The Joke Machine: Create Your Own Jokes and Become Instantly Funny!

by Theresa Julian, Pat Lewis (Illustrator)

A JOKE BOOK THAT TEACHES YOU HOW TO BE FUNNY!

Follow a cast of fictional funny experts into the Laugh Lab, a hilarious joke-building factory that teaches middle-grade readers how to create their own jokes, puns, silly one-liners, and more. Each chapter explores a different style of joke making, such as surprise, understatement, and exaggeration, and includes hundreds of hilarious examples.

By the end of the book, readers will have a set of tools in their joke belt to make their friends and family actually LOL.

The book includes more than 500 family-friendly jokes—plus zillions that you can create on your own!

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2019

About the author

Theresa Julian loves chocolate, changing her ringtones, and writing humorous books for middle graders. Her books have been featured in TIME for Kids magazine, Highlight's special LOL issue, the Barnes and Noble Kids' Blog, and on Today.com. Theresa is a graduate of Boston College and has a Master’s in Corporate Communications. Her mother claims Theresa spent most of first grade sleeping on her desk, but don’t worry, she’s awake now, dreaming up new ways to keep kids reading and laughing.

Theresa loves to hear from her readers so be sure to connect with her on:
www.TheresaJulian.com 

Twitter: @Theresa_Julian
Instagram: @tm_julian

TikTok: @Theresa_Julian
Facebook: @theresajulianauthor


Reviews

[Kristin Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for sharing an ARC with Collabookation.
This is a joke book, and I laughed. I laughed so hard my husband started laughing at my laughter. Then I shared the jokes with him, and he laughed at the jokes (repeat, repeat, repeat). The jokes are solid. But, what I loved even more, and what I've never seen before, is that this book teaches the reader the mechanics of good jokes! The tool (comparison, understatement, combining words for effect) is introduced, and suddenly I can see why all the things I've laughed at are so fully - I can categorize the tools comedians are using. Then, Julian gives plenty of examples of the tool being put to use, and these are are the jokes I laughed out loud at.
I was about halfway through when I realized that I can use this in the classroom with my figurative language lessons! Students will love learning with humor, and they'll be building on what they're learning. I'm so excited to share this book with my students.
Highly recommend to anyone who likes to laugh!

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a delight and easy to read. Comprehensive and user-friendly, THE JOKE MACHINE is filled with so many ways to create jokes and add humor to writing, including figures of speech such as simile, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and metaphor. It will jump start imaginations and get kids thinking of ways to add humor and make up jokes of their own. A definite hit for kids of all ages, and handy for anyone who wants to write funnier.

[Kurt Marquart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because I follow the illustrator (Pat Lewis) for his retro cartoony style. His art is a perfect fit to the writing, which I must say is far more engaging than I expected. They say don't analyze or explain a joke, but it works when you do it with more humor. Theresa Julian and her joke machine, L.O.L.A. have clearly looked at the joke books I grew up with. I was a kid all over again, yet I felt as if I was actually learning something as a writer too! The Joke machine is a well organized "how-to" book disguised as a book of jokes, and I couldn't put it down until I finished. There's a strip of glue on the spine that eventually breaks down in about the time it takes to read it. Suspicious!

[Naomi Gruer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect gift for joke-loving kids! After meeting 10 year twins who spent an entire dinner telling jokes, I knew just what to give them! Not only is The Joke Machine filled with kid-friendly instructions on comedic elements and ways to brainstorm being funny, it's humorous, silly and, yes, contains jokes. I just ordered more copies for holiday gifts for the "stand-up's" in my family.

[Scott Keeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Theresa Julian has created a wonderful book for budding young comedians and joke tellers. The Joke Machine is an easy read with creative illustrations by Pat N. Lewis. It’s time to order a copy so your jokes will be ready for the holidays and the new year. I can’t wait to read Julian’s next prose!

[Kathleen Wilford · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOL
Not just jokes (but plenty of those)! This illustrated book goes beyond a basic joke book to teach kids how to be funny. There are techniques like Comparison and Exaggeration and plenty of examples, all explained by Dr. Crankshaw, inventor of the world-famous LOLA (Laugh-Out-Loud-Apparatus). Kids will LOL as they learn great tips for humor—and of course, enjoy the jokes.

[Teresa Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, I think this book is GREAT!! I love the jokes and puns. It's really great for telling jokes that people will want to laugh at! It gives you super funny jokes, like: What do space cows say? Mooooo-n. In the end, I think this book is paw-some! (review by Serene, 4th grade)

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

For writers needing to write a funny character, but also great for the budding comedian. Says 8 to 12, but younger kids will need help. Also older kids could use. Some tips actually could help you be a better conversationalist.

[Marilyn Ostermiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for my 11-year-old grandson because he appreciates a good joke, especially if bathroom humor is involved. Since he loves to read, I expect he’ll have some original jokes to tell me next time we FaceTime. I’m looking forward to it

[Grg · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite joke in the book: "My thesaurus is terrible. It's also terrible. "

[Brian Gonsar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great gift idea. Love that it's not just a joke book, but gives you ideas on how to create humor.

[Shauna Cagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my niece and nephew for Christmas and they loved it!