“I’m always looking to get a laugh from everyone,” B.J. Novak says. The Newton native grew up in a family that valued humor, honed his skills at the Lampoon and Hasty Pudding Club at Harvard, then spent nearly a decade writing, producing, and acting in television’s “The Office.”

Once the show ended, he turned his attention to writing, publishing “One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories” earlier this year. That book was for grownups, but his latest project explores new comic territory.

“I love to get a laugh from a kid,” Novak said in a telephone interview. “That is one of the great pleasures in life.” He isn’t a father yet himself, but he’s hit the age when friends are having kids. “I would always ask when I was visiting a house with a little kid: ‘What’s your favorite book? Can I read a book to you?’ I would always hope for a funny book.” Read the full interview here.