This is haiku at its highest level. All are gems! Keller's Japanese sumi-e ink drawings are the perfect complement to the poetry. This handsome little book is a rare treasure. I plan to give it as gifts.

Knock-Knock. Who's there? Greg! Greg who? Greg's favourite book! This book is really funny! Even my 29-year-old friend, Greg, loved it!

If you need a crash course in proposal writing.... or want a marvelous resource book on the subject, this is it. It covers every topic - quickly, concisely and thoroughly - with loads of great graphics and charts. I have read dozens of books on the subject and this is, by far, the best I have come across to date!

Although this book is rated for 9-12 year olds, my 7 year old daughter found lots of riddles she likes. The riddles include puns and other plays on words. Every other page has a cute illustration accompanying the riddle. Good riddle books for young readers are hard to find. This one is worth a look!

Telephone Jokes is a witty book that should please anyone who has a love affair with the telephone. It brings back memories of childhood antics and the mysterious marvel of this ubiquitious device. A fun read, highly recommended.

I wouldn't say that ALL of the jokes inside this book are the "greatest" as the title implies. There are some very good ones, but there are just as many bad. I was quite disappointed. I was an English major in college and still can't figure out the word puns intended on some of the knock knocks. I would say some of the jokes are definitely a stretch and I'd imagine most younger children wouldn't get the jokes. Try My First Book of Knock-Knock Jokes by Tad Hills instead if you want something nice and simple that makes sense for younger children.

I am interested in knock-knock jokes first as cultural teaching materials - they are a particularly English/American form of humor that Chinese students find fresh and clever, once they figure out what's going on. My second reason for interest is because of the plays on similar-sounding words - I'm a phonetics instructor. Just how close do two words or phrases have to be, or how different can they be, to work in a knock-knock joke? Some knock-knock jokes really push the limits, and are just not that successful - and there are quite of few of these in this collection. Sample of what I consider a pretty good kkj: Knock-knock! Who's there? Thayer. Thayer who? Thayer sorry or I'm leaving. One that laid an egg: ...Dwight. Dwight who? Dwight as rain. Some I don't even get, like: ...Owls. Owls who? You got it right this time. This is a very casual kind of kkj collection, not extremely carefully selected or edited. I suppose it's OK for grade school kids looking for some new kkj's to try out on their classmates, and I did find some usable ones for my teaching. But frankly, I found a better selection on the Internet.

Great for the budding comedians. Knock knock jokes are another fun way to do interactive reading with your child. A colorful book all around.

This book wasn't that funny. If you want the really funny stuff, look somewhere else. This book has a couple of good one-liners, but not early enough.

...

A search on amazon.com brought up several books including 'Best Riddle Book Ever' by Charles Keller and 'Biggest Riddle Book In The World' by Joseph Rosenbloom. Both published by Sterling Publishing Co. I bought both.

They are extraordinarily mediocre books.

After reading a few of the so-called riddles, my nine year old son said, "Those are pretty dumb riddles."

Two examples:

What's green, red, and yellow and goes up and down?
Answer: A pickle, a tomato, and a banana riding in an elevator.

What do birds eat for dessert?
Answer: Chocolate chirp cookies.

Riddles have a long and rich tradition that goes back hundreds of years.

If you are looking for a riddle book that honors this tradition - forget about these books. Instead of buying either, better to just take out a match, burn your money, and at least you will not have to waste your time reading them.

At one of my local bookstores I found a wonderful riddle book: 'A World Treasury of Riddles' by Phil Cousineau. It is also sold by amazon.com - but for some reason does not come up near the top of amazon's search list.

Cousineau's book contains riddles from oral traditions all over the world. Some are quite old. Many are both interesting and challenging. He also includes a rich bibliography for those that would like to go to original source material.

This book contains riddles made for children and adults alike. If you want to expand or exercise your mind, this is the book to do it with. Of course, some riddles are silly, but that is what makes this book splendid! Enjoy!