The Skit Book: 101 Skits for Kids

by Margaret Read MacDonald, Marie-Louise Scull (Illustrator)

A collection of skits written by young people with instructions for performance, arranged in such categories as "Cumulative Actions," "Silly Singers," "Skits With Trick Endings," "Skits From Jokes," and others

153 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

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Biography
Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald travels the world telling stories....always on the lookout for more great folktales to share. She shapes these found stories into tellable tales which anyone can share with ease. Filling her folktale collections with these delightful tales, she creates perfect read alouds for you and your family. MRM wants everyone to experience the joy of a beautifully told tale. She hopes you will read them a few times...then put down the book...put down the electronic device...and just TELL the story to your children!

Some of her favorite folktales she expands into picture books...hopefully with delightfully readable language while will roll right out of your mouth. Share them with your children and then....act the tales out! Revisit the tales by TELLING them! At bedtime. While on the road. Fill your pockets with great stories to share wherever you go.

Joining her Folklore Ph.D. with her 30 plus years as a children's librarian, Margaret brings folktales to life in playful, lilting language which should delight both reader and listener.

See her performance schedule at: www.margaretreadmaconald.com

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 10 year old discovered this kind of book from her friend who takes theater. They've put on a number of these skits and really enjoyed the idea of performing, being spontaneous and entertaining. Many of these skits are kind of weird, though, bordering on violent and insulting. Hope we can find skit source material for kids that doesn't unsettle my heart.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book on a couple levels. It's curious to me how much social attitudes have changed since the book's publication in 1990; I remember seeing and even performing some of these during my time in the Boy Scouts, but it might not play nearly as well nowadays, for instance, to have a series of prisoners trying to escape from their upcoming execution via firing squad. I'm not actually sure how useful this would still be as a resource given how dated many of the attitudes feel.

As a piece of folklore -- the skits were almost entirely gathered by talking to kids and camp instructors -- it's much more interesting, although it captures the form of the skits more than the actual nuance of them, or the exact words of the informants. The source notes in the back are particularly interesting in this regard.

[Tommyb]

Children

[Kyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book, but some of the skits seemed very complicated and/or gross.

[Don Gubler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny stuff. I have my copy bookmarked, dogeared and referenced.

[Katie (BooksRUs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it!!