Keep 'em laughing.(Focus On: Topical Resources for Curriculum Needs)(Brief Article)

What makes a book funny? It can be a situation, such as a man falling in love with a barber pole or a boy wrestling a bear to impress girls. Sometimes it's all in the dialogue, as when a 13-year-old boy quotes those famous philosophers "Sew-crates" and "Ar-is-totally." Unusual characters can contribute to the humor: a well-mannered worm and a dishwashing alien are just two examples. Facts can also be funny, from science-based rules for dinosaur pets to the bathing habits of cockroaches. Visual ingenuity plays a role, too. Illustrations make a tale about mismatched body parts funnier, and sometimes even a single wordless photograph (of dancing polar bears, for example) inspires …