interesting one. 5. Hardly any humorous books around. 6. Yes. there should be more humorous stories to read. 7. Hard to find funny books. 8. 9. 10. 11. 225 Should have kids give the ideas for books. Can't find many. Mostly cartoon books. Would like more funny books. Questions -- How do you think the reading of humorous books affects the way people feel after reading them? There was a general consensus of opinion that reading funny books made a person feel better. A few of the more thoughtful replies are summarised below. Replies -- Inner-City Children 1. 2. 3. You feel happy after hearing humorous stories. After reading a sad book you feel sad. After reading a funny book I laugh a lot. I tell the teacher about it and she laughs too. I remember it» Some people would feel good. some people wouldn't. We had a teacher last year who made jokes. We learned a lot. _ You need funny books because all your life will be settling down. Sometimes the books gotoo far. Puts you in a better mood. Replies -— Suburban Children No really precise comments were made by these children except to say that humorous stories would help make people feel better. 226 Mud! 16 1d- la They make you feel better. 2. If they're unhappy when they read them they might feel better. 3. To relax. read humorous books. 4. It depends on how they take the story. APPENDIX F Annotation and Categorization of Humorous Books for Middle Grade Children A total of 199 humorous books with an interest level that generally varied from grade two through grade seven were identified for this study. Identification was made from book reviews in Book List and Subscription Review from 1937 through 1971 and in the 1970 edition of Tho Elementagy School Librarngollgotgop. Of the 199 identified books. 193 were eventually located and read. Of these 193 books. nineteen were not considered truly humorous. The 174 remaining books were categorized into contemporary and fantasy type humor. folk tales and tall tales. and collections of humorous works. These broad divisions were sub-divided into humor that was basically action humor. word humor. or action goo word humor. In the investigator's opinion the books thus categorized were truly representative of humor of action or humor of words. Of the 174 books. 140 considered the most truly homorous and worth- while literature were annotated. Thirty-four books were not annotated because in the investigator's opinion they contain- ed humor considered in poor taste or of an inconsequential amount to be classified as humorous selections. 227 228 Coppepporapy and Fantasy 2129 Hugo; Baoically Humor o; Actiop Apthor Titlo Interest L vel (Yoars) Aiken. Joan ArmitageI Armitage. 9 - 13 F Aw Hopo Anderson. Nildred N. A G N r m 8 - lO Atwater. Richard Po r's Po 7 - 11 and Florence Ball. Zachary Sputtepp lO - 13 (Masters) Beatty. Jr.. Jerome B b Fult 's Ama i 9 - 12 goda-§§%‘StE§toheg Bell. Norman We t1 as H r 9 - 12 Bishop. Claire H. Ihg,lan,Who Loss His Hoad 5 - 8 Botemps. Anna and Tho Fast Scope; Hound 5 - 9 Conroy. Jack S H r T 7 - 10 W nd rfu S Pa nte Brock. Emma L. Thpeo Ring Ciroup 7 - 10 T Tu Fa i1 6 - 9 Brown. Jeff 21;; Stanley 6 - lO Butterworth. Oliver us E 8 - 12 b e W 9 - 12 floppy's Ear Carlson. Natalie Alppopoo - That Beagoed Opp 8 - 11 (Savage) Cornival jg Pario 8 - lO 229 Carlsen. Ruth C. 5;. degins Carroll. Ruth and Tpo Fiying Houso Latrobe Chaikin. Miriam t k itt i Chalmer. Audrey prppods opd Hundreds 92 Papcakes Cleary. Beverly Beepus and Ramona Ellep Tobbits Hen and Beezus Heppy and Ribsy Hoppy and the Clubhoupo Happy and the Pamr Route eppy Hpggins The Mouse and the M torc cl 6E1. S fford Ramo a the Pest Ribsy Corbett. Scott T e D as ear Do Trick R'd a n saur? e Ha Horror Tr ck Tpo Hateful. Plateful Trick .: _emonade Tr ck 1- Ha lbox Tr ce — Cowley. Jay puck in the Gpp Dahl. Roald Qpppiio and the Chocolate chtopy Dubois. William Pene Tpo Great Geppy nyo opd yho Magic Potatoes Estes. Eleanor S d the W nd d Mr. Tood B th Great Horn S can beard the W ard r' ster us and C . Garnett. Eve Th5 Fppily from One End t and Some 0 T r Adventures Tppt Big Broozer Fleischman. Sid Graham. Benzell U\ (D \I oomonoocooom GQQOGQOOQQCD O\ \O (DUHO 10 10 11 11 13 12 13 10 Gray. Nicholas S. Haywood. Carolyn Henderson. Legrand Lawson. Robert Leaf. Murno Lewellen. John Lindgren. Astrid Lord. Beman MacDonald. Betty MacGregor. Ellen Mc'Closkey. Robert Malone. Mary Meyer. Franklyn E. Mowat. Farley North. Sterling Paine. Albert E. 230 0-3 A St Beysy's Busy Summer 9. Ed is and His Big Deals Eddio and the Fire Engino E9 is Makes Musio '—T'——_ d is s Gree Thumb E3 3 '3 Pa Dirt m n. d.£___._JL.___. E die tpe Dog Holds; e-> pen and Mo T abulous Fl h Wits; W Sam ano tho Supordroop Toe Vee Humpppey 1 t e Sou T een Emil's Pra s M sch v us Me Pippi Goes on Board he Per ect P tch The Troublo With Francis are. Piggle-Wigglo Miss Pickerell and the W Copterbppy Tales Here's Howie go and Caleb W T Do Who W uldqu Be n th amiiy Groosed Ligpypipg Arkansaw Bear Parkinson. Ethelyn M. Good Old Archibald tus and he M untains s tus e R ve co \1 \JV QQVV oo ‘0 moooom \IV \IKIVVVVV ‘O ...: ooooxwwo (1303030 11 12 13 13 UP UP 10 Petrie. Stuart Proysen. Alf Rinkoff. Barbara Robertson. Keith Robinson. Tom Seldon. George Shura. Mary P. Slobodkin. Louis Spearing. Judith Steele. Mary D. Stong. Phil Turnbull. Agnes S. Wickenden. Dan Wilkins. Mary E. Williams. Jan and Abrashkin. Raymond Williams. Jay Wilson. Hazel Wood. Esther Yolen. Jane Tpo Voypge of the Barrackg or t th M s P pagio Wood Aipopi. the Mipd Reader Hoppy ReedI Inc; Hopgy Rzod'p Baby Sittipg 0:! co Tr r J '3 S Tpo Crickoi ip Times Sguare Simpie Spigoii Th S acesh U do Apple Tree onpps Who_Went to Schooi t piss Osporne the Mop A W ld Goose Tale pigp Waier H th se Elijah the Fishbite A zin Va at The Pumpkin Giant D d th A t - ravi Pa t D an the Weather ac n Ppilbept fhe Foargui §§e Pract cal Princess Silver Wh stl mm 8 d Sat Lan Hobo Toad apd ipe Motorcycle ppg \O‘O (DVV‘O (D \I oo O\O\\1 mamOVVmefl 11 12 13 13 13 11 10 10 11 11 12 11 11 10 11 11 11 10 10 11 10 11 232 C n em ra and Fantas Humog hasically Humor of Words Author 2111! I t rest Level (Years) Babbitt. Natalie The Search for Deliciopo 9 - 13 Cameron. Polly Tho Green.Machino 5 - 8 Juster. Norton The Phantom Tollbooth lO - Up Kilian. Crawford Wopders. Ipc. 8 — 11 Nash. Ogden Cru se of th 7 - Up ardva Parish. Peggy Amelia Bedelia 5 - 8 Raskin. Ellen Th; M steziou 9 - 13 Thurber. James Tho Wopdepgul Q 11 - Up 233 C e rs d Fantas T e um H r Con Elements Bas Op Aoyion and Words Authop Tipio interest Level Yoapo Bond. Michael dd t n G es to To 8 - 11 Carlson. Natalie S. Hortonse: Tho Cow for a 7 - 10 .92222 Corbett. Scott The Limerick Trick 9 - ll DuBois. William P. The Alligator Case 8 - ll Porho Von Popbutton 8 - ll Fleischman. Albert S. Chppcy and the Grand Rascal 8 - l3 Haywood. Carolyn Ever-Ready Eddie 7 - 9 Little Eddie 5 - 9 Lawson. Robert Mr. Twigg's Mistako 8 - ll Lindgren. Astrid (Zippi_hopgotocking 8 - 11 Mc'Closkey. Robert Homer Prico 8 - 12 Merrill. Jean Tho goshcarp War 10 - 13 Feet. Bill Hobort's Hair-Raisipg 5 - 8 Advonpupe hopdy o Dandy Liono K - 8 Selden. George Tpckor's Countgysido 8 - 12 Stolz. Mary §iri yho Copouistador 5 - 10 Williams. Jay and Doppy Dunn and tho 8 - ll Abrashkin. Raymond Hopowork Machino 234 Folk Tales. Tall Toles Ali Basically Action Typo Humor Author Titlo Interest Level Years Amarant. Julius Tail Baseball Storios 8 - ll Andersen. Hans C. The Emporor's New Clothes 6 - ll Bowman. James C. Mike Fiph 9 - 13 Davis.Robert Padre P rko h 7 - ll Qentlemaniy Pig Felton. Harold W. howleg Bill. Seagoipg 9 - l3 Cowpunchog Now Tall Tales of Pecos. 9 - 13 Bill Tpge Tall Tales 01 8 - 12 t rmalo : a l r the Seven eas Feuerlicht. Roberta S. The Legends of Papl Bppyop 8 - 12 Fleischman. Sid Mc'Broom and the Big Wind 7 - 10 Henderson. LeGrand Matildo 7 - lO Leskov. Nicholas Tho Steel Fleo 7 - 10 Mc'Closkey. Robert Borg Dow: Deep-Water Map 5 - 8 Mc'Govern. Ann Hoe Haw 5 - 8 Rounds. Glen Ql Taui iho Mighty Logger 8 - 11 h Wh stle P f Cam 1 8 - ll Shapiro. Irwin how Old Stormalopg 8 - ll Capiured Mocha D ch Joe Magorac and His U.S.A. 9 - 12 C zen Pa s John Heppy and the Doublo- 8 - 12 Joippeo Sieam Drill Shapiro . Irwin Turney. Ida Virginia St 235 11 10 11 236 C 11 c ns Humorous W rks Basicaliy Humor of Actiop Editor or Author ‘Tipio Interest Levol Years Chase. Richard Tho Jack Tales K - Up Credle. Ellis Tall Tales f m the 10 - Up High Hill: Felton. Harold W. Tho World's Mos; Truthful 9 - 13 Men Hale. Lucretia P. Tho Complote Peterkin Papers 10 - Up Jagendorf. Moritz A. Tho Marvelous Advontures o; 10 - Up gohppy Dariipg Kelsey. Alice G. Opoo tho Hodja 8 - Up Shapiro. Irwin Tall Tales of America 8 - l3 Walters. Maude O. Qlovor and Foolish Tales 7 - 13 for Children Withers. Carl W rld f Nonsense 8 - Up S ra e and Humoro s a s fro M Land 237 Qolleciions oT Humorous Worhs Basicolly pror oT‘Words hoitor or huthop Title terost Level (Years) Green. Roger L. Tho pooh of Nonsense 10 - Up Jagendorf. Moritz A. 1 U1 is l's lO - Up e rs Love. Katherine ttl All Ages 238 Collections of prorous Works Humor Containing Elements Based On Editor or Author Davis. Mary G. Fenner. Phyllis R. Jagendorf. M. A. Scoggin. Margaret C. Shapiro. Milton J. Smith. Helen R. Sturton. Hugh Walker. Barbara K. Action and Words Title interest Loyel (Yoars) W Ca and Bells: 7 - Up prorous Stories to Tell and Read Aloud ls and F Fellows 9 - 13 T me to Lau 9 - 13 Noodlehead Stories from All Ages Around the Wopld Chucklobaii ll - Up A Troasppy of Sports Humor 10 - Up Lgpghing Matte: 9 - 13 Zomo tho Rabbi} 8 -*12 Onoe Thero Was apd Twico 8 - 10 Thopo Wasp'i 239 hooks Not Appotatod,Because Humor Was Inconseguential or in Poor Taspo Author Title Interest Levoi Aiken. Joan Armitage, Armitago 8 - lO Tiy Away Home Anderson. Mildred N. p_§iTt for Mopimond 8 - 10 Bishop. Claire H. The Man Who Lost His Head 5 - 8 Brock. Emma L. Three Ring_Circpo 7 - 10 The Topsy-Tupyy Family 6 - 9 Carlsen. Ruth G. Mr. Pudgins 8 - 10 Carlson. Natalie 8. Carnival in Papio 8 - 10 Carroll. Ruth The Flying House 8 - 10 and Latrobe Chaikin. Miriam Ittki Pittki 7 - lO Cleary. Beverly .Qpio SpoTTord 7 - lO Fleischman. Sid Longbeard the Wioard 5 - 8 Garnett. Eve The Family from One Epd 9 - 13 Street and Some of Their: Adventures Graham. Benzell That Big Broozer 7 - 10 Gray. Nicholas 8. The Apple Stone 10 - 13 Green. Roger L. (ed.) The hook of Nonsense lO - Up Leaf. Munro 1§op_opd the Superdroop 9 - ll Lindgren. Astrid MischievopopMog 8 - 11 Lord. Beman Tho_Tpoub1e with Franoio 7 - 10 240 MacGregor. Ellen Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter North. Sterling Greased Lightnipg Paine. Albert B. Arkansaw Bear Petrie. Stuart Tho Voyage of the Barracks Proysen. Alf Mrs. Peppeppot in the Magic Wood Robinsbn. Tom .Tpigger Johp's Son Scoggin. Margaret C. (ed.) Chucklebait Shura. Mary F. Simple Spigott Slobodkin. Louis The§paceShip Under the Apple Tree Stolz. Mary Siri_the Conquistador Stong. Phil High Water Turnbull. Agnes S. Eiijah the Fishbite Wilkins. Mary E. The Pumpkin Giant Williams. Jay The Silver Whispio Wilson. Hazel Herbert Wood. Esther Silk and Satin-Lane 11 (I) VCDO\O\\J\IO\ 10 10 11 10 13 Up 10 10 10 11 10 10 11 10 241 hoohs Not Recommendod gs Humorous Booko (The little humor that these books did contain was action type humor except for that contained in This Boy Cody which consisted of humor generated by riddles.) Auihor Title I terest Level (lease) Best. Allena C. One Stripg Fiddle 7 - 9 Blough. Glenn C. Tho Monkey With a Notiop 7 - lO Clymer. Eleanor Chests; 8 — 10 Cone. Molly M s s 7 - lO Dolbier. Maurice Tho lagio Shop 6 - 9 Faralla. Dana Tho WondopTul Flyipg-Go- 8 - 11 m Foster. John hapco and The Tigep 8 - ll Gage. Wilson hiho's Toads 6 - 9 Hodges. Margaret What's Top Lunch. Charleyz 6 - 9 Jackson. Charlotte Tito: The gig of Guatemaio 7 - 9 Kendall. Carol Tho Big Splash 9 - 12 MacGregor. Ellen Miss Piokorell Goes to The 8 - lO Arctio hips Pickerell Goes Undersea 8 - 10 MacKellar. William Tho Spollest Monster ip the 7 - 10 W r d Moore. Lilian Tho Snahe That Went to Schoo; 6 - 9 Nash. Mary Stockton. Frank R. Stong. Phil Wilson. Leon 242 Whilo Mrs. Coverlei Was Aggy Tho Boo-Man of Orp Capyaip Kidd's Cow This Boy Copy ooxomoo 10 Up 11 10 293 Humorous Books Tdentified~ Author Casserley. Anne Gatling. Patrick Lindsay. Maud Stong. Philip Webb. Wheaton P. Winter. William But Unable to Locate gpppp and Publisher harney thoTDonkoy Harper. Row and Co.. 1938 The Chocolate Touch William Morrow. 1952 Jock Barefoot Lothrop. 1939 Cowhand Goes to Town Dodd. 1939 Uncle Swithin's Inventions Holiday House. 19 7 The Secret World of Qg Little. Brown. and Co.. 1962 V 1. 2. 3. 4. 244 We: Recommend; Humorous Books Amarant. Julius (author) Tall Baseball Stori No Illustrations Interest Level 8-10 years This is a hilarious collection of tall tales of the baseball games between the Lightfoot Lilies and the Ringtail Roarers as told by Wee Willie Little who himself was anything but little. An example of the tales would be that of Dean Braley. the pitcher who was so lazy that every time he crossed the foul line he tripped over it because he was too lazy to lift his feet. Andersen. Hans Christian (author) Erik Blegvad. Illustrator The hpporor's New Clothes Interest Level -9 years Andersen's classic of the king who is fooled by swindlers who pretend to be great tailors lives again in this adaptation. The parade which the king leads while nude is the highlight of the tale. Even the Chamberlains pretend to carry the king's train. More for younger readers although even older youngsters should enjoy it. Atwater. Richard and Florence (authors) Robert Lawson. Illustrator 3;. Popper's Penguins Interest Level 7-11 years Mr. Popper is a house painter interested in the Polar regions. He receives a penguin as a gift from an admiral friend which is later joined by a second pen- guin. Soon ten more are on the scene. .Confusion reigns and finally the penguins are relegated to the basement. The penguins eventually become hits in show business. Contains good action humor. Babbitt. Natalie (author) Tho §oarch for Deliciopo Babbitt. Illustrator Interest Level 9-13 years The kingdom is in an uproar over the dictionary being written by the prime minister. No one can agree on a definition for the word delicious. The king's 5. 7. 8. 9. 2% messenger. Gaylen. is sent on a journey to take a census of what the people feel the word delicious means to them. Fine use of words to promote fun. Ball. Zachary (Masters) (author) Leonard Shortall. Sputters Illustrator Interest Level 10-15 years Great action humor in this story about Jase. an orphan boy. and his dog. Sputters. Jase lives with Lute. the county sheriff. who has adopted him. Together they hunt for moonshiners. Beatty. Jr.. Jerome (author) Bob Fpiton's Amazing Graham Wilson. Soda-Pop Stretchop Illustrator Interest Level 8-12 years Bob Fulton's soda-pop stretcher blows up producing a goo that reduces friction. Lots of fun occurs as the government reproduces the machine and two little old lady Spies try to steal the secrets. Bob's father is a bumbling steamboat captain who inadvertently leads an enemy sub into a sandbar. Bell. Norman (author) Th Wei htless M ther W. J. Mars. Illustrator Interest Level 8-12 years Dr. Flippin is the typical absent-minded professor. Mrs. Flippin has her problems with the children. One day she takes some of her husband's weightless pills by mistake and becomes weightless. Wild action ensues. The story line contains much physical action humor such as tripping. falling. spilling things. and breaking items. Bond. Michael (author) Paddington Goes to Town Peggy Fortoum. Illustrator InterestJLevelPB-ll years This book is one in a series about Paddington. the problem making bear with the human characteristics. A great play on words takes place in the third chapter as Paddington utterly confuses a psychiatrist. Bontemps. Arna and Conroy. Jack (authors) Virginia Lee Burton The Fast Sooner Hound Illustrator Interest Level 5-9 years Sooner was a dog that could outrun any train just to be near his master. The roadmaster finally has 10 .= 11. 12. 13. 14. 246 to allow the dog to ride in the engine with his master so as not to disgrace the trains by outrunning them. Great for younger readers. Bontemps. Arnna and Conroy. Jack (authors) Ursula Koering. Sla Hoo r The Wonder ul Illustrator Pa nter Interest Level 7-10 years Slappy Hooper painted signs so realistically that he always got into trouble» His sign of a hot stove was so real that it burned down a house next to the sign. Even older readers would appreciate the story of the bread sign that looked so life-like that the birds broke off their bills trying to eat it. The humane society forced the removal of the sign! Bowman. James C. (author) Miho Tinh Leonard E. Fisher. Interest Level 9-13 years Illustrator Bowman's book contains the basic criteria of an American tall tale. exaggerations. swaggering heroes. and poker-faced humor. The illustrations graphically portray the characters in the stories. Progress changed the role of the keelboat and even Mike had to acknowledge this fact& Brown. Jeff (author) Fiai Stanley Tomi Ungerer. Illustrator Interest vel 6-10 years Stanley Lambchop is flattened by a bulletin board to a thickness of half an inch. He is so thin that his brother uses him as a kite. The illustrations add to the hilarity. Butterworth. Oliver (author) Tho Enormous Egg Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-12 years Nate Twitchell's hen lays a huge egg which hatches into a triceratops. The dinosaur grows rapidly and has to be taken to Washington. D.C. Book contains an excellent satire of 0.8. Congressmen and their attempts to have the dinosaur killed to save money. Butterworth. Oliver (author) The Trouble With Je 's Ear Julian de Miskey. Illustrator Interest Level 9-1 years Jenny's brothers Joe and Stanley are electronic bugs and through an accident cause Jenny to be able to hear people's thoughts. Her new talent enables her to 15. 16. 17. 18. 24? win $100,000 in a quiz program. An especially humorous part occurs in the chapter describing how the children learn by television in their classroom. Cameron. Polly (author) Green.Machin Conseulo Joerns. Illustrator Interest Level §-8 years The green machine. a fancy sports car. roars through the garden. crashes into the brook. then is pushed out by the trout. Humor is based on rhyming words such as ”Use your nose said the rose." and ”Be gentle said the lentil.” Young children should enjoy the sounds of the rhyming words. Carlson. Natalie Savage (author) Nicolos. Illustrator Alphonse - That Bearded Opo Interest Level -11 years This is the hilarious story of Alphonse the bear who is passed off as a human by his master. Alphonse was even taken as a conscript into the French army. Poor Alphonse volunteers for spy duty by accident. Carlson. Natalie Savage (author) ‘ Nicolas. Illustrator Hoptense: the Cow for a Queen Interest Level 7-10 years Hortense was a French cow stolen by pirates. She winds up in Africa where a French botanist mistakes her for a gnu. One of the Frenchman's notes concerning Hortense read. “Although gnus are very fierce in their natural state. they are easily tamed. Their milk tastes much like that of a cow." Chalmers. Audrey (author) Hundreds and Hundreds 0T Chalmers. Illustrator Pancakes Interest Level 5-9 years The Fizzlewits live next to the zoo. A hurricane frees the animals who come to the Fizzlewits looking for food. Mrs. Fizzlewit makes hundreds of pancakes for the animals who eat until they fall asleep. The keepers then move them back to their cages. Written for primary children's enjoyment. 248 19. Chase. Richard (editor) Th Jack Tales Berkeley Williams. Jr.. Interest Level 6-Up Illustrator The Jack Tales is a collection of Appalachian folk tales with Jack as the central figure. the hero more or less; Many of the stories are similar in story line to the old tales such as ”Jack and the Bean Stalk.” here called "bean tree.” True to tall tale tradition Jack accomplishes feats such as shooting a deer. a flock of wild turkeys. a rabbit. and a hive full of honey with one shot. Cleary. Beverly Cleary has written many very humorous stories. mostly about Henry Huggins. a young boy. his dog Ribsy. and his friends. They are usually most appropriate for youngsters in the 8-11 year age bracket. A good sampling is annotated below. 20. Cleary. Beverly (author) Beezus ond Ramona Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 6-10 years Beezus has his problems with Ramona but learns that it is not unusual to have moments of love for her. Ramona stirs up lots of action by doing things such as looking Ribsy in the bathroom and taking one bite out of each apple in a box of apples. 21. Cleary. Beverly (author) Ellen Tebbits Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years Ellen meets a new girl. Austins. and finds that they have something in common. They both are made to wear long underwear! Many young girls with similar problems might find satisfaction in how the girls resolve their worries. 22. Cleary. Beverly (author) He and Beezus Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years The story revolves around Henry's efforts to obtain a new bicycle. He overcomes many difficulties such as Ribsy taking the neighbors' newspapers. Ribsy stealing the neighbor's roast. and Beezus bidding on a girls' bike for Henry at the police auction. Henry has a terrible time riding a bargain bike. 2m; 23. Cleary. Beverly (author) Hoppy and Ribsy Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years Henry has a problem keeping Ribsy out of trouble so that he can go salmon fishing with his dad. Other things go wrong too especially when he gets his hair cut by his mother and father. ”Oops!" said Mr. Huggins. ”What do you mean oops?" demanded Henry crossly. Boys with the current long hair styles might not find Henry's predicament too amusing! 24. Cleary. Beverly (author) Heppy and the Clubhouse Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8¥10 years Henry and his buddies get a clubhouse built from scrap lumber. The clubhouse becomes a jail for Henry when Ramona locks him in. Good laughable incidents occur when Henry goes for a ride in a bath tub in Mr. Grumbie's truck and Ribsy goes trick or treating complete with a wolf mask. 25. Cleary. Beverly (author) Hoppy and the Pa r Route Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level -10 years In this episode of Henry Huggins. Henry wants his own paper route. but is not supposed to have one until he is eleven years old. He finally realizes his goal when the neighbor ”brain.” Bryon Murphy. gives up his route because he can't cope with Ramona. Ramona's delivering papers adds to the fun. 26. Cleary. Beverly (author) Henpy Hpggins Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years This is the book in which Henry finds his dog Ribsy. so named because he was so skinny. Humor of action abounds. Henry gets hundreds of guppies. digs for night crawlers. and gets covered with green paint at the Christmas play practice; 27. Cleary. Beverly (author) The M use and the Motorc cle Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years Ralph is a mouse living in an old hotel. His life is enlivened by a young boy. Keith. who has a toy motorcycle. Ralph has a great time riding the cycle around the hotel until the time he winds up in the bed- sheets and has to chew his way out. The mouse's predicaments make an amusing story. 28. 29. 31. 32. 250 Cleary. Beverly (author) Ramona the Pest Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 7-10 years Ramona has her problems in kindergarten. eSpecially one day when she is sent home for pulling another girl's hair. She has other escapades too. her new boots get stuck in the mud. she uses a worm for a ring. doesn't want to go to school when a substitute takes over. Lots of humorous incidents. Cleary. Beverly (author) Ribsy Louis Darling. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years Ribsy lets himself out of the family car and gets picked up by strangers. The plot follows the many exploits of Ribsy in trying to get back to his master. The fun revolves around Ribsy as he is given a bubble bath by a well-meaning family. as another woman adopts him and teaches him how to pray and to keep a pipe in his mouth. and as he makes a big play in a high school football game. Corbett. Scott (author) The Disappearing Dog_Trick Paul Galdone. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 years Kirby Maxwell's dog. Waldo. disappears from home without his dog collar. Kirby goes to his chemistry set which he obtained from the mysterious Mrs. Gray- malkin and whips up a mixture that acts like a tele- vision set. which is then used to try to find Waldo. The following of Waldo leads to much action. Corbett. Scott (author) Ever Ride a Dinosaur? Mircea Vasiliu. Illustrator Interest Level 9-11 years This is the very funny story of Tad Marsh. a middle-aged banker who meets an invisible brotosaurus that talks. The two journey to New York City with Tad shrunk to boy size by the powers of the dinosaur. Corbett. Scott (author) The Hairy Horror Trick Paul Galdon. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 Years Gay. Kirby Maxwell's cousin. mixes up his chemicals so that the trick Kirby and his friend Fenton were going to play on her backfires. Fenton winds up with a mustache. Kirby with a beard. and Waldo the dog. loses his hair. Only a good scare can turn them back to normal. 33. 3“. 35- 36. 251 Corbett. Scott (author) The Hateful. Plateful Trich Paul Galdone. Illustrator Interest Level -11 years Kirby Maxwell. his friend Fenton. and Gay. Kirby's cousin. use Kirby's old chemistry set given them by Mrs. Graymalkin once again. Things go all wrong and the kids come out smelling like the foods they hate: wieners and saurkraut. corn beef and cabbage. and tomato soup. Waldo smells like apple pie. Mrs. Graymalkin tells them the only way they can get rid of their smells is to eat the food that they smell like. Corbett. Scott (author) The Lemonade Trick Paul Galdone. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 years Wild mixups occur as a result of a chemical brewed by Kirby Maxwell from an old chemistry set that he received from an old mystery lady. a Mrs. Graymalkin. The chemical has the property to make the person who takes it a very well-behaved individual except in the case of Kirby's friend. Fenton. who is already so good. that the chemical makes him bad. Corbett. Scott (author) Tho Limorick Trick Paul Galdone. Illustrator Interest Level ~11 years Kirby Maxwell hopes to win an English bike by winning a poetry contest. He has no inspirations until he meets his little old lady friend. a Mrs. Graymalkin. who tells him of a formula to mix with his chemistry set. then to apply the result to his head. He does this and consequently finds himself talking in limericks. An example of this is when he is at the clubhouse with his tough friend Bumper Bumps asks Kirby to give him the hammer. Kirby replies. "Try to use your bean instead! It's big and thick. and it's hard as a brick. So bang in the nails with your head.” Corbett. Scott (author) The Mailbox Trick Paul Galdone. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 years Most of the humor in this Kirby Maxwell yarn occurs as a result of Kirby writing insulting letters to his tough friend Bumps and to his crabby neighbor Mrs. Pembroke and then having his cousin Gay mail the letters which Kirby didn't intend doing., He has a terrible time trying to get the letters back before they are read. 37. 38. 39. 40. 252 Corbett. Scott (author) Steaoy. Freddie! Lawrence Beall Smith. Interest Level 8-11 years Illustrator Donna Wesley finds a frog in her Girl Scout bag after a scout trip to the zoo. She adopts him. names him Freddie. and has all sorts of problems as the frog winds up in a Girl Scout box of cookies. Cowley. Joy (author) Duck in the Gun Edward Sorel. Illustrator Interest Level 7-9 years A duck laid her eggs in a big gun just as the general was ready for war. The war was then postponed until the eggs hatched. The soldiers helped paint the town they were to attack. The war was consequently cancelled because the men didn't want to shoot at the houses they had helped paint. Great for the young reader. Credle. Ellis (editor) Tall Tales from the High Hiiio Richard Bennett. Interest Level 9-and Up Illustrator ' This is a collection of tales told by an old timer from the Blue Ridge Mountains. An example would be the story ”Fighting Rams” in which two rams fight until only their tails are left and even these continue the fight. “The Lake that Flew” was about a lake that froze quite suddenly freezing the geese in the lake. When the fellow in the story fired his gun. the geese got scared. the ice cracked. and they all flew into the air. taking the lake with them. Dahl. Roald. (author) Charlie and the Chocolate Joseph Schindelman. Tactopy Illustrator Interest Level 8-12 years Five children are picked to visit Willie Wonka's fabulous chocolate factory: Augustus Gloop who never stops eating. Violet Beauregarde who never stops chewing gum. the very spoiled Veruca Salt. Mike Teavee who does nothing but watch television. and the poor. but good guy. Charlie Bucket. What happens to them is quite a story which moralizes but is still fun. 253 41. Davis. Mary Goul (editor) W t Ca and Bells “2 .- 43. (#4. Richard Bennett. Hum rous Stor es t Illustrator Toll and Read Alood Interest Level 7-Up This collection of humorous tales contains some that are quite ridiculous and others like the ”The Jumblies' by Lear and "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell" by W. S. Gilbert. Those with a leaning towards the impossible. way-out stories would find the book of interest; Davis.Robert (editor) Padre Porko. The Gentle- Fritz Eichenberg poply Pig Illustrator . Interest vel 7-11 years Padre Porko was a kind human-like pig who was always helping others. humans and animals. Eleven tales are in this collection including the one that tells how Padre got the nail out of the horse's hoof. found the buried silver coffee pot. and had problems with a dog that he helped learn to talk. Examples of humor in the stories include that of the boy bully who gets butted by a goat into a wall. then finds a dead mouse and two green caterpillars in his lunch. DuBois. William Pene (author) The Alligator Case DuBois. Illustrator Interest Level ~11 years This is the story of a young boy who wants to be a detective. He has an opportunity to detect when three strangers from a circus playing in town try to rob the local hotel. Contains action type humor and a clever use of words as in the sentence. ”The register's drawer was out like a Ubangi's lower lip. gaping empty. bare as a bone.” DuBois. William Pene (author) The Great Geppy DuBois. Illustrator Interest Leve 7-11 years Geppy. short for Susagep. is a red and white striped horse. hired as a detective to solve robberies taking place in the Bott Circusa Geppy tries tight-rope walking. lion training.,and being a freak sea horse without much success. His greatest success is achieved when he is shot out of a cannon. The illustrations add to the fun." 45. 46. 47. 48. 254 DuBois. William Pene (author)- to and the Ma ic Potat es DuBois. Illustrator Interest Level -12 years Otto is a huge dog kidnapped by Baron Bachgammon who wants to examine Otto so that he can discover the secret of growing huge roses and potatoes properlys The roses and potatoes grow huge but the flowers shatter easily and the potatoes are full of water. The potatoes and Otto are used to fight the big fire in the town. DuBois. William Pene (author) Porho Von Popbutton DuBois. Illustrator Interest Level -11 years Pat O'Sullivan Pinkerton is a young glutton who is sent to a private boarding school famous for its hockey team. Here he acquires the name of Porko Von Popbutton because of his appetite and size. Porko becomes a goalie on the hockey team and a big hero in the game against a Canadian school as his bulk melts the ice. The names used in the story add to the fun. Examples are Ben Appetite. Sir Circumference Girth. Blimpy Splitseam. Fatty Unbuckle. John Swillerton Hogwash. and Oink Oink Morchowa Estes. Eleanor (author) The Sun and the Wind app Louis Slobodkin. Mr. Todd Illustrator Interest Level 6-9 years Mr. Todd was a weatherman who was never right in his predictions. One day after being mauled by the sun and the wind in their famous duel. Mr. Todd came up with the theory that if he predicted rain. it had to rain somewhere. and the same had to be true for other kinds of weather. This made him a big hit at the Weatherman's Convention and his theory became known as the Todd Theory. Good for the very young reader. Felton. Harold W. (author) Bowleg Bill. Seagoipg William Moyers. Cowpppcher Illustrator Interest Level lO-l4 years Bowleg Bill is a typicol “Tall Tale“ and is fun to read.t Most youngsters should enjoy Bowleg Bill and his adventures. The illustrations are simple but do match the descriptions well. In this book Bill tames a sea witch. rides a tuna. and in the end marries a beautiful maiden. The reader should enjoy the ridiculous to enjoy the story though. 255 49. Felton. Harold w. (author) N w Tall Tales of Pecos 3111 William Meyers. Illustrator Interest revel 9-13 years This is an excellent collection of tall tales about Pecos Bill. Included are the stories of how Bill and Widow Maker jumped the Grand Canyon on the second try. the tail that grew a dog. the stream that moved so fast that it was hot. and the sourdough that was so light that it floated. 50. Felton. Harold W. (author) True Tall Tales of Stormalopg: Joan Sandin. Illustrator Sailor of the Seven Seas Interest Level 8—12 years The story of Stormalong from his birth on makes for “tall” reading. Once his ship was in such a thick fog that the fish were able to swim in it. and the white cliffs of Dover got white from the soap smeared on his ship so that it could squeeze through the English Channel& 51. Felton. Harold W. (editor) Tho World's Most Truthful Man Leonard E. Fisher. Interest Level 9-13 years Illustrator These are Ed Grant's stories told to Harold W. Felton in Rangeley. Maine. They are excellent. hilarious tales such as the bear Ed turned inside out. the shot from a gun that followed a partridge around the earth 12.672 times. and the bear with two hides. one inside and one outside. 52. Fenner. Phyllis R. (editor) Fools and Fpppy Fellows Henry C. Pitz. Illustrator Interest Level 9-13 years Fenner's collection includes a wide variety of tales such as ”The Flea” by Ruth Sawyer. ”Doctor Know It All” by Wanda Gag. ”Stormalong” by Irwin Shapiro. and 'Knute. the Giant Bullsnake' by Glen Rounds. Even a tale by the Grimm Brothers is in the book. The stories contain a wide variety of humorous incidents. from the very physical to a play on words; 53. Fenner. Phyllis R. (editor) Time to Lapgh Henry C. Pitz. Illustrator Interest Level 7-12 years This collection of twenty tales consists mostly of the fairy or tall tale type. An example would be “Good Sense” a story about a boy who never seemed to do the right thing: he put honey in his pocket. dragged a side of beef on a rope. and let sugar pour out of a sack. 54. 55- 56. 256 Then there was the wild humor contained in "Ebeneezer Never-Could Sneezer.” who couldn't sneeze because he had no nose. Feuerlicht. Roberta Strause (editor) Kurt Werth. Illustrator ThepLegend of Paul Bunyan Interest Level_8-12 years More "outrageous” tall tales are part of this collection in which the Bunyan stories are retold with all their audacity. If anything. the stories are more "outlandish" than ever. Brought into focus are some of Paul's lesser known companions: Benny the smaller ox. Lucy the cow. Mrs. Paul. and Paul's two children. Jean and Teeny. The illustrations are cleverly and amusingly done. Fleischman. Albert S. (author) Eric von Schmidt. Chaney and the Grand Rascgi Illustrator Interest Leve178;l3 years Chaney was determined to find his two sisters and brother from whom he was separated after his parents' death. The story line describes Chancy's journey. mostly by river flatboat. and his meeting his uncle. "The Grand Rascal? who is fond of telling tall tales. Humor is developed through physical action and word usage. Fleischman. Sid (author) By the Great Horn Spoon Eric von Schmidt. ' Interest Level 9-13 years Illustrator Master Jack Flagg and the butler. Praiseworthy. left Boston on a sailing ship to seek their fortunes in the California gold fields. They needed money for Jack's Aunt Arabella who was in financial trouble. The story contains lots of rollicking adventures: Praise- worthy boxes the mountain ox. Jack winds up with a bushel of neckties but manages to sell them. Jack is bucked off a burro. Praiseworthy knocks the bandit twenty-three feet. Action humor. 57- 58- 59. 60. 257 Fleischman. Sid (author) hc'Broop apd tho Big Wipo Kurth Worth. Illustrator Interest Leve 7-9 years The wind was so strong in this tall tale that it could pluck the feathers off a turkey. It blew Josh Mc'Broom's children high into the sky so that old Josh had to chase after them with his wind plow. He finally threw a rope to the children. they caught it. and were pulled back home. Good for the younger reader. Fleischman. Sid (author) Mr M sterious and Co. Eric von Schmidt. Interest LoveI 8-I2 years Illustrator Mr. Mysterious and family. (The Andrew Hacketts). are show people traveling across the United States to San Diego where they hope to settle down. Along the way they give magic shows and have lots of fun. Mr. Mysterious ”milks” a chicken. and the town doctor is mistaken for a gangster. On ”Abracadabra Day” the children can do whatever they wish without getting spanked. Hale. Lucretia P. (author) The Compleie Peterkin Papers Hale. Illustrator Interest Level - All Ages All the Peterkin stories are included in this volume. such as the time the Peterkin family couldn't get their horse to go because they forgot to untie him. the mess they made when moving to a different house. and their attempts at learning various languages. This is a book for the person who likes absurdity. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Betsy's Busy Summer Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level -9 years Action humor is employed in the episodic adventures of Betsy during a busy summer. Betsy makes some horrible lemonade. fries eggs on the sidewalk. falls into a muddy hole being dug for a swimming pool. and mixes up her mother's grocery order. The story is designed for the very young reader. The "Eddie” series by Carolyn Haywood contains many easy reading books about little Eddie and his daily exploits. All the books are simple. contain some humor. and are for the very young reader. A number of books in the series have been read for this investigation. 61. 62. 63. 64. 258 Haywood. Carolyn (author) Eddie and His Big Deals Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level -9 years Little Eddie is making deals in this series book. He wants a printing press that his friend Anna Patricia has and finally trades her a doll for its Eddie causes some problems with a newspaper he prints which he calls "Hot News.” The story is episodic and very easy reading. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Eddie and tho Fire Epgine Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level «9 years Eddie has some adventures with an old fire engine. He also gets a goat for awhile which eats twenty-two pies from a bakery truck. Humorous incidents include that of Anna Patricia. (Eddie's friend). losing her false teeth in an inkwell. The book is episodic and for the young readers. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Eddi Makes Music Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level 6-9 years Eddie is determined to get into the school orchestra. He buys an old hand organ. finally his dad buys him a glockenspiel. Eddie does get into the orchestra but at the big concert he winds up as a singer. Humor is present in this easy story in parts such as Anna Patricia getting bird seed into her ”heavenly hash” candy. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Eddie's Green Thumb Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level 6-9 years In this book Eddie and the gang raise vegetables as part of a school project. Eddie has plenty of problems thought with a scarecrow that he made which had a balloon for a head. with his friend Sidney's pet crew. and with a huge watermelon that he grew and subsequently dropped. In the end he manages to win the ”Green Thumb” award for his rabbits. This is another easy-to-read Eddie book. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 259 Haywood. Carolyn (author) Eddie's Pay Dirt Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level 6-9 years Eddie returns home from a trip out west and brings back more ”junk” including a talking parrot. a box of dirt. and a box of rocks. Some of the so- called ”junk“ turns out to be rather valuable. Eddie has lots of fun with fake snakes; As with others in the series. the book is episodic and simple. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Eddie the D Holder Haywood. Illustrator Interest LeveI 6-9 years Problems arise for Eddie and his friend Annie Pat in their painting project. Annie hopes to paint pictures of dogs and sell the paintings for fifty cents. Eddie is dog holder. On one of the dogs they spill red. white. and blue paint. They also have troubles with a German shepherd who gets away and is captured by the dog catcher. Easy reading for the young child. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Ever-Ready Eddio Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level 6-9 years In this book in the series Eddie serves as a campaign manager for Boodles Cary who is running for student council against Annie Pat Wallace. Buttons. free cookies. tape recorded speeches all add to the fun. Rally Day is a good sample of humor based on physical activity. The book. as are others in the series. is for the young reader. Haywood. Carolyn (author) Little Eddie Haywood. Illustrator Interest Level 5-9 years In this first book in the Eddie series. Eddie is a junk collector. cat collector. dancer. and dog catcher. Some humor is attached to Eddie's misunder- standing of wordsu Very episodic in its presentation. the book is simple enough for very young readers. Henderson. LeGrand (author) Augootus and the Mountains Henderson. Illustrator Interest Level 7-10 years Pop trades the family houseboat for an old car so that the family can visit Uncle Lem who lives at Piney Pass in the Great Smokies: They complete the journey but not without many difficulties. The old car itself provides lots of fun as it chuggs along. When 70. 71. 72. 260 the family reaches the mountains it is even driven up a mountain stream. A particularly humorous episode occurs the night that Pop blunders into Augustus's burglar trap and winds up with pots and pans all over his head. Henderson. LeGrand (author) Augustus and the River ---- Henderson. Illustrator Interest Level 7-ld_yeors There is lots of fun and action as Augustus and his family move south on the Mississippi River in their houseboat. Ma's tonic provides a good laugh in this story. One night Augustus and his sister Glorianna decide to put all sorts of things into her tonic. The list includes an 01' egg. a fish. Pop's old pipe. a rotten onion. a red pepper. and coal oil. They figured that since Ma always tasted the tonic first that she would think it so horrible that the kids wouldn't have to take it. The plan backfires! Ma drinks the tonic. then makes the kids drink it too. Henderson. LeGrand (author) Matilda Henderson. Illustrator Interest Level 7-11 years This is the story of Patrick Riley's goat. Matilda. whose habit it was to butt anyone bent over. Matilda was used to keep the sleepy fullback on Columbia University's football team awake either by butting him directly or just through the threat of being butted. This strategy helped Columbia win the big game. Jagendorf. Moritz A. (editor) Howard Simon. The Marvelous Adventures of Illustrator Johnny Darlipg Interest Level lO-Up These are the collected tales of Johnny Caesar Cicero Darling. storyteller of the 1800's from New York State. The stories are really way out and include selections such as the one about the pig that Johnny fixed so that it had wheels for back legs. When this pig littered the eleven piglets had two-wheeled carts attached to their middlesl Loads of action type humor prevail. 73. 74. 75- 261 Jagendorf. Moritz A. (editor) Noodlohead Storioowgpom Shane Miller. Illustrator Around the World Interest Level - All ages Sixty-four stories from thirty-six countries make up this collection about Noodleheads or nitwits. The similarity in the stories from country to country is very evident. Samples include ”Horse Egg” from India in which the egg was really a watermelon. “Don't Marry Two Wives" in which the women alternate pulling hairs from the husband's head until he is bald. and "Donkeys All.” a Syrian tale. that tells of the merchant who kept miscounting his donkeys depending upon whether he was on or off one donkey. Generally the stories are physical—action type humor although a couple tales use a play on words to generate fun» Jagendorf. Moritz A. (editor) ll Ulens iegoifio Fritz Eichenberg. Meppy ranhs Illustrator Interest Leve lO-Up This is an excellent collection of stories of Tyll Ulenspiegel. the joker. who played his tricks upon the mean. the stingy. and the cruel. He was against the greedy and war-like nature of man. His tricks included convincing a merchant that green cloth was blue. and tricking a bragging innkeeper into showing fear of a dead wolf. There is a great play on words throughout the b00k€ Juster. Norton (author) The Phantom Tollbooth Jules Feiffer. Illustrator Interest Level 10-13 years ' This book is rich in its use of words to amuse. Milo went through a tollbooth into a strange land where he met King Azaz. the ruler of Dictionopolis where words were of supreme importance.: Milo. Took the watchdog. and Humbug travel to the Mountains of Ignorance and Island of Conclusions in attempt to rescue Rhyme and Reason. The book requires some sophisticationiin the understanding of the connotations ever present in language. 262 76. Kelsey. Alice Geer (editor) Opce The Hodja 77. 78. 79. Frank Dobias. Illustrator Interest Level 8-Up These are humorous Turkish folk tales of the tall tale variety. The Hodja. (teacher. master. or older). has many escapades such as figuring out what sermons to give on Fridays or how to get out of giving sermons. how he shot his own coat with an arrow because he thought it a robber. and his caring for a pumpkin which he thought was a donkey egg. Kilian. Crawford. (author) W nd rs Inc. John Larrecq. Illustrator nterest Level 8-11 years Christopher walks into the "Wonders. Inc.” factory and sees all kinds of wondrous machines such as the line assembly. the mistake machine. the time making machine. the space mill. and the word department. There is a beautiful play on words throughout the book. The line assembly makes skylines. hairlines. sidelines. borderlines. underlines. timber lines. and by-lines. The mistake machine makes everything from tiny errors to colossal blunders. Lawson. Robert (author) Ben and Me Lawson. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 years The story of Ben Franklin as told by his friend Amos the mouse makes for fun reading. Some of the incidents described are those that tell how the Franklin stove was invented and the discoveries having to do with electricity.‘ Amos even supervised the Battle of Versailles. a war between the poor and rich micec Amos's tinkering with an electric chair almost electrocutes the governor& Lawson. Robert (author) ‘The Fabulops Flight Lawson. Illustrator Interest eve -11 years Peter Peabody Pepperall shrinks to a tiny size as a result of a fall out of an apple tree. While this size he performs a secret mission for the government by stealing a dangerous explosive from a madman in the country of Zargoniae Peter as a result of his size causes moments of humor. for example. when he and his bird friend. Gus. watch a baseball game in Yankee Stadium they shake up the players who think they hear a sea gull talking. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 263 Lawson. Robert (author) Mc'Whinney's Jaunt Lawson. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 years The invention of 'Z' gas by Professor Mc'Whinney leads to some wild moments in this story. The "2' gas. when used in bicycle tires.enables the bike to fly. The professor flies across the country on his bike and even wins a bike race at a country fair in Missouri by skimming right over the tops of the other riders in the race. Lots of fun. Lawson. Robert (author) Mr. Revere and I Lawson. Illustrator Interest Level 8-13 years History is amusingly related in this book. It is the story of Paul Revere as told by his horse. Sherry. formerly a British-owned horse by the name of Scheherazade. Sherry shifts her allegiance from that of a loyal believer in the King of England to a supporter of the American Revolution. The humor is mostly generated by the British officer. Lieutenant Cedric Noel Vivian Barnstable and his ridiculous mannerisms and appearance? The British officers are painted as stupid boobs. Lawson. Robert (author) Mr. Tyigg's Mistako Lawson. Illustrator Interest Leve -11 years When Mr. Twigg goofs at the cereal factory. all of the Vitamin K goes into one box of cereal instead of 6800 boxes. The box in question winds up in the Appleton family where young Squirt Appleton feeds 'Bities' to his pet mole. The mole grows to an enormous size accounting for much of the humor in the story& Leskov. Nicholas (author) Tho Steel Flea Janina Domanska. Illustrator Interest Level 7-10 years It was a miraculous engineering fleet of the Russian gunsmiths at Tools that enabled them to make horseshoes complete with nails for the shoes to fit the amazing microscopic steel flea manufactured by the English. The frantic efforts of General Platov to have the Russian gunsmiths outdo the English was very amusing. Lewellen. John (author) Too Vee Humphrey Kurth Worth. Illustrator Interest Level 8-11 years Tee Vee. (Theodosius Valentivius). a fifth grade student. gets a job at a TV Station. Here his problems begin. While taking part in a television show 85. 86. 87. 88. 264 he gets up too soon after being ”shot.” and his problems on the “Animal Shop“ program with a dog. snake. and monkeys are numerous. Good fun for the middle grader. Lindgren. Astrid (author) Emil in the Soup Tureen Bjorn Berg. Illustrator Interest Level 7-10 years Getting into trouble was five-year-old Emil's specialty. One day he got his head stuck in a soup tureen and another time he hoisted his sister to the top of a flagpole. For all the trouble he caused. Emil did emerge as a hero by foiling a robbery in the bearded lady's tent while at the fair. Lindgren. Astrid (author) hpii's Pranks Bjorn Berg. Illustrator Interest Level 7-10 years Emil is a mischievous boy who usually winds up in the woodshed for some trouble he caused.’ He is responsible for his father catching his foot in a rat trap. he douses his father with pudding. and he jabs the maid in the stomach who consequently spills batter on the father. Emil even rides his newly acquired horse right into the mayor's house where a party was in progress. Loads of wild action. Lindgren. Astrid (author) Pippi Goes on Board Louis S. Glanzman. Interest Level 8-11 years Illustrator More of Pippi's hilarious adventures are found in this book; She goes on a shopping spree buying out all the toys in the store. has a great time at the fair being a snake charmer and capturing a tiger. and is all set to leave town with her father on a journey to a cannibal island when she decides against it because her friends would miss her so? Lindgren. Astrid (author) Pi 1 Lo stockin Louis S. Glanzman. Interest LeveI 8-11 years Illustrator This is the first book in the series about Pippi. the happy-go-lucky orphan who lives by herself and does as she pleases. She has great strength and is able to pick up two policemen at a time. Pippi does many other unusual things such as sleeping with her feet on her pillow and making a general mess in her house. She doesn't care for school and learning. but she does like to have fun. 89. 90. 91e‘ 92. 265 Lord. Beman (author) The ngfect Pitch Harold Benson. Illustrator Interest Level 7-9 Years Tommy has trouble as a baseball pitcher. Then he meets a Mr. Watts who is able to grant wishes. The fun begins: The wishes Tommy gets really foul him up. After one wish he pitches wildly so that no one can hit the ball. After another he pitches only perfect strikes so everyone hits it; He finally decides that he is better off without any wishes; The younger reader should enjoy this story& Love. Katherine (editor) A Little Laughter Walter H. Lorraine. Interest Level - All ages Illustrator All kinds of humor is present in Love's collection of humorous poems. The poems vary from Eleanor Farjeon's ”Three Little Puffins' to Ogden Nash's ”The Lama”. A good sample poem would be ”A Sleeper from the Amazon” which went. A sleeper from the Amazon Put nighties of his gra'mason The reason. that He was too fat To get his own pajamason. Mc'Closkey. Robert (author) Burt D w: Dee Water Mag Mc'Closkey. Illustrator nterest Level -9 years While on a fishing trip Burt Dow convinced a whale to swallow him so that he would be safe from a storm. To get out again is the problem. So Burt smears all sorts of things on the whale's insides: paint. grease. etcc. until the whale burps him out. This is a good tall tale with fine illustrations for the young readera Mc'Closkey. Robert (author) Centerburg Tales Mc'Closkey. Illustrator Interest Level 9-ll years Ce terbur Tales is a collection of short. funny storEes about the small town of Centerburg and its many characters. Examples of the fun include Grandpa's story of Sparrow Courthouse where the clock ran so slow that the people mixed up their days and nights. the recording that no one could stop singing. and Duley Dooner's strange seeds which grew into huge ragweed plants. Good for lots of laughsé 93- 9”. 95. 96. 266 Mc'Closkey. Robert (author) Home; Pricg Mc'Closkey. Illustrator Interest Level 8-12 years Actually Homer Price is a series of six short stories about Homer and his adventures in Centerburg. Included are the doughnut story about the machine that couldn't be stopped from making doughnuts. the famous ball of string contest. and Super-Duper. the cosmic comic who wasn't as strong as he appeared in the movies. Also most of the humor is physical in nature. except for the bungling sheriff who really confuses his words as in 'robio raiders.“ MacDonald. Betty (author) Hrs; Pi 1 iii le Hilary Knight. Illustrator Interest Level 7-9 years Basically this is the episodic story of how old Hrs: Piggledliggle helped cure unruly children from quarreling. staying up too late. selfishness. not washing. sassing back. slow eating. and not picking up their toys. Some of the cures are unique such as letting a child get so dirty that you could plant radishes on him. There is lots of action humor in the book and plenty of exaggeration. Ic'Govern. Ann (editor) gee Haw Eric Von Schmidt. nterest Level 5-8 years Illustrator Aesop's fables are the basis for this book. An old man and a boy go to market to trade their donkey for three hens. Everyone they meet gives them advice which they foolishly follows Finally they wind up carrying the donkey. When they put it down the donkey runs away braying Hee haw.“ The moral - "When you try to please everyone you please no one. not even yourself.“ Absurdity type humor is prevalent for the young readers Ialone. Mary (author) Here's Howie Kurt Iiese. Illustrator Interest evel 9-12 years “Helpful Howie“ has many problems trying to be helpful. He tries to help his teacher and the librarian too much. He winds up promising to be a friend to Stanley. nicknamed 'Despicable. and this is hard to do since Stanley is an all-around fink. Action humor prevails as Howie makes a mess of a batch of pea soup. wrecks his dad's umbrella. and makes a sign for the library that says. “Shut up. This means you.” This doesn't go over too well with the P.TaA. 97 e' 98. 99. 100. 267 Ierrill. Jean (author) 1?; gushcart War Ronni Solbert. Illustrator nterest Level 10-13 years The action is great as the pushcarts battle the trucks in New York's Pushgart_!az. To stop the behe- moths the pushcart operators shoot pea tacks into the truck tiresJ It is a tough struggle but in the end the pushcart operators win concessions from the trucking firms; Lots of chuckles for readers of almost any age. Heyer. Franklyn E. (author)!g 3gp Caleb Lawrence B.:8mith. nterest Level 9-13 years Illustrator This book is highly recommended for good fun. It is the episodic story of Bud and Caleb Wallings. The action includes the hand fishing episode when Caleb catches a water moccasin by mistake: the slugging of Bud by the new to h boy Lawrence; the tricks played on Halloween. grease on the doorknobs. the garbage slinger): and the visit to the haunted house. Meyer. Franklyn Ea (author) g; and Caleb Aggin Charles Liese. Illustrator nterest Level 9-13 years The misadventures of Bud and Caleb Wallings are very amusing. They put their sister's bikini on the dog. do good deeds for the town grouch which thoroughly confuses him. and the town's wealthy man is hit in the face with a pie. The book is welldwritten and fun all the way throughd Howat. Parley (author) The Dog Who Wouldn't Bg Paul Galdone. Illustrstdr' Interest Level 10 - Up This is a beautiful yet hilarious story about a boy. (the author). and his wondrous dog Mutt. The story takes place in Canada. mostly Saskatchewan. in the 1930's. Dozens of funny sections fill the book such as Parley's father‘washing the dog with bluings Mutt. the dog. scaring away the ducks on his first hunting expedition. and Mutt retrieving a stuffed bird from the local hardware stores 268 101. Mowat. Farley (author) 102. 103. 10“. gwls in the Family Robert Prankenberg. nterest Level 9-Up Illustrator Farley obtains two owls as pets. Wol and Weeps. Wol is independent and can be fierce. Weeps is pathetic and never learns to fly. There are many mirthful adventures until the family moves to Toronto. leaving the owls in Saskatchewan. The owls cause some frantic moments in the story such as the time Wol visits school and lands right on the teacher's desk. or the day he flies through an open window and perches on the visiting preacher's shoulder. scaring the minister greatly. This is a well-told story with lots of humor and pathos. Nash. Ogden (author) The Cruise of the Aardvark Wendy Watson. Illustrator Interest Level 7-Up Nash's delightful rhymes concerning the Aardvark who goes for a cruise on an ark with other animals should capture the interest of readers of various ages. The Aardvark saves the ship from sinking by eating the termites that were eating the ship! An example of humor presented in the book through verse would be the lines: ”He painted the portraits and you can see 'em If ever you find the right museum." Parish. Peggy (author) Amelia Bedelia Fritz Siebel. Illustrator Interest Leve 5-8 years In this book for the younger reader. Amelia is hired by a rich family as maid and cook. but takes her orders too literally. When told to "dust the house." she does just that. covers the house with dust. You can imagine what she does when she is told to "dress a chicken.” The book is a fine play on words that should delight the small child. Parkinson. Ethelyn M. (author) Mary Stevens. Gggd Old Archibald Illustrator Interest Level 8-12 years Archibald Brewster comes to town after "good old" Ralph Jackson has moved away. Arch is well- dressed and rather sissy-like. The boys try to avoid him but finally discover that he can wrestle and play baseball. Arch learns how to be a ”regular“ boy. The humor present is generally physical in nature as the time when Arch gets stuck in the clothes chute. 269 105. Feet. Bill (author) Hubert's Hair-Raising Peet. Illustrator Adventure 106. 107. Interest Level 5-8 years Written in verse form. this story generates fun from the rhyming words and the action denoted by the words. The early reader should thoroughly enjoy the predicament of poor Hubert whose mane is burned off. His problem grows when his new mane is trimmed square-shaped. A sample of the rhyming pattern follows: ”So Hubert climbed onto a boulder nearby. Where he set very still staring up at the sky. While his friends sat around him all ready to shout At the very first Sign of his new mane to sprout.” Peet. Bill (author) Randy's Dandy Lions Peet. Illustrator Interest Level 5-9 years Randy's lions were too shy for the circus act. They did overcome their stage fright and became stars but not before a new. mean lion tamer scared them so that they roared all night and kept everyone up all night. Humor of words is present in the rhyming lines. The action builds from the stupendous act the lions devise. The illustrations help make this a great book for the young reader. Raskin. Ellen (author) 229 mysterious Disappearance Raskin. Illustrator 9f LeonI (I_Hean Noel) Interest evel 9-12 years The innovative use of words in this game about words and names is decidedly different and fun. The tale itself revolves around the disappearance of Leon or Noel and the clues that are discovered to help find him. There are many wacky statements in the book similar to the following one: ”Iavis Bensonhurst's mother suffered a broken arm when she was hit by a truck. She was wearing a pantsuit at the time. so no one saw her lace underwear.” 270 108. Rinkoff. Barbara (author) Elbert. the Mind Reade; Paul Galdone. Illustrator Interest Level 8e12 years Young Elbert Berry is too thin to make the school football team. Things look bad until he has a tooth filled. From then on he is able to tune in radio stations With his tooth. Better yet. after brushing the new filling he can hear people's thoughts. Finally the coach gives Elbert a chance as quarterback in time for the big game. Good fun for the middle grade reader. 109. Robertson. Keith (author) Henry ReedI Inc. Robert Mc'Closkey. Interest Level 9-13 years Illustrator Henry visits his uncle in New Jersey for summer vacation and starts up a business with the neighbor girl. Margaret Glass. The two have many hilarious escapades with Henry's dog. Agony; Mr. Apple. the crabby neighbor: Siegfried. the nosey cat; the big white rabbit; and the hydrogen balloon. 110. Robertson. Keith (author) Henry Reed's Baby-Sitting Robert Mc'Closkey. Service Illustrator Interest Level 9-13 years In the second Henry Reed Book. Henry and Midge again form a business. this time. baby-sitting. The business leads to many ludicrous troubles such as they had with their client Belinda who constantly hid where it was hard to find her. and little Danny. who was liable to try anything. Henry and Iidge do manage to get even with the wise-guy teenager. John Sebastian. while he is resting in a hammock. lll. Rounds. Glen (author) 01' Paul the Mi ht Lo er Rounds. Illustrator Interest Level 8-10 years This is one of the better tall tale books told in a whimsical style. It includes the main criteria of a tall tales exaggeration. outrageous humor. and mighty heroes. The illustrations are clever although in a few instances their placement seems wrong. The tales told include a few not often found in other Bunyan collections such as "Bedcats' and “The Giant Bullsnake.” 112. 113& 1143 115. 27-1 Rounds. Glen (author) Thg‘Whistle Punk of Camp 15 Rounds. Illustrator Interest Level 9-12 years "Whistle Punk“ is a newcomer in an American lumber camp: He learns the lumberjack language and how a camp is run. In addition he hears many of the tall tales of the lumbermen. such as that of Paul Bunyan and the vicious 'Sidehill Whiffler’ which had shorter legs on one side than the other so that it could walk around hills easieré Selden. George (author) The Cricket in Times Squarg Garth Williams. Interest Level 7-ll years Illustrator Though not strictly a humorous story. there are moments of mirth in this delightful book; Chester. the cricket; Harry. the cats and Tucker. the mouse; live in a news stand on Times S uare. Chester is from Connecticut and misses the coungry. He becomes the pet of a poor boy. Mario. to whom he demonstrates his great singing ability. A witty part takes place when Chester sings to a greatly surprised piano teacher. Mr» Smedley. Selden. George (author) Iggxgr's Cafgtgyside Garth.Williams. Illustrator Interest evel -12 years This is a truly beautiful story of how Tucker Mouse. Harry the Cat. and Chester Cricket. along with some children. save a Connecticut meadow from being sub-divided. Interdwoven with the fine story are many moments of action humor and humor of words. Samples of pleasantries include Tucker floundering in the water. Harry being thoroughly spoiled. Tucker being hit with a broom by Mrs. Hadley. An example of words humor follows: “There.“ said Tucker. “Finished! How's that for a benign deception?” ”Very good!” said Harry Cat. 'As a forgery it's not bad either.” Shapiro. Irwin (author) w Stormalo Ca tured Donald Mc'Kay. gocha Dick Illustrator In erest Level 8-12 years Shapiro's book is a typically written tall tale. filled with reckless exaggerat one. The illustrations are good and closely parallel the story. The story line follows old Stormalong in his attempts to capture the great white whale. Stormy is thwarted at first. so he 116. 117. 118. 119. 272 takes up farming and cowboying. Eventually he goes back to the sea and bareback rides Mocha Dick. Shapiro. Irwin (author) Ha arac an H UiS A James Daugherty. ti on Pa Illustrator Interest Level 9-12 years Joe and his fantastic feats of strength put this book into the tall tale category. After being fired as a steelman. Joe tried coal mining but couldn't stand being away from the mills? After returning to steel work he was melted into a girder-and then made part of a government building in‘Washington.DsC. He came out of the girder and threatened some bigoted congressmen. Rather appropriate for today! Shapiro. Irwin (author) J H and the Double- James Daugherty. n e team r Illustrator In erest eve years Big John Henry defeats the mighty steam drill tunneling into a mountain. He is exhausted. a funeral is held for him. but John is only resting? Later he wears out a steam drill tunneling. The book contains the typical action humor of a tall tales Shapiro. Irwin (author) Stgamboat Bill and the Donald Hc'Kay. Captain s Top § Illustrator Interest Leve - 1 years The Whippoorwill went past the Thunderbolt so fast that all that the Thunderbolt crew heard was a roar. and they felt a wind on their faces but didn't see the boat: So goes the action in this Shapiro tale. Steamboat Bill took over the command of the Whippoorwill even though Captain Carter didn't know its. He guided the boat to a new speed record though he had to tear up almost everything on the boat for fuel to keep up the steamu Good fun. Shapiro. Irwin (editor) ¥all Tales of America Al Schmidt. Illustrator nterest eve -12 years Included in this collection of tall tales are stories about Davy Crockett outdancing a comet. Sam Patch jumping into Niagara Falls. and Anthony scaring the Indians by blowing his trumpet. Other stories are about Old Stormalong. Johnny Appleseed. Paul Bunyan. John Henry. Joe Magarac. and Pecos Bill. Children would be familiar with most of the characters except for possibly Sam Patch. the great leaper from Pawtucket. 120. 121. 122V 123. 273 Rhode Island. and Anthony. the powerful horn blower from New Amsterdam? Shapiro. Milton J. (editor) reasu f S rts Humo No Illustrations nterest Level 9 - Up The sports fan from nine to ninety will enjoy this mirthful collection of humorous anecdotes about many well-known athletes» Though most of the stories concern baseball celebrities. many other sports stars from the fields of football. basketball. boxing. golf. track. and ice hockey are featured in the tales related. Smith. Helen R. (editor) .Lgughinggflgltgr Kurt Wiese. Illustrator Interest Level B-Up Included in this humorous collection are stories with lots of action and others that depend upon the wording fer their jollitye There are stories by the Brothers Grimm. Kipling. Lewis Carroll. and A. A. Milne. In the ”Three Sillies” the man didn't know how to put on his pants while the words cause smiles in limericks such as: A diner while dining at Crewe Found quite a large mouse in his stews Said the waiter. Don't shout. And wave it about. Or the rest will be wanting one too. Spearing. Judith (author) Ghosts Wh Went to School Marvin Glass. Illustrator Interest fievel 7-11 years The Temples are a ghost family that still live in the old family homes They are invisible but have the power to materialize themselves. Much of the fun comes from their playing tricks and doing things while invisible. for example. a young photographer is shaken when the Templeton family appears on photos that he took in the haunted houses Steele. Mary Ga (Gage. Wilson) (author) Paul Galdone. Illustrator flies Osborge - the hop Interest Level 11 years Jody Ransom is unhappy about spending the sum- mer in the mountains with D 11 Tracy until she discovers that she has the power to change things or people into what she wants them to be; So she changes a dust mop into a person. the bossy Miss Osborne. Other incidents that cause confusion are Dill being changed into a squirrel. Dill smashing his motorcycle into a tree. and a cat that is turned into a tiger. 27a 12¢. Steele. Mary Ga (Gage. Wilson) (author) 125. 126. 127. Glen Rounds. A Wild Goose Talg Illustrator nterest Level -lZ years Actually this is an excellent book on nature that is sprinkled with various comic episodes. Chuck. the main character. mixes up the words hose ~ and hoes. gets himself tangled up with a goose in his fishing line. and mistakes a spider on the lens of his uncle's telescope for a monster» Steele. William 0: (author) Da Cr ckett's Earthquake Nicolas. Illustrator nterest Level 7-10 years 01' Davy goes bear hunting but runs into a comet and earthquake causing him to lose his gear. his hides. meat. and horse. but he makes his way home again. Lots of tall laughs as Davy walks through mud so thick that he has to chop his way through. This is a typical “far-out” incident from the books Steele. William 0. (author) N -Name Ian.of the Jack Davis. Illustrator un a Interest Level 7-11 years There is plenty of nonsense in this story of the No-Name boy who lived on top of a mountain. and who was constantly being tricked by his rotten brothers. Creel and Huckabuck. The boy's farm was so small that there wasn't enough air to go around: He was supposedly so ugly that he always wore an onion sack over his head. In the end. No—Name. acquires a name. Pat. Pending. taken off an old chest that he discovered Stong. Phil (author) th Ho s Kurt Wiese. Illustrator nterest ve 7-11 years It was a bad feed year for wild animals. so Honk the moose wandered into the Finnish Ketonen barn one winter looking for foods The humor of the incident arises over the fact that no one in town seemed to believe that a moose could be in the village. The question that than needed to be answered was what to do with Honk» 275 128. Sturton. Hugh (author). égrg jhe Rabbi; Peter'Warner. Illustrator nterest ve 8-12 years Most of these comical African folk tales center around Zomo the rabbit and how he tricked his fellow animals.- He tricks Kada the crocodile into a cage and arranges a hilarious tug-of—war between the hippos and the elephants. The best part is that they don't even realize it. Most of the humor is action type although word humor is employed in the chapter "Double or Quits.“ 129. Thurber. James (author) The ngderful 0_ Marc Simont. Illustrator Interest Level ll-Up Probably only the more mature readers would enjoy the subtle word humor employed in this book: It is the tale of two pirates who did away with the letter 0. One of the men didn't like O's because his mother had become wedged in a porthole. Confusion reigned after the O's were wiped out. A man named Otto Ott could only stutter‘when asked to say his name. 130. Turney. Ida Virginia (author) Norma Lyon. Harold Price. faul BunyanI the Work Giant Illustrators n erest eve -9 years The wild exaggeration of the Paul Bunyan stories is found in this volume. Included are the best known examples of Bunyan lore plus variations such as using kernels of popcorn to turn over the flap- jacks. the inventing of the doughnut hole. and theyyarn of Lucy. the camp cow. whose milk became so much like balsam and pins that the cooks couldn't use its Instead it was bottled for Balsam Cough Syrup and Axle Grease. 131. Walker. Barbara K. (author) Once There Was agd Twice Gordon.Kibbee. Illustrator Ingre Wasn't Interest vel 8-10 years In this compilation of Turkish folk tales about Keloglan. whose name means bald boy. humor is developed through use of action and word manipulation. Keloglan seems stupid as he blunders from one adventure to another. but he usually comes out on top. ”The Lucky Exchanges“ illustrates one type of humor as exchanges are made from a thorn to a stove to an ox to a bride. In the last selection. ”In the Service of the Padishah.” clever word usage is employed as Keloglan outwits a foreign ambassador by answering his questions wittily. 132. 133. 276 Walters. Maude Owens (editor) Ted Freed. Illustrator Clever and Foolish Tales {gr Children Interest Level 7-13 years The stupidity and gullibility of man is exemplified in this series of folk tales from many countries: India. China. Germany. Ireland. Norway. Russia. Africa. and others. Among the stories are that of the jackal who outwitted the crocodile (India): the rat that tricked the cat. (Africa); and the stupid Mc'Andrews who gave everything they owned away and were too stupid to realise what they had done» (Ireland) Wickenden. Dan (author) Th Ana 1 Vacation Erik Bleguad. Illustrator Interesi Level 9-11 years The humor present in this fantasy about child- ren and their dreams is more subtle than obvious. Rickey and Joanne go through the window in their uncle's study and have adventures in the “Country Without a Name.“ It is here that they meet the queen who thinks herself so important. the scatterbrained king. the dragon-like jet plane. Mrs. Breadloaf who rides a vacuum cleaner. a poetry reading porpentine called Federico. and the so-called war in which both sides are reluctant to fight. (with field hockey sticks). 13“. Williams. Jay. and Abrashkin. Raymond (authors) 135- Ezra Jack Keats. Dggry Dunn and the Anti: Illustrator Grav ty Paint Interest Level 8-12 years While day dreaming Danny accidentally winds up on a space ship with Professors Bullfinch and Grimes and his friend Joe. Through a malfunction the ship goes near Mars but with Danny's help corrections are made and they are able to return homes There is lots of blundering about as Professor Bullfinch zooms to the ceiling. the two professors mess up their lab. and Grimes and Bullfinch play their instruments while bickering constantly. Williams. Jay. anthbrashkin. Raymond (authors) Ezra Jack Keats. Da Dunn and the Homework Illustrator Machine Interest Level 8-12 years Danny uses Professor Bullfinch's computer to do homework for Joe. Irene. and himself. It works fine 277 until classmate Eddie Philips. "the Snitcher.” jumbles up the machine. It fouls up their homework assignments and also messes up the professor's work until Danny discovers the trouble. Humor is evident when Irene pushes Eddie into the mud in revenge for her embarrass- ment at reading her “scrambled” report on Peru to her ClaBBe 136. Williams. Jay. and Abrashkin. Raymond (authors) Ezra Jack Keats. Danny Dunn and thgnfleather Illustrator Machine Interest Level 8-11 years Confusion is generated in this story by twin weather forecasters. one grouchy and one pleasant. Add this to Danny's trouble while using Professor Bullfinch's Ionic Transmitter and the fun multiplies. Snitcher Philips gets it in this story when a raincloud forms over his head and he is drencheda Then poor Joe leaps into a pond that has no water. only mud! Should be enjoyed by the middle graders. 137. Williams. Jay (author) Philbert the Fearful Ib Ohlssen. Illustrator nterestfiLevel 6-9 years Sir Philbert is not too brave but journeys with three other knights to find the emperor's kidnapped daughter anyway. By using his head along with a little luck. Philbert overcomes a giant. a cock- atrice. and an enchanter. He marries the emperor's daughter after he passes the supreme test of taking a wasp out of a box with his hand. (His hand was in an iron glove.) Great fun for the younger reader. 138. Williams. Jay (author) The Practigagrgrincess Friso Henstra. Illustrator Interest Level 6-9 years Crazy actions. fine illustrations make this fun reading for the young reader. The princess in the tale uses her wit to destroy a dragon by tossing a bundle of gunpowder down its throat. The bundle looked like a princess to the dragon. Old Lord Garp who wishes to marry the princess is outwitted too. The princess helps Prince Perion escape and at the moment of escape. Lord Garp arrives. He pulls on Perion's long beard hanging down from the tower! Perion fella on top of Garp! 278 139. Withers. Carl (editor) A W rld ofgflonsense John E. Johnson. St e and Humorous Illustrator Tales frgmiManquandg) Interest Level 840p There is a lot of nonsense in this collection by Withers. Numerous comical drawings highlight the tales drawn from many countries.- Typical of the nonsense is the story of the man who was shingling his house in a fog. and when the fog lifted he found that he had shingled six feet beyond the edge of the roof; Then there was the barber who could shave a ~ hare in full flight. the blacksmith who could shoe a horse in full gallop. and the fencer who could fence so fast in a hard rain that he didn't even get wet. 1&0. Yolen. Jane (author) Hgbg Toad and the Mgtor- Emily Mc'Cully. gycle Gagg I lustrator Interest Level 8-11 years The mad professor and the motorcycle gang attempt to rob the First National Bank of Secundo but are foiled by Hobo Toad. Mac the truck driver. Hate the diner owner. and young Sammy the professor's adopted son. After being tied up by the robbers. Hobo Toad frees Sammy's bonds by using his tongue. then unties the others. Kate's buttons pop and help frighten the professor into surrendering. Mac's marbles spill from his truck causing the rest of the gang to tumble about. Rollicking fun for the reader. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bibliggrnnhy of Prnressignal Literature Bgnrs ang Pamnhlgrg Archer. Clifford P. Elements Education in Rural Areas. New York: Ronald Press. 1938. Bergson. Henri. Langnter. New York: The Macmillan Cor. 1937. Eastman. Max. The Sgnse or Hnngr. New York: Charles Scribner s Sons. 1921. Egoff. S: A.. and Others. (eds.) Only Connect. Readings 9n Gnildren's Literature. London: Oxford. 19 9. Furst. Edward J. nstruct Evaluation Instruments. New York: ongmans. Green and Goa. 1958. Gesell. Arnold. and Ilg. Francis. The Child fr m Five to Ten. New York: ngper and Brothers. 1956. Hardy. William G: Communication and the Disadvantaged Chilg. Baltimore: RIM ams and w it‘I—“na. 1970‘. Henderson. Georgec (ed.) America's Other Children. Norman: University of Oklahoma rose. 971. Hoffman. Lois Wt. and Hoffman. Martin La (eds.) Review of Gnilg Develgpnent Research. New York: Russell Sage oun t on. 19 . Huck. Charlotte. and Kuhn. Doris. Cnildren's Literature_in the Elgmgntary School. New ork: Holt. Rinehart. and W nston. 9 . Iverson. William J. "New Trends in Children's Literature.” A Fgrum fnr Focus. Iartha La Ki . Robert Emans. and Patr cia Ja ianciolo. (eds?) Urbana. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English. 1973; Kappas. Katharine H. ”Children's Responses to Humor." A Critical nnfiroach tn Children's Literature. Ch cago: The niversity of Chicago Press. Sara Fenwick. (ed.) 1967. 279 280 Leacock. S. B. finngr and Humaniiy. New York:,Henry Holt and Co.. 9 . Lenneborg. Eric H. New Digeciigns 9n Chg Study of Langnnge. Cambridge. Mass.: he M. I: T. Press. 19 . Laban. Walter. Prgblems in Oral English. Champaign. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English. 1966. Longacker. Ronald W. Lnngnnge and Its Structure. New York: Harcourt. Brace and World Inc.. 19 . Moore. James Ca. and King. Paul J. 'A Comparison of Rural and Urban Pupils In Achievement.“ America's Other Childre . George Henderson. (ed.) Norman: Universgty of Oklahoma Press. 1971. Moore. Walter 5. (ed.) ”Rural Education III. Elementary Schools.” gncyclgaidia 9f Edncatignal Research. New York: he Mac 1 an cc. 9 O. Norvell. George. ‘Wh t Bo s and Girls Like to Read. Morristown. New Jersey: Silver-Burdett C04. 1958. Schmuck. Richard A.. and Patricia A. Crgun Processes in ihglClassrggn. Dubuque. Iowa: Wm. . Brown Co.. 9 . Smith. James. A Critical iffroach to Children's_iiterature. New York: Mc'Graw-H . l9 . Squire. James R. (ed.) Resnonse t9 Literature. Champaign. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English. 1968. Squire. James R; The Resnnnses gf Adolescents wnile Reading Fgur fhgr? Storieg. Champaign. Illinois: National ounc 1 0 Teachers of English. 196k. Strang. Ruth. in Introdnctign to Child Study. New York: Macmillan. l9 9. White. William F. Ingiics fgr Teaching the Disadvantaged. New York: Mo Grew-H l . 197 . Williams. Frederick. (ed.) Langnnge and Poverty. Chicago: Markham Publishing Co.. 1970. 281 Winer. B. J.’ tat r r e tal Desi . New York: No raw-H . . Wolfenstein. Martha. W. Glencoe: The Free Press. 1954. Wright. Milton. gnni's anrm and Wny - _A_n Outline 9n Humgr. 282 issertations ‘ Berding. Mary Cordelia Sister. Hum r as a Factor in Childrpn's Literature. 83.3.. University of cncmtglg. Landau. Manson. Potter. Elliott C. The Relationship Between Social Class Status and What Sixth grade Chiidrnn Say l§1§EREY In Selected Excerpis from Children's Literature. Ph.D.. New York University. 1955. Dianne Lynn. Children's Responses to Hnmorous Situations in Literature. Ph. .. University of Minnesota. 19 . Donald R. Response to Humor’Stimuli oi_Norma1 and Retnrded Children of Comparable Develgpnnnrnimgge. Ed.D.. University of South Dakota. 19 7. Skelton. Glenn Harvey. A Study of Children's Responses to Selected_§oems in ing Fourth. Fifth, and Siith Grades. Ed.D.. University of California. Berkeley. 1933. 283 Peripdicals Ashley. L. F. ”Children's Reading Interests and Individual- lized Reading." Elementary_English. XLVII (Dec.. 1970). 1088 - 1096. Barron. Milton L. ”A Content Analysis of Intergroup Humor.” AmericannSociolqgical Roving. 15 (Feb.. 1950). 88-94. Bird. Grace E. "An Objective Humor Test for Children.” Psychological Bulletin. 22 (Feb.. 1925). 137. 138. Boardman. G. 0. "Humor in Education.” Wisconsin Journal pi Education. 92 (Nov.. 1959). 19. Brown. Edwin J. ”The Humor of the School." School Board Journal. 55. 56 (Sept.. 1930). 35. Brumbaugh. Florence and Wilson. Frank. ”Children's Laughter.“ Journal of Genetic Psychology. 57 (Sept.. Brumbaugh. Florence. ”We Study Wit and Humor.” Childhood Education. 16 (May. l9hO). #01 - 40A. Burma. John H.2 ”Humor as a Technique in Race Conflict." American Sociologicai Review. 11 (Dec.. l9n6). 710 " 715e Christopher News Notes. "For a Sense of Humor." No. 195 (June. July. 1972). Cleary. Beverly. ”Wonderful World of Humor." Elementary En lish. 44 (Nov.. 1967). 743 - 7. Click. D. W. ”Humor and Comprehension.” English Journal. #1 (June. 1952). 321. Coleman. J. H.. and Jungeblut. Ann. “Children's Likes and Dislikes About What The Read.” Journal of Educntional Research. 5 (Feb.. 1961). 221 - 228. Cunningham. Ann. ”Relation of Sense of Humor to Intelli ence." 1he J u l of Social Ps cholo . 57 (June. 1962 . 3"17e 28% Daniel. Brother. “That.Sense of Humor.“ Cathoiic School gourna . 52 (Sept.. 1952). 219. Earls. Patricia L. “Humorizing Learning.“ Elementary E lish. XLIX (Jan.. 1972). 10?. Fenner. Phyllis. “Funny. Is It?“ ‘iibrarnyournal. 85 (Oct.. 1960). 3 22 - 382k. Gates. Arthur L.. Peardcn. Celeste C.. and Sartorius. Ina C. “Studies of Children's Interests in Reading.“ Elgmentary Spnool Journn . 31 (May. 1931). 656-570. Gilliand. Hap. and Mauritsen. Harriett. “Humor in the Classroom.“ In; Reading Teacher. 2h (May. 1971). 753-756. 761. Gordon. E. J. “Humor in Literature - What's Happened to Humor?“ English Journal. #7 (March. 1958). 127-133; Graham. Leo. “The Maturational Factor in Humor.“ Journal 9: Clinical Psycholpgz. 1“ (July. 1958). 326-328. Gruner. Charles Re “A Further Experimental Study of Satire as Persuasion.“ S ech Mono ra hs. XXXIII (June. 1966). 18k. 185. Grziwok. Rudolf. and Sccdel. Alvin. “Some Psychological Correlates of Humor Preferences.“ Journal of C sulti Ps cholo . 20 (Feb.. 1956). 52. Harms. Ernest. “The Development of Humor.“ J urnal o Abnormal and Social Psygholggx. 35 (July. 1953). 331 ' 5390 Heim. A. “An Experiment on Humor.“ The British J urnal of Psychoipgy. XXVII (1936. 37). 158-161. . Henson. M. “Assessment of Children's Appreciation of Humorous Werse.“ Educational Review. 22 (Feb.. 1970). 198-20u. Hester. Mary St.Clair. “Variations in the Sense of Humor According to Age and Mental Condition.“ Psychological .EELLEIlB: 30 (Dec.. 1933). 755-756. Hope. Bob. “The Impertance of Having Fun.“ Reader's Digest. 100 (Jan.. 1972). 50. 285 Hurley. B. J. D.* “What Children Find Humorous.“ Childhood Educatipn. 32 (May. 1956). “BM. Jacobs. La B. “Very. Very Funny.“ Instructor. 75 (Nov.. 1965). 3#. 55. 112- Jenkins. W. A. “Reading for Enjoyment and Personal Development.“ Egucational Leadershi . 2n (Feb.. 1967) O “Oh-6 e Jensen. A. E. “Let's Have a Laugh.“ Crade Teacher. 71 (Jane: 195“): 27- Johnson. B. “For Our Schools. A Sense of Nonsense.“ New York Times Ma azine. (Sept;. 16. 1956). 17+. Justin. Florence. “A Genetic Study of Laughter Provoking Stimuli.“ Gnild Developnpnt. 3 (June. 1932). 114-136. Kozlak. Mary A. “Teaching Humorous Literature.“ Elementary English Review. 12 (1935). 192. 193. Laing. A. “The Sense of Humor in Childhood and Adolescence.“ British Journal of Educational Ps cholo . 9 (1939). 201. Landau. E. D. "Quibble. Quibble. Funny? Yes. Humorous. No!“ Horn Bnok. 38 (April. 1962). 154-164. Laux. P. J. “The Gift of Lau hter.“ The Catholic School Malchow. Evangeline. “Reading Interests of Junior High Schoo; Pupils.“ The Sch 01 Review. 45 (March. 1937). 175-1 50 Merchant. Louisa. “A Child's Sense of Humor.“ Elementary E lish Revi w. 17 (Jan.. 19h0). 15-17. Mones. L. “Intelligence and a Sense of Humor “ Journal of the Exce ti nal Child. 5 (March. 1939 . 150-153. Omwake. Louise. “Factors Influencing the Sense of Humor “ The Journal of S cial Ps cholo . 10 (Feb.. 1939 . 95"]. e Perl. Ruth Eastwood. “A Review of Experiments in Humor.“ The Psychological_§ullepin. 30 (Dec.. 1933). 752-763. 286 Raley. Sister Agnes Lucille. and Bellman. Christine. “Theoretical Implications for a Psychology of the Ludicrous.“ Jgurnal of Social Psychology. 45 (1957). 12-23- Roberts. Allen F.. and Johnson. Donald M. "Some Factors Related to the Perception of Funniness in Humor Stimuli.“ Journal of Sggial Psychology. #6 (Augee 1957). 37-630 Smith. Ruth C. “Children's Reading Choices and Basic Reader Content.“ Elementary English. 39 (March. 1962). 202—209. Stroud. Rupert. “How to Be Very Su erior in a Sense of Humor.” ghi Delta Kappan. 3 (April. 1957). 266. 267. Tyler. Ralph W. "Ability to Use Scientific Method.“ Educational Researcn_Bulletin. 11 (Jan.. 1932). 1-9. Wells. Ruth. "A Study of Tastes in Humorous Literature Among Pupils of Junior and Senior Hi h School.“ gournal of Educational Research. 28 Oct.. 1934). 1-91. Williams. Jessie M. "Experimental and Theoretical Study of Humor in Children.“ British Journal of Educational Psychology. 16 (Feb.. 19h6). #3. Witty. Paul. Coomer. Ann. and Mc'Bean. Della. “Children's Choices of Favorite Books: A Study Conducted in Ten Elementary Schools.“ prrnal of Educational Psychology. 37 (1946). 266-278e Zigler. Edward. Levine. Jacob. and Gould. Lawrence. "Cognitive Processes in the Development of Children's Appreciation of Humor.“ Child Development. 37 (Sept.. 1966). 507-518. Bibliograpny of Books of Wit and Humor for Middle Grade Students Aiken. Joan. Armitage. Armitnge. Fly Away Hgme. Doubleday and case 19 e Amarant. ngius. Tall Baseball Stories. Association Press. 19 . Andersen. Hans Christian. The Empgror's New Clothes. Harcourt. Brace and Co.. 1959. Anderson. Mildred Napier. A Gift for Merimond. Oxford University Press. 1953. Atwater. Richard. and Florence. Mra Poppgr's Pengnins. Little. Brown. and Co.. 193 . Babbitt. Natalie. The Search for Delicious. Farrar. Straus and G roux. 19 9. Ball. Zachary (Masters). Spniterg. Holiday Hesse. 1963. Beatty. Jr.. Jerome. Cgb Fultpn's innzing Soda-Pop Stretcher. ”111131“ Re Scott. InCep 19 3e Bell. Norman. gng Weigntless Mpther. Follett Publishing Co.. 19 7. Best. Aliens C. Cng-String Fiddle. John C. Winston Co.. 939. Bishop. Claire Huchet. Ens Man Whp Lost HingeaC. The Viking Press. 19 2. Blough. Glenn 0. The Mgnkey With a Nption. Henry Holt and Com. 19 . Bond. Mighaeli‘9 ddi ton Goes to Towns Houghton-Mifflin 0.. . Bontemps. Arne. and Conroy. Jack. The Fast Sooner Hound. Houghton. Mifflin Co.. 19h2. 287 288 Bontemps. Arna. and Conroy. Jack. Slappy Hoopgr. The Wonderful Sign Painter. Houghton. Mifflin Co.. 9 . Bowman. gages Gloyd. like Fink. Little. Brown. and Co.. 9 7. Brock. Emma L. Three R Circu . Alfred A. Knopf. 1950. Brock. Emmi L. The Tppny-anyy Family. Alfred A. Knopf. l9 9. Brown. Jeff. Flat Stanley. Harper and Row. 1964. Butterworth. Oliver. The Enormous Egg. Little. Brown. and Co.. 1956. Butterworth. Oliver. The Trouble Wiih Jenny's Ear. Little. Brown. and Co.. 19 0. Cameron. Polly. The Grgen Machin . Coward-McCann Co.. 1969. Carlsen. Ruth Christoffer. Mr. Pudgins. Houghton. Mifflin Co.. 1951. Carlson. Natalie Savage. Aiphpnse - That Bearded One. Harcourt. Brace and Co.. 19 . Carlson. Nztalie Savage. Carnival in Paris. Harper and Row, 19 2. Carlson. Natalie Savage. Hnrtense: the Cow for a Queen. Harcourt. Brace and Co.. 1957. Carroll. Ruth and Latrobe. The Flying House. The Macmillan COe. 1946. Chaikin.1Miriam. Iiiki Pittni. Parents' Magazine Press. 97 J Chalmers. Audrey. Hundreds and Hundreds of Pancakes. The Viking Press. 19 2e Chase. Richard. The Jack Tales. Houghton. Mifflin Co.. 19 3. Cleary. Beverly. Beenns and Ramona. William Morrow and Co.. 1968. 289 Cleary. Beverly. Ellen Tgbbits. William Morrow and Co.. 1951. Cleary. Beverly. Henry and Beezus. William Morrow and Co.. 1953. Cleary. Beverly. Henry and Ribsy. William.Morrow and Co.. 1954. Cleary. Beverly. Hgnry and the Clubhouse. William Morrow and Co.. 19 2. Cleary. Beverly. Henry and thg Paper Route. William Morrow and 0e. 1957s Cleary. Beverly. Henry Hnggins. William Morrow and Co.. 950- Cleary. Beverly. The Mouse and the Motorcygin. William Morrow and 0.. 1972. Cleary. Beverly. Oiis Spgfford. William Morrow and Co.. 1953. Cleary. Beggrly. Ramona the Pest. William Morrow and Co.. 19 . Cleary. Beverly. Ribgy. William Morrow and Co.. 1964. Clymer. Eleanor. Chestpr. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 1955. Cone. Molly. Mishmash. Houghton. Mifflin and Co.. 1962. Corbett. Scott. The Disappearing Dongrick. Little. Brown. and COe' 19330 Corbett. Scott. Ever Ride a Dinosaur? Holt. Rinehart and Winston. 9 9. Corbett. Scott. Tne Hairy Horror Trick. Little. Brown and 00.. 9 9e Corbett. Scott. §he Hateful. Platefui Trick. Little. Brown and COe. 9710 Corbett. Sgott. The Lemcnnde Trick. Little. Brown and Co.. 19 O. Corbett. ngtt. The Limerick Trick. Little. Brown and Co.. 19 290 Corbett. Scott. Th9 Mailbox Trick. Little. Brown and CO ... 1961 e Corbett. Scott. Steady. Freddie! E. P. Dutton Co.. 1970. Cowley. Joy. Duck in the Gun. Doubleday and Co.. 1969. Credle. Ellis. Tall Tales from the High Hilin. Thomas Nelson and Sons. 1957. Dahl. Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Alfred As Knopf. 1961‘s Davis. Mary Gould (ed.). With Cap and Bells (Humorous Cjorigs to Tell andwto Read Aloud). Harcourt. Brace and Co.. 1937. Davis. Robert. Padre Pgrko. the Gentlemanly Pigs Holiday Dolbier. Maurice. The Magic Shqp. Random House. 1946. DuBois. William Pene. The Alligator Case. Harper and Row. 1965. DuBois. Wifiéiam Pene. The Great Geppy. The Viking Press. 19 . DuBois. William Pene. Otto and the_Magic Potatoes. The Viking Press. 19 O. DuBois. William Pene. Egrkp Von Popbutton. Harper and ROW, 19680 Estes. Eleanor. The Sun and the Wind and Mr. Todd. Harcourt. Brace and Co.. 1943. Faralla. Dana. The anderful Fiying-Go-Rounn. World. 1965. Felton. Harold W. B wle Bill Sea oi Cowpnncher. Prentice-Hall. 1957. ‘ Felton. Harold W. New Tall Tales of Pecos Bill. Prentice- Hall. Inc 0 g 9 O Felton. Harold W. True Tall Tales of Stormalo : Sailor of the Seven Seas. Prentice-Hall. Inc.. 1968. Felton. Harold W. Tne World's Most Truthful Man. Dodd. Mead and Gas. 19 10' 291 Fenner. Phyllis Ra Fools and anny Fellgws. Alfred A. Knopf. 1949. Fenner. Phyllis R. Iimp in Laug . Alfred A. Knopf. 1942. Feuerlicht. Roberta Strauss. Tne Legends of Fry; Bunyan; Collier Books. 1966. Fleischman. Albert S. Chaney and the Grand Rnscal. Little. Brown and Co.. T933. Fleischman. Sid. By the Great Horn Sppon! Little. Brown and COe. 19 3e Fleischman. Sid. .Longbeard the Wizard. Little. Brown and COe . 1970e Fleischman. Sid. McBrocm and the Big Wind. W. W. Norton and Gas. 1937. Fleischman. Sid. Mr"M sterious and Co . Little. Brown and Co.. 1962. Foster. Jogn. Marco and the Tiger. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 19 7. Gage. Wilson. Mike's Toang. World. 1970. Garnett. Eve. The Family from One End Street and Some of Their Adventurgs. The Vanguard Press. Inc.. 1939. Graham. Benzell. That Big Broozer. William Morrow and Co.. 1959e Gray. Nichg§as Stuart. Thg App1e_§tone. Meredith Press. 19 . Green. Roger Lancelyn. The Book of Nonsense. E. P. Dutton afld COe . 1956e Hale Lucretia P. The Com lete Peterkin Papers. Houghton. ' Mifflin Co.. 1960. Haywood. Carolyn. Betsy's Busy Summe . William Morrow and Co.. 1956. Haywood. Carolyn. Eddie and His Big Deals. William Morrow and CO .' 9 1955 e Haywood. Carolyn. Eddie and the Fire Engine. William Morrow and Gas. 19 9e 292 Haywood. Carolyn. Eddie Makes Music. William Morrow and COe . 1957e Haywood. Carolyn. Eddie's Green Thumb. William Morrow and Co.. 1935. Haywood. Carolyn. Eddie's Pay Dirt. William Morrow and Co.. 1953. Haywood. Carolyn. Eddie the Dog Holder. William Morrow andC o.. 19 Haywood. Carolyn. Ever-Ready Eddig. William Morrow and COe . 1968e Haywood. Carolyn. Little Eddin. William Morrow and Co.. 19 Henderson. LeGrand. Augnstus and the Mountainn. Grosset and Dunlap. l9 1. Henderson. LeGrand. nugnstus and the River. Grosset and Dunlap. 1939. Henderson. LeGrand. Matilda. Abingdon. 1956. Hodges. Margaret. What's for iunch. Charlefl Dial Press. 19 1. Jackson. Charlotte. Tito: The Pig of Guatemala. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 19 O. Jagendorf. Moritz Adolph. The Marvelous Adventures of Jnnnny Darling. Vanguard Press. 19 9. Jagendorf. Moritz Adolph. Npodlehead Stories from Around the Wnrld. Vanguard Press. 1957. Jagendorf. Moritz Adolph. 11 U1 ns ie el's Mer Pranks. Vanguard Press. 193 . Juster. Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth. Random House. 1961. Kelsey. Alice Geer. Cnpp the Hodja. Longmans. Green and 00e 9 1943e Kendall. Carol. Thg Big Splash. The Viking Press. 1960. Kilian. Crawford. Wgnders. Inn. Parnassus Press. 1968. 293 Lawson. Robert. Bgn and Me. -Little. Brown and Co.. 1951. Lawson. Robert. The Fabulous Flight. Little. Brown and COee 19u90 Lawson. Robert. Mc'Whinney's Jaunt. Little. Brown and Co.. 1951. Lawson. Robert. {!£. Revere_andyi. Little. Brown and Co.. 1953. Lawson. Robert. Mr. Twigg's Mistake. Little. Brown and COe. 1947e Leaf. Munro. [Cam and the Superdroop. Viking Press. 1948. Leskov. Nigflolas. The Steel Flea. Harper and Row Co.. 19 . Lewellen. John. 239 Vee Hnmphrey. Alfred A. Knopf. 1957. Lindgren. Astrid. Emil in the Soup Tureen. Follett. 1963. Lindgren. Astrid. Emil's Pranks. Follett. 1966. Lindgren. Astrid. nischievougrleg. The Viking Press. 1962. Lindgren. Astrid. flippi Goes on Board. The Viking Press. 1957. Lindgren. Astrid. Pippi Longstocking. The Viking Press. 1950. Lord. Beman. The Perfpct Pitch. Henry 2. Walck. Inc.. 1965. Lord. Beman. Thg Trpuble [iih Francig. Henry 2. Walck. Inc.. 195 . Love. Katherine. A Little Laughter. Thomas Y. Crowell Co.. 1957. MacDonald. Betti. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. J. B. Lippincott Co.. 19 7. MacGregor. Ellen. Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter. McGraw-Hill Book Co.. 1953. MacGregor. Ellen. Miss Pickerell Goes to the Arctic. McGraw-Hill Co.. 1954. 294 MacGregor. Ellen. Miss Pickerell Goes Undersea. Whittlesey House. 1953. MacKellar. William. Ins Smallest Mgnster in the World. DaV1d McKay COe. 1969. Malone. Mary. Herp's Howig. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 1962. McCloskey. Robert. Burt Dow: Deengater Man. The Viking Press. 1963. McCloskey. Robert. Centerburg Tales. The Viking Press. 1951. McCloskey. Robert. Homer Price. The Viking Press. 1943. McGovern. Ann. Hee Haw. Houghton. Mifflin Co.. 1969. Merrill. Jean. The Pushcart War. Grosset and Dunlap. 1964. Meyer. Fragklyn E. Me and Caleb. Follett Publishing Co.. 19 2. Meyer. Franklyn E. Me and Caleb Again. Follett Publishing Co.. 1969. Moore. Lilian. .ihe Snnke That Went to School. Random House. 195?. Mowat. Farley. gng Dgg Who Wouldn't Bea Little. Brown and Co.. 195 . Mowat. Faréey. Owls in the Family. Little. Brown and Co.. 19 1. Nash. Mary. While Mrs- Coverlet Wa§_Away. Little. Brown and Case 19 e Nash. Ogdegv The Cruise Q; the Aardvark. J. B. Lippincott. 19 7. North. Sterling. Greased Lightning. Winston Co.. 1940. Paine. Albert Bigelow. Arkansaw Bear. Harper and Brothers. 1925. Parish. Peggy. Anelia Bedelia. Harper and Row Co.. 1963. Parkinson.6Ethelyn M. Cood Old Archibald. Abingdon Press. 19 O. 295 Peet. Bill. Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure. Houghton. Miffl n Co.. 1959. Peet. Bill. Randy's Dandy Lions. Houghten. Mifflin Co.. 19 Petrie. Stuart. ghe Vnyage of the Barracks. Meredith Press. 19 7. Proysen. Alf. Mrs. Peppgrpnt in the Magic Wong. Pantheon Co.. 19 . Raskin. Ellen. The M t r us Disa earance f Leon I M an N e m E. P. Dutton and Co.. 1971. Rinkoff. Barbara. Eibgrt. the Mind Readpr. Lothrop. Lee and Shepard Co.. 19 7. Robertson. Keith. Hgnry Reed. Inc. The Viking Press. 1958. Robertson. Keith. He Reed's Bab -Sitti Service. The Viking Press. 1966. Robinson. Tom. Trigger Jnhn's Snn. The Viking Press. 1949. Rounds. Glen. 01' Paul. Che Mighpy Logger. Holiday House. 1949. Rounds. Glen. The Whistle Punk of Camp 15. Holiday House. 1959. Scoggin. Margaret C. Chucklebait. Alfred A. Knopf. 1945. Selden. George. The Cricket in Times Square. Farrar. Straus and G roux. 19 O. Selden. George. Tucker's Cnuntryside. Farrar. Straus and Shapiro. Irwin. Hnw 01d Stormalong Cnptured Mocha Dink. Julian Messner Inc.. 19 2. Shapiro. Irwin. Joe Magarac and His U.S.AL_Citiggn Papers. Julian Messner. Inc.. 19 . Shapiro. Irwin. Cpnn Henry and the Double-Jointed Steam Drill. Julian Messner. Inc.. 19 . Shapiro. Irwin. Sieamboat Bill and the Captain's Top Hat. Julian Messner. Inc.. 1943. 296 Shapiro.11§gin. Tall Tales.of America. Guild Press. Inc.. 9 . Shapiro. Milton J. A Treasu of Spprt§_Humor. Julian Messner. 197 . Shura. Mary Frances. Simple Spigott. Alfred A. Knopf. 1960. Slobodkin. Louis. The Spgce Ship Under the Apple Tree. Macmillan Gas. 9 20 Smith. Helen R. iangning Matte . Scribner's Sons. 1949. Spearing. ggdith. Ghnsts Who Went to Schgni. Atheneum. 19 Steele. Mary G. lies Osborne - the Mop. World Publishing Co.. 1963. Steele. Mary G. A Wild Gopse Talp. The World Publishing Co.. 1961. Steele. William 0. Da Cr ckett's Earth uake. Harcourt. Brace and World Inc.. 1956. Steele. William 0. Th No-Name Man f the Mountain. Harcourt. Brace and World Inc.. 1964. Stockton. Frank R. ghg Beg-Man p: Orn. Holt. Rinehart and wins ton. 19 0 Stolz. Mary. Siri the Cpnguistador. Harper and Row Co.. 19 3- Stong. Phil. Cnptain Kidd's Cow. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 1944. Stong. Phil. High Water. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 1937. Stong. Phil. Hpnk the M9989. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 1943. Sturton. Hugh. ZQmo the Rabbi . Atheneum. 1966. Thurber. James. The anderful 0. Simon and Schuster. 1957. Turnbull. Agnes Sligh. Eliiah the Fishbite. Macmillan CO. 9 1.9qu Turney. Ida Virginia. Eaul Bunyan. themflork Giant. Binfords and Mort. 19 1. 297 Walker. Barbara K. Once There Was and Twice There Wasn't. Follett Publishing Co.. 1968. Walters. Maude Owens. Ciever and Foolish Ifilfl§u£2£ Children. Dodd. Mead and Co.. 1941. Wickenden. Dan. The Amazinngacation. Harcourt. Brace and Co.. 1956. Wilkins. Mary E. Tne Pumpkin Giant. Lothrop. Lee and Shepard Co.. 1970. Williams. Jay and Abrashkin. Raymond. Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint. Whittlesey House. 1956. Williams. Jay and Abrashkin. Raymond. Dannprunn and the Homework Machine. Whittlesey House. 1958. Williams. Jay and Abrashkin. Raymond. DannyADunn and the Weather Machine. Whittlesey House. 1959. Williams. Jay. Philbert the Fearful. W. W. Norton and Co.. 1966. Williams. Jay. {The Practical Princess. Parents' Magazine Press. 1969. Williams. Jay. The Silver Whistle. Parents' Magazine Press. 1971. Wilson. Hazel. Herbert. Alfred A. Knopf. 1950. Wilson. Leon. This Boy Cody. Franklin Watts. Inc.. 1950. Withers. Carl. A World of Nonsense (Strange and Humorous Taégs from Many Lands). Holt. Rinehart and Winston. 19 . Wood. Esther. §i1k and Satin Lane. Longmans. Green and Co.. 1939. Yolen. Jane. Hobo Toad and the Motorcycle Gang. The World Publishing Co.. 1970. "1111111111111!11111“