Amy Schumer has a tough reader at home. While working on her first children’s book, she let her son Gene hear the early drafts. His response was not the kind of encouragement a parent might hope for.
Schumer recalled his verdict in an August interview with People:
“Mom, worst ending ever.”
Asked how she could improve it, he offered another note: “I don’t know, I think you should sleep on it.” There is something very funny about a child rejecting the ending and then giving his mother the sort of practical advice adults usually give children.
The book came up again during Schumer’s September 29 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where her seven-year-old son’s involvement was one of the subjects. Watch the official interview above.
A young critic, not a co-author
Gene’s response is a small, recognizable family moment: a parent makes something for children and discovers that the child sitting next to her has opinions. A celebrity name on the cover does not make that first listener automatically love the ending.
It is also a useful distinction when hearing that he helped with the book. Schumer is the writer; Beth Mills is the illustrator. The credits do not list Gene as a co-author. His draft feedback is part of his mother’s account of working on it, rather than a publishing credit or a claim that he wrote the finished story.
The bluntness is what makes the anecdote work. He did not hand her a rewritten last page or a detailed solution. He told her it needed work, then suggested she come back to it later. That is a pretty convincing answer from a child who does not have to worry about being polite at a publicity event.
What is A Joke of Her Own about?
The picture book follows Bethany, a girl who knows she is funny but feels that people are laughing at her rather than with her. She wants to tell a joke of her own and has a helper: Muffin, her teacup poodle.
Abrams’ description has Bethany try different ways to find a joke, including books and funny observations. She has to experiment before making someone special laugh. It is a fictional story about a girl practicing something she wants to do, not a memoir about Schumer’s family.
That setup gives a child reading along something concrete to follow. Bethany has a goal, a dog beside her and an attempt that does not immediately go to plan. There is room to ask whether the reader would find the same thing funny, rather than expecting every person to laugh at one joke.
The cover shows Bethany smiling with a pencil in hand. It names Schumer as the author and Mills as the illustrator, keeping the two jobs clear. Kimmel also held the book during their conversation, giving viewers a look at the actual title being discussed.
When can families read it?
A Joke of Her Own is due March 9, 2027. It is currently a preorder, not a book that has already reached its publication date. The September TV appearance is part of the conversation around an upcoming release.
Abrams Books for Young Readers lists a 40-page hardcover with full-color illustrations and a recommended age range of four to eight. That is publisher guidance for a picture book, not an indication that a child needs to be seven, like Gene, to enjoy it.
If you are deciding whether to read it together, the premise offers an easy place to start: ask what the child thinks is funny, and whether being laughed at feels different from making someone laugh. You do not need to turn story time into a performance or expect them to produce a perfect punch line.
And if the first answer is that the ending needs another try, Schumer has already heard that one at home.
