Remove Child Before Folding: The 101 Stupidest, Silliest, and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever

by Bob Dorigo Jones

WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY CAUSE HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER.

In the hallowed literary tradition of The Darwin Awards and Headlines comes this mind-boggling collection of the most outrageous warning labels ever slapped onto perfectly good products. Before you try to dry your hair with a blowtorch or iron a shirt while you're wearing it, read this hilarious collection of crazy caveats. You'll be surprised how far frightened manufacturers (and their lawyers) must go these days to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits!

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2007

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back cover copy kicks off with the following: “Warning: This book may cause hysterical laughter.” Not in my case, though I did smirk at a few.

The subtitle sums up the book fairly well. It's a collection of warning labels from various products--a fishing lure with a three-pronged hook and the warning, “Harmful if swallowed” for instance. Each is illustrated by a cartoon, and there is one per page, so this book is fairly padded. The introduction, in which Jones explains the genesis of the project, almost contains more text than the entire rest of the book.

I don't often mention the price of a book, but given the skimpy nature of this one, the price printed on the back cover--$10 US--seems a bit steep for what you get. Which may explain why a stack of these was available at a local secondhand shop for less than 10% of that per copy. According to a sticker on the inside front cover, these were complimentary copies provided by a local business dealing in workplace safety issues, probably unused leftovers from some function or other.

Anyway, it's not a gut-bustingly funny book, but it is fun. I don't recommend paying full price for it, though that's ultimately your call. Enjoyable for what it is, certainly.

[pati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book for 15-20 cents from Dirt Cheap. If I would have paid more, I would have been upset.

A lot of the warnings are too similar and are for similar products, such as a hair dryer, hair curler, hair straightener, and electric razor all saying not to use them while asleep, or various things labeled not for human consumption.

But at least now I know why it was so cheap.

[Laura B unata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny book! :)

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly read with some funny comments from the authors.

[Anne’s Readinglist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of this book I'm always noticing funny warning labels when travelling