Rob Reid functions on the assumption that one of the only ways to truly get a child’s attention is to make them laugh. In his book, Something Funny Happened at the Library: How to Create Humorous Programs for Children and Young Adults, he provides ideas for programs for different age levels, listing several examples of programs he’s used in his own practice. He also includes book titles matching his themes, songs, poetry, games, and any physical or craft-making activity that might correspond with each idea.
Many of his suggestions are easy to adapt and could be effective: for younger children, for example, librarians can change lyrics to familiar songs to fit in with the theme of your storytime. For older children, his suggestions begin to lose traction, like proclaiming that programs need a “snappy name” to attract their attention. Reid incorporates many comedic references that his adult readers may remember, but it is guaranteed that the children will not know how to read a script in a “Dragnet” voice. Nor will children have interest in--or a need to--create a funny answering machine message for their family. Many of his jokes are real eye-rollers (Library raps? Egads.), and not every librarian will share his sense of humor. The most valuable resource for librarians is the list of humorous books provided in the index, many titles which will most likely exist in their collections. ( )