This book provides a wide spectrum of research on young children's humor and illuminates the depth and complexity of humor development in children from birth through age 8 and beyond. It highlights the work of pioneers in young children's humor research including Paul McGhee, Doris Bergen, and Vasu Reddy. Presenting a variety of new perspectives, the book examines such issues as play, humor, laughing and pleasure within the context of learning and development. It looks at humor, wordplay and cartoons that can be used as educational tools in the classroom. Finally, it provides explorations of humor within a cultural and spiritual context. The book presents diverse and creative methods to study humor and provides practical implications for adults working with children. The book offers a powerful springboard for moving research and practice toward a deeper understanding of young children's humor as an integral and meaningful component of early development and learning.

Inhalt

Preface.- 1. Young children's humor; Eleni Loizou and Susan L. Recchia.- SECTION 1: Development and Learning.- 2. Young Children's Play and Humor Development: A Close Theoretical Partnership; Doris Bergen.- 3. Humor, social laughing, and pleasure to function: Three sources of laughter that are intrinsically connected in early childhood; Elly Singer.- 4. Humor styles in younger children; Lucy Amelia James and Claire Louise Fox.- 5. The development of 3-5-year-old-children's sense of humor and the relationships among children's temperament and parents' humor style in China; Wen Liu.- SECTION 2: Teaching and Classroom.- 6. Humor in the ECE Classroom: A Neglected form of Play whose Time has Come; Paul McGhee.- 7. Children's visual and verbal humorous productions after participating in a series of creative activities and framed by the Theory of the Absurd and the Empowerment theory; Eleni Loizou and Evi K. Loizou.- 8. The Place of Humor in the Classroom; Nikolaos Chaniotakis and Magdalini Papazoglou.- 9. Cartoons as an educational tool to fight disability stereotypes; Eleni Loizou and Simoni Symeonidou.- 10: Linguistic Gymnastics: Humor and Wordplay in Children's and Adolescent Literature; Lisa Maxwell Arter.- SECTION 3: Other perspectives and Contexts.- 11. Humour as Culture in Infancy; Vasudevi Reddy.- 12. 'Let the wild rumpus start!'. Using carnival as a metaphor to highlight the pedagogical significance of young children's humor; Laura Jennings Tallant.- 13. Exploring Connections between Humor and Children's Spirituality; Jennifer Mata-McMahon.- 14. Research Connections and Implications for Practice to Further Support Young Children's Humor; Susan L. Recchia and Eleni Loizou.