Dad jokes, which may have their origin in America, are usually told by fathers to their children, probably in the presence of other family members under a congenial home environment. The jokes typically use a play on words, presented as one or two sentences, a short story or a question and answer, so as to foster father-and-child relations.

“Super!!! dad jokes : saving the world, one bad joke at a time” written by Jimmy Niro is a collection of over 500 delightful and ridiculous jokes including puns, stories and anti-jokes on topics from sports and nature to food and entertainment and everything in between. It is a work of humour and highly entertaining.

Some of the jokes in this book are puns, a type of wordplay wherein words similar in meaning, sound or spelling are exploited to achieve a humorous or comical effect.

There are two main types of puns in this book. A homophonic pun plays with words that have similar pronunciation but different meanings and spellings. For example, the joke “Q: Why did the giraffe break up with her boyfriend? A: He was a cheetah” is a homophonic pun because the word “cheetah” sounds like “cheater”. A homographic pun involves words or phrases that have identical spellings but different meanings. For example, the joke “The sun doesn’t need to go to college. It already has twenty-eight million degrees” is a homographic pun because the word “degrees” can mean either temperature or academic qualification. The puns covered in this book are either homophonic, homographic or both, which will certainly give you some hearty laughs.

This book also contains a number of short stories and jokes that will make you grin. As a librarian, the one that impresses me the most is this anti-joke “Q: What do you call someone whose job it is to separate fact from fiction? A: A librarian”. An anti-joke is often hilarious and it intends to derive humour from an intentionally unfunny punchline.

“Super!!! dad jokes” is an enjoyable and undemanding read aimed at a general audience. A special feature of this book is that those words involved in the wordplay of a joke are highlighted in bold for readers to catch the jokes more easily. Most of the jokes in the book are outlandish and silly, perfect for making anyone’s day happier and better. Taking a break from the stress of life by reading this book may brighten up your day and lighten your mind.