101 President Jokes

While some of the jokes in this book have been told with a different setting, they are simple, funny and will appeal to children. My favorite involves British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. When confronted with a woman who was a political enemy and told, "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your tea.", his response was "Ma'am, if you were my wife, I would drink it." Unfortunately, when the joke appears in this book, the setting is the White House and the drink is coffee. Nevertheless, if you disregard the positional clunkers, this is a good book of jokes for children.

While I was perusing a used bookstore, I spotted this book and I only had to look at a few pages before I bought it for my children. Not only are the jokes very good and appropriate for the middle school child, but they can also learn some history as well. Each section of jokes about a particular president is noted with the name, the years they served and their numerical position in the presidential order. The jokes are about the characteristics of the presidents. For example, some of the jokes deal with William Howard Taft's weight, Calvin Coolidge's silence, and Ulysses S. Grant's lack of musical knowledge. This helps the reader to learn something about the people who were president rather than the events that occurred while they were in office. I had my children read it and then asked them questions about the men who led our country. In school they generally learn only events and this helped them understand that presidents are also people with very human traits.