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Poopicorn, written and illustrated by Beach is, well ridiculous. And funny. She can create anything she can think of by, you know…

So, we asked Beach how to write funny. I think we baffled him, but he did have a couple of thoughts!

My publisher, Lizzie, emails me: “Hey Beach – Heath Books would love a blog piece from you for the launch of Poopicorn. Could you write 600 words on how you come up with the humorous storylines for your books?”

Almost immediately, two thoughts spring to mind.

The first is – 600 words! That’s longer than the book itself! Who do they think I am? Some kind of writer?!

Oh wait, that’s right, the publisher does regularly refer to me as an ‘author’. Maybe I shouldn’t rock the boat too much on that one…

My second thought is – But I don’t actually KNOW how I come up with the funny storylines. Should I make something up? A plausibly writer-ish story involving biscuits, perhaps? Or is this the moment – six and a half books in – when I finally own up to my publisher that I’ve been winging it this whole time? It seems like a sad way to end a fruitful relationship.

I need help.

I phone an author friend who once spent a year at clown school in France. She’s not much use. Apparently, the laughs were few and far between – real clowns take themselves a lot more seriously than you might imagine.

I email an illustrator I know who is studying for a PhD on humour in Children’s Literature. He offers to send me his thesis. It’s 300 pages long. With copious footnotes. And no pictures. “This is PERFECT!” I lie.

And so here we are, halfway through the word count, with none of us any the wiser about how funny books are made.

At this point, all I can do – other than apologise – is to write down the one small thing that I do know.

Which is that words can do strange things to people.

Move them. Offend them. Transport them to other worlds. Even make them cry.

But I can’t imagine ever sitting down and setting out – carefully and deliberately – to craft exactly the right words to make someone cry, no matter how beautiful or poignant those words might be. It’s probably a character flaw, but I would always rather make someone smile.

So instead, I sit at my desk and look for the words that make people laugh. Of which there are many.

BOTTOM is one.

I’m pretty sure TOOT is another.

In the right circumstances, even a word like MARJORIE can raise a smile.

And if you happen to be a child, then funny words are even funnier when they’re read to you by a grown-up. Imagine getting a teacher or a librarian to say a word like POOP out loud. You’d have to be very old indeed not to find that funny.

Luckily, picture books are much shorter than blog posts, so even in a book like Poopicorn, I don’t have to string too many bottoms and poops together to make things funny. Which is good. Because although most children love silly stories, I know that some grown-ups have misgivings.

Personally, I think that funny can be just as inspiring as serious. And that funny books can have a huge role to play in cultivating children’s love of reading. So if creating a unicorn with a magical bottom is what it takes, then I’m delighted to be adding a Poopicorn to the mix.

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Many thanks to Beach for his funny words and pictures! You can find out more about the six (the point 5 isn’t ready yet) funny books he’s published below.