Add some humourous books to the reading mix in your teaching!
We’re just passed the most depressing day of the year – so what better time to look at what might cheer us up - as readers. There’s nothing quite like laughing aloud, giggling or even quietly smiling as we read something that amuses us. Perhaps that’s why newspapers include some sort of comic strip to cheer us after all the depressing news? No?
Humour has often been cited as real enticement into reading for reluctant readers – just look at the popularity of the Tom Gates series, or likewise, the Dairy of a Wimpy Kid to name but two! Perhaps, more importantly, humour is acknowledged as a real boost to mental health for individuals. Don’t dismiss reading humourous books as ‘not real reading’ – the benefits are huge to those enjoying them. Humour can be used in many different ways – often to highlight really serious, scary issues. Humour makes it approachable in a very human way.
For many years there was no recognition of how important this genre of books can be – but for the last little while we have had the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (the Lollies). The thought behind these awards is to celebrate the best and funniest children’s books in the UK and Ireland. They’re looking for books in three different categories: Picture Books, Books for 6-8-year-olds and Books for 9-13-year-olds. Once the judges have decided on a shortlist, it’s all up to the children! This is a children’s book award with the winner decided by the children themselves.
The books are initially chosen by a team of judges, led by Michael Rosen, from books submitted by publishers. Once the judges have decided on a longlist and then a little later, a shortlist these are publicised, resources are created for use with the books and it’s then up to individuals to vote for their favourites. Voting is open over the summer until the very end of December – then the award is made the following year. Watch out for the 2020 announcement soon.
There are lots of resources available to help you set up and run a Lollies Award group, organise votes, decorate classrooms or libraries - as well as packs about all the shortlisted materials. This is all available to download from the Lollies website along with everything you could need to encourage and enthuse children. When you vote for the Lollies there are also competitions you get entered into – to win wonderful prizes like an author visit from a shortlisted author.
So, what will you start with? You could do an awful lot worse than look at the current shortlists and jump in - for a laugh!
Happy reading!
Tricia Adams
