Book Review: “Onward: Ian & Barley’s Magical Book of Jokes, Puns, and Gags”

Do your kids love jokes, puns, and Pixar’s Onward? If so, they’re going to love Onward: Ian & Barley’s Magical Book of jokes, Puns, and Gags, now available from Disney Press. It has over 100 jokes, puns, and riddles, but parents worried about kids playing pranks will be happy to know there aren’t any in this short book.

As the title suggests, the book is written by Ian and Barley themselves, in their own handwriting. They introduce themselves on the first page and it’s easy to distinguish between Barley’s chunky, sloppy handwriting and Barley’s thin, neat writing style. The brothers wrote these jokes after their adventures throughout the realm, taking the names of the creatures, characters, and places to create some silly puns and jokes.

The jokes are split between thirteen themed sections, which include:

  • Magic, Mayhem, and More
  • Wacky Wizards
  • Manticore Mania
  • Dragon Distractions
  • Elf Escapades
  • Creature Features
  • Silly Sprites
  • (Even More) Elf Escapades
  • Barley’s Gut Busters
  • Path of Puns
  • Trash Unicorns
  • Creature Features, Take Two
  • Centaur Silliness

There are a variety of joke types, including a few knock-knock jokes, but the majority of them are question and answer style with answers typically creating puns. Most of them are designed to be read aloud with emphasis placed on a keyword. The book highlights that word, either with an underscore or italics, giving kids the ability to work on their delivery of the joke. Parents can respond with their best laugh.

Onward: Ian & Barley’s Magical Book of jokes, Puns, and Gags is perfect for kids who love to entertain their friends with jokes. Even better, if kids have siblings, they can take turns delivering a joke as they read through this silly book themed to the world of Pixar’s Onward. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite jokes from the book:

What’s a satyr’s favorite day of the week?

Satyr-day.

Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).