The Templeton Twins: Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner
The narrator speaks to you a lot like Lemony Snicket, but there is something fresher about this narrator's silliness, and the story is pretty engaging. I had to take a lot of breaks to laugh at this tricky narrator's cleverness. This is the sort of book that makes you feel as if you are very clever yourself, because you and the narrator are both in on the joke. Perhaps that is why I like books like this so much...
Anansi, the ultimate of all tricksters, would make a fabulous Christmas present for someone. I especially love the Anansi stories told by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens.
Our favorite is Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock. You can search for the little bush dear hidden in all the pages and rejoice when Anansi, the trickster, gets tricked himself.
The book below is a very funny book—funny in a non-fart/bugger kind of way. Funny in a subtle way that makes a kid think. Have your third graders and up read it to themselves, or read it to them and their younger siblings.
Kibitzers and Fools by Simms Taback. Oh, how this book makes me laugh! It makes my kids laugh too, especially my boys. Is there anything better than a good laugh with your kids, when you are all on the same page, thinking the same things, smiling and being happy together?
It's a collection of fool/trickster stories. For example, a man goes from wise person to wise person to ask him what life is. He finally goes to the chief rabbi of the land.
"Rabbi!" he says. "What is life?"
The rabbi says, "Life is a fountain."
"A fountain?" the man says. "How is life a fountain?"
The rabbi, who is standing on his head, thinks a while and finally says, "Okay, fine. Life isn't a fountain."
And there are even better ones in this fabulous, sadly out-of-print, book!
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