8 Great Joke Books for Kids

Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids, by Rob Elliott
No doubt conceived as a response to humor juggernaut Old Jews Telling Jokes, LOLJFK is the first in a series of several funny-making manuals for children. Over 1.5 million copies of this book have been sold. I haven’t been able to locate a statistic on how many readers guffaw audibly, however.
Here’s a video of cute kids telling each other jokes from the series:
https://youtu.be/oebiChaJ7bg

The Jokiest Joking Joke Book Ever Written… No Joke!, by Kathi Wagner
Weighing in at 368 pages, packed with 2,001 jokes, and proclaiming itself “cheap!”, The Jokiest… is one of the best values in kids’ joke books available. The book is organized by joke topics such as celebrities, gadgets, videogames, the classroom, and zombies, with a propensity towards pop-culture references. The book includes simple black and white illustrations to help illuminate subtler concepts. The majority of jokes in this book are in question and answer format, with a chapter devoted to knock-knock jokes. Oops! I forgot to make a joke about this book. Maybe I’ll start over.
Sample jokes:
Why are jeans always sad?
Because they’re blue.
How can a phone take pictures without anyone else pushing a button?
All by its Selfie.

Mr. Potato Head Upside-Down Joke World, Steve Charney and Steve Harpster
This is a good collection of not-exclusively (but often) food-related goofiness for kids to enjoy. Mr. Potato Head features funny poems, question and answer jokes, one-liners, and riddles, as well as cartoonish line drawings of Mr. Potato Head and friends in various states of assembly and configuration. Burp!
Sample jokes:
What are the hardest beans for a farmer to grow?
Jelly beans.
I was thinking of you at lunch yesterday. I was eating alphabet soup and your name came up!

Lots of Jokes for Kids, by Zondervan
I’m compelled to call this a no-nonsense book of nonsense, but I fear that might be misleading. In truth, it’s a very simple, narrow volume full of well-written jokes on a variety of topics with minimal illustrations. The chapters are divided into animal jokes, knock-knock jokes, Q&A’s, bonus jokes and riddles, and tongue twisters. A companion volume offers knock-knock jokes exclusively. Aren’t you glad I didn’t say “banana”?
Sample jokes:
Why can’t you explain puns to kleptomaniacs?
They always take things, literally.
What do you get from a pampered cow?
Spoiled milk.

Highlights Laugh Attack!: The Biggest Best Joke Book EVER, by Highlights
The biggest joke book ever? Ever? EVER?!? I guess we’ll just take them at their word. Anyway, it’s pretty big, and it’s full of jokes. The accompanying illustrations are as humorous as the accompanying comedic writing. If you use a bright yellow marker, you can easily mark your favorites for later. What are the highlights, you ask?
Sample jokes:
What was purple and conquered the world?
Alexander the Grape
A fisherman carrying a lobster met a friend on the way home.
“Where are you going with that lobster on your arm?” asked his friend.
The fisherman answered, “I’m taking it home for dinner.”
Just then the lobster spoke up. “I’ve already had my dinner. May we go to a movie instead?”
What’s the best way to catch a fish?
Have someone throw it to you.

Cheesy Joke Book, by Wrigley Stuart
Despite my blissful previous ignorance of “Uncle Grandpa”, I enjoyed this excessively colorful joke book based on the characters from the Cartoon Network show. There are an awful lot of jokes crammed into this “classic joke book”, most of them appealing to a broad audience, with an “Uncle Grandpa” theme throughout (Grandpa, Grandpa jokes; Pizza jokes, “Mr. Gus is So Old…” jokes.) Most chapters end with an opportunity and space to invent and record the reader’s own jokes. That can only end poorly… A few parts might be more amusing to those who already enjoy the antics of “Uncle Grandpa”, and there is some mild potty-humor. Then again, not a single joke in this book ends with “Poopy Doopy!”
Sample Joke:
Two fish are in a tank. One turns to the other and asks, “How do you drive this thing?”

National Geographic Kids Just Joking: 300 Hilarious Jokes, Tricky Tongue Twisters, and Ridiculous Riddles, by National Geographic Kids
Unsurprisingly, this book has terrific photos, and facts about animals and the natural world. Perhaps more surprisingly, it also has funny jokes. Each page is a glorious full-color photograph or photo collage, many providing visual humor disjointed with the subject matter of the written material being presented, like: a hamster, mid ab-crunch, telling both sides of a knock knock. Crazy! This is a joke book kids will want to look at over and over (I advise you, strongly, to accidentally misplace it before any lengthy car trip) and should the need arise, there are several more in the series, including two very nice boxed sets and a cat-specific volume of paw-ful funny LOLz.
Sample jokes include:
What do you get when you cross a snowman with a shark?
Frostbite.
Who makes a living while driving customers away?
A taxi driver.

Kids’ Quickest Comebacks, by Philip Yates, Matt Rissinger, and Rob Collinet
Finally, I’m having a very hard time imagining the parent who wants their child to be sassier. My daughter is currently exploring a “why should I?” phase that has already far outlived its welcome. Still, should you find your Meadowlark a bit meek, this is the book for you. Or, should your least favorite sister’s son’s birthday be coming up, Kids’ Quickest Comebacks ships much less expensively than a drum kit.
What are your favorite kid jokes?