Funniest Dad in the world by Ed Allen

cover image

Ill. by Louis Shea. Scholastic Australia, 2017. ISBN 9781743817506
(Age 3-6) Highly recommended. Fathers. Humour. Ideal for Father's Day, this very funny picture book will delight emerging readers and littlies who listen to it being read aloud. Three baby creatures, an emu, a frog and a rhinoceros, all think that their dad is the funniest dad in the world. Each insists that their dad tells the funniest jokes, while riding a unicycle and juggling pizzas and on each double page spread they try to outdo each other with extremely funny incidents.
The narrative is hilarious and each incident is outrageous. Starting with just one line, "My dad's the funniest in the world because . . ." each time the little animal comes up with a new reason that it has the funniest dad, this is added on and repeated until almost at the end, where there are twelve lines that the young reader or listener will easily be able to remember. Then there is a delicious and unexpected twist at the end to further intrigue the reader.
The illustrations are also riotously funny. I especially loved the rhinoceros, in a Hawaiian style shirt, riding a unicycle and juggling pizzas and the drawing of the emu blowing a bubble out of his nose, while high fiving a monkey, being tickled by a crocodile on top of a whale is have everyone in stitches.
At the back there is a cardboard stencil trophy "To my funniest dad in the world", which could be used by an individual child or copied for more than one user.
Any father who has this book read to him will be hugely entertained and children will have so much fun with the narrative and the illustrations.
Pat Pledger

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