11 Best Joke Books
The best joke books, ranked by how many expert sources recommend each one, with notes to help children, families, and adults find their kind of humor.
Our take
A joke book works best when it suits the person telling the jokes and the people listening. Young children may need pictures and short, concrete setups. More confident readers can enjoy riddles, tongue twisters, and longer collections. Adults might prefer familiar dad jokes or a book they can dip into for a quick distraction. The size of a collection matters less than whether its language and tone fit the audience.
Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids offers a straightforward place to begin, while Get the Giggles is geared toward beginning readers. National Geographic Kids Just Joking adds a strong visual element. For a family routine, A Daily Dose of Dad Jokes spreads the material through the year. Adults looking for a browsing book can try The Best Joke Book (Period). Start with the reader's age, interests, and tolerance for deliberately bad puns.
11 books · 6 sources · Last updated
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How to choose from this list
Skip to the full rankingIf you're choosing for a beginning reader: Get the Giggles
If you want a child's first general collection: Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids → National Geographic Kids Just Joking
If you want a larger collection for children: Jokelopedia
If you're buying for a Minecraft fan: Minecraft: The Official Joke Book
If you want a dad-joke routine: A Daily Dose of Dad Jokes
If you want a general collection to browse: The Best Joke Book (Period)
The 11 books, ranked
Ranked by how many expert sources name each book. Ties go to the book more people recommend.
Minecraft: The Official Joke Book
For children who already know Minecraft's creatures and vocabulary. The familiar game references give the jokes a clear shared context, though readers outside that audience will get more from a general collection.
What it's about
Dan Morgan collects jokes inspired by Minecraft's creatures, items, and situations, with illustrations by Joe McLaren. The book turns familiar parts of the game into puns and question-and-answer jokes for fans to share away from the screen.
Roald Dahl Whoppsy-Whiffling Joke Book
For children who enjoy Dahl's characters and mischievous language. Familiar references give the jokes an extra connection for fans, though this is a themed companion collection rather than a new story by Dahl.
What it's about
This companion joke collection draws on the characters and invented world associated with Roald Dahl's stories. Short jokes and playful wordplay offer young fans a different way to revisit familiar names and the books' mischievous tone.
Get the Giggles
For beginning readers who need short setups and simple language. The illustrated early-reader format is more approachable than a large anthology, though older children will probably want a longer collection with more demanding wordplay.
What it's about
This introductory joke book presents simple question-and-answer jokes for beginning readers, illustrated by Bronwen Davies. Familiar animals and everyday situations give children short pieces to practice reading aloud while learning how a setup leads to a punchline.
Jokelopedia
For confident young readers who want a large supply and some help with delivery. The joke-telling pointers distinguish it from a simple stack of punchlines, though the sheer quantity brings repetition and variable quality.
What it's about
Jokelopedia gathers jokes, riddles, puns, and tongue twisters across subjects such as animals, school, food, and names. Alongside the collections, tips on telling jokes and features about comedy help young readers explore how humor works.
National Geographic Kids Just Joking
For children who respond to funny pictures as much as wordplay. The photographs give this collection a visual appeal that text-heavy books lack, though some of the puns still need an adult's explanation.
What it's about
This illustrated collection pairs short jokes with colorful photographs of animals and people. Knock-knock jokes, riddles, tongue twisters, and question-and-answer jokes give children several kinds of wordplay to browse and share with friends or family.
The Big Book of Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids
For families who want several of Elliott's collections in one volume. It offers more material than the smaller book here, though owners of the individual collections should check the overlap before choosing it.
What it's about
Rob Elliott combines three children's joke collections in one volume. Clean question-and-answer jokes, knock-knock exchanges, and other short comic forms offer material for young readers to learn, repeat, and share at home or with friends.
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For families who want a small amount of corny humor each day. The calendar-like organization gives it a simple routine, though readers looking for sophisticated wit may tire of the deliberately groan-inducing style.
What it's about
Taylor Calmus and Peter L. Harmon offer a year's supply of deliberately corny dad jokes. Arranged by month, the collection includes family-friendly puns, quips, one-liners, and invented stories intended to produce both laughter and groans.
For someone buying a lighthearted gift for a dad who enjoys predictable punchlines. The short format keeps the joke-telling simple, though it offers less variety and substance than the larger collections here.
What it's about
Share The Love Gifts collects cheesy dad jokes in a short gift book with a space on the cover for the giver's name. Its brief question-and-answer jokes provide material for dads to add to their comic repertoire.
Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids
For children who want clean jokes they can learn and share quickly. Elliott keeps the formats familiar and easy to use, though experienced young joke-tellers may already know some of the setups and punchlines.
What it's about
Rob Elliott gathers hundreds of clean jokes for young readers, including one-liners, knock-knock jokes, and tongue twisters. The collection gives children a repertoire of short comic material to read and share with family or friends.
For adults who want short comic distractions rather than a continuous read. The mixture of jokes, riddles, and trivia offers variety, though its adult tone and bathroom-gift presentation make it a poor choice for children.
What it's about
Katie Adams assembles an adult humor collection designed for bathroom reading. Its assortment of one-liners, trivia, riddles, and jokes offers short pieces to browse, combining varied comic formats rather than following a continuous narrative.
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The Best Joke Book (Period)
Hundreds of the Funniest, Silliest, Most Ridiculous Jokes Ever
For readers who want a general assortment rather than a single theme. Donohue mixes familiar joke forms with comedians' quotations, though the broad selection won't give you one consistent comic voice or a writing course.
What it's about
William Donohue collects hundreds of jokes, including puns, knock-knock jokes, and one-liners, alongside quotations from well-known comedians. The book organizes comic material around varied situations and subjects for readers seeking additions to their conversational repertoire.
Sources
- 1
100 Best Joke Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)
shortform.com
- 2
12 Truly Funny Joke Books for Kids | Ages 6 – 12 | Brightly
readbrightly.com
- 3
Comedy reads | National Year of Reading 2026 | Go All In
goallin.org.uk
- 4
Best Joke Books for Kids, As Chosen by Educators
weareteachers.com
- 5
Best Joke Books for All Ages (140 books)
goodreads.com
- 6
Get Your Jokaholic Fix - Addicts Ultimate Guide to Joke Books - Greg Deans Stand-up Comedy
stand-upcomedy.com
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shape MRB and its growth.
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