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And kid of all ages are absolutely delighted by the mischievous rhymes and delightful illustrations of LET'S HAVE A BITE: A BANQUET OF BEASTLY FEASTS, by Robert L. Forbes (illustrated by Ronald Searle).

And a wonderful way to make the gift of a book a lifetime keepsake is to have it signed (or personalized!) by the author. If you're lucky enough to be in Palm Beach, Santa Barbara or Montecito over the next few weeks, you have a great chance to get Mr. Forbes to inscribe a personal message in this beautiful book.

Check out Mr. Forbes' web site or Facebook page to stay up to date on all of the latest happenings with this wonderfully whimsical book. A few to mark on your calendars...

December 7: Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens 3rd Annual Literacy Day
During their Annual Festival of the Trees, I will be reading here.
253 Barcelona Road
West Palm Beach, FL
From 10AM

December 8: The Channel City Club in Santa Barbara, CA

I will do a reading at their annual Holiday Luncheon, 12:30-2, including a book signing.
2:30 A reading at the Story Teller Children’s Center, Santa Barbara

December 9: The Crane Country Day School, Montecito, CA
2:15-3 A reading to students.

December 15: Palm Beach Book Store, PB, FL
5:30 Book signing until 7pm

2011 Lots of events in the works, such as a reading at the Princeton Club in New York, a Southern swing , a return engagement with the Creative Writing classes at Boca Raton’s Spanish River High School, a reading in Rome, more schools, and Easter Day with many kids in Palm Beach at the annual egg hunt. Stay tuned!

Robert L. Forbes, author of LET'S HAVE A BITE! A BANQUET OF BEASTLY FEASTS, hosted a party last night to celebrate the launch of his book. A wonderful time was had by all as guests dined on snacks featuring the mischievous creatures from his whimsical books.

Here are a few photos of the author himself and the wonderful decorations--lifesize blowups of the delightful Ronald Searle drawings that accompany his poems. Start your Christmas shopping early with LET'S HAVE A BITE!

Check out this fantastic article in the Wall Street Journal profiling Robert L. Forbes, author of our wonderfully whimsical children's book LET'S HAVE A BITE! A BANQUET OF BEASTLY FEASTS. It's always fun for us to read author profiles instead of traditional reviews--especially when they lead lives as interesting as this. Go here to read the full article, but here's an excerpt you might enjoy! You can also keep up-to-date on the life and times of Robert Forbes and events surrounding the publication of Let's Have a Bite! on Facebook and by following @robertlforbes on Twitter.

As happy and well adjusted an adult as Mr. Forbes seems on the surface, I can't help but believe his latest book, published this week, "Let's Have A Bite! A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes," with drawings by the New Yorker cartoonist Ronald Searle, isn't the result of night terrors.

"The Giant Panda at the zoo just sits and chomps on fresh bamboo," goes one poem. "His belly is like a cooking pot, Which happens when you eat a lot. He's content to do not much but chew. Which is all he seems to do (That and poo!)"

People often take a stab at children's books after reading "Goodnight Moon" to their own kids and becoming convinced they can do better. But Mr. Forbes hasn't read to his son Miguel in decades. Miguel is in his thirties. Miguel is Forbes's president of television and licensing.

It seems Mr. Forbes simply has crazy rhymes going through his head. He'll wake up in the middle of the night, don his special Edward Beiner reading glasses with built-in reading lights, write for a couple of hours, roll over and go back to sleep.

"I write to amuse me," he said. "I write stuff I'd like to read." Such as, apparently, "A chicken-stewing cat named Shauna slipped on her sweat in the sauna. She moaned on the floor, 'I must reach the door, Or I'll be a fricasseed goner.' "

Mr. Forbes said he contacted Mr. Searle, who lives in the south of France, and whose work he collects, out of the blue, fully prepared to be rejected, but figuring it couldn't hurt to ask. But Mr. Searle said yes. "I'll write a couple of lines about the poem," Mr. Forbes said of their collaborative process, "and a month or two later back this package comes with all these illustrations. It's like a little boy opening a Christmas present."

This is actually Mr. Forbes' second book of poems and critters. The first, "Beastly Feasts," also illustrated by Mr. Searle, was published in 2007. And Mr. Forbes shot the photography for "A Year of Dancing Dangerously," about his wife Lydia Raurell's successful quest to be crowned newcomer of the year on the pro-am ballroom dance circuit, though partnered with Brian Nelson, her professional dance partner.

Mr. Forbes divides h

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While Robert L. Forbes' delightful book of children's poetry LET'S HAVE A BITE! doesn't officially hit shelves until Sept. 16, a few lucky bloggers and media people have already gotten copies. Glad to see they're enjoying the fun rhymes and wonderful drawings by Ronald Searle as much as we are!

Naida at The Bookworm has one of our first reviews for this title, which she read with her 10-year-old daughter.

With rhymes like Hugh the Emu, The Rhino's Wine, The Inchworm Sprint and Flick the Fly, coupled with great illustrations to match, Let's Have A Bite! A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes makes for a fun book to read to the kiddies in your life.

... I really liked this funky collection, and my daughter(10) and I read them together. This one would make a great gift as well, especially if you're looking for something a little different than your everyday children's nursery rhymes.

The Overlook Press was excited to be a first-time exhibitor at this year's ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. 13,000 librarians in a huge conference center in our nation's capital--what's not to love?

We were excited to have Robert L. Forbes, author of Let's Have a Bite! A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes there with us, signing copies of his new book for the show's resident rock stars--children's librarians.

If you follow us on Twitter (@overlookpress!) you've already seen lots of our pictures from ALA, but here are a few for you to enjoy that are slightly higher quality than those taken on a BlackBerry.

Thanks again, ALA, for a fantastic event!