More
than Jokes - today best-selling picture book author, Katrina Germein, fill us in on her latest addition to the hugely popular (and funny), 'My Dad' series. My Dad Thinks He’s Super Funny is the third installment in the My Dad series. It’s a sparkling, new collection of entertaining dad jokes but all three books are not just about dads, or dad jokes, they’re about family.
I didn’t know that when I wrote the first one, My Dad Thinks He’s Funny. I began the way I usually do; I started writing about something I’d noticed and wanted to explore. My dad doesn’t typically tell dad jokes. He’s funny but in a very-long-story type of way. My stepdad is funny as well, but in a riddles-and-rhymes type of way.
So, I didn’t grow up with classic dad humour and it was something I tuned into as an adult. My father-in-law inspired the original story. He would crack a gag, and while his own grown-up children rolled their eyes, I chuckled.
This family culture was new to me. All the adult kids groaned at their father’s comedy, but you could see that they also loved him for it. I started collecting these jokes and thinking about a ‘funny dad’ character. I kept collecting, and I’m still collecting, as the series grows and grows!
When the first book was finished, I thought it was fun. Tom Jellett’s illustrations were perfect, so clever and humorous. The book made me laugh and I hoped it would make readers smile too. What I wasn’t expecting was the warm feelings of nostalgia it fostered. Adult readers were soon telling me teary stories of grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunties. At each school visit I do, some students share favorite jokes, but most want to describe a beloved funny relative. Hearing these anecdotes is always special and I’m touched to know that the My Dad books bring families together, often to share memories and stories, as well jokes and laughs. I can’t wait to hear what new family tales stir from My Dad Thinks He’s Super Funny.
Katrina Germein is a best-selling picture book author, published worldwide. Her popular title, My Dad Thinks He’s Funny was Highly Commended in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and became the first book in the ever-growing ‘My Dad’ series. In 2019 Katrina received a Speech Pathology Book of the Year Award for Let’s Go Strolling and her 2020 release Shoo You Crocodile! was chosen for the Little Big Book Club literacy program and gifted to twenty-three thousand pre-school children.
Many of Katrina’s other stories, such as Big Rain Coming and Thunderstorm Dancing, have been recognised as Children’s Book Council Notable Books and featured on children’s television programs including Play School. You can visit Katrina via her website.
Don't forget our terrific KBR Giveaway this week. You could add to your library of dad jokes simply by entering our My Dad Thinks He's Super Funny giveaway this week. Competition is free to enter and open until this Saturday.
