Chicken Feed: Erica's Blog

Book Review: Chicken Butt! by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Henry Cole

2010-05-17T07:12:00.001-07:00

Book Review: Chicken Butt! by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Henry Cole

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Vintage Veronica book trailer!

2010-03-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day! Check out the book trailer for Vintage Veronica:

Vintage Veronica book trailer

2010-03-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

Presenting my new book trailer for Vintage Veronica, which pubs on Tuesday March 9th!!!

Countdown....10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, FOUR!!!

2010-03-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Vintage Veronica hits the stands in four days!!!

EEK!

Now Hear This!

2009-12-30T13:45:00.000-08:00

Henry Cole and I are honored to receive the "noise violation" award for Chicken Butt! from 100 Scopes Notes.

Sneak Peek of DOTTY!

2009-11-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

The lovely and talented Julia Denos has posted many tantalizing images on her blog, including this small moment from our upcoming picture book, DOTTY (Abrams, Fall, 2010). DOTTY is the story of a girl named Ida and her imaginary friend, Dotty, who has no intention of being outgrown. The characters depicted here are Max, a classmate of Ida's, and his imaginary friends, Pete and Repeat. I love how Julia has interpreted all of the characters in this book and I can't wait to see the final product!

Nobody Puts Chicken in the Corner

2009-10-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Amazon Customer Service:

My suggestion pertains to the "Categories" search and ratings feature. I am writing to suggest that a new category be added to the list under "Books - Children's Books - Animals - " to honor an overlooked, yet beloved, children's book animal: the chicken.

Currently, there's a category called "Ducks & Other Waterfowl" and one called "Birds" but there is no separate category for "Chickens." I think it would be terrific if a new "Chickens" category were added, since there are many excellent children's books about them (full disclosure - I am the author of two of them: CHICKEN BEDTIME IS REALLY EARLY and CHICKEN BUTT!, both from Abrams) and, I've found, many people who base their purchases on the presence of their favorite animals in the story. The new "Chickens" category could exist on this same tier, just like "Rabbits" does even though rabbit books can also be found in the "Mice Hamsters Guinea Pigs & Squirrels" category.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you how many excellent chicken books for kids there are: THE LITTLE RED HEN, THE HOBOKEN CHICKEN EMERGENCY, CHICKEN LITTLE, BIG CHICKENS, CITY CHICKENS, CHICKENS TO THE RESCUE, LOUISE THE STORY OF A CHICKEN, all the books about MINERVA LOUISE, CHICKEN SOUP, CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE, PHILADELPHIA CHICKENS, CHICKEN SUNDAY... and this year alone, CHICKEN BUTT, CHICKEN CHEEKS, CHICKEN DANCE and TILLIE LAYS AN EGG joined the flock!

Thanks for considering this suggestion!

All the best,

Erica S. Perl
erica@ericaperl.com
www.ericaperl.com

How To Be An Old Dog, By Lucy

2009-09-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

Step One = Eat whatever is put in your bowl. Tonight, leftover hamburgers (cold, yummy) and broccoli (undercooked, challenging)

Step Two = Go for a jaunty leash-free stroll, forget which house you live in, get retrieved from neighbor's front walk

Step Three = Dramatically upchuck dinner.

Step Four = Sniff messy good-smelling pile. Hello, have we met?

Step Five = Be rudely subjected to an intervention while attempting to reinhale dinner.

Let's Pick Up Some Herring and Take Over the World!

2009-09-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know about the rest of you, but this vintage cuteoverload.com image really speaks to me. If there's a penguin in my next book, you'll know why.

No Butts About It, We Love to Read!

2009-09-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

It give me great pleasure to present the video that fellow children's book author Ayun "Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo" Halliday and I made during our "No Butts About Reading!" book tour (which we pulled together in typical seat-of-our-pants fashion with more than a little help from our families and friends!).

Extra-special thanks to the charming staff and patrons (and lions) of the New York Public Library, who didn't blink an eye at the two of us busting rhymes while hauling each other around on library carts. No butts about it, we particularly love to read at the library. Guaranteed!

Nice Press from Camp Hamp

2009-09-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this profile, courtesy of the good folks at my alma mater, Hampshire College:

Erica S. Perl

Did you also know that located on the Hamshire College campus is the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art? Nestled in an apple orchard, it makes for a dandy fall destination!

I swear the alumni office folks who profiled me did NOT put me up to saying that.

Happy Birthday

2009-08-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me.
I'm a hundred and three.
But the lady next door
Is a hundred and four!

Spotted on Anna Maria!

2009-07-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

My dear cousin Lucy (not to be confused with my dear dog, Lucy) just spotted CHICKEN BEDTIME IS REALLY EARLY in the coolest place: the blog of design and fabric maven, Anna Maria Horner!

I've never checked her site out before but I am now officially in awe and in love. So if anyone wants to get me a gift for my (hint! hint! next month!) birthday, look no further.

Meanwhile, I will be dropping her a fan note to tell her what a lovely site she has (and what excellent taste in kids' books her children have!).

VINTAGE VERONICA galleys!!!

2009-06-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

I just received the galleys (bound, paperback Advance Reading Copies, aka "ARCs") for my first young adult novel, VINTAGE VERONICA, plus some nice glossy covers like the ones that will go on the actual hardcover book! Yes, it seems early (the book doesn't come out until next Spring), but I am NOT complaining. Thought I'd share my excitement about them with all of you here:

Love that cover! Love that spine!

Oops! Just noticed that two books over from mine is WEARING VINTAGE, which I believe I borrowed from Alison Morris while researching the book and never returned. Hmmm... probably should have remedied that before posting these...

Poultry Dressing

2009-05-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my pal, Kim G., for this lovely shot of her son, Oslo, and his homage to poultry-themed children's literature, not to mention the whole poultry lifestyle, complete with Eames chair and wireless gagetry. Keep on clucking, buddy! Buck buck!

Of Monkey Underwear and Pie

2009-05-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

The number one question I get when I finish reading CHICKEN BUTT! with school groups is: "Now will you write a book called MONKEY BUTT?!" To which I always say, "Of course, yes!" But today I went a little farther and talked to a bunch of kindergarteners about what that would actually look like. Since these were unchartered waters, I played it safe and waded into a kindergarten I know quite well - my daughter's class.

Now, kindergarteners, as you may know, love to play with words and rhyme and be silly. So when we started talking about what other rhymes we could use for a monkey book based on the same "You know..." (what/why/how/who/where/when) questions as CHICKEN BUTT!, I got as many nonsense words as real ones. But I also got a lot of real words, including Monkey Flu and Monkey Shoe(for "who"), Monkey Hair and Monkey Bear (for "where") and Monkey Fly and Monkey Pie (for "why"). We made a big list together, then shifted into the illustration portion of our workshop.

I received several absolutely delicious-looking illustrations of Monkey Pie. I also got many, many wonderful drawings of Monkey Underwear (rhymes with "where" and is a bit derivative of CHICKEN BUTT! but I'm not litigious when it comes to kindergarteners), including Olivia's drawing of a monkey in underwear... wearing a pie, with another monkey in it, on his head. Luca drew "Monkey Loo," which appeared to be a jungle equipped with a shower, sink and toilet ("It's British for bathroom," he informed me).

I also received one "Fairy Underwear," one "Whale Underwear" and one truly priceless "Alligator-Sting-Ray... and Underwear" (from Ronan, who did "Whale Underwear"... clearly his imagination knows no bounds). I also really liked Will's drawing of a monkey with "his underwear on fire! and it's shooting hearts like slingshots! everywhere!" And Avery did a graphic-novel-worthy depiction of Super Monkey (in cape... and underwear) fighting the bad guys in a graveyard. Samuel finished his Monkey Underwear drawing, flipped his paper and created an amazing spaceship that appeared to be held together by a giant pair of BVD's.

My daughter, the little rebel, bucked the whole monkey trend and drew a "Dog Pie." Her pal Lucy presented me with a "Monkey Cow" (rhymes with "how") and a "Monkey Cat" and then proceeded to explain why monkey cats make bad pets (they poop on your rug.)

So, now I'm not much closer to finishing my draft of MONKEY BUTT!, but I have a lot more appreciation for the imaginations of my daughter's classmates. I'm going to scan a couple of the illustrations and post them here, but I wish I had room to display them all... they're that good, and funny, and inspired.

I already believed this, but I'm now more convinced than ever that if every kindergartener got a stack of paper, a tub of crayons and an hour a day to draw Monkey Underwear or whatever his or her heart desired, the world would be a better place.

Blogtour Prize Drawing Results!

2009-05-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finally back at the coop, after the very fun and successful New York, er, leg of the No Butts About Reading book tour (starring me and my butt - CHICKEN BUTT!, that is - plus Ayun Halliday and her heinie - ALWAYS LOTS OF HEINIES AT THE ZOO, that is). Here are a couple more fotos of our antics, including hanging out behind Patience and Fortitude (I think this is Patience's rear, but don't quote me) at the New York Public Library:

and reading/signing/drawing-animal-butts at New York literary institutions including Bank Street Books, Books of Wonder, WORD Brooklyn, and The NYPL. We even got to share the stage with Fran Manushkin and Tracy Dockray, author and illustrator of THE TUSHY BOOK. Here's Tracy flexing her artistic muscles:

Sadly, all good things must come to an END (as demonstrated by the back cover of Ayun's book, seen here). But New York City is just a little goofier and a little more buttastic thanks to us.

Oh, hey, before I forget. Are you wondering who won THE CHICKEN BUTT! BLOG TOUR PRIZE DRAWING? The grand prize winner is: Christine! She wins a signed copy of CHICKEN BUTT! plus a butt-load of bookmarks and tattoos! I've also selected three runner-ups - jennsbookshelf, devourers(dot)books(at)gmail(dot)com, and ya ya's mom - and all will received signed bookmarks and CHICKEN BUTT! tattoos if they simply send me their mailing addresses (email erica[at]ericaperl[dot]com).

And my honorable mention prize - not chosen at random, I confess, but awarded because this entrant wanted to win SO BAD she entered twice - goes to lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com. For her extra effort, she gets bookmarks and tattoos too. Plus Sherry K won a signed copy over at Chicken Spaghetti! Wow! That's a lot of BUTT! Thanks to everyone who entered, and the wonderful bloggers who hosted me. I had a blast!

If you did not win this time, please get yourself a BUTT! anyway. If you find me at BEA or elsewhere, I will happily sign your BUTT! for you, and give you a bookmark or a tattoo or two (I'm rarely without 'em).

Big BUTT in the Big Apple

2009-05-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun snapshots of the NO BUTTS ABOUT READING! tour, taking place right now in New York, New York. If you're wondering why I have not picked blog tour book giveaway winners, THAT'S WHY! Stay tuned and I promise I'll pick someone's name out of my chicken butt hat as soon as I get home.

OK, here's me and Ayun at Bank Street Books, showing off our butt-drawing skills:

And here I am at the lucky NYC public school that won (okay, my friend's daughter goes there and she asked really nice) an author visit from me:

Here we are on the CHICKEN UNDERWEAR! page, tee hee hee!

And here's my hostess herself! Thanks for having me visit your class, Alexa! I had tons of fun. Wish I could have visited Emma's class, too. Next time, I hope!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to:

Grandma Elly (my mom)

Grandma Maryann (my husband's mom)

Grandma Dearie (my grandma)

Aunt Emily and Aunt Sue (my aunts)

Anna (my brother's wife and mom to my adorable nieces)

Rachel, Lucy, Helen, Valerie, Sarah, Becky (and all the rest of my mom-cousins)

and ALL my beloved mom-friends, far too numerous to list here (including my going-to-be-a-mom-soon friends like Maria!)

Hope you all get out and enjoy the day. Buy yourself a present, paint your toenails all sparkly, go for a run, have a mojito (or several), do all of the above. Park yourself on the cough and read CHICKEN BUTT! with your kiddos. Or better yet, you know what? Let them read it to you!

Welcome to My Nest

2009-05-07T10:59:00.001-07:00

Today, the blog tour takes me to visit KIMBERLY WILLIS HOLT, one of my favorite writers (and winner of the National Book Award, how cool is that?) at her lovely blog A PEN AND A NEST.

Here are some fun facts about the pictures of me and my world that you'll see there.

1. The Nest I am seen posing in is not, in fact, my nest. Sesame Street fans will recognize that it is Big Bird's nest and I am just visiting it.

2. The CHICKEN BUTT! cookies, however, are my cookies (baked with a little help from one of my daughters and her pal, Nellie). They were consumed by CHICKEN BUTT! fans at Wellesley Booksmith. Yet another reason to come to my events - sometimes I bring cookies!

3. The marshmallow Peep diorama (depicting a scene from Mordecai Gerstein's Caldecott-winning book The Man Who Walked Between The Towers) was created by me and my family but did NOT win the Washington Post Peep Diorama contest this year... or even come close. Those who feel we were robbed should complain to The Washington Post, which is solely responsible for this eggregious error in judgement.

Mother Reader!

2009-05-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today's blog tour post comes from the inimitable MOTHER READER.

How fitting, as we get close to Mother's Day!

The CHICKEN BUTT! blog tour chugs on... next stop, A PEN AND A NEST!

On Top of Mount Rushmore

2009-05-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, am I logging a lot of frequent-flyer blogtour miles. Today I am visiting Tales from the Rushmore Kid, which is based in California but is the home of Tina Nichols Coury, who has written about Mount Rushmore (hence the blog name).

Here's Tina's wonderful post:

TALES FROM THE RUSHMORE KID MEETS CHICKEN BUTT!

Keep those comments coming, folks! When it comes to prize drawings, gotta be in it to win it.

Maw Books Blog!

2009-05-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

Smooth sailing on the CHICKEN BUTT! blog tour so far. Today I'm visiting Maw Books, where they welcomed me with this wonderful video:

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks to the whole Maw Books blog family!

xo,
Erica

Chicken Butt! Blog Tour

2009-05-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Announcing the CHICKEN BUTT! blog tour!

Featuring exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes peeks at The Making of The BUTT, and incredible give-aways including CHICKEN BUTT! tattoos, bookmarks and - drumroll, please - signed books!!!

The CHICKEN BUTT! book tour will be taking place from May 4th - 14th, 2009 at the following fabulous chicken's - er, I mean children's - literature blogs:

5/4 = Natasha Maw's MAW BOOKS BLOG

5/5 = Tina Nichols Coury's TALES FROM THE RUSHMORE KID

5/6 = Pam Couglan's MOTHERREADER

5/7 = Kimberly Willis Holt's A PEN AND A NEST

5/8 = Terry Golson's HEN BLOG

5/11 = Elizabeth Bird's FUSE # 8

5/12 = Shelly Burns' WRITE FOR A READER

5/13 = Susan Thomsen's CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

5/14 = Andrea Beatty, Julia Durango and Carolyn Crimi's THREE SILLY CHICKS

To register for the prize drawings, all you have to do is visit any or all of the blogs I'm touring and then log a comment here at CHICKEN FEED (the blog you're reading right now!). You can also purchase a copy or several of CHICKEN BUTT!, which is not required for participation in our prize drawing, but is just a fun thing to do if I do say so myself.

At the end of the blog tour (and perhaps at some point in the middle... we'll have to see how this goes) I'll award prizes and give-aways by weeding out entries from my relatives - sorry, mom - and pulling some of the remaining names out of my wonderful CHICKEN BUTT! hat (knitted and crochet by the talented Sara Moses aka Ibbyskibby).

Okay, CHICKEN BUTT! fans. See y'all on The Internets!

And at the BETHESDA (MD) BARNES AND NOBLE Saturday, May 9th at 11:00 a.m. IN PERSON!

XO,

ERICA

No Butts About Reading! Booktour

2009-05-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the No Butts About Reading! Book Tour is off to a great start. Ayun Halliday and I visited Charlottesville, Richmond and Fredericksburg, making friends and shaking our tail feathers as much as possible.

Highlights so far have included:

1) visiting Joan Kindig (and her family and friends, some of who took the trouble of sculpting "butt cupcakes" - as you can see - to resemble the animals in our books),

2) visiting Narnia, the wonderful bookstore in Richmond, where the staff is so lovely and the window display includes the rear view of many animals and storybook characters (including Clifford the Big Red Dog's big red butt!), and

3) visiting Jabberwocky, the amazingly chock-a-block children's bookstore in Fredericksburg, which also boasts fabulous sales staff and dedicated customers.

There are more events here in the DC area coming soon. And if you are in NY, check out our NYC gigs.

Plus, starting Monday, I will be visiting a blog a day for two weeks. Should be fun! Stay tuned....

Chicken Butt! Book Trailer

2009-05-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Guess what?! It's the brand spankin' new book trailer for CHICKEN BUTT!

Hey, John Adams Elementary...

2009-04-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

You know WHAT??!!

Oh, wait, you do know what. Because I visited your school today and together we read NINETY THREE IN MY FAMILY, CHICKEN BEDTIME IS REALLY EARLY and (ahem) CHICKEN BUTT! I had a great time and I hope you did too. If for any reason I did not get to your question - or you just want to say hello - send me an e-mail!

And to all the kids at Cora Kelly Elementary School, can't wait to meet you on Thursday!

Your pal,

Erica

Free-gurgitate?

2009-03-31T20:33:00.001-07:00

Ripped from the headlines... of Freecycle:

OFFER: most of a container of Dannon Activia
Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:29 pm

Because the store did not have Dannon Natural Plain yogurt in stock or on order, the manager gave me a free 24 oz container of Activia. Activia might be great for smoothies, but is more liquid than I like as yogurt.

So.... I have all but a few spoonfuls of the container left, for anyone who loves Activia or wants to try it.

The sell-by or use-by (don't know which it is) date is April 7.

Re: OFFER: most of a container of Dannon Activia
Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:24 pm

Am I understanding your post correctly? Are you offering an open container of Activia that you sampled?

I really wish this dialog went on longer (I'll post again re: this if my next Freecycle continues this topic). I can just hear them continuing:

"Yes, why? It's not like I ate much. And I used a clean spoon."

"That's still gross!"

"I take it you don't want it, then?"

"Would YOU like a pile of my old toenail clippings? I was going to throw them away, but then I figured, hell, if you can give half-eaten yogurt away, anything goes."

"For your information, lady…"

Buk..buk...Bummer!

2009-03-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have to say that my recent visit to the backyard coop of Terry Golson (author, Tillie Lays an Egg) piqued my curiosity about putting our blank slate of a yard to good use, egg-wise. Alas, a quick visit to The City Chicken ended that idea in a hurry. Turns out, you can't keep chickens in DC. Period. We are just plain out of cluck.

However, if I ever move back to my hometown of Burlington, Vermont, I can have up to three hens.

Good to know.

Tastes like Chicken

2009-03-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

I served these Chicken Butt! cookies at Wellesley Booksmith to a very appreciative crowd. I thought I baked a flock of them but they flew off the tray!

Tasted like gingerbread, actually, not chicken. Which was, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing.

Excusez-moi?

2009-02-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that there is a restaurant in Paris by the name of, giggle, snicker, Cul de Poule.

In other words: Chicken Butt!

Although - as you can see in the Moulin Rouge photo, above - I have already taken the chicken hat to France, it is clear j'ai besoin de revenir pour encore des photos tres fou. Maintenant!

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln...

2009-02-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Scene: Doctor's Office

Nurse: Has your child been exposed to strep recently?

Me: I dunno.

My kid: No. Except for soandso, who sits next to me, and soandso, who sits across from me.

But other than THAT, nobody.

And the winner is: WING!

2009-02-14T22:28:00.001-08:00

It is worth noting that those of us on the 2009 Cybils fiction picture book committee had our work cut out for us. The finalists included several stand-outs. We even discussed choosing “Honor” books – that’s how much we appreciated the books on our short list.

The book that we ultimately chose, though, was in a class by itself. Bob Graham’s HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN WING is accurately described by its publisher, Candlewick, as a “spare urban fable.” However, this deceptively simple book achieves so much more than telling the story of a boy who notices a wounded bird. By alternating single and double-page spreads with clusters of small panels, Graham creates almost a film strip of time passing. This technique lends both intimacy and urgency to the boy and his family’s seemingly (but hopefully not!) ill-fated mission. The text is commendably lean, supporting the book’s strong visual narrative. Graham’s signature style of almost cartoony watercolor-and-ink illustration is surprisingly well-suited for a tale that might otherwise have felt overly heavy and dark. We also admired WING for being a picture book set in a modern city, and for being an accessible story that offers connections for picture book readers of all ages. For all of these reasons, WING distinguishes itself as the rare picture book that speaks quietly, yet has volumes to say about courage, kindness, and hope.

Most importantly, we selected HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN WING because it was the book with “something extra” – the book that truly took our breath away. It is the kind of book you want to share with a child, tell all your friends about, and blog about… which, after all, is what the Cybils are all about.

Two Scoops of News!

2009-02-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

So much to report. Like what? Well...

At long last, CHICKEN BUTT! is coming! It should be in stores April 1, 2009 (no fooling!) and it is available now for pre-order. It is perfect for kids ages two "and up" (yes, college students are fans, too), perfect for parents, librarians and teachers, perfect for gift-giving (birthdays, and - of course - Father's Day), perfect for YOU. So get yer heinie in gear and get one while you can (get it? CAN? that's a butt joke, too).

And with a new book out, I'm going to be making the rounds. I'll be posting my schedule shortly, but Spring is definitely booking up, so if you want me at your school / library / book fair / agricultural fair (okay, I haven't done one of those yet, but it would be fun), let me know. So far, I'm headed South and North... with many stops in between. And schools should know that although my new book features That Word, it is in fact a fabulous book for classrooms. I'm doing some really fun activities with kids, making books together, riffing on rhyme, and getting them excited about reading and writing.

And right behind (yes, I can't stop with the butt jokes) this book is a totally different one. My first Young Adult novel, FOLLOWING THE NAIL is coming out from Knopf in Spring 2010, but sneak peeks will be available as early as fall 2009! I am SO excited about this book and I can't wait to share it. FOLLOWING THE NAIL is the story of fifteen year old Veronica, a shy, sarcastic, vintage clothing obsessed girl whose summer job at a secondhand clothing store lands her in the middle of a drama involving the older girls who rule the sales floor and the strange, secretive boy who mops the floor. No chickens in this book, which is strictly for older kids and teens. But perhaps a couple of other animals lurking here and there...

There's more, too... more books, a new web design, and lots more to unveil. Check back frequently and you'll see for yourself.

Cheers! Or, should I say, bottoms up!
(see, you knew I'd sneak one more butt joke in)

Erica

10 pm is the new 7 pm

2009-02-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

You know I love the ABCs but right now they'll have to take a back seat to my newest obsession: ABDC.

No, not ACDC - though I love them, too - or CBGB's - RIP - but ABDC, otherwise known as America's Best Dance Crew. Its full name is actually Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew, but that's a mouthful and frankly, not being much of an AI fan, I'm not tuning in because of RJ's seal of approval.

If you've watched, you know what I'm talking about. I like my reality shows to have raw talent and ambition as the entree course (see: Project Runway), not the after-dinner mint (see: any show that cribs from the Fear Factor or Survivor play book). This show delivers. Each week, the crews are assigned songs and challenges and they have to invent choreography that is fresh, tight, innovative and capable of showcasing their unique talents and personalities. Yes, I know I'm gushing, but the show is that good, possibly because it is at once ernest and self-mockingly cheesy (the same can be said for the crews themselves and the panel of judges, which includes former *NSYNC'er JC Chasez and "Lil' Mama").

My favorite crew, hands down, is Quest Crew. It's a team of about ten guys, all of whom seem to be asian-american (perhaps with a little latin derivation mixed in? hard to tell because the move so fast). They are funny, sharp and hugely talented. But all the other crews are so good, it is downright sad to see any crew leave. This week's loser crew was Ringmasters, who are a bunch of self-taught guys from Brooklyn that were doing these wacky (whacky?) bone-crush moves that often defied gravity and were almost impossible to understand. The entire set - judges included - seemed sad to send them home. If it were up to me, I'd just let them stay, stop competing and dance every week. But alas, reality TV isn't like that.

I was trying to explain all this to my kids this morning. They were understandably peeved at not getting to stay up to watch the show I've told them all about. What I don't understand is: why won't MTV run this show earlier? It is family entertainment at its best.

Yes, I know they rebroadcast it all the time (including at 11 after the 10 pm new episode each Thurs, which leads to me - oy! - watching my favorite bits again). And yes, I know this is why god invented TiVO and full streaming episodes on the internet. But somehow, those solutions don't quite explain why MTV decided ABDC was a good 10 pm show instead of a good 7 or 8 pm show (okay, they DO show ABDC Thursdays at 8 pm, but it is the previous week's show, not the new one).

It is a brave new media world, but I for one would love to see a return to the breathtaking reveal of a Sunday night Peanuts special or Wonderful World of Disney premiere of my youth. Interestingly, we now only see this in the world of kids books... The third Diary of a Wimpy Kid got a single day laydown (this critic, who actually counts the book's publisher as a client, couldn't snag an advance copy), just like Harry and Edward. Seeing as actual television broadcasting's vital signs are in critical condition, it might not be such a crazy idea.

And a Very Happy Smekday to You!

2009-01-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Meet David and Janae, two of my creative writing students, posing with their brand spanking new autographed copies of Adam Rex's THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY (Thanks, Adam!).

I teach at two schools, and this week I was at The Other school (which David and Janae do not attend). At The Other school, I received several incredibly creative works of fiction. At least, I hope they're fiction, since they featured Swamp Monsters, Evil Penguins, Warring Indian Film Moguls and Rocking Potatoes.

So, David and Janae (and Tashinee and all my other students who will see me next week), the pressure is on! Turn in something great this week, something only you can dream up.

Otherwise, the Gorg win.*

* = If this makes no sense, get yourself a copy of THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY. Heck, get two. It's that good.

In Defense of the Newbery Medal

2008-12-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Here’s what I have to say (on Slate.com) about recent criticisms of the Newbery Medal, the prestigious children’s books award.

Just to be clear, I *heart* Dav Pilkey.

Madeleine Albright and CHICKEN BUTT!

2008-12-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today, I did two book events and got my first opportunity to break out my, er, new book and shake it.

My BUTT! had a LOT of fans, young and not-so-young. One grown-up even tried to walk off with my only BUTT! (to be fair, he didn't know it was my only BUTT!... he quickly preordered his own).

Several other authors were signing, including my pals Laura Krauss Melmed, Jennifer O'Connell, and Susan Stockdale, and some grown-up authors too, such as the esteemed Madame Secretary of State, Madeleine Abright, herself. Mrs. Albright bought a copy of NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY, just to show she didn't only have eyes for my BUTT!

I've Been MommyCast!

2008-12-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

I recently did a bunch of segments with MommyCast, the parenting podcast. Here's the first episode, devoted to Holiday Books:

Get CLUCK-y!

2008-12-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a looooooong time ago, I wrote a book called CHICKEN BUTT! (not to be confused with my other chicken book, CHICKEN BEDTIME IS REALLY EARLY, which is butt-free, linguistically speaking) and the good folks at Abrams worked their tails off to publish it in style.

Well, you know what? CHICKEN BUTT! is NOW available for pre-order on Amazon! Henry Cole’s illustrations are a huge treat. Here’s a sneak peek at the cover:

Meanwhile, if your appetite for chicken-themed children’s books has been whetted, have I got a book for you.

It is TILLIE LAYS AN EGG, by Terry Golson (photography by Ben Fink) and it is brand new from Scholastic Press. It just got a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, which means that it really doesn’t need my help BUT I’m going to offer it anyway.

This is a sweet and funny book about a chicken (one of seven owned by the author, who is also the author of The Farmstead Egg Cookbook among other culinary titles) who bucks the trend of waiting for a turn in the nesting box and sets off daily for greener pastures to lay her egg. In photographs, we see her all over the farm, exploring as only a chicken would (mistaking shoelaces for worms in one spread) and leaving her mark, egg-wise, on the landscape.

TILLIE has an appealingly cozy, retro feel. In part, this is because of the vintage decor - several of the bright, sunny scenes are reminiscent of “I Spy” books because in addition to hunting for Tillie’s eggs, readers can spot antique toys, chicken-themed tschotchkes, and fabulous fifties fabrics. It is also because photographs are so rarely used to illustrate modern children’s books, especially fictional ones (if you like them, visit your local library for a trip down memory lane… The Lonely Doll, anyone?). Golson and Fink have collaborated on a book that children and adults will enjoy reading and rereading (my kids sure did). The chicken’s-eye-view perspective adds to its considerable charm. All in all, TILLIE is a good egg.

Hope everyone had a good Turkey Day. Keep on clucking!

YES IT DID!!!

2008-11-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

IT IS A BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORIC DAY IN AMERICA! I SPENT A FABULOUS ELECTION DAY CANVASSING IN VIRGINIA WITH MY 8 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND OUR FRIEND JEN OKO YESTERDAY, MEETING AN INCREDIBLY DIVERSE ASSORTMENT OF EXCITED OBAMA VOTERS, GETTING DRIZZLED ON AND EATING A FINE SELECTION OF LEFTOVER HALLOWEEN CANDY.

AND BEST OF ALL, MY OBAMA BIDEN CAR MAGNET ARRIVED TODAY.

YES IT DID!

WHICH MEANS I AM PSYCHIC, BECAUSE I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR MONTHS THAT IT WOULD ARRIVE AFTER THE ELECTION. SO YOU CAN SEND ALL "MAGIC EIGHT BALL" QUESTIONS TO ME FROM HERE ON OUT.

Pssst! I Vote Twice!

2008-11-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true: my five year old not only voted, she voted twice.

Before you call up the Board of Elections, let me assure you that only one time "counted" (although, since we live in DC, our votes count less than any other Americans). That time, we were voting on a real ballot. I let her connect the arrow for Obama, checking several times that in her enthusiasm she had not voted for other candidates as well. The other time she voted was a few weeks earlier, at a book event for PRESIDENT PENNYBAKER, my pal Kate Feiffer's new book. Here's Kate:

In it, a boy runs for president with his dog as veep. We really love this book, and Diane Goode's illustrations are a perfect match for Kate's funny text about Luke Pennybaker's appealing platform (and rude awakening once in office). I hope this book is a hit for at least four years. And Kate did a terrific event for it, getting the kids to vote and discuss the election as well as the story.

Since yesterday was Halloween, I'm also offering what has become my annual tradition: a photo of the best costume I saw at our school's Halloween parade. This year, I was impressed with the engineering (panels folded out, sometimes by accident, revealing inner workings of the device rather than just a flash of t-shirt and jeans), the commitment to concept demonstrated by making and wearing this uber-cumbersome costume, and the utter confusion it generated on the part of anyone over the age of eight. If you're with the confused masses, I'll let you in on it: he is a Bakugan.

Hope your Halloween was good and scary, and hope our Election Day isn't!

"Mom, What's a Credit Default Swap?"

2008-10-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

From my new Slate slideshow, titled "Mom, What's a Credit Default Swap?" Great Kids' Books About Financial Ruin:

The first time I heard the word recession, I was 10 years old. It was 1978, and my parents, like everyone we knew, were cranky and stressed out about gas shortages and rising food prices. One of the ways I coped was by burying my nose in books and discovering kids who had it worse than I did. Like Ramona Quimby, whose dad got fired and took up residence on the couch. And Laura Ingalls, whose dad kept hitching up the wagon to drag his bonneted brood to the middle of nowhere. Many of the books I discovered during the late '70s featured themes of economic hardship that made my circumstances seem manageable by comparison—a happy coincidence, I thought at the time. Looking back, I'm not so sure this was an accident. A review of popular American children's books of the past century reveals a recurring theme in the children's publishing industry: When times are tough, cue the stories about times that were even tougher.

Click here for a slide show on great children's books for tough economic times.

The Six Deadly Sins (Parents Commit in the Kitchen)

2008-09-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Here’s my take on the Six Deadly Sins of Parents Commit in the Kitchen (according to the New York Times). Yes, I know this does not have anything to do with children's books, but for some reason I was moved to comment:

1. Sending the kids out of the kitchen = Sure, in a perfect world, kids would be eager kitchen helpers, learning to dice and fold and learning to try new foods in the process. But I don’t live there. In my world, my kids use their kitchen time to make potions involving milk, orange juice, coffee and food coloring. Throwing my kids out of the kitchen most (though not all) of the time ensures that most (though not all) of our meals actually get cooked and don’t turn artificially blue and curdled in the process. Guess that makes me a bad person. Oh well.

2. Pressuring them to take a bite = Conceptually, I agree that this is bad, too. But who’s going to cast the first stone? Not someone who, say, has gone to the trouble of making jambalaya from scratch with no seasonings except salt because of her kids’ stupid bland palates and then has had to endure them rejecting it anyway because the ingredients – all of which are things they like - are mixed together. Am I – I mean, is she - actually going to say, “No problem. More for me”? As IF!

3. Keeping the “good stuff” out of reach = Oh please. The good stuff isn’t for them. It’s for me and Daddy, when we collapse at the end of a long day and need to take the edge off. Oh, wait, the Times means ice cream and cookies? That’s what they’re for, too.

4. Dieting in front of your kids = Yeah, this one is actually pretty bad.

5. Serving boring vegetables = Sure, ranch dressing may work for carrots and butter may work for, well, almost everything, but no amount of “dressing up” is going to convince a kid to eat a vegetable he hates. My brother’s favorite vegetable as a child was hollandaise, because my mother served it with artichokes. Did it get him to love artichokes? Noooooo, it got him to love hollandaise. Still does.

6. Giving up too soon = In my experience, all the “rule of fifteen” ensures is that by the fifteenth time you serve an exotic dish, your child will recognize the food and know how to correctly pronounce its name when she rejects it as she did the fourteen times before. She will continue to pronounce it well while rejecting it the next fifteen more times, and the fifteen times after that, or however many times you continue wasting your time and money cooking exotic foods for these freaking ingrates!

By the way, the jambalaya - doused liberally with green tabasco sauce - was delicious. I know because I ate if for three nights in a row. As was the pasta with pesto that 50% of my kids snubbed. What can I say? Hope that they will grow more taste buds springs eternal!

See Iron Man Run

2008-07-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today on Slate I have a slideshow piece about Hollywood’s new repurposing of PG-13 action heros as early-reading educators. Enjoy it, share it with your friends, sound off to your heart’s content.

Where do you stand: “Who cares what the book is about as long as my kid wants to crack it open?” Or “C’mon, Iron Man, stick to the flying, wouldya?”

My New HOUSE

2008-07-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a trip to New York and a visit to my new HOUSE.

No, I'm not moving back to The City (never say never, I suppose, but not now). My new house is my new publishing house, which is... drumroll, please...

RANDOM HOUSE!

Knopf Books for Young Readers, to be specific. Yes, I'm thrilled to report that Knopf will be publishing my first YA novel, FOLLOWING THE NAIL, in Spring 2010. And they will be publishing my first middle grade novel, WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU ORANGE JUICE, in Spring 2011. That may seem like a looong way off, but in book publishing terms it is not. Plus, I have two 2009 books coming from Abrams, so I'm happy to give all my books time to breathe and have their moments.

My new editor is Erin Clarke, and I am beyond thrilled to be working with her. You may know her as the editor of THE BOOK THIEF or from any number of fabulous books she's edited in her years at RH. Here's a photo of her desk ("waist up") and many of her recent titles on display:

I was also blown away by the Random House lobby, which is sort of like a shrine to every great book you've ever heard of... all of which they seem to have published (I was warned about this, but I still became dumbstruck upon entering the lobby). Here's a photo of Erin (also "waist up") next to one of the giant cases of literature (too dark to see, but there's a KNOPF sign at the top):

All in all, a terrific visit to New York. I also met with some of the wonderful folks at Abrams, including Susan Van Metre and Chad W. Beckerman, who showed me the cover for my Spring 2009 book, CHICKEN BUTT! I really can't wait for this book to come out. Henry Cole's sketches are a riot. I have a feeling they will make milk come out of many a nose.

Yes, a wonderful trip all around. Which may explain why I am so tired. Well, actually, I'm okay. Lucy, my devoted dog, on the other hand, spent the whole time I was gone worrying about whether I'd come back. Lucy was originally a pound puppy. Even now, fifteen years after we adopted her, this explains a lot. She promptly parked herself in my not-yet-unpacked suitcase and took a nap:

I guess it's true. Old house or new house: there's no place like home.

Run with Me!

2008-07-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

I often run with Ira Glass. Not in person, though I'm guessing that would be fun. Rather, his The American Life podcast. Sometimes I run with Peter Sagal (of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!) or Terry Gross (of Fresh Air... are you detecting a public radio theme?). But today, for the first time, I ran with... me.

Yes, I jogged along listening to a podcast interview I did with Sabrina Weissler, of the Children's Book radio podcast. And so can you, if you'd like: you can get it here or go to childrensbookradio.com and click on "Episode Guide" (I'm Episode # 43).

I must confess that as I listened and ran, I cringed in anticipation, fearing that I said something completely stupid. I think the act of cringing while running gives a whole new dimension to the phrase "upper body workout."

Ultimately, I didn't discover that I had said anything truly cringe-worthy. I've enjoyed many of the other interviews Weissler has done, so I'm glad I didn't totally botch it... or at least I don't think I did. Feel free to strap on your running shoes, listen for yourself and weigh in on this point.

Cringing optional.

George and Me

2008-06-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Let's have a moment of silence to mark the death of George Carlin. Though perhaps a moment of cursing would be more appropriate. As a child, I used to take George Carlin's albums out from the Fletcher Free Library (in my hometown, Burlington, VT) and giggle over them with my brother.

The two most memorable bits for me came from A Place For My Stuff, which Carlin released in 1981. The first was one of his "announcements" which purported to be a message from the National Apple Institute (it was delivered in a voice I always took to be that of a tough-looking, menacing apple: "F--- pears.")

The second was his piece, Ice Box Man, in which he did an impersonation of a mom trying to sell her family on eating something nasty from the back of the fridge. His deadpan summary of the item on the plate was "could be meat, could be cake... I know, it's meatcake." And then in his mother voice, he'd chime in, "Don't you want to eat this bowl of pudding skin??? I'm only going to throw it away..."

To this day, my mom, who listened to me and my brother cutting up to the album ad nauseum, refers to anything gross from the back of the fridge as "meatcake." As do I, for that matter.

Rest in peace, George Carlin. Your spirit lives on.

Luck of the Not-Exactly-Irish

2008-06-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

My mom, who has red hair, can pass for Irish. As you can see in this picture, my older daughter sometimes takes after her.

Me, well, that's another story. However, I am delighted to report that the Irish are not holding my not-quite-Irish status against me. I'm going to Dublin later this summer and I've been communicating with the lovely Tom Donegan of the national children's books organization there, Children's Books Ireland a.k.a. Leabhair Pháistí Éireann for you Celtophiles (that's pronounced KELT-o-files, not SELT-o-files, who are fans of the reining basketball team).

Alas, I will not be there for Kate Thompson and Keith Gray's writing-for-teens seminar this month, nor will I be there for next month's Summer Stories event, which sounds fabulous. It combines Ireland's best storytellers, children's book authors and illustrators in one big free festival.

I was particularly curious about what the fesitival description lists as "potty poetry." While it is possible that toilet-themed verse is HUGE there, I think the more likely explanation is that the word "potty" means crazy in the UK. The definition on peevish.co.uk (a British slang site with a wide range of risque fare... a disclaimer that will likely make my middle grade fans click even faster!) includes use of the term in the following sentence: "I was potty about Angelina Jolie for several years." Say no more.

But I digress. The point is: I will be in Ireland later this summer and it looks like I might have the pleasure of visiting some Irish libraries and/or bookstores to read my books with a whole new continent of kids (OK, perhaps not a whole new continent... I did take my books to the kids of Paris a few years back... but you get the picture). And my mom will be along for the trip, bringing her red hair to increase my Irish street cred!

For those of you who are children's book authors and illustrators, I have to say that bringing your books when you travel and/or setting up readings and signings in places you are visiting is incredibly fun and rewarding. I've done this on pretty much every trip and family vacation for the past several years. Consequently, my books have found audiences in places they might not have otherwise (tiny Jackson, New Hampshire, for example... and that aspiring literary mecca, Sanibel, Florida). And my family and I have gotten to really know the people in these places better than we would as regular tourists.

Here's me in Cape Cod with some of my furrier fans:

And on Long Island, playing deuling-livestock-hats with a host librarian:

It's not all that hard. Usually, I call the extremely-well-connected-and-charming Jason Wells, publicity director at Abrams, and pick his brain about wherever I'm going. Then he or I call around and set things up. Truly, you would not believe how happy some places are to have an author visit, talk about her work and sign books.

And it leaves plenty of time to hit the beach, the slopes or, in the case of Ireland, I guess that would be the pub... or maybe the rolling green hills (we're staying on a farm). How lucky can you get? And you don't even have to be Irish!

Julia Denos!

2008-05-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that in 2009 I will have TWO new picture books coming out from Abrams. The first, YOU KNOW WHAT? CHICKEN BUTT! is currently being illustrated by the extremely talented and extremely prolific Henry Cole (illustrator of one of my favorite books, AND TANGO MAKES THREE). When I was in New York earlier this month, I got to see his sketches and they are wonderful. Very funny stuff. Henry definitely knows chickens... and kids.

And now, drumroll please, I am excited to announce that we scored Julia Denos to be the illustrator for my other 2009 book, DOTTY! I am beyond pleased, because as soon as I first saw Julia's work, I said, "Yeah, her!" She has a beautiful drawing style and just the right ability to convey kids' emotional range, which is necessary for this book.

DOTTY is a story about a girl named Ida whose imaginary friend won't leave (even though Ida's classmates have outgrown theirs), and what happens when another girl discovers Ida's secret. A coming of age tale for 4-8 year olds, if you will. As well as a testament to the importance of keeping your imagination as long as possible.

I wrote DOTTY because when I was a kid I had imaginary friends, including a set of twins named SOTTY (pronounced SAH'-tee) and DOTTY. They were twin girls, but they were not the same age (a detail my parents found funny, though I didn't understand why at the time). I also had an imaginary pet sheep, so I sort of combined the two in this book. Plus, I had a bad summer camp teasing experience exactly like what Ida endures in DOTTY, so I drew on that. When kids ask me about writing fiction, I always point out to them that no matter how "made up" the story is, it won't work if the feelings you put in aren't real.

Julia Denos has a gorgeous portfolio that you can check out at her website. I selected the image shown here because it looks uncannily like one of my daughters. Julia was also interviewed by Jules and Eisha at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast last year, and you can check that out here (they included several of her most fetching images).

I can't wait to see what she does with DOTTY!

Talking to You Corded!

2008-05-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

"I'm Talking to You Corded!", my slideshow on images of technology in children's books is on Slate's front page! If you've ever wondered why there is so little modern technology depicted in picture books, this is the article for you!

And if THAT weren't enough media exposure for this week, my review of FRONTLINE's "Storm Over Everest" (which airs tonight) is on pbs.org.

By the way, writing about Bob Shea's New Socks (image above) led me to correspond with Bob himself, which led to a fabulous book-swap-by-media-mail race. We're calling the race a draw to protect Bob's feelings... but we're ALL winners! Especially my kids, who loooooove Bob's books.

Researching this article, I also got to chat with one of my favorite illustrators, Marla Frazee, who looks like she and I should share hair products. I'm a big fan of Deva Curl lately, Marla. And of course, my pal Alison Morris, who is Da Source for all things kiddish and bookish. Thanks, guys!

All that and the cover of Slate - not a bad week!

My Visit to Burgundy Farm Country Day School

2008-05-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is my pal and fellow Children's Book Guild member, Jane Harrington, who teaches at Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Virginia and is the author of several great books including the terrifically named "My Best Friend, the Atlantic Ocean, and other great bodies standing between me and my life with Giulio" (lime green cover seen in the poster next to her):

She kindly invited me to visit her class for Poetry Month to discuss writing rhymed verse, writing picture books and writing in general. Her sixth graders were a well-prepared bunch in many ways. They had great questions, great ideas, and great snacks! Here are some photos of the class and the buffet they provided. Note that there are healthy options (grapes) and brightly colored fun-if-somewhat-less-healthy-but-what-the-hay options (sour skittles were a big hit):

SOOO, word to the wise, folks. If you invite an author to visit your class, be prepared in all ways! Read up, write some questions in advance, and break with the skittles. Oh, yes, and if your school has chickens (BFCDS does) and your visiting author has written about chickens, take her to visit them.

Your visiting author will thank you!

Clueless about Emma?

2008-03-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share this review I did of PBS’s upcoming broadcast of Jane Austen’s Emma.

As you will learn, I’m not what you’d call a closet Austen fan. I would even go so far to label myself a bit of an Austen-phobe. Over the years, I’ve gone to great lengths to avoid period drama (in my review, I admit that I prefer South Park to Gosford Park).

It was only the threat of public humiliation on the PBS website (and the possibility of their reposessing the lovely Jane Austen action figure they sent me, shown here with my wind-up Kyle Broflovski) that got me to watch.

However, once I tuned in, I heartily enjoyed Emma and gave it a big thumbs up. It airs March 23rd, 2008 on PBS. Enjoy!

WHO DO YOU LOVE: MR. KNIGHTLY or MR. BROFLOVSKI?

More Kid-Lit Peeps

2008-03-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

Lest you think that I’m the only one creating marshmallow Peep dioramas based on children’s books, I thought I’d share this finalist entry from the Chicago Tribune’s contest.

My entry was not, I am sad to say, a finalist in the Trib’s contest… though it did get a shout out in Publisher’s Weekly, which is not chopped liver. Plus, I’m still waiting to hear from the Washington Post, which is the newspaper for which we designed HARRY PEEPER AND THE DEATHLY MALLOWS in the first place. Fingers crossed!

Of course, the entry depicted above is “Where’s Waldo” based on the books by Martin Handford. In England, the book’s original title was “Where’s Wally?” The name ‘Wally’ was apparently viewed as less commercially viable… or more British, but not in a good way… than ‘Waldo.’

Although these books probably need no explanation, the Peeps diorama illustrates the concept nicely: Waldo, always dressed in a red-and-white-striped ensemble and big round glasses, hides in plain sight and children scan the illustrations to find him. Unlike the diorama, the Waldo book illustrations are detailed to a degree that makes this simple task surprisingly difficult at times.

Plus, unlike the gimmicky I Spy books (illustrated by photographs of the contents of a typical kitchen junk drawer), they contain intricate illustrations of various locales, time periods and scenes with historical significance (ancient Egypt, for example). Which make them fun for a really wide range of kids - and adults.

Nice to see them reissued for a new generation to discover… and spoof.

Okay, Kids. Where is Waldo?

Asked and Answered

2008-03-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

After I gushed about Elizabeth Matthews' lovely biography of Coco Chanel (DIFFERENT LIKE COCO) and expressed curiosity about her next project, I got my answer.

The answer came from Deanna Caswell, a soon-to-be new picture book author (welcome aboard, Deanna!). She wrote to say: "my friend Boni Ashburn (Hush Little Dragon, Abrams 2008), reads your blog all the time and told me that you would like to know what Elizabeth Matthews is up to. I can tell you! She's illustrating my first picture book called FIRST BALLET for Hyperion."

How cool is that? Asked and answered, as we used to say in my lawyer days. And a ballet book sounds like a great fit for Matthews (whose Coco seems to be dancing on several pages of DIFFERENT). I look forward to seeing it!

With helpful readers like Boni and Deanna, it is clear to me that I need to do more musing on my blog. So, here goes: Will that meat in the back of my fridge go bad before I get a chance to cook it? Will the Democrats - I've stopped caring about whether Hillary or Barack wins the nomination - prevail in November? Should I keep reading my book club book even though I just started another book I like better?

Chime in any time, readers!

Substance, meet Style!

2008-03-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone who read yesterday’s Project Runway Junior post on Pajamazon know that we went to the library (to find my clueless child a book about that legendary Black [as in Dress] History Heroine, Coco Chanel) and, low and behold, look what we found:

Different Like Coco.

Yes, it is a picture book biography of Coco Chanel!

Who says the library doesn’t have everything?

As soon as our beloved librarian found it, I suddenly remembered hearing about this book last year. I had filed it away in my overburdened brain and forgotten all about it until I saw the cover. It is a fabulous book (a “fierce” book, dare I say it) and an exemplary biography insofar as it captures not only the facts of the subject’s life, but the essence of what made him or her groundbreaking. I was interested to learn that, in the case of Coco Chanel, she was a woman of style AND substance. She dressed in men’s clothing, ripped up garments to create never-before-seen looks, and did not allow societal conventions to define her. And she helped free women from corsets, gotta love THAT.

DIFFERENT LIKE COCO is author/illustrator Elizabeth Matthews’ first children’s book. I for one am eager to see what subject she turns her pens and brushes to next. I am also eager to see more non-fiction books like this one, which prioritize the style of their book design (don’t you want to eat that buttery yellow cover?) as much as the substance of the text. It is particularly appropriate for a book about a fashion icon, but would be a refreshing direction for books on less-glamorous historical figures (poor queasy Harriet Beecher Stowe, anyone?) and subject matter.

Hmm, there’s a new show for Bravo… Project Runway, Book Design Edition!

Gibbs Elementary!

2008-03-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

For two years now, I have participated in a program called Community Nights. Last year, I visited River Terrace Elementary, in NE Washington, DC. And this year I visited Gibbs Elementary, also in NE Washington, DC.

The Community Nights program is run by the literacy organization Turning The Page, and it brings authors into partner schools for author visits with kids and parents. Turning The Page also provides the students who participate with signed copies of the authors' books. So the kids get wonderful momentos of their evenings with the authors.

And so do the authors, as you can see here (scroll down to see more). I received paintings from the first grader "superstars" in Ms. Chu's class. Using watercolors, the students created their favorite scenes from my book, NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY. Tyesha captured the family car, packed to the brim with animals and people. And Raven represented the disbelieving teacher. Thanks so much! Great job, everyone!

I also received a lovely illustrated card from the kids at the end of the evening. As you can see, Laura, Jamal and James worked on it. And Mayah, and Imani and LOTS of other kids. Thank you, everyone!

It makes me more than a little sad to note that Gibbs Elementary is one of the schools that will be closed at the end of this year. The DC government is closing many schools, alleging that they are underperforming or underenrolled. Although I was only at Gibbs for one evening, I saw a school where the president and VP of the PTA were still at the school at 8 pm, where many generations of families came to participate in a community event, and where the classrooms were wallpapered with the work of eager kids and dedicated teachers. One of those teachers (not Ms. Chu, who unfortunately had a prior commitment) sat through my reading with her students clustered around her, some even sitting on her lap. In other words, exactly what you'd want to see in a school.

I'm not saying that the closing of this school is part of some big sinister plan exactly. I'm just saying it is a real shame that Gibbs will be closing. I would have really enjoyed going back to visit my new friends there.

Harry Peeper and the Deathly Mallows

2008-03-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

What have I been up to this weekend, you ask?

Well, let's see... doing four back-to-back performances of my books at Imagination Stage (sold out shows! too cool!), which gave me newfound respect for professional actors and classroom teachers... going bike-riding, running, visiting Dumbarton Oaks and generally enjoying the lovely spring-like weather here in our nation's capital...

Oh, yes, and sewing clothing for marshmallows.

If you are familiar with the Washington Post's Peeps diorama contest, you won't need to ask what I mean. This year, we struggled for a while before starting our entry. Hannah Peeptana? High School Peepsical? Ooo, how about Peepspray? But when we came up with HARRY PEEPER AND THE DEATHLY MALLOWS, we knew this was the concept for us. As you can see from this photo, a considerable amount of felt in various shades played a role. As did regular marshmallows - plus the sugar coated Peeps - plus frilly toothpicks, floral wire (Harry's glasses... hard to see in this photo, alas), stickers, rubber bands (yes, they can be made into tiny ties... see Ron and Hermione) and yarn. Oh, yes, and pipe cleaners (see Hedwig's wings and talons and Dumbledore's beard).

Anyway, we probably won't win but this was definitely a situation where just playing the game was all the fun. Or at least I thought so... not sure if Mike and the kids would agree with me. They found me particularly insufferable when I art-directed our photo shoot ("Wait, fix Hedwig's wing!").

I Love Mr. Hatch!

2008-02-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

Every year, starting on about December 26th, the bookstores start to blush. Not with embarassment, but with books. Rosy, shiny, pink-and-red books, served up all pretty for that Hallmarkiest of holidays, Valentine’s Day.

I never buy them. I rarely even peruse them. Because in my humble opinion, the best Valentine’s Day book has already been written, by the talented Eileen Spinelli (illustrations by Paul Yalowitz). Every year, on February 14th, I pull out my dog-eared copy of SOMEBODY LOVES YOU, MR. HATCH and bring it to my kids’ school, where I read it out loud to a lucky class of kids hopped up on pink frosting. This book never disappoints. The story of poor lonely Mr. Hatch, who gets a life-transforming giant heart-shaped box of chocolates in the mail, always hits its mark just like Cupid’s arrow.

My next-favorite Valentine’s Day book is called I LOVE, which sounds suspiciously saccharin, but is not. It is a translated volume by Brigitte Minne (illustrated by Natali Fortier) and it works because it is simultaneously universal and also wholeheartedly French. There’s no plot per se, just a listing of all of the things - grande et petite - that the young narrator adores. Said narrator goes unidentified (one presumes it is the young girl featured in many of the illustrations, but at times one wonders if it shifts to her brother as well), but her philosophy that life - and love - is in the details is one everyone, young and old, should be able to identify with.

Before I sign off today, I have a couple of announcements:

I’m doing StoryTheatre! Which is a sort of spoken-word-theatre-for-preschoolers thang. It will be on Feb. 29 and March 1 at Imagination Stage (in Bethesda, Maryland, a.k.a. The Cultural Center of the Universe). If you live in the area and your 1-to-6 year old likes animals, books, or pictures projected on a BIG screen, you should call for tickets before this shin-dig sells out!

Also, starting this Wednesday (2/13/08), I will be teaching a class in children’s book writing at The Writer’s Center (also located in Bethesda, Maryland). I invite those of you who live in the area (or are interested in relocating here for the next eight weeks) to join the class, which should be a lot of fun.

Millerbery Photos!!!

2008-01-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

As you will recall, I was recently awarded THE gold sticker to end all gold stickers: the coveted MILLERBERY MEDAL. No doubt you read about it here, in my blog, or in other important MILLERTOWN publications. Yes, there were some OTHER big awards handed out recently (way to go, Brian Selznick and Laura Amy Shlitz...) but none of them have the cachet of the MILLERBERY.

As you can see in this picture of me with most of the judges, including the esteemed dignitary, Jennifer Miller (otherwise known as the Mayor of Millertown), awarding the medal was serious business. They read, they debated, they listed their favorite authors (never before have I had the opportunity to sit - on a list or otherwise - between Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling... too cool!) and they narrowed things down. In the end, the choice was clear: NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY had won.

I was, of course, incredibly honored. Not many people know how many of my days are spent agonizing over one of my work-in-progress picture book texts, or fretting over when my next book will come out, or hashing through revision number 817 of one of my novels. But in Millertown, it is easy to forget all that. The flashbulbs pop and the kids elbow each other to strategically pose their webkinz next to my book and, well, there's that fabulous gold sticker. It reminds me of why I do what I do and why I love it so much.

So, thank you very much, MILLERBERY committee!!!

British P.C. (Pig Correctness)

2008-01-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

Here’s a fun little news story from Great Britain. According to the BBC News, a digital book based on The Three Little Pigs was recently rejected by the judges in a national awards panel. The awards, known as the Bett Awards, honors educational technology. Becta, the British government’s educational technology agency is a leading partner in the Bett Awards and was primarily concerned that the CD-Rom, entitled The Three Little Cowboy Builders, was offensive.
Its problem? Pigs. Three of them. Galavanting all over the book, and potentially offending Muslim children who might inadvertantly view them.

Now, I’m not Muslim, but my understanding is that Muslims’ faith directs them to not eat pork (as does orthodox Judaism). I’m not aware of any prohibition on reading about pork products in action, as it were. Feel free to correct me, loyal Muslim readers, if I’m wrong on this one.

Meanwhile, if this seemingly misguided act of political correctness wasn’t bad enough, the officials at Becta went one step farther. They objected to the book’s depiction of building trade workers as pigs. The judges viewed this as stereotyping, stating: “Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?”

Well, I’m not a builder. Or a cowboy (or cowgirl, as my younger daughter would politically-correct me). But I’m not sure I’m willing to walk down this path with the judges. By their reasoning, most if not all books could be rejected for their unfair or unflattering portraits of people, animals, personality traits, professions… you name it.

Though I’m not sure I understand why depicting builders as cowboys or as pigs is negative. I’m a fan of the book Cowboy Bunnies, for example, and I’ve never heard of labor groups objecting to this depiction of ranch hands as rabbits. Though I guess the standard image of a rabbit is positive (quick, spry, generous with chocolate eggs) and that of a pig is negative (fat, dirty, and, well, piggy). Although I’m told pigs are smart and clean and their bad reputation is undeserved.
Some of my favorite books lovingly skewer classic tales (The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig comes to mind) and/or feature kind, heroic and funny porkers (Olivia, Mo Willem’s new easy reader character Piggy, the uninvited guests in Pigs A Plenty, Pigs Galore, Babe the Sheep Pig and, of course, Wilbur come to mind). I don’t really see why kids, regardless of their religion, should be shielded from them.

So here’s what this Perl says: Let there be swine.

PARENTS: What book do YOU find offensive and why?

Big Surprise: No Big Surprise!

2008-01-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

As announced by the American Library Association at the crack of dawn this morning, the 2008 winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Awards are:

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, by Laura Amy Schlitz
(2008 Newbery Medal)

and

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick
(2008 Caldecott Medal)

These selections were predictable in their predictability (the committee likes ruffle feathers by plucking books from obscurity and the Newbery Award winner this year was no exception to this rule... I can't tell you whether it is a deserving book -- though I'm guessing it is -- because I had never heard of it before this morning).

They were also predictably in their unpredictability (Selznick's extraordinary 500+ page illustrated novel, a favorite for the Newbery, is an unconventional choice for the Caldecott because the award usually goes to a picture book... this may even be the first time the award is going to a novel).

Which is pretty much how the process goes every year. As my pal Alison Morris, the famed bookseller/blogger, lamented recently here, the announcement of the awards triggers an immediate rush of booksellers to their phones to try to get back the very books they returned to the publishers the week earlier for insufficient sales. This will not likely be the case with Selznick's book, which sold well from the get-go.

What does all this this mean for parents who are trying to find good reads to place in the eager and not so eager hands of their kids? Well, look at the winners, but also look beyond...

A whole bunch of other honors and awards were handed out as well, including the award for the best early reader, the awards for the best books incorporating themes of disability and the Corretta Scott King Award. A lot of really interesting and diverse books got props, so check it out. You can read the full wrap up of award winners and their books here.

Plus, many libraries and schools run "Mock Caldecott" and "Mock Newbery" contests, which yield very interesting lists. Google these terms, or ask at your local library.

Guess Who's Visiting Today? Kimberly Willis Holt!

2007-12-20T09:23:00.000-08:00

You heard it here first, folks (well, maybe second - Pajamazon readers heard it first - but you all heard it from me). Here's my exclusive interview with the lovely and talented Kimberly Willis Holt:

Author Kimberly Willis Holt Gets Her Pajamazon!

by Erica Perl December 20, 2007

ESP: So, hi and welcome to Pajamazon. For those of you who are just tuning in, our guest today is Kimberly Willis Holt. She is a fabulous and versatile children’s book author who won the National Book Award for her novel WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN and who is here to talk about her new book, PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT. I had the pleasure of reading PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT this fall, after snagging an advance copy at the ALA conference. My 8 year old daughter actually read it first and loved it, so she was almost as excited as I was that Kimberly would be getting her pajamas on and visiting us here at Pajamazon. But enough about us. Let’s get to the interview. Hi, Kimberly. Welcome to Pajamazon.

KWH: Hi, Erica. It’s nice to be here.

ESP: Warm milk? Ovaltine?

KWH: Oh, gee. I do love chocolate, but I’m fine.

ESP: Okay, let’s talk about your new book, PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT. I know that the main character was inspired by your experience being a “Navy brat” as a child. In what ways do you think that kids who are not from military families will be able to relate to Piper and her family?

KWH: Well, even though Piper is a military kid, she’s wants some of the same things that other kids want. She wants friends. She wants to have fun. She wants a dog. On that level, most kids will be able to relate to her. Also, I hope they will have empathy for kids who have to move a lot.

ESP: When we moved it was a huge deal for my older daughter. I can see how readers might relate on that level.

KWH: I believe they will because I’ve already witnessed that empathy at a bookstore in the Atlanta area. The members of a mother and daughter book club were some of my first readers of PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT. The kids wanted to know if Piper was going to move in the next book. I asked, “Do you want her to move?” Together they said, “NO!” I loved that reaction because they related to what Piper would have to go through if she did have to move. They put themselves in her shoes. That’s what reading does for us. It lets us see the world through someone else’s eyes.

ESP: To what extent did the current war in Iraq affect your decision to write this book and this character?

KWH: None whatsoever. I’m a Navy brat and my editor had wanted me to explore that military childhood for over ten years. That was before the war. I never thought I would write about that because I thought it would be too close to truth to make it fiction. Then one day I heard a carefree voice that said, “I’ve lived everywhere.” That voice belonged to Piper. The book has an autobiographical framework. My dad was a Navy Chief. He served for twenty-one years. The year he retired from the Navy was the year that I graduated from high school. My entire childhood was spent as a military kid, moving all over the world. Like Piper, I’m one of three daughters. But I’m the oldest, not the middle child. So there are common threads.

ESP: Some of your Young Adult books deal with fairly weighty themes, like death, illness, rejection, and prejudice. I can’t help but wonder… are rockier waters ahead for Piper?

KWH: Piper Reed is a different sort of book for me. And though I hope it offers some depth, it is lighter and humorous than anything I’ve written before. I plan to keep it that way.

ESP: Okay, here’s a question on behalf of all Offsprungians who pursue or aspire to pursue creative pursuits while juggling diapers and daily domestic drama: Did you write when your daughter was young and, if so, how did your experience as a parent affect your writing?

KWH: Although it helps to have a young person at home, I’m most inspired by my own childhood. I started writing when my daughter was in first grade. I usually wrote from early morning until she was out of school for the day. But I’m ashamed to say there were times I wrote when I should have been doing more interacting with her. I think I squeezed five years of writing into those first eighteen months. But as guilty as I feel about that, my daughter says one thing she learned from me is to follow her bliss. Still there are those regrets on my part.

ESP: That’s great to hear about your daughter. I hope my kids feel the same way! What made you decide to go for it and pursue your writing? What advice can you give re: making these choices?

KWH: Since I was twelve I wanted to be a writer. I had a lot of encouragement in junior high, but in high school I allowed one teacher’s opinion of my writing to keep me from going after my dream. It wasn’t until I was 33 that I picked up a pen and started to write stories. But even those years that I wasn’t writing fiction, I wrote. I wrote in journals. I wrote long letters to family and friends. Words have always been a part of my life. When I finally started to go after my dream, I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me.

ESP: And it’s a good thing, too, because if you had, we wouldn’t have Piper. Or SKINNY BROWN DOG (my four year old’s favorite). Thank you so much for visiting us, Kimberly. And best of luck with PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT. I’m excited to hear that there’ll be more books about her.

KWH: You can count on it. Thanks for having me. It has been my great pleasure.

And that concludes our first guest author interview!

Oh, wait, I almost forgot. I promised we’d give away a book. Drum roll please….

And the winner is… paperbagshoes!

Her “pick me pick me” comment must have had some magic to it! Although I’m going to look into getting an extra copy sent to Mama to tha Max since she actually HAS navy brats… that should count for something, even in a random drawing! Thanks to everyone who commented and entered our drawing. Tune into Pajamazon for more book talk and interviews!

Not So Secret Santa

2007-12-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Scene: The bathtub, 7:00 p.m.

Me: So, tomorrow's the big day, huh? Your classroom holiday party with the secret santa presents?

Her Royal Highness, The Queen of Pre-K: Uh huh.

Me: I wonder who got you.

HRH: Rebecca.

Me: Rebec- Hey, wait, how do you know that?

HRH: She told me.

Me: O-kay. Does Sophie know that you have her?

HRH: Yes. I told her. Plus, she can read her name. And it's on her package.

Me: Did everyone in your class tell each other who they got?

HRH: I don't know. I think so.

Me: Did you tell Sophie what you got her?

HRH: (rolling her eyes at how dense adults can be) No, mom. It's a secret.

A Win-Win Situation!

2007-12-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

Check it out: over at Pajamazon, I'm hosting a guest author on Thursday, December 20th and, in honor of her visit, I'm giving away a copy of her book! And YOU could be the lucky winner. And even if you don't win, you'll get to learn all sorts of cool stuff about the fabulous Kimberly Willis Holt and her new book, PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT.

Read on (text lifted from Pajamazon):

In honor of the special guest we’re going to have here at Pajamazon later this week - Kimberly Willis Holt (who you may remember as the author of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD winner, WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN), we’re having a contest. Not a talent contest, or a swimsuit contest, mind you. A nice easy one - a random drawing! Kim is also the author of PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT and we are extremely excited that she has offered us a brand spanky new copy of PIPER REED to give to a lucky Pajamazon reader. I got an advance copy at the American Library Association conference a few months back and both my almost-eight year old and I enjoyed it a whole lot.

Here at Pajamazon, we’ve never done a give-away before, but frankly we’re wondering why not, since they seem pretty easy. All YOU have to do is fill in a comment to this post - about anything -and we’ll do the rest. “The rest” seems to involve putting your names on tiny slips of paper and pulling one out of a hat (how old school!).

We’ll do the drawing at 9 pm EST (or later if the kids won’t freaking settle down) on Wednesday, December 19th and announce our winner on December 20th, when Kim puts her pajamas on and joins us at Pajamazon.

SOOOOO, if you wanna win, go to Pajamazon and LEAVE A COMMENT (at Pajamazon, not here... although if you comment here, I'll likely put you in the hat anyway... I'm nice like that).

A List of Some of the Best Books I Didn't Write! Plus a Big Award for One I Did!

2007-12-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

This year, there was a bumper crop of good children's books, so I assembled a top ten list for Pajamazon at Offsprung.com... click HERE to read it in all its glory. My pal and co-blogger Diana Fischer also contributed her "ghosts of children's books' past" list so you actually get 20 great picks instead of ten!

Alas, I was unable to neurotically scan the "best of 2007" lists in search of my titles... because none of my books were released in 2007 (though I will have that pleasure in 2009 and 2010). Which is why I was more than a little surprised to be informed that I had won a major award this year.

Drum roll, please...

I have been awarded the Millerbury Medal!

Yes, you know, that other gold sticker. This one is better in some ways - for example, they inform you that you've won by telling you in person at a civilized hour. Also, it is awarded frequently (monthly, I'm told) so you get to be in good company with a LOT of very fine authors.

I'm going to take a picture of me, NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY (my Millerbury Medal winning book), the extremely cool Ms. Miller and her equally cool class of second grade students, all of whom voted for my book, and post it here.

So please check back soon!

This Year's Halloween Winners!

2007-10-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

Every year, I secretly award Best Costume prizes at my local elementary school, and then not so secretly report them on my blog. As evidenced by last year's winner (a first grader dressed as a greek salad... see my archives if you think I'm making this up), I have a strong preference for food-o-promorphic costumes.

This year, our winner is the lovely Akari, dressed - and accessorized to the hill - as sushi. Akari won extra points for her knitted heargear, which unfortunately resulted in some people mistaking her for a bunny. In fact, she is the shrimp in the maki roll, and the hat is the curly tail part of the shrimp. She is carrying chopsticks and soysauce and was last seen being chased by a boy dressed as wasabi. Okay, I made that last part up.

Congratulations, Akari!!!

This next photo is my favorite candid photo from this year's parade. It depicts a five year old Darth Vader giving sage advice to a five year old Harry Potter. "Listen good, Harry... some day you're going to need to know this."

And of course, every year our beloved principal, Scott Cartland, outdoes himself in the costume department. This year he dressed as Mr. Monopoly and handed out homemade chance cards with fortunes like "Lost five minutes of recess due to heated real estate discussion" and "Get out of detention free."

Can you imagine a better principal? Neither can I. Too bad he can't sell Park Place to raise the money to rebuild our defunct neighborhood library or add a second bathroom to our 500-kid facility. Not that I'm complaining...

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Good News, Bad News

2007-08-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

the bad news is: i broke my right arm. skating. with children. ill-advised attempt to recapture my ice-castles-wanna-be youth.

the good news is: you’ll get to enjoy my pal diana blogging in my place on Pajamazon, which would have been a two-week gig while i was on vaca but is now an extended til-i-get-the-cast-off run. she’s fun, she’s funny and she knows kids’ books. you may want to break my other arm to keep her around longer!

but please don’t!

When Steve Met Harry

2007-07-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

And, no, I’m not talking about the new Adam Sandler movie.

Here's Stephen Colbert channeling his inner twelve year old (like so many of us) instead of introducing his show:

Yes, that’s what I’m talking about, folks. If you want your kids to read, you need to show them that you’re a reader, too. So set a good example like Colbert, OK? Crack open that new book you’ve been dying to read - Harry Potter or otherwise - and let your kids fend for themselves for a few days. Just not near bodies of water (that includes swimming pools, tubs, and, heck, even sinks) or while driving them to camp.

This has been a public service announcement from Stephen Colbert and me.

Donny's... I mean, ERICA's ALA Antics

2007-06-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Want to know what I did at the American Library Association annual conference and what it has to do with Donny Osmond dressed as Joseph?

Go to Pajamazon and see for yourself!

Build Me Up, Buttercup

2007-06-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

To read about my dinner with David Macauley (okay, and a few other people... though we did sit at the same table!) at the National Building Museum, go to Pajamazon.

Right now, no dawdling.

Thank you!

Librarians Rock!

2007-06-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Please visit me at Pajamazon! to see my tribute to librarians that rock (in more ways than one).

And please tell your favorite librarian (or teacher or media specialist) to come visit me in person at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

At the ALA conference, I will be signing books at the Abrams booth (#1700) on Saturday, June 23 from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. I'll also have free classroom and activity guides, bookmarks and a squirrel on my head (see photo, previous post).

Rock on!

Attention ALA Early Birds!

2007-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

As you may have read on Pajamazon:

This coming Saturday (June 23, 2007) I will be attending the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Washington, DC and I will be signing books at the ABRAMS booth (”A-brams, beautiful A-brams, wonderful A-brams, I love you SO!” See? It does work to the Star Wars theme!), which is # 1700, from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. If you happen to swing by Starbucks first, I prefer dark roast coffee, milk, no sugar. Kidding! I mean, yes, that is my brew of choice, but I will be fully caffeinated so just bring yourself.

If you are coming to the conference it is is worth arriving early, not just because you’ll get to pick up one of my books and have me personally sign it. There’s all sorts of good swag available and the best stuff goes fast (I’m particularly fond of my TIME FOR NEW UNDERPANTS tote bag from last year’s BEA). In addition to books, I will have copies of the excellent NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY classroom and storytime activity guide (a big hit with librarians and teachers, I’ll have you know) and some really cute new bookmarks if the printer fulfills its promises. Good printer, nice printer.

So come on by and say hi! I won’t bite and neither will the squirrel on my head. He is a stuffie, as my kids would be quick to inform you, so he’s safe.

I Want My Pajamazon!

2007-06-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today I am posting my blog entry on Pajamazon and not here (since Offsprung launched and I started writing Pajamazon, I have been double-posting, which seems likely to win me a lovely case of carpal tunnel syndrome). It is a fun entry about a great book I just read: A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT, by Linda Urban (who should be named Linda Rural, since she lives in Vermont... and I am allowed to make that joke because I grew up in Vermont). Check it out here.

Also, check out the rest of Offsprung. There are some great columns (I particularly like Huxtabled, the tv column, and Zooglobble, the music column, plus I love The Cleaver and Meconium and everything Neal writes... you just can't go wrong on our site!) and a new chatting feature called The Playground which seems very cool and has the excellent slogan "Use Your Words." And if you like Pajamazon, which is my children's books column, tell your friends and bookmark it and add it to your feed reader of choice and send me comments and all that good stuff.

OK, so get yer Pajamazon and I'll see you there!

Brits Get There First, Again!

2007-06-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

No word yet on who will be the U.S.A.’s first “children’s literature ambassador” but the U.K. has just named its fifth children’s laureate: Michael Rosen, author of Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, a rare picture book willing to explore and embrace the darker side of children’s emotional range, among other titles.

Rosen was appointed to the post at a ceremony in London this morning. Rosen received a £10,000 (about $20,000) stipend for the post, which he holds for the next two years.

Following illustrator Quentin Blake and authors Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo and the current children’s laureate, Jacqueline Wilson, Rosen is the first poet to become children’s laureate. Rosen has set his mission as children’s laureate to make poetry as accessible as possible. “I think poetry for children needs to be saved from the cold dissection table of right and wrong answers and put back into rooms and halls full of wonder, compassion, haunting, laughter, music and rhythm,” said Rosen.

Rosen first poetry collection, Mind Your Own Business, was published in 1974, and he has since published more than 140 books including poetry, picture books and nonfiction; his next is a biography of Roald Dahl. His classic picture book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, won the Nestle Smarties Grand Prize (now there’s an award I’d love to win - yum! plus dig the double ententre in winning The Smartie Prize!) in 1989. In addition to his writing, Rosen is well-known for his work as a live performer, broadcaster, teacher and critic. He is a familiar radio voice in the U.K., where he regularly hosts BBC radio programs.

Apparently, we’ll finally get our own American version of the children’s laureate in January, 2008. Not that we’ll be able to catch up with those cheeky Brits, who will forever be five (and a half!) appointments ahead of us.

Still, this one is very deserved, so heartiest congratulations to Rosen.

Likes: Eating Dirt, Selling Books

2007-06-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

This just in. Charlesbridge publishing has created a myspace page AND a youtube video for its two new picture book characters, Wiggle and Waggle.

Which many well be a first for fictional earthworms (please let me know if I’m wrong about this). According to the book’s promotional copy, these two “wormy best friends” like to dig in the dirt and “have fun swimming and singing.” Apparently, “beginning readers will dig the simple science facts” in the book.

Get it? DIG? They’re worms? Wow, that kind of joke is going to win lots of friends at myspace.

Sorry for the sarcasm. My emotions are somewhere between “now there’s a prime example of marketing going way beyond the bounds of sense” and “geez, I wish I’d thought to do that for my picture books!”

Meanwhile, I couldn’t seem to get the video to work. I called in my seven year old for a tech consult and while she was able to make my computer play several Hannah Montana youtube snippets, Wiggle and Waggle’s screen remained dark.

Unless that is how it is supposed to look. I mean, they do live underground.

Anyway, I’m going to post the clip on pajamazon (my blog away from blog). Please let me know if you get it to play (and, if so, if it is any good).

Take a Number, David Copperfield.

2007-06-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, the classics just have to wait.

Or so says Barnes and Noble, which shoved Dickens and Dostoevsky aside last night to make room for a new classic: my friend Jennifer Oko's "sleek, sly and irresistibly dishy" new novel, GLOSS. This was a photo op I could not resist: the tower of GLOSS threatening to topple and crash all over the cornerstones of Western Literature.

Plus it was the first time I'd attended an event there that did not involve BYOSC (bring your own sippy cup). It was sort of an "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" moment. In Barnes and Noble at a book reading held after dark, nobody knows you're a mom. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Even more embarrassing for the masters (the shame, the shame), their books languished with their "Buy Two Get One Free" promo stickers whereas GLOSS was flying off the shelf at full retail price.

Of course, none of the masters were alive (much less living in the greater Washington area) to give book readings, which tend to lead to spikes in sales. But that's not really the point. For the moment... and it was just a moment, for as Jen signed her last book the GLOSS display was moved away from the classics... Jen was able to be the embodiment of the new literary guard. Alive, radiant, bursting with energy and new life (she's about to have a baby any second now), wielding a feisty, witty pen and taking no prisoners!

I'd like to think that the masters, many of whom were rebels of their own times, would have been proud.

Top Ten Things I Learned at BEA 2007

2007-06-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I said I wasn't going to go this year (and despite the fact that, as a result of that statement, my publisher did not arrange any book signings), I went to Book Expo America, otherwise known as BEA, last weekend.

BEA took place in NY this year, at the Javitz Center. I had not been to the Javitz Center since I took the NY Bar Exam in it some ten or more (okay, more) years ago. Walking in the door brought a rush of bar exam flashbacks - I have to go to the bathroom but I don't have tiiiiiimmmmmeee! - but I quickly quashed them (see, there's a bit of residual legalese) and strode deeper into Javitz's bowels.

I was only at BEA for 24 hours this year, but I learned many things that I figured my readers might enjoy knowing. So, here you go. Don't say I never gave you anything.

1) There's no such thing as a free book. Okay, that's not actually true: at BEA, like all book conferences, there are LOTS of free books. And candy and bookmarks and tote bags... BUT you have to carry it all, which is where you pay the price. My shoulders are now killing me, which suggests that being your own sherpa is perhaps not that wise. Hey, wait, that sounds like something else I learned...

2) Being your own sherpa is not wise. If you attend a book conference, bring one big bag (I highly recommend the gi-cundo tote I got from IKEA) and stop picking up free books when - or ideally, before - you lose feeling in your fingers.

3) If you don't already have a My Space page, it is too late. Apparently, all good writers have them already, so if you get one now you are not only coming to the party late, you are admitting to the highly attuned other My Spacers that you are a total poseur who is only jumping on the My Space bandwagon because some panel at BEA told you to (wait, let me understand this... did a panel on My Space just tell me why My Space is preemptively rejecting me?).

4) But, haha, you may just get the last laugh. Um, My Space? It just dawned on me that if there's a BEA panel about you, you may have officially jumped the shark. Which means that I just have to figure out what not-yet-invented website will be the trendsetting thang when my young adult novel comes out in early 2009.

5) No matter how much you read, it is not enough. Chagrined though I am to admit it, I now have to go back and read some of the books that came before the books I just picked up, like Grace Lin's Year of the Dog (Year of the Rat) and Charise Mericle Harper's Just Grace (Still Just Grace). Thank goodness I already read Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl (Love, Stargirl) and Judy Blume's The Pain and The Great One (Soupy Saturdays with The Pain and The Great One) or I would feel completely out of the loop.

6) Impatient though you might be with wordless books, the truly great ones are sublime. I am speaking of Sarah Varon's Robot Dreams. I cannot say enough about this amazing nearly wordless graphic novel. It is so funny, so perfect, so hauntingly sweet, it pains me. And I applaud Neal Porter for publishing it, as it is a book that so many publishers would just plain not get or not see the commercial point of.

7) $3.00 for water is highway robbery, no matter how you slice it.

8) Even if Markus Zusak wasn't so durned cute, he'd probably sell a couple zillion books. I'm apparently the last person on earth to read The Book Thief (Alison Morris recommended it to me over a year ago, mea culpa, Alison!) and so my expectations are quite unrealistic but even so it is off to a pretty good start.

9) Ditto Watt Key. Boys, if you want to impress the ladies but you don't have an Australian accent, try an Alabama one.

10) The best thing about book conferences is not books. Not even free books. It is book people, real book people. Call me a big sap, but I gotta say: all this shmoozing and awarding and book-plugging is fun, but the best moment was when James Howe accepted his E.B. White Award and talked about the simple joy of writing to a room full of people who nodded because they knew exactly what he was talking about. Which made all the craziness of needing to sell, sell, sell and put up pages on random websites in the hopes of "meeting" "friends" who might "buy" your book and all those hallmarks of the digital age. Made me just want to run home and get a, what are those things called? Oh, right, a pen. And take it and start writing.

Which I will do.

Really.

Just as soon as I finish typing this blog entry.

Oh, hey, before I forget, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards were just announced. Congrats to my pal Tobin (M.T. Anderson), whose novel Octavian Nothing took home an award (to add to its pile, notwithstanding the fact that many-including the author himself-aren't entirely convinced that this should be categorized as a "kids" rather than an adult book).

Although, as John Green stated this past weekend in his NYT Review of Laurie Halse Anderson (no relation to M.T. Anderson)'s new young adult novel, Twisted: So, no, this is not a book for children. Of course it isn’t. These days, hardly any worthwhile book on the young adult shelves is.

And another thing: go to pajamazon (my blog on offsprung.com) and check out my new banner. Cool, huh?

Things that make you go BLEAHHH!

2007-05-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you saw a really, REALLY bad movie?

Last weekend? Hey, me too!

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (aka P-Cab Three) and it was SO completely and totally horrendous that it rocketed to the top of my worst movies of all time list (bumping Casper starring Christina Ricci from the number one spot it has held for over a decade and shifting A.I. down to spot number three). Seriously, the movie was awful in every way. And for the record I liked P-Cab One and Two. And I'll watch pretty much anything with Johnny Depp, whose career I've championed since his 21 Jump Street days.

Anyone? 21 Jump Street?

Okay, now I feel old.

Anyhow, when I got home from the movies, I eagerly pulled out The New Yorker and the NY Times. I feel that the only thing that mitigates wasting time and money on bad things (entertainment, literature, meals) is reading that professional critics agree with me. That’s probably pretty universal – who doesn’t get a real charge out of having her contempt vindicated? It’s like when your friend dates some guy you can’t stand and then a mutual friend confesses that he annoys her to. It’s that feeling of thank you! I love it.

Well, no thank you! The New Yorker refused to weigh in. Well, at least it has so far… though I’m still holding out hope that Anthony Lane trashes it… he did such a fine job reviewing Pirates Two. But get this: The NYT actually kind of praised it. I mean, the praise was lukewarm, but they didn’t state the obvious: This Film Sucked. What’s more, the NYT followed up its review with a gushing article about how the film had pulled in more than $400 million dollars in less than a week.

That’s right: More than $400 million dollars in less than a week.

Apparently, tens of millions of people did not do as I did and call to warn their friends while still standing under the theatre marquis. It’s possible – difficult though it might be for me to fathom - that some of them might even have liked it.

Am I this out of sync with popular opinion?

Apparently, I am. At least when it comes to Hollywood blockbusters. But children’s books… hmmm… I like to think I have my finger on the pulse of quality or lack thereof in that arena.

Or do I?

To find out, I went straight to the source of all information. Google. As Gene Weingarten reported this week in his reliably hilarious Washington Post magazine column, there is very little that does not exist on the internet. My search term: I hate Rainbow Fish.

The news? People, I am not alone.

Yes, thank you!, it turns out that lots and lots of people hate Rainbow Fish as much as I do! Not perhaps as many people as hate Rachel Ray, but quite a few. As you probably know, The Rainbow Fish is a children’s book by Swiss author Marcus Pfister. It is about this fish with sparkly scales whose friends hate him for being pretty and bully him into giving away his scales until he looks like he has fin rot. I hate everything about it: the cheesy shiny art, the fact that it is a “message” book, the content of the message, the inept plot and, now that I am a published author, the fact that the author’s last name starts with a PF so the stupid Rainbow Fish swims right next to my books on many a shelf.

Here are some of the 173 Amazon reviews:

The book is so bad, destructive, immoral, and wrong that I have trouble figuring out where to start.

To give this 'book' to a child should be considered abuse.

Why isn't there a zero star option? (from a reviewer who gave it a single star out of a possible five)

It is unclear how this managed to get published in the first place.

Okay, thank you! Yes!

After reading negative review after negative review, with a few positive ones interspersed (hey, positive reviewers, have I got a movie for you!) I was feeling really great. Really, really vindicated.

Until I noticed something else on the Rainbow Fish’s Amazon page:

84% of people who viewed the page bought the book anyway.

Do you hate The Rainbow Fish? Did you also hate Pirates of the Caribbean Three? Omigod, we’re soulmates! Okay, all kidding aside, is there a kids’ book that you hate even though everyone else seems to love it? Give me your two cents. Or better yet, give me back the nine dollars and fifty cents I spent on P-Cab Three!

WE - Okay, HE - WON!!!

2007-05-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

This is Mike Lester, better known as Rome, Georgia's beloved editorial cartoonist and even better known in certain circles as The Inspired Illustrator of my book, NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY. You know, the guy who drew all those wonderful wacky pictures of the penguin who wants to drive, the armadillos with the watches, the twenty-seven owls, Bernice the pygmy hippo, Ed the gerbil and all the other family members in my book.

Well, this past weekend, Mike got some well-deserved accolades for his work. He donned a penguin suit (see photo) and accepted a Reuben Award, bestowed annually by the National Cartoonists Society, for Best Illustrated Book. And the book that was named Best Illustrated Book was none other than NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY!

Yay, Mike! You totally deserved this honor. Your illustrations captured the book's spirit in ways I couldn't even have imagined. To this day, I can open the book and find new details I haven't noticed. Details that often make me laugh out loud. Details that excite and amuse pretty much every child in every school I visit with the book. Details that work so well with my words I can't believe we've only communicated by pen and keyboard.

I am one lucky author, that's for sure.

It Pays To Be "Nice."

2007-05-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

In this photo, try to find my agent, Carrie Hannigan. Here's a hint: she's somewhere near the beautiful bouquet of peonies I sent her to say thanks for - ahem - SELLING MY FIRST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL, FOLLOWING THE NAIL!!!

Yup, Harcourt has acquired FOLLOWING THE NAIL, which is scheduled for a Spring 2009 pub date. (Hey, how cool. A book of the post-Bush era! Unless, god forbid, his idiot brother joins the race. Okay, let's not even go there.) Now, where was I?

Oh, yes. FOLLOWING THE NAIL. It's about a smart, sarcastic girl named Veronica who takes a summer job at a vintage clothing store - based on Cambridge, MA's fabulous store The Garment District, where I researched the book! - to avoid peers who persecute her and ends up drawn into an emotional tug of war between two cruel yet charismatic older girls and a very bizarre boy. It is a book about trusting others and trusting your own heart, and how terrifying this can be if you've been burned before. I really, really love it, but I confess I'm kind of biased.

Carrie also reported to me that Publishers Marketplace, the web-hive of book industry buzz, just made note of my book deal, reporting that Picture Book author Erica Perl sold her first Young Adult novel to Gretchen Hirsch at Harcourt in a nice deal. I liked this sound of that. It is a nice deal, I thought to myself happily! But then I realized that the phrase a nice deal sounded less like a compliment and more like industry code. I pressed Carrie to explain, so she did:

"Nice Deal" means under $50K; "Very Nice Deal" means $50K to $100K; "Good Deal" means $100K to $250K; "Significant Deal" means $250K to $500K; and last but by definition not least "Major Deal" means $500K and up.

Oh.

Suddenly, I felt less "nice" and more "insignificant." In fact, I felt downright "minor."

So I made up my own amendments to the code. For future reference, "Not-so-bad deal" is $5K-10K, "Just okay deal" is $3K-$4.9K, "Mildly embarrassing deal" is $1.5-$2.9K and "Painful deal" is $1K-1.4K.

Oh yes, and I almost forgot "truly pathetic deal." That's when you pay them to publish your book (not to be confused with self-publishing, which is totally respectable in my book if your book is good enough... as is the case with my friend Rhoda Trooboff's delightful book Ben, The Bells and The Peacocks).

And in case you were wondering, Carrie is BEHIND the flowers! See?

Yeah, I told her not to quit her day job. She's a great agent but she's not ready to give Where's Waldo a run for his money.

Very Little Red Riding Hood, Even Less About The Wolf

2007-05-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

In today's New York Times, there's this article about Orion Books publishing what they like to call "pared down classics." That is, newly edited versions of classic books, including Moby Dick, Anna Karenina and David Copperfield. The Times then asked several literary luminaries - including Offsprung's own Neal Pollack - to weigh in on which classics they felt should be whittled.

Had the Times asked me - not that I'm bitter that they went to Neal first, mind you -they might have been surprised to find that I can rattle off several classic picture books that could benefit from a flourish of red pen. Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that these books be altered now. Heck, I scowl when they reissue classic children's books with new art, even good art. James and the Giant Peach comes to mind. It was reissued in two different editions, one with art by Lane Smith and another with art by Quentin Blake, despite the fact that the original art by Nancy Ekholm Burkert was sublime. But I digress...

Here's the point. Many of the so-called children's book classics practically beg parents to skip pages while reading aloud. Look no further than good old Curious George if you need an example. In Curious George Flies a Kite, there are baby bunnies, a fat guy fishing, and all sorts of irrelevant events before a kite even enters the narrative. The Poky Little Puppy? Good Lord. There are about ten extraneous dawdling trips home from the hill before Mama gets wise. And don't even get me started on Dr. Seuss. Many of his books are sheer perfection, it's true. And some are so charming that they are worth hanging in for even when the energizer bunny of children's books keeps going and going (e.g. The Sleep Book, my all-time Seuss favorite, and Horton Hears a Who). But if you want to see what I'm really talking about, take If I Ran the Circus or And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street out for a spin. You'll run out of gas looooong before the good doctor gets mid-way through these yarns.

I know I'm probably going to get a lot of grief for taking this position, especially about Dr. Seuss. The fourteen people who reviewed If I Ran The Circus on Amazon and who each gave it five stars - one guy claimed he read it aloud to his wife when his kids "begged him to stop" - will certainly disagree with me.

What can I say? I call 'em like I see 'em.

And now, so can you: What classic kids' books do YOU wish had a couple fewer pages? Or seem like their meandering plots went unchecked at press time?

Hey Baybeeee... And Kid Expo!

2007-05-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

I think this photo speaks volumes about my trip to York, PA to read and sign books at the Baby and Kid Expo. The cup on the right is the cup from my drive there and the cup on the left (Mr. Fry-head, trying to hit on Miss Mermaid) is from my drive back.

I should've known that people attending this event did not come to buy books. Especially books not featuring Elmo, Dora or any other two-syllable character popular enough to be emblazoned on diapers. Don't get me wrong: my kids have been smitten with the heavily merchandised characters, too. But I fought the good fight to out-number them with children's book characters that did not suffer from overexposure in the popular media. Like the characters in my books, for example.

I'm just going to come out and say it: this event was kind of sad.

Not just because I sold far fewer books than I usually do, which is sad enough when you've begged your husband to skip his Ultimate Frisbee game and watch the kids and put 180 miles on the car. It was sad because there was such a colossal lack of appreciation for the kinds of things that I think matter for babies and kids. Quality health care, quality education - including good quality illustrated books - and quality support for working parents. I watched people breeze past the nurse at the Breast Feeding Kiosk to sign up to win prizes like wipe-warmers and other utterly useless baby gear. Sure, many of the people at this event were poor, or at least low-income. Winning baby gear probably sounded pretty good, as did books priced at $4.99, as many of the Elmo titles were. But the whole event had a really depressing feeling I couldn't quite put my finger on. Sure, the false cheer of the baby industry - and all the ugly goods that masquerade as cute - is a turn-off, but it was more than that.

As I drowned my sorrows in a big Mr. Fry-head-sized (aka "small") coke, it came to me. There was no sense of aspiration or ambition in the air. People did not bring their children over to meet an author because that was a cool learning experience. They didn't seem to care and neither did their kids. They were there for the free balloons, the free lollipops, the chance to kick a few stroller tires and maybe win a prize or get a deal on some handpainted craft items. That was about it, and that was O-K. Okay?

Usually, when I sign books or read my books, parents and kids swarm or at least flit around a bit. The kids want to ask me questions, want to pet the stuffed animals I bring along, want to tell me about their favorite books and characters. The parents want to find out about writing and publishing children's books.

There was none of that.

It was a long morning. Parents hurried their kids by me, like I was some sort of strange perverted creature - The Author - and dragged them to the moon bounce or the karate demonstration instead. A karate-kicking hamster and cat duo drew a better crowd than I did and they ran on batteries.

There was one hopeful moment for me. When a man with a bright red goatee and an unironic trucker hat thumbed through The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I overheard a young woman point at the book and say to him, "He was here this morning. It was awesome!"

"Eric Carle was here?" I asked, surprised at this possibility but impressed by her gush of enthusiasm for children's literature, the first I'd heard all day.

She stared at me, confused.

"Who?" she said.

"Eric Carle," I repeated, pointing at the cover. "He wrote and illustrated the book."

"Oh," she said flatly. Then her voice brightened again. "No, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was here! He had all these cute little feet, so he had to take these real tiny steps so the whole thing didn't fall over. The kids loved it."

Bartender? Yeah, that Mr. Fry-head drink? Make it a double.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

I just want to take this opportunity to wish a Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom, Elly Perl. She (along with my dad, who'll have to wait until June to get his toast-of-a-post) has always been my biggest fan: of my creative work, my jokes, my kids... even my blog (early posts were written directly to her, since she was the only one who read it!). Call me a big sap, but I just gotta say, on this most Hallmark of days: I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day, too, to the Other Mothers (and grandmothers) in my life. I'm blessed with quite a few: my husband's terrific mother, Maryann (now doesn't that sound better than "my mother-in-law"), my incredibly creative aunts, Emily (of Sesame Street fame!) and Sue (school art guru), my aptly named Grandma Dearie (grower of champion tomatoes, bridge wizard, and world-class collector of rubber bands), my husband's great-aunt Mary (painter and hand-sewer of toys and doll-clothes for my kids)... and there are more, lucky duck that I am in this particular department...

And then there's all the fabulous moms I hang out with... especially my oldest, dearest mommy pals. The ones I met in a new moms group when Franny was a tadpole, who tried hard not to hate me when I bragged about her wonderful early sleep habits... then proved themselves to be truly exceptional by never rubbing my face in it when Franny suddenly decided to become a terrible sleeper (which she still is to this day). Though my new(er) mom pals are pretty fabulous, too!

And I can't forget to mention Anna, my brother's wife and mom to my niece, the lovely Miss Ruthie (formerly known as Baby Ruth and pictured to the left of my girls).

So, pedicures and drinks all around, okay?

To Mom!

Chicken Hat Wearers, Unite!

2007-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, it gets a little lonely wearing the chicken hat.

Which is why I am always thrilled to learn that I Am Not Alone!

This photo comes to us all the way from Israel! My friends Jan and Ran (pronounced Ron, to avoid an overdose of rhyming cuteness) have a daughter called Omi (short for Naomi) and she apparently loves her chicken hat so much she wears it to the beach, the falafel stand, the kibbutz (okay, I'm grasping at straws here, as I'm not sure where she's toiling with her plastic wheelbarrow in this photo), everywhere!

Way to go, Omi! I'm crowing with pride!

Bougie's Top Ten "Storytapes"

2007-05-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

In our house, all audiobooks are called storytapes.

Book on CD? Storytape.

Book on i-pod? Storytape.

Book on tape? Well, you get the picture.

Since Bougie is now three-going-on-not-napping, storytapes are particularly important in her life. And mine. Because every day that she's not at preschool around 1 pm, I read her a couple of books, then pop in a storytape and shut the door. And we both get a break for about an hour. Sometimes she sleeps. Increasingly she doesn't. But it doesn't matter - all I need to get through the rest of the day is that hour.

Yeah, I could turn on the TV for her. Lord knows there's better programming for preschoolers now than any other time in the history of television. But I prefer to sock away that privilege for times when I really need it (say, when both kids are climbing the walls and dinner is not cooking itself). And the truth is: she LOVES her storytapes.

I'm not talking about those book-and-tape sets, by the way. I'm talking looooooong, long-winded narration of dense tales. I think she just kind of stares at the ceiling and bugs out. I'm pretty sure she follows the narrative (particularly after repeated listenings), because she'll happily discuss them with you.

At any rate, following the lead of my fellow offsprung blogger, Stefan (of Zooglobble fame), whose top-50 list of children's songs kept my toes tapping, I proudly offer Bougie's Top Ten Storytapes List. I'll count 'em down in future posts, and I'd welcome suggestions from any readers whose under-five year olds are also audiophiles.

Without Further Ado: NUMBER TEN IS....

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

(note: we have it on CD, but Amazon only seems to carry the cassette... I'm not sure if this is the same recording) This longish tale, one of the more obscure-ish works of the inimitable Roald Dahl, is about a boy who befriends a team comprised of a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey who clean windows. Together, they go to the palace, clean windows, stop a burglary and live happily ever after in ways quite specific to their characters. A lovely tale, well read (with nice incidental music, too).

Tune in here, or on my new offsprung blog, Pajamazon, for future installments.

Kid Lit Konspiracy Kapers

2007-05-08T07:49:00.000-07:00

In my recent Pajamazon post re: Al Roker’s new Book Club for Kids, I scrupulously avoided the whole issue of the project’s underwriting.

Which is to say that the Book Club is sponsored by Scholastic and, hey, what a co-winky-dink, the first title selected is a Scholastic title! I was just going to keep my mouth shut about that and focus on Al Roker’s lack of kid book credentials and sudden Jenna-Bush-like desire to cannonball into the swimming pool of children’s literature because, like, it’s fun and, hey, look at me!

But I can keep silent in the face of conspiracy no longer.

Here’s why (see Exhibit A, above):

Yes, it’s a pair of kids’ pajamas bearing images from the children’s book ELLA THE ELEGANT ELEPHANT. They’re made by a company called Books To Bed for the catalog and online merchant cwdkids. When I saw them, doting parent and shrewd merchandiser that I am, I immediately called the company and got their buyer on the phone (no, I’m not that great at working my way up the chain of command. they seem to be an extremely small company, despite the fact that their catalog comes flying through our mailslot about every other day).

I pitched them my brilliant idea: Pajamas based on MY book, CHICKEN BEDTIME IS REALLY EARLY, which happens to have the perfect images printed on the book’s endpages… lovely little chickens, rabbits, sheep and frogs in nightcaps, all ready for bed. What child wouldn’t love these jammies? I offered to order two (heck, make it FOUR!) pairs on the spot, just to prove how successful these little numbers would be.

Politely, the buyer declined. I could send her my book, of course, and she’d take a look. But decisions about which books would be immortalized on flame-retardant cotton long johns would be based on book sales, primarily.

That’s great, I told her. CHICKEN BEDTIME is in its fifth printing now, and…

But it was clear she wasn’t listening any more. The conversation ended soon after she called me “a firecracker” (I think this was a compliment) and wished me well in my future endeavors. Come to think of it, she started to tune me out right around when I answered her question about the name of my publisher.

My publisher, which is not Scholastic.

The whole thing seemed a little fishy, so I dug a little deeper on the cwdkids website. Sure enough, three titles were chosen for pajamification: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (OK, Jane Yolen can do no wrong, and this one seems like bonafide pajama fodder, what with the words “dinosaur” and “good night” in the title, plus Mark Teague’s illustrations are terrific), Good Boy, Fergus (what exactly does this book have to do with bedtime? and did it really sell so great?) and the aforementioned Ella (ditto my Fergus grumblings). Hmmm? What do all these books have in common?

Terrific, adorable, kid-pleasing characters? Maybe…

Impressive sales figures? Perhaps…

Or, could it be…

Yup, they’re all published by Scholastic.

Just wait. By next fall, I have no doubt cwdkids will be unveiling a new pajama style. With images of yet another cuddly, kid-pleasing character brought to you by Scholastic:

Al Roker.

Seven Year (Old) Itch

2007-05-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Scene: Bedtime, our house

Franny: Mom? There's this kid at my school, named Phillip, I think? He had cancer and he lost all his hair? But it grew back and now it's all, like, golden and spiky?

Me: Oh?

Franny: Oh, wait. Not cancer. Lice.

Whither Thou Goes, Al Roker

2007-05-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

When Neal Pollack (Mr. Alternadad himself) asked me to write a blog about children’s books (ones that I didn’t write) for the EXCITING NEW PARENTING WEBSITE offsprung.com, I was a little nervous. Okay, a lot nervous.

I mean, yeah, I guess I know a thing or two about children’s books. They’re my lifelong passion AND my bread and butter AND the main way I coax my increasingly wriggly kids back into my lap. But still, there are sooo many other folks already putting out excellent blogs about kids’ books (shelftalker, fuse # 8, seven impossible things before breakfast, book buds, planetesme, big a little a, librarianne… to name but a few)…. It’s a big book-blogging world after all. Who needs me?

But that was before Al Roker entered the kids’ literature scene.

Now, okay, I know this is shooting fish in a barrel (or, let’s see, what’s a good analogy… like getting a weatherman, um, wet?) but where does Al Roker get off proclaiming himself King of Kid Lit? I mean, Oprah, maybe. But Al Roker? I’m not even going to go off on the whole marketing-boondoggle-for-Scholastic aspect of the whole thing. I’m just wondering if someone over there couldn’t get LeVar Burton and just figured, well, maybe Al Roker is close enough? I mean, he’s an author, right? What child hasn’t read Al Roker’s Big Bad Book of Barbeque (spoiler alert: it ends badly for the three little pigs!).

But let’s back up for a second. Maybe I’m not being fair to Al. Apparently, two of his kids are five and eight, so he’s probably familiar with giving a certain pig a certain pancake and how much Little Nut-Brown Hare’s old man can one-up him before bedtime. I suppose there’s even a chance he’s read my books (and if he wants to feature them on his book club, well, then that’s too darned… gosh, do you think he might?!!) I recently read that he even toiled in obscurity as an illustrator before making it in his fall-back field of weathermanning. That’s (To-Think-That-I Saw-It-On-Mulberry-)street cred if I ever heard it. Plus, “Al” is a really classic children’s book name. Think A Girl Called Al, Al Capone Does My Shirts, and, of course, Andrew Clements’ Big Al.

So, I’m not going to predict (get it? like a weatherman!) whether Al Roker will shine or get soggy in his new role.

I’m just going to take a deep breath and say, if Al can do it, so can I.

And just to get all nutsy-boltsy about it, you can watch me do it here OR on offsprung.com (click on my blog, titled PAJAMAZON, and bookmark it too, while you're at it!). I'll also post some stand alone stuff here about stuff that is fascinating but perhaps is a bit too off topic. So check both places, okay?

Will the real ERICA PERL please stand up?

2007-05-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked up at the sky, maybe while wearing your Mickey Mouse ears and sorcerer's apprentice hat, and wondered if somewhere else in the world, there might be another person JUST LIKE YOU?

Have you ever then gone to the computer, googled your name, and found out that, YES INDEED, there is another person with your very same name - same spelling and everything - living in the very same country as you? Okay, maybe that's not so thrilling if your name is Jane Smith, but if your name is ERICA PERL, it is pretty cool!

I wish I could say it happened to me. But it didn't. It happened to THE OTHER ERICA PERL!

That's right. Meet Erica J. Perl (we're pals now, so I can just call her "J"), age 8. She was quite surprised to learn that there was another ERICA PERL and that this other ERICA PERL (Erica S. Perl, that is: me) is a writer and author of kids' books.

Armed with this astonishing information, J summoned up her courage and sent me a charming e-mail (from her dad's e-mail account) and I rewarded this effort with an autographed copy of NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY. J received the book this weekend and wrote me another lovely note, thanking me and telling me that the book came to Sunday School and soccer with her (and helped her team win a 4-3 victory - nicely done!). She is looking forward to bringing it to school so her teacher, Mrs. Garn, can read it to the class. Hi, everyone in Mrs. Garn's class!

SO, if you are also a member of the highly exclusive MY NAME IS ERICA PERL club (remember, that's Erica with a "C" and Perl with no "A" or extra "E"), please send me a note and you too can join us in pen-pal-dom!

And if your name is Ericka Pearle or Eriqua Peel or Erikkuh Perool, write too because I might just make an exception and let you in anyway.

If it's okay with J, that is!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Babies!

2007-05-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

As you no doubt know, I'll be reading and signing books on Saturday, May 12, 2007 from 12:30 - 2 pm at the BABY AND KIDS EXPO in York, PA. Now, I'm reason alone to attend this fine event. However, if you need an additional reason to go (and arrive early), look no farther:

"Get ready, get set and crawl! Memorial Hospital is sponsoring its second annual Diaper Derby as part of the Baby and Kids Expo on Saturday, May 12 at the York Expo Center (Memorial Hall East).The Derby will begin at 11 a.m. During the Derby, children will compete by crawling from one end of a mat to the other. There will be co-ed heats of five to 10 children.The derby is open to children who are 13 months old or younger as of May 12 and are not yet walking.The winner will receive a $100 savings bond. Pre-registration is required and participation is limited to the first 100 children. The official rules and entry form can be found atwww.mhyork.org under the Baby and Kids Expo link."

Yup, a Diaper Derby, then me and my books. How very "Puppet Show and Spinal Tap" is that?

Of course, if anyone can loan me a baby, I'm game to enter. I mean, come on - a hundred dollar savings bond? That's worth pitting your youngster Pamper-to-Pamper, right?

And may the best bottom win!

Live from the Bethesda Literary Festival...

2007-04-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

From L-R, that's Rob Clark (author of HOMECOMING), Jackie Urbanovic (author-illustrator of DUCK AT THE DOOR), me, and Susan Stockdale (author-illustrator of CARRY ME! and fellow Children's Book Guild member). We're reading, signing and wearing squirrels on our heads (well, one of us is... you'll never guess who) at the Bethesda Literary Festival.

Alas, this meant we had to be in the basement of the Bethesda Barnes and Noble on the first gorgeous day of spring, but what can you do? Many kids found us there, and fun was had by all. Plus I got to meet Jackie Urbanovic, whose DUCK, Max, is about the cutest guy in webbed feet to waddle across my path in ages. If you have not already checked him (or any of the characters in Jackie's other terrific illustrated books) out yet, you definitely should.

Manatee!!!

2007-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know it is a little hard to see (manatees live in the water, duh!) BUT that large object taking up about 2/3rds of the frame is in fact a manatee. In the SW quadrant you see its back, then in the NW quadrant you see the back of its neck (do they have necks?) and head, and then in the NE you see the snout part (just the the right of the center of the frame, facing East-ish) and then in the SE, you see one flipper. See? This photo was taken as Mr. or Ms. Manatee surfaced within five feet of us after inspecting our kayak rudders. This manatee and about five others hung out with us for the better part of an hour, noshing on plant life and, you know, coming up for air and stuff.

I would still be out there now, if I didn't have folks waiting for us back on dry land. And books waiting for me to sign at the Sanibel Island Bookshop... oops! Til we meet again, sea cows... gotta go!

If you can't see what I'm talking about in the photo, then march yourself straight to Captiva Kayak Co., where naturalists Greg and Barb will show you what's what in the manatee-filled waters of the Gulf Coast. Top the experience off with a scoop or two of Queenie's homemade ice cream (try the key lime sorbet!) and you will know that your dream has indeed come true!

A Place Where Dreams Come True

2007-04-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

As Franny put it in the guest book of the condo we stayed in, "Florida is basically a place where dreams come true."

Well put, my dear, especially if your dream is escaping the April snows of the East coast (see photo of our neighbor's lawn the morning we boarded the plane), aka "The Grown Ups' Dream" or if your dream is being immersed in 75 degree water from dawn to dusk, aka "The Kids' Dream."
Also true if your dream is to be within five feet of actual manatees in the wild (aka "Erica's Lifelong Dream"... a dream, I hasten to add, that has led to several disapointing field trips during previous visits to the Sunshine State, although one such field trip was redeemed by the discovery of an obscure diner with excellent pie).

I will highlight the importance of my dream-come-true manatee moment by devoting a separate entry to this blessed event.

Who's Your Daddy?

2007-03-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Kids, I went to the 9:30 club last night and I'm leaving your father for Stephen Kellogg.

Tee hee. April Fools!

Though it was an excellent show.

And I don't just say that because SK was charmingly gushy about the copy of CHICKEN BEDTIME IS REALLY EARLY I gave him (lest you think I am becoming one of those strange obsessed people who throws copies of her children's book onstage at rock shows, let me hasten to explain that Mike and my pal Chris Soucy plays in the inimitably entertaining Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers and he asked me to bring a copy for SK because he has a two year old daughter... OK?).

Yup, the man rocks and he has great taste in children's literature. Good thing Mike does, too, or he'd have something to worry about.

Counting Cupcakes

2007-02-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

As many of you fans of NINETY-THREE IN MY FAMILY know, I LOVE a good math story.

However, today I encountered a math story with a not-so-happy ending.

It started off with one mom (me) baking cupcakes for her daughter's school's READ ACROSS AMERICA celebration. For those of you that don't know, this is a big party held around Dr. Seuss' birthday to celebrate reading and to have an excuse to read books and eat cupcakes. So far so good, right?

Wrong. Because, see, this mom only had enough batter for 24 cupcakes. And she had one 12-cupcake pan, which she planned on using twice to make those 24 cupcakes. And since there are now 25 kids in her daughter's class, she planned on squeaking out one extra cupcake by making the others a teensy bit smaller (shhh!). And she hoped the teachers wouldn't mind being left out because, frankly, they celebrate something or other with cupcakes at this school on about a twice-a-week basis. Yikes, so many cupcake parties! But I digress. Where was I? Oh, yes - math!

While the first tray of 12 cupcakes was on a rack on the dining room table cooling, the mom put the second tray of 12 cupcakes in the oven, patted herself on the back that there was still enough batter (and one paper muffin cup!) left, and went upstairs to check her e-mail (fast forward to the moral of this story = never check your e-mail!). When she got down, she discovered the 12 cupcakes in the oven were done and there were 8 cupcakes cooling on the rack.
What the?

8???!!!

The mom used her math skills to count again.

Yup, 8.

No telltale crumbs gave away the thief, who had clearly hidden the evidence (paper muffin cups) by eating it, too.

All of a sudden, the dog seemed very, very thirsty. And had a very guilty look on her furry face. Which made the mom remember the time she had the very same facial expression after being locked in the car with a very large corn muffin (paper wrapper and all), which also vanished without a trace.

So, here's the math, kids: 12 cupcakes plus 12 cupcakes plus 1 cupcake = 25 cupcakes, right?

So, if a sneaky dog devours 4 cupcakes (paper wrappers and all!), how many kids are going to be extremely bummed out on READ ACROSS AMERICA day?

Did you get 4? Great job, math sleuths!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the store for more cake mix.

Dream On, My Seven-Year-Old

2007-02-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but MY seven-year-old is a drama geek. The current musical in heavy rotation at our house is Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which is fun yet kind of challenging to explain (especially to my three and a half year old, who shares her sister's obsession with musicals). I'd say I'm not sure where they got bit by the theatre bug... except I am. They got it from Mike. Yup, my husband, Mike. He's the one who was lining up to see Dreamgirls the minute it hit the theatres, who works out to the soundtrack from Rent: Mike, Mike, Mike.

Oh, wait. That's actually me.

Anyway, my seven-year-old asked about Dreamgirls. Specifically, could she see it? She'd seen the newspaper ads, admired the costumes. To her, it looked like a singing, dancing film about the Bratz dolls. I'll admit, I was stumped. Could she see it? According to the Dreamgirls PG-13 rating, parents are "strongly cautioned" that the film contains "language, some sexuality and drug content." O-kay. However, since I was going anyway, I decided to prescreen it for my child.

Here's my review of the appropriateness of the film for my seven-year-old:

Language = Um, not sure to what this referred. It's possible someone said the "s" word, but I guess I didn't notice. Nor do I care if my seven-year-old hears mild swearing.

Some sexuality = Again, not exactly sure what the Academy sensors were getting at. There's a lot of "sexy-ness", as is the case if Beyonce appears on screen wearing just about anything. But there's NO sex, no nudity, nothing to raise an eyebrow at, as far as I could tell. One character has a child out of wedlock, but the whole circumstance is conveyed through inuendo (so much so that I was convinced my seven-year-old would likely miss this entire subplot).

Drug Use = Again, very low key. Joints are smoked, by my seven-year-old would likely view this as just "smoking" (which is bad enough, in her book). Eddie Murphy's character leans over to do coke at one point and he rolls up his sleeve, suggesting (to an adult) he is about to shoot up. He also goes onstage high and removes his pants. To my seven-year-old, this behavior would likely seem odd, but not alarming.

But here's the thing - and I love how the academy could care less about this - the reason I won't be taking my seven-year-old to see Dreamgirls is: there are a few violent scenes, the likes of which I don't think she should see. The film takes place during the 60's, in large part, and there's footage of riots, police fighting back, and windows breaking (looting?). There's footage related to Martin Luther King's assassination and a brief clip of a gun firing out of a car window. None of this violence touches the main characters, but the images were strong.

My conclusion: we'll get the soundtrack and let it pick up when interest in Joseph wanes. Perhaps we'll rent the DVD and show clips of the stage scenes.

Just for Mike, of course.

The Tooth, The Whole Tooth and Nothing But The Tooth

2007-01-29T11:24:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me say that I'm a library patron who LOVES deep cuts.

That is: library books that I loved as a kid and haven't thought about in years (Elizabeth Levy's Something Queer Is Going On series was such a treat to rediscover at my beloved DC Public Library - home of the "NO fines for the entire juvenile collection" policy, hooray!).

One such deep cut, I thought, was Johanna Hurwitz's Nora books, including Nora and Mrs. Mind-Your-Own-Business.

In fact, I don't think I did read it as a child, but it reminded me of a certain kind of New York City-centric children's books (e.g. The House on East 88th Street, From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) that I devoured as the child of New-York-Jews-Who-Moved-Elsewhere-To-Deprive-Their-Children-Of-Decent-Bagels. Lore Segal's fabulous Tell Me a Mitzi is another fine example of the genre.

Anyway, I checked several Nora books out and brought them home, and immediately began to read them aloud to my bookivore audience of rapt listeners. All went well through several fun chapters of resourceful urban kiddos. All went well, in fact, until the part when Nora, who has lost a tooth, wakes up in the middle of the night to find Mommy and Daddy hunting under her pillow (spoiler alert: if you are under the age of, oh, I dunno, eight, STOP READING THIS BLOG ENTRY!). Nora proceeds to sit up in bed and discover that, as her father jokingly puts it, she's actually related to the tooth fairy.

Well, faster than you can say "Yikes, self-edit! Self-edit!" I finished the page and Franny stared at me, the implications sinking in.

"Her mom... is the... tooth fairy?" For a second, I considered trying to pass this off as a novel situation concerning the character's mom's lineage in fairy terms (even though she is clearly depicted as a regular mom of the wingless variety).

"Uh, I, uh. Wow, I dunno." I'm really a terrible liar. Especially when put on the spot.

"Are YOU the tooth fairy?"

By now, I had recovered my composure. I tried my best weapon: silliness. "How in the world would I do that? Do you think I can fly all over the world?"

"Yeah, but ARE you?"

Truly, dear reader, I did not know what to do. What did she want, exactly? The truth? Or reinforcement of what she believed? And what did I want? A co-conspirator (and, thus, a potential security breech, seeing as our second child has a mouth full of 20 secure baby teeth, as of this writing)? Or a CHILD, still on the right side of the line of that separates boring old truth from magic.

"No, I'm not." Given a little time to prepare, my limited lying skills kick in. I spend the rest of the afternoon wondering if I've given the right answer. I mean, she'd simply have to check with an older child and I'd be unmasked as a total fraud. A humbug, in the 1899 parlance of L. Frank Baum. But she seemed satisfied by my answer, so I dropped it.

Verification that my response was, quite likely, the one she sought came at bedtime.

"Mom?" she asked, gesturing to a large reference volume on fairies (the regular, non-tooth-specific kind) that lay spread open on her floor.

"Can you close that book up? I don't want the fairies to get out."

It's Only Natural

2007-01-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

Since both of my kids had strep this week (not at the same time, of course... that would have been too boring!), AND I had a bunch of freelance work due, I didn't get a spare moment to brush my teeth, much less post. And even now, I should probably be downstairs, tending to Bougie, who is liable to hurl on the couch without any warning.

Dedicated blogger that I am, I'll take that risk.

Here's the subject of today's post: the difference between my two kids (other than 3 and a half years, a foot or two of height, about 30 lbs, and another foot or so of hair).

Kid # 1 = We drove past a dead possum on the way home the other day and then had to go through an extended discussion about life, death, the mourning Mr. Possum's family was probably doing, and what if this?, what if that? and what if the other?. Yes, Kid # 1 is seven, so what if is big for her right now, but the conversation reminded me of how, when she was 3 and a half, she used to get upset if we watched the occasional nature documentary and anything, you know, natural (like, say, a big fish eating a smaller one) happened on screen.

Cut to Kid # 2.

Kid # 2 = Is currently 3 and a half and was watching a nature documentary today about the wonders of the sea. Needless to say, we learned that the poorly-named angel shark is a bloodthirsty killer, who hides on the ocean floor and snaps up unsuspecting (and cute!) smaller fish in greedy gulps, generating puffs of bright red water.

Hmmm. I waited for her reaction with baited breath (sorry, couldn't resist).

"Wanna turn this off and have dinner?" I asked.

"Okay," she said. Then: "Mom?"

"Yes, hon?"

Pause.

"Do we have any fish?"

"Um, fish?"

"Yeah."

"You mean like tuna?"

"Yes. I want to eat some fish."

O-kay. My first child has her problems, god love her, but she is sensitive as the day is long. My second child, however, is a bloodthirsty fish-eater. Kid # 1 rejects the law of the jungle. Kid # 2 not only embraces it, she welcomes an opportunity to reenact it!

Still, with the strep, Kid # 2 hadn't eaten (or wanted to eat) anything in days. What could I do?

I got the can opener.

The Best Picture Book I Read Today

2007-01-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying that I read a LOT of picture books today. Bougie was home and it was drippy so we went to Politics and Prose and the Cleveland Park Library. And CVS, but that was just so we could buy some more modeling clay to make an igloo for Pinga, the black and white modeling clay blob she made in the likeness of the sister of Pingu, the claymation penguin of short-film fame.

Most of the books we read were about Peter and the Wolf. Seriously: three separate books, read multiple times each. Bougie tends to get a little obsessed when she's on a topic and this week it is Peter and his orchestral pals. The narratives were so similar that it was almost like reading the same book nine times which, I'm sure I don't have to tell you, puts this whole stay-home-and-bond-with-your-kid-a-few-days-a-week thing to the test. The pictures varied, thank God, yet none of the illustrators strayed too far from the basic concept. Peter always wore a tunic, the wolf was always gray and sinister, the final spread was always a parade to the zoo. Yawn.

But then, behold, another book entered the scene. I almost passed over it because of the title, My Best Sweet Potato, which suggested an overly syruppy narrative (e.g. "Love You Like Crazy Cakes"... which may well be a good book, but which I will likely never read because of the title). Thankfully, the cover illustration, a girl in a weird oversized patchwork bathing cap pulling a string protruding from a faceless gingerbread man of a doll, piqued my curiousity.

The book, by Rainy Dohaney, the author/illustrator of the similarly ideosyncratic Tinka, is just about the best thing I've discovered in ages. It tells the tale of an odd girl who stubbornly loves her almost scarily faceless ugly doll, Woolyman (who is not, just to be clear, an Uglydoll, all of which have at least one eye), and who actually loves him more after the washing machine renders him unable to talk normally. Post spin cycle, he barfs out botched phrases, all of which include the words "Sweet Potato." Still, he's good company, hanging out, playing games, and willingly eating jam sandwiches without benefit of a mouth, to humorous effect.

This totally rang true for me, since my childhood doll, Alice Winn Luis (which I named in honor of my mom's friend Alice Winn and "Luis" from Sesame Street) went from saying "Mama" to "Ma" to "burrrrp!!" and, now that Bougie has her, only says "ugh." During our read-aloud, Bougie seemed to particularly like it when I said the words "sweet potato" with a wacky kind of rhythm to them, like a skipping vinyl record. I like to believe this is how the author intended them to be read.

The illustrations are wonderful (reminiscent of Peter Sis and Sergio Ruzzier) and I loved Mac the Weaverbird (the character who briefly comes between the girl and her Woolyman) for his friendly-stoner voice (he calls Woolyman "buddy" and "man" repeatedly). Both of my kids got into this book, which was particularly pleasing since Franny has been showing an alarming amount of interest in books about American Girls and Rainbow Magic Fairies lately. I was starting to wonder if her literary tastes were shorting out at the ripe old age of seven. Luckily, she redeemed herself by getting on board with My Best Sweet Potato. Her gushing "That was a GOOD book!" at the book's close was genuine and heartfelt.

Too bad the next words out of her mouth were, "Do we still have time for a chapter of 'Kit's Surprise'?"

Hey, could be worse, I guess. Could be round ten (eleven? twelve?) of Peter and the Wolf.