Humorous literature for children has been around since Randolph Caldecott first started writing and illustrating picturebooks. In the article, the authors try to understand what makes picturebooks funny and discuss ways to use humor in the classroom. Many examples of humorous picturebooks are cited to provide teachers with resources for their…

In this paper, we explore the affordances of literature-based, arts-infused and digital media processes for students, as multimodal practices take centre stage in an English Language Arts unit on fractured fairy tales. The study takes up the challenge of addressing multimodal literacy instruction and research in ways that utilize a range of…

The author explores how the use of joke books can promote fluency in young readers. One young girl's fluency improved measurably, and her engagement and motivation to read the particular kind of text involved played a significant role. (Contains 2 tables.)

The author advocates the use of "nonsense" in class as a form of wit and expression, and also, since it is a classic human mode of expressing disguised aggression against people or social institutions, as a way to enable children to experience aggression vicariously. (JA)

Discusses Jan Mark's "Thunder and Lightnings" and offers the teacher various approaches to teaching the book in the classroom. (HOD)

Discusses the comedy in Eudora Welty's only children's book, "The Shoe Bird," and ways the book may be used in the elementary grades. (SR)

Presents five articles on humor in early child care: (1) "What Makes Young Children Laugh?" (David Elkind); (2) "Humor as a Tool in the Workplace" (Jerry Parr); (3) "Vincent's Vignettes" (Vincent Duffy); (4) "Family Humor" (Bill Strader); and (5) "Books to Tickle Funny Bones" (Karen Stephens). (SD)

Elementary school students can learn to write creatively if the teacher offers stimulation through informative and enriching experiences and provides daily opportunities for writing experiences. Enrichment can involve books, field trips, radio, television, guest speakers, maps, and sense experiences--anything that broadens the knowledge of the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the teaching of children's literature; the study of American Indian literature and Biblical literature at the college level; the relationship between response to…