Carnival all over the world, time to step out of the usual rut and go a bit crazy. Laugh out loud (or silently) with 10 gems from our catalog.

And what could be better to set the tone than the Laughable Lyrics by Edward Lear. We present 10 little poems, silly, witty, and funny, for kids and adults alike.

A. A. Milne, best known for his Winnie the Pooh, was for a long time an editor of the satirical magazine Punch. Happy Days is a collection of 55 of his essays on various topics.

Not quite so enjoyable a time has Mr. Peaslee in the book by Charles Miner Thompson. A single rash action makes him squirm with guilt and fear from anybody finding out. Oh, had he never met The Calico Cat…

Many mistakes can be prevented if you know exactly what not to do. George Fullerton Evans took it upon himself to educate young people about their first time away from home in The College Freshman’s DON’T Book.

Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective, knows exactly how to solve difficult cases. After all, he can check his books on how to become a great detective. Read the stories by Ellis Parker Butler and see if Philo is up for the job.

Books of a different kind keep the owners of a small business occupied. Unfortunately, in Anthony Trollope’s satire, each of the three has a different view on how to run the company, which can only lead to more of The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson.

Cuey-Na Gael also struggles on his first sojourn in the Netherlands. Having announced that he expects to learn the language within two weeks, he is ultimately surprised at An Irishman’s Difficulties with the Dutch Language, but takes it with humour.

A different kind of humour, containing scatology, chapters full of insults, and not-for-minors language, is the story of the adventures of the two giants Gargantua and Pantagruel. The classic by Francois Rabelais is still an intriguing book, however.

This language would not have been accepted in New York’s upper class, a biting commentary of which comes from Washington Irving. In his Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent., he makes fun of society, especially of the people he meets in the theatre.

I doubt he would have seen any of Mr. Punch’s Dramatic Sequels performed there though. St. John Emile Clavering Hankin has taken 14 famous plays and elaborates what happened after their final curtain call.

Enjoy – and have fun!