Ribtickling Literature: Educational Implications for Joke and Riddle Books in the Elementary Classroom

During a recent visit to an elementary school we delighted in the number of classrooms which featured writing and reading centers. One innovative third grade teacher went a step further and provided her students with a lively outlet for their creative skills in the Humor Corner. As we entered the classroom, two youngsters were enjoying jokes produced by classmates and browsing through a few of the riddle books on display. Holding The Biggest Riddle Book in the World (Rosenbloom, 1976), one student greeted us with: I bet you can\u27t answer this one! What does an envelope say when you lick it? Before we had time to come up with an answer, the giggling youngster popped out with: Nothing, it just shuts up