Humour

Murray Ball's "Dog" - the central character in the Footrot Flats cartoon strips - was recently voted New Zealand's best-loved fictional character. Dog has starred in more than 50 Footrot Flats books and now has a book devoted entirely to himself and the "wisdom" that his made him such a lovable character. The Wisdom of Dog features over 300 single, stand-alone cartoons, all with Dog as the main focus. The majority of these stand-alone cartoons have never before been published in book form.

A beautifully produced collector's edition featuring all of Murray Ball's 'Weekender' cartoons. These were cartoons that were run in the weekend newspapers. Many have never before been published in book form, and many never seen in New Zealand. (They were run in Saturday and Sunday newspapers in Australia, but only on Saturdays here.) A unique feature of the Weekenders is the Footrot Flats 'photographs', where Murray has drawn our favourite characters onto colour photographic backgrounds. These colour photographs appear throughout.... read more

A collection of simple fingerprint cartoons with short, sharp captions that will have you in stitches! Crushed to discover at the tender age of seven that he didn't have an aptitude for drawing, Peter Vegas decided to pour his heart and soul into perfecting the art of the humble stick figure. The result was an original, quirky and extremely funny stick-figure cartoon collection that went on to become three bestselling books. Now bored with the stick figure, Peter has moved on to a slightly healthier body shape: the fingerprint-man ... read more

Ageing is one of those unavoidable facts of life, so it's best just to see the funny side of it. This book provides you with a way to laugh off any of the obstacles old age throws at you. It is filled with pages of 'senior' jokes, across such scenarios as hair loss, visits to the doctor, senior moments and more.

Mothers-in-law are traditionally the butt of jokes, declared to be nasty, possessive and interfering - but are they really as bad as this reputation suggests? This book looks beyond the stereotype of the mother-in-law and finds they come in many different varieties, from loveable and loyal to lonely, ferocious and scheming.

1913 - Suffragette throws herself under the King's horse. 1969 - Feminists storm Miss World. Now - Caitlin Moran rewrites "The Female Eunuch" from a bar stool and demands to know why pants are getting smaller. There's never been a better time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain...Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should you get Botox? Do men secretly hate us? What should you call your vagina? Why does your bra hurt? And why do... read more

Who says death is a serious subject? Grave Humor celebrates the lighter side of death through photos capturing the most amusing and ironic monuments to the dearly departed. From amusing epitaphs ('I told you I was sick') to comical burials (the Maxwell-House plot), this irreverent anthology of cemetery humour proves you can laugh to death. It features: photos of more than 100 funny, ironic and ridiculous tombstones; colour illustrations and clever captions; and, DIY epitaphs for anyone who wants to go out with a laugh.

The perfect gift for Mother's Day - 60 brilliant ALL NEW cartoons from Andy Riley celebrating the special one. Affectionate, witty and endearing - just like Mum, and it's the gift that keeps on giving - just like Mum. Every day should be Mother's Day.

Look through this pictorial book of astoundingly intricate drawings, and a lot of tongue in cheek, to find Elvis in all sorts of locations and amongst all kinds of weird and wonderful characters. Find the people who have faked their way from ordinary stardom to super-stardom, or even to becoming icons! And check out the ones whose 'after life' expectations didn't lead to the 'after life' cash-in they were expecting. Look for his blue suede shoes, one of his gold records or even a pair of his GI underpants!

This is the indispensable compendium of popular misconceptions, misunderstandings and common mistakes culled from the hit BBC show, "QI". The noticeably stouter "QI Book of General Ignorance" sets out to show you that a lot of what you think you know is wrong. If, like Alan Davies, you still think the Henry VIII had six wives, the earth has only one moon, that George Washington was the first president of the USA, that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, that the largest living thing is a blue whale, that Alexander Graeme Bell inven... read more

Whether you are clueless about the art of dating or just completely over it, this fun survival guide will take you by the hand through the dating cycle. Using charming animal photographs with funny captions, it provides a humorous slant on one of the most angst-ridden central challenges of making it as a human animal.

Well, it just gets worse and worse doesn't it? Collapsing banks, collapsing countries, massive government cuts, rising debt, inflation and the possibility of a double dip. It's amid all this uncertainty that the already embattled modern woman needs the best advice she can get about how to be as cool and calm in life as possible. "Keep Calm for Ladies" offers the same pearls of life wisdom as "Keep Calm and Carry On" but with women at their wits' end in mind. This is an emergency pocket survival bible for today's plucky female. 'Don... read more

Being given yet another pointless 'man manual' that told him fifty ways to tie a bow tie in under 30 seconds made James May certain there was a need for another kind of book. This book, in fact. He reckons there are nine vital things that a chap should be able to do. Not stuff you can download from the internet, but really important things. You never know when you might need to land an A330 Airbus, or deliver twins. And there may well be a moment when being able to play a bit of classical music on the piano is absolutely crucial ... read more

Thirty-two million Americans consider themselves artists, and nearly 100 million consider themselves art lovers. They--along with anyone else who enjoys a good laugh--will appreciate the edgy blend of art, comedy, and pop culture inside comedian Steve Melcher's popular blog-turned-book, "That Is Priceless: Art's Greatest Masterpieces . . . Made Slightly Funnier."It all started when Melcher stumbled upon a postcard in a museum gift shop for Peter Paul Rubens's The Finding of Erichthonius. Inspiration struck, and Melcher scrambled fo... read more

When God closes a door, he opens a dress. I guess what I'm saying is at some point we've all parked in the wrong garage. " Can I just fire everyone?" "When a man gets to a point in his life when his name's on the building, he can get an unnatural sense of entitlement." "It looks like you're all going to engage in a little mid-level camaraderie, so I'll be on my way." "You don't know how to drink. Your whole generation, you drink for the wrong reasons. My generation, we drink because it's good, because it feels better than unbutt... read more

Adam said to Eve, "Stand back, I don't know how big this thing gets." Funny, Lawrence Dorfman said the same thing to his publisher about The Snark Handbook series. There's a fine line between sex and snark - and we're going to exploit it for all it's worth. Think Plato and Platypus Walk Into a Bar meets The Surrender. Now Dorfman draws on his vast experiences (based mostly on a stack of old Penthouses) to give us a titillating commentary on everyone's favorite subject: sex, or the lack thereof. If The New Yorker.com said, "I'm not ... read more

Do you feel like all your friends are 'getting old and boring', but you are getting younger by the day? Can you be heard saying the phrase '40 is the new 20'? Is your wardrobe on-trend, but for the second time round? It's official, you're in denial. You are middle-aged! "You Know You're Middle-Aged When..." is a hilarious collection of stories, anecdotes and quotes about other people's mid-life crises, along with tips on how to spot the telltale signs that youth is no longer on your side. Chapters of this title include, You know yo... read more

Ralph Steadman - artist of distinction, caricaturist of brilliance, long time unsentimental dog-lover - here shows us dogs - everywhere. Dogs in furniture; dog dictators; fashion dogs; blot dogs; beer dogs and wine dogs, bugs that live on dogs and uninvented dogs. Ranging from the fierce and furious to the whimsical and wistful, the whole world of canine life is here. In a dog book like no other, there is nothing soppy about Steadman's eye as he exposes the heart and bone and sinew of man's best friend.

We're proud to launch these irresistible tiny treasures this fall--just in time for the holidays. These bite-size books and kits are perfect for grab bags, stocking-stuffers, small gifts of appreciation, and more. Palm-sized, yet filled with all the great fun, games, projects, ideas and more you've come to expect from a Cider Mill Press title, these Mini Gift Books and Kits will include new, never-before-published titles, as well as some of our bestsellers. Remember: awesome things come in small packages!