Funny Books Count: Why Laughter Belongs in Reading Practice

Good Tidings Blog · For Parents & Teachers · 4 min read

If you've ever hesitated to hand your reluctant reader a joke book instead of "something more substantial," you're not alone — and you're not wrong to reconsider.

There's a persistent idea floating around classrooms and living rooms that worthwhile reading has to look serious: chapter books with somber covers, nonfiction with charts, stories that teach a Very Important Lesson. But research on children's reading habits tells a different story, and it's one worth taking seriously precisely because it isn't serious at all.

What Kids Actually Want to Read

Scholastic's Kids & Family Reading Report found that humor is the single characteristic kids look for most when choosing a book, with more than half of children saying they seek out books that make them laugh. And it's not just kids — nearly half of parents said they wanted their children's books to be funny too. When a child reaches for the silly book over the "improving" one, they're not avoiding literacy. They're doing exactly what the research says works.

Humor Isn't the Opposite of Learning — It's a Shortcut to It

Funny books often lean on wordplay, jokes, and clever situations that push young readers to think critically and stretch their language skills. Getting a joke — really getting it — takes cognitive work. Understanding a pun or an absurd scenario requires quick thinking, which is its own kind of brain-building. A pigeon throwing a tantrum about a bus, a gassy goat, a superhero with a questionable cape — these aren't fluff. They're small comprehension puzzles a child solves without realizing they're working.

A distracted reader skims. An amused reader stays.

The Social and Emotional Case for Silly Stories

Reading isn't only a cognitive skill — it's a bonding one. Humor is inherently social and contagious, and when kids connect over funny books together, they're building real community, the same way they do around shared favorites like Captain Underpants or Fly Guy. A giggling kid wants to read the funny part out loud to someone. That's not a distraction from literacy — that's literacy in its most natural form.

There's an emotional layer too. Laughter increases the endorphins the brain releases, which lowers stress and builds a sense of well-being — something every kid navigating a hard day at school or home can use. A funny book can be the softest possible landing place: a few pages that ask nothing of a child except to smile.

Reframing "Worthwhile" Reading

None of this means serious books don't matter — they do, and they'll always have a place on the shelf. But "worthwhile" doesn't have to mean solemn. A book that makes a child laugh out loud on the bus, that gets reread three times because a joke never gets old, that turns a reluctant reader into someone who asks for story time — that book is doing exactly what reading is supposed to do.

So the next time your child or student picks the goofy book with the ridiculous title over the one that looks more "educational," let them.

The laughter isn't a detour from reading practice. It is reading practice.

Written by Kikipd, creator of Good Tidings — where reading feels like fun. Explore more at goodtidingsbooks.com.

— Kikipd