Bill was off school with his own germs recently. It happened to coincide with the delivery to our house of a small volume called 'Monkeyfarts'; a joke book put together by David Borgenicht. It's fair to say that he found it quite as healing as any Regency Romance. He lay wrapped in a duvet on the sofa and proceeded to read me the entire book from cover to cover.: "Hur hur! Listen to this one Mum! And listen to this one! And this one! And this one!"
Now I can't say that hearing an entire joke book in one go is my idea of funny but I am not an 8 year old boy. Joke books are second only to Freaky Fact books in constituting Bill's Ideal Dinner Table Entertainment and he loves to share in a slightly life sapping completist fashion: They are more or less irresistible to him. I would suggest that they should also be the first call for anyone trying to sneak some reading into an unsuspecting refusenik; although be prepared to have to listen for a Long Stretch.
Having said that, 'Monkeyfarts' is a pretty comprehensive and stylishly put together example of the genre; with a good mix of some old classics and some newbies. Bill particularly appreciated the Star Wars section, the Harry Potter section and, of course, the poo section.
I liked this one:
'What did one snowman say to the other snowman?
Do you smell carrots?'
So there y'go. 'Monkeyfarts': the poorly 8 year old's Georgette Heyer.
as for the Freaky Facts. Did you know that duelling is legal in Paraguay provided you are a registered blood donor? Neither did I until Bill told me so over his porridge bowl this morning. Useful stuff.
Disclaimer: We were sent a copy by kindness of the publisher. Our opinions are our own.
We loved this but (ashamed) we had to hide it in the end because C was driving us absolutely NUTS retelling the jokes in this, but it's fab - reminds me of the 'Crack a Joke Book' which was a childhood favourite and I think my copy got passed around at school until it (literally) disintegrated under a hundred or so grubby schoolkid hands.
ReplyDeleteFab stuff!
ah I think I had the 'Crack a Joke' book too! The 'Ha ha bonk' book also slightly too popular in this house.
DeleteHope you feel better soon Polly! My favourite joke Book growing up was the Ha Ha Bonk Joke Book mentioned above. I must say, Star Wars, Harry Potter and poo are pretty much Top Three Things in our house so that looks like a winner!
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