Irony and Kids; Kids and Irony

At Tuesday evening’s Open House for parents (when I tell them what I plan to do with their kids this year) I began by reading aloud to them Tao Nyeu’s Bunny Days.  Why? Because my 4th grade students think it is hilarious and I thought it would give the parents a sense of where their kids are developmentally. As I mentioned a few days ago, these nine year-olds find it funny because of the way it plays on their memories of sweet little bunny stories of their toddler days.  It is their place of irony.  And so how fortuitous to see that Michael Rosen has been reflecting on this as well in “Sarcasm has always been child’s play.”