This paper examines the role of humor in children's literature and analyzes how author and illustrator Mo Willems employs humorous techniques across several of his picture books. Drawing on scholarship by Nilsen, Kappas, Mallan, and Zbaracki, the paper argues that humor is a powerful tool for drawing children into reading and encouraging engagement. Through close readings of titles including Knuffle Bunny, Cat the Cat Who Is That?, That Is Not a Good Idea!, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, the paper identifies how Willems uses visual comedy, surprise endings, repetition, and relatable scenarios to entertain both children and adults while reinforcing meaningful lessons.
The objective of this study is to examine why humor is important in children's literature and how Mo Willems uses 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). Understanding how humor functions in children's literature helps explain why books like Mo Willems' picture books have become so widely celebrated in early literacy education.
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 his book Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator!, a girl named Amanda has a best friend who is an alligator. Amanda surprises the alligator with books, and the alligator surprises Amanda by eating them. This playful premise immediately establishes the absurdist, character-driven comedy that is characteristic of Mo Willems' work.
Mo Willems' story Knuffle Bunny is about a little girl named Trixie who travels across town to the Laundromat with her father, carrying her beloved stuffed toy, Knuffle Bunny, the entire way. Trixie and her father put the laundry in to wash and then head home. On the way, Trixie realizes she has forgotten Knuffle Bunny and begins producing combinations of unrecognizable words. Her father, of course, does not understand what she is trying to say. Trixie cries, screams, and pitches a fit. When they arrive home and her mother opens the door, her first question is, "Where is Knuffle Bunny?" The entire family then runs at breakneck speed back to the Laundromat, and when they finally locate Knuffle Bunny, the first real words Trixie ever speaks are "Knuffle Bunny!"
The illustrations in this story are particularly humorous: one image shows Trixie in the Laundromat helping her father and inadvertently slinging a bra around in one hand, and the scenes of the family sprinting past bystanders on the way to the Laundromat are equally funny. The illustrations engage not only children but adults as well. According to 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." This observation is well illustrated in Knuffle Bunny, where the comedy arises both from Trixie's nonsensical speech and from the gap between what she understands and what her father perceives.
"Repetition and surprise endings in two titles"
"Parody and relatable childhood humor in two books"
"Humor drives reading engagement and shared experience"
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