Getting the Joke
Okay, so she probably doesn't REALLY get the joke in Blue Hat, Green Hat yet. But we're getting there. When I first read the book a few months ago, I bust out laughing instantly in the book store. I called my husband over and said, you have to read this book. He was like, a board book? Okay, whatever. Read the first page, and he bust up, too. It's just our sort of humor, I suppose. Each page has three of Boynton's signature animals with a specific piece of clothing on - one has a blue hat, one has a green hat, one has a red hat, and then there's a turkey who has a hat...but instead of wearing it, he's standing in it. "Blue hat, green hat, red hat, OOPS." Each page does this, with a different mistake on the turkey's part on how to wear clothes.
Because there's not as much rhythm and rhyming to the words and the pictures are pretty repetitive except for clothing details, Karina hasn't really gotten into this one as much as some of the other Boynton books (especially The Going to Bed Book and Happy Hippo, Angry Duck). Until tonight. I've been reading it to her once in a while, not too regularly, but every time I do, I make a big deal about the "oops," saying it in a loud, high-pitched, silly voice. Tonight I did that, and when I got to the last couple of pages, Karina started giggling every time I got to the "oops." When we finished, I immediately read it again, and she giggled at every single "oops" and wanted to turn the pages to see the next one.
She's been laughing regularly at being tickled or kissed repeatedly on the cheeks and neck, but only in the past week or two has she started giggling and laughing at silly things we do - putting bowls on our heads or overreacting to things she does. She laughs or squeals at parts of The Going to Bed Book, but they tend to be parts where my husband tickles her as part of the story. This may be the first time she's giggled based purely on how the story is read. Of course it brought a huge smile to my face, too.
