Laugh your head off again by Andy Griffiths, Sally Rippin and others

Ill. by Andrea Innocent. Macmillan Australia, 2016. ISBN 9781743549872
(Age: 8-10) Recommended. Bold fluoro orange illustrations, punchy punctuation and bright title pages add zest and excitement to these nine humourous stories written by nine best-selling children's authors. Share them with a middle primary class; encourage them to write their own narratives filled with original characters with unique points of view, puns, alliteration and humour.
In Sally Rippin's Momo and Me, Momo the pet monkey loves spaghetti, the tactile experience of winding it around his fork, round his fingers, in fact his whole body. When artistic Aunt Thelma comes over for Sunday lunch, she surprises the family with her new elaborate hat, a bluebird nesting on a bed of looped wool. The family gather for the meal and Dad's in the kitchen finishing the spaghetti when Momo leaps across the table snatches Thelma's hat and disappears. One mischievous monkey's actions require quick thinking by the family to restore order.
Andy Griffith's Busting is set in a supermarket with a young boy who needs to go to the toilet, an old man with a walking frame and a pair of undone shoelaces. A comedy of errors unfolds, with the pencil seller, the toilets closed for cleaning, a broken escalator, a fire in the shopping centre all making for a fast-paced story with a typical Griffiths twist.
Have fun reading about Lobby the Lobster's ballet moves at the Pet Show, a ten-metre tall concrete tomato, foiling the plans of a demon seagull Caarkula who loves footy pies and a money-spinner Justin Bieber corn chip.
Laugh Your Head Off Again delivers humour and excitement in this short story format.
Rhyllis Bignell