By: bookkm,
on 8/8/2015
1. Having a good book in the offing.
2. Reading that good book.
3. Knowing I have a pile of other good books waiting when this one is done.
4. Libraries - because all those good books won't last forever.
5. Bookstores. Sometimes a book is so good I want to OWN it.
Because it's all about the books, about the books. Start reading.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/27/2015
As you may know, I keep a little feed of Amazon's best selling graphic novels in my desktop, just to see what's charting. It's usually the same seven or eight books—Klling Joke, Watchmen, The Dark Knight, Saga, Fun Home, Persepolis and so on. But this week, along with a strong week for anything by Scott Snyder about Batman, there is a new #1 book, and it comes with a whiff of the new: Fart Wars by J.B. O'Neil. O'Neil who has self published this and several other volumes in The Disgusting Adventures of Milo Snotrocket series, has found a formula so profound it's truly astonishing no one came up with it before: mix one part Star Wars parody, one part Wimpy Kid simple drawing, and 20 parts fart humor and you have something that is smelling, er, selling briskly in the Kindle format.
By: Betsy Bird,
on 7/4/2015
As you may have noticed, I’ve not done a Video Sunday in a while. It now appears that what I was waiting for all this time was Dan Santat’s parody of Serial, turning it into a reenactment of his Caldecott Award call. I’m just ashamed that when he won it didn’t immediately occur to me that, “Wow. We’re going to get a really great video out of this.” Hindsight is 20-20.
Nice that he got to take the shark suit out of mothballs, right?
As a children’s librarian I associate American Girl dolls far more with their books than the actual dolls. This American Girl Dolls: The Movie trailer from Funny or Die will satisfy any children’s librarian that has ever had to shelve those darn books (or struggle with the eternal question of where to shelve them).
Shh! Don’t tell them Mattel owns both Barbie AND American Girls. Thanks to Beth Banner for the link.
So this Meghan Trainor librarian parody video has garnered 77,963 views as of this posting. And I have heard from more than one person that its creator resembles me. Which is infinitely kind but she is (A) Younger (B) Cuter (C) Actually knows how to style hair. Ever noticed that my hair is always a plain bob? I don’t do hair. This woman. She’s all about the hair.
This next one’s a bit of a surprise. Not that it exists (tree to book, book to tree) but that I can’t think of a single American book that has gone a similar route. Usually we just get “bury this bookmark” swag. I think only a small publisher could get away with this. Or an Argentinian one. Wow.
Thanks to Gregory K for the link.
As someone who doesn’t know a thing about making book trailers, I tip my hat to anyone who is capable (or has offspring who are capable) of creating such a thing out of the ether. With that in mind . . .
As for the off-topic video, I’m not entirely certain why I decided to go with baby goats in pajamas today. Maybe it was something in the wind. In any case . . .
Thanks to Aunt Judy for the link.
By: Tanya,
on 4/29/2015
J. Patrick Lewis, former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate and author of Take Two! A Celebration of Twins and World Rat Day: Poems About Real Holidays You've Never Heard Of, among many others, had written Edgar Allan Poe's Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems, illustrated by Michael Slack. In Edgar Allan Poe's Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems, not only does Lewis parody poems by greats like
By: David Elzey,
on 9/13/2014
by Ann E. Briated illustrated by Allie Ogg Bailiwick Press 2014 No. Wrong. Sorry. Not for kids. Terrible parody with no redeeming qualities. Seriously. You would be hard pressed to find a parody of a children's classic more tone deaf and misguided as this. The idea of a children's book parody should have echoes of childhood skewered with a winking eye. Goodnight Brew seems to labor under
By: Tanya,
on 8/25/2014
I have had a copy of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood on my shelf since 2010 when it was released. While the plot sounded interesting, I have hung on to it for over four years, hoping to get to it someday, because of the completely charming illustrations by a favorite of mine, Jon Klassen. Now, four years later and four books into
In the mess we call home, there was an iphone and a starbucks cup and a beanbag with a tired bloodhound pup and there was one teen girl, with wavy curls and two preteens making scenes and a daddy on the computer, a champion “tooter’ and a fight with food – what manners.. how rude! […]
By: Tanya,
on 7/30/2013
First reviewed in 2009, Mac Barnett's fantastic quartet of Brixton Brothers books is an uncommon contemporary mystery that boys and girls will love. Steve Brixton, a fan of a Hardy Boys-type mystery series, The Bailey Brothers, finds himself embroiled in one case after another, turning to his literary heroes for help, often finding himself in deeper trouble... I'm sorry. I am apologizing
By: Tanya,
on 6/27/2013
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry is in paperback! For me and other adult readers of children's books, The Willoughbys is a tasty little treat. For young readers, I am not sure what they will make of it. And it matters to me what they will make of it. The Willoughbys is, from start to finish, a playful joke, a parody that pokes fun at "old fashioned" children's stories while at the same
By: Tanya,
on 8/29/2012
Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies is now in paperback!! Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by Dan Santat (author and illustrator images at left - you can't tell, but Andrea's eyes are all swirly and hypnotized, and, yes, that fanged bunny is Dan)is a comic book-horror show mash up, a little bit like if Goosebumps, Mystery Science Theater and Captain Underpants got
By: Tanya,
on 8/13/2012
The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander came out in February of 2011, right about the same time Jack Ferraiolo's book The Big Splash came out in paperback. These books have some similarities - middle school, fixers, intrigue. They also share the distinction of being the rare middle grade novels that are reality based, humorous and aimed squarely at boys. And they are both very well written. Do you
By: Tanya,
on 5/20/2011
I have to admit that when I saw Tom Angleberger's newest book, Horton Halfpott or The Fiendish Mystery of Smudgwick Manor or TheLooseing of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset, I was a bit skeptical. I loved Alngleberger's award winning book from last year, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and I was ready for some more of the same. But, no. Instead, we have, what one review calls a "positively gleeful
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By: Kinderscares,
on 10/4/2010
Sipping Spiders Through a Straw: Campfire Songs for Monsters is written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by the talented Gris Grimly. It boasts 18 awesome parodies, including Home of the Strange (Home on the Range), My Delicious Frankenstein (Oh My Darling Clementine), Do Your Guts Hang Low (Do Your Ears Hang Low), and Slither and Stink (that's right, folks...somebody actually successfully grossified 'Skinnamarink' - it's fantastic!). This little volume is so much fun it's earned a place on our 'Absolutely Everybody Should Own This Book' list.
By: Tanya,
on 9/17/2010
How to Grow Up and Rule the World by Vordak the Incomprehensible is a must have for all villains-in-training. However, readers with a bit of savvy will realize quickly that Vordak's intentions are not all generous. Early in the book we learn that Vordak is only willing to share the secrets of his eviltude because, and I quote, Well, I'm not as young as I used to be. My neck grows weary of
By: Kinderscares,
on 9/13/2010
I'm a big fan of parodies (as you may or may not have noticed), and am invariably compelled to pick up every spooky parody we come across when bookstore (or library) prowling. There's a LOT of great stuff out there. Some things, I've noticed, just seem to really lend themselves to parody...they practically beg for it. To date we've located three different creepy-themed parodies of the old nursery rhyme 'The House that Jack Built'. Check 'em out!
By: Kinderscares,
on 9/7/2010
The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills takes some creepy liberties with the classic song. Get some comic relief by teaching your little ones these alternate lyrics, which are just perfect for the upcoming Halloween season!
By: Kinderscares,
on 7/2/2010
By: Kirsty,
on 5/12/2010
Well, I don’t know about any of the other Brits in the audience, but I could do with some light relief after a week of political intrigue! Hopefully this will be the very thing to cheer us up. From the Oxford Book of Parodies, edited by John Gross, here is the nursey rhyme Jack and Jill, as Walt Whitman might have written it.
I celebrate the personality of Jack!
I love his dirty hands, his tangled hair, his locomotion blundering.
Each wart upon his hands I sing,
Paeans I chant to his hulking shoulder blades.
Also Jill!
Her I celebrate.
I, Walt, of unbridled thought and tongue
Whoop her up!
Her golden hair, her sun-struck face, her hard and reddened hands;
So, too, her feet, hefty, shambling…
[And a good deal more in the same vein]
Charles Battell Loomis
By: Kinderscares,
on 5/12/2010
CinderHazel: The Cinderella of Halloween
Written and illustrated by Deborah Nourse Lattimore
Scholastic, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-20233-2
CinderHazel is a witch who absolutely adores dirt. In fact, it’s the only thing she’s really interested in. When her stepmother and stepsisters fly off to the annual witches’ Halloween ball, she doesn’t even care about being left behind - who wants to hang out with a bunch of annoying, excessively clean witches anyway? But then her fairy godwitch appears to tell her about all the filthy fireplaces over at the palace - and what’s more, the prince everybody’s over there hoping to meet just happens to be the King of Dirt. Before she knows it CinderHazel is on her way to the ball, destined for a series of misadventures and - just maybe - her very own ‘filthily ever after’.
This quick and silly read-aloud is cute and fun, and will really appeal to those little kids who are appalled by anything girly or pretty.
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By: Tanya,
on 5/7/2010
Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by Dan Santat (author and illustrator images at left - you can't tell, but Andrea's eyes are all swirly and hypnotized, and, yes, that fanged bunny is Dan)is a comic book-horror show mash up, a little bit like if Goosebumps, Mystery Science Theater and Captain Underpants got thrown in a blender and poured out onto the page. Full of
By: Tanya,
on 3/19/2010
For me and other adult readers of children's books, The Willoughbys is a tasty little treat. For young readers, I am not sure what they will make of it. And it matters to me what they will make of it.The Willoughbys is, from start to finish, a playful joke, a parody that pokes fun at "old fashioned" children's stories while at the same time referring back to them by name and character. Lowry
By: Kinderscares,
on 2/16/2010
How did we manage to go a week without a post? Us, who managed to post daily for sooo long...and then only missing a day here or there...and now...wow. A whole week. It's a slippery slope, that's for sure.
ISBN 0-15-202003-9
A super fun dark retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale, this beautifully illustra
By: Kinderscares,
on 2/2/2010
We know it’s well-loved by many...but we can’t be the only people who never, ever want to read Goodnight Moon again. Yeah, little kids love it. Sure, we can recite it by heart like a lot of parents. Toddlers love a good rhythmic, soothing book when they’re getting ready to go to sleep.
But please please please don’t make me read it again!
Enter today’s book:
Goodnight Goon
Written and illustrated by Michael Rex
Putnam Juvenile, 2008
ISBN: 978-0399245343
This is the best parody that’s crossed our overloaded desk in ages. An eerie reworking of Margare
By: Tanya,
on 10/16/2009
Half-Minute Horrors, edited by Susan Rich, is a compilation of over 70 snippets of creepy, gruesome, ghoulish, spine tingling fun with a website the encourages readers to submit their scary stories. I wish I could list every contributor here, but it would take up the whole review. Authors and illustrators are all listed on the back of the jacket and in the brilliant index that lists page
By: Kayleen West.,
on 9/24/2007
Timothy Digital Portrait Painting by Kayleen West I have been testing digital recording software to create what is known as fast-forward or speed paintings. I had hoped to have something to post this week however I have had difficulties with trail versions. One screen recording software shut down at the end of a painting and as a result I lost all the files. The one I trailed today would not
-_____- *sigh* several kids I’ve taught come to mind when i saw this and i bet they already read these chapter books with pictures.