Use of Humor in Mo Willem's Children's Books

¶ … HUMOR IMPORTANT IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND HOW DOES MO WILLEMS USE HUMOR IN HIS PICTURE BOOKS?

The objective of this study is to answer as to why is humor important in children's literature and how does Mo Willems use humor in his picture books? Don Nilsen (1993) stated that humor "is a very important aspect of much of children's and adolescent literature." (p. 262 cited in: Zbaracki, 2003) Zbaracki writes that it is "perhaps…this discovery of characters and the different forms of humor that Kappas (1967) discovered years ago that draws children into reading." (2003, p. 3)

Humor Engages Children

Mo Willems utilizes humor in his children's books in order to engage children in the story, in learning, and in the pursuit of reading. For example, in Mo Willems book entitled "Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator!" A girl named Amanda has a best friend that is an alligator, who she surprises with books and her alligator surprises Amanda by eating the books. Studies have shown that "children were highly engaged in reading material when the material was a humorous children's book." (Zbaracki,, p. iii) Mo Willem's story entitled "Knuffle Bunny" is a story about a little girl named Trixie who goes across town to the Laundromat with her father and all the way she is carrying her stuffed toy 'Knuffle Bunny'. Trixie and her father put the laundry to wash and then lead and head home. On the way home Trixie realizes that she forgot Knuffle Bunny and starts saying combinations of unrecognizable words and of course her father does not realize what she is saying. Trixie cries, screams, pitches a fit and when they get home and her mother opens the door, her first question is "Where is Knuffle Bunny" and the entire family runs at a breakneck speed to the Laundromat and when they finally locate Knuffle Bunny the first words that Trixie ever says are 'Knuffle Bunny'! The illustrations in this story are humorous as it shows Trixie in the Laundromat helping her father and she is slinging a bra around in one hand and the family running past everyone in the illustrations to get to the Laundromat are very humorous as well. The illustrations in this story are very engaging not only to a child but to an adult as well. According to the work of Mallan (1985) "humor has a chameleon-like nature; it changes from one context to the next, from one moment to another. Young children are interested in the way language works."

Use of Language and Appeal of Humor

Mo Willems book entitled "Cat the Cat, Who is That" is a story in which the cat is being asked 'who is that' as various other animals are introduced and the cat informs the reader of whom each animal is. The illustrations are entertaining and it is easy to understand how children will be easily engaged in this story. Studies have additionally shown that children "expressed an awareness of the emotional appeal of humor and its function of helping them cope." (Zbaracki, p. iv)

Humor as a Mechanism

In Mo Willem's book entitled "That is Really Not a Good Idea" the author uses a surprise ending as a fox leads a duck into the woods, with each step of the way little chics giving the warning that it is 'not a good idea' building to 'really not a good idea' and continuing to build to 'really, really, really, really, not a good idea' and just as the story builds to the point where one would suspect that the duck will be thrown into a pot of boiling water, instead the fox is thrown into the boiling water and the mother duck feeds her ducklings soup. Special emphasis is placed on "cliffhangers" which is a mechanism used for suspense according to Zbaracki. This mechanism is utilized in this book of Willems as the children are in fear for the duck strolling with the fox.

Humor Used to Teach Children Lessons

In Mo Willem's book entitled "Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs" the story is about a young girl who never listened to any warnings anyone gave her. This story is based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears but instead has three dinosaurs that are going 'Someplace Else' but who are hoping some little girl comes into their home and eats their chocolate pudding so they can then come and eat her. Goldilocks goes into the house and eats all the pudding including the pudding that is too hot, the pudding that is too cold and when she gets to the pudding that is just right cannot finish it. Goldilocks cannot reach to sit in any of the chairs and the beds are also too high. When the dinosaurs return home Goldilocks escapes through the front door. This story is extremely humorous and teaches children about listening to warnings they are given.