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This month is Picture Book Month for those who love picture books, and Picture Book Idea Month if you are on the writing or illustrating end of picture books. Continuing with that theme is a wonderful, heartfelt picture book by Daniel Pinkwater and Will Hillenbrand. Bear and Bunny Written by Daniel Pinkwater Illustrated by Will Hillenbrand …

Title: Bushman Lives! Author: Daniel Pinkwater Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Publication Date: October 9, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0547385396 256 pp. ARC provided by publisher Bushman Lives! is the latest book by Daniel Pinkwater and in case you've missed it, he's been serializing the novel for the past year, one chapter a week. But if you want to read the entire novel at once,

• Ain’t he just the sweetest thing?  Author/illustrator Aaron Zenz recently wrote just the loveliest ode to his four top favorite children’s literary blogs, and then went and created original art for each.  In my case he created this little Fuse guy (or possibly Fuse gal) based on the bright yellow Fuse you see at the beginnings of each of my posts (I put it there in lieu of my face because I can only look at myself so often before going stark raving mad).  This, I should point out, is not the first time a little Fuse person has been created for this blog.  Katherine Tillotson, an artist of outstanding ability (I’m biased but it also happens to be true) created not one but TWO little Fusemen in the past, both for separate birthdays.

I’m a fan.  So thank you Aaron and, once again, thank you Katherine.  Fusemen of the world unite!

• *sniff sniff*  Smell that?  That’s the distinctive odor of a brouhaha brewing.  Sort of a combination of burnt hair, dead goldfish and patchouli.  And you wonder why I don’t cover YA books.  Sheesh!  One word: drama.  Seems that a YA blog called Story Siren plagiarized the work of others for her own blog posts.  Folks noticed and suddenly the internet was was heaping helpful of flames, burns, accusations, and other forms of tomfoolery.  For a sane and rational recap we turn to our own Liz Burns who gives us the run down in Today’s Blog Blow Up.  Ugly stuff.

• And while we’re on the subject of YA (which I just said I don’t cover, and yet here we are), I thought we were done with whitewashing, folks.  So what’s up with this?  Harlequin Teen, you got some explaining to do.

• In other news, book banning: It’s what’s for dinner.  Take a trip with me to The Annville-Cleona School District where a picture book fondly nicknamed by some as Where’s the Penis? is getting some heat.  If you’ve ever seen The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake, illustrated by Adam Rex, then you know that calling it “pornographic” works only if you are unaware of what the word “pornography” actually means.  I would like to offer a shout-out to librarian Anita Mentzer who has handled the whole situation with class and dignity.  You, madam, are the kind of children’s librarian others should aspire to be.  Well done.  And thanks to Erica Sevetson for the link.

• We may not yet have an ALA accredited poetry award for a work of children’s literature but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a Poet Laureate or two instead.  Rich Michelson, gallery owner and
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I love books that have dogs in them and I love Jack E. Davis. I've posted about some of his books in the past, but as I rolled over this morning and looked into the eyes of my very large Airedale Terrier, Mack Daddy, whose head was resting on the pillow next to me, I realized that my dog has a pretty darn good, stress-free life.

It's official: LIZARD MUSIC by Daniel Pinkwater is once again available in bookstores, in a gorgeous hardcover edition from New York Review Books Childen's Classics collection. I am extremely proud of this book.  (It was a childhood favorite of mine, and now I am the agent for it. Crazy!)  This really is a true classic, and I am over the moon that NYRB did such a phenomenal job bringing it back.

Make me happy and feed your brain something weird and special and magic. GO BUY IT.

The year: Somewhere between 1984-1989.  Thereabouts.

The place: Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Home of Gibson Guitars, celery, taxicab production, etc.  This may turn out to be important.

The mystery:  So I’m watching what must have been PBS during the day.  Possibly over the summer, since I was a school aged child at this time and the only other channels I indulged in were Nickelodeon and the USA Network when they were showing Space Ghost.  This show, however, was definitely not my beloved superhero of the stars.  In fact, the more I think about it the more I am convinced that it was PBS.  The budget was just that low.

This show consisted of a fellow, possibly with a beard, who would read a chapter from a great work of children’s fiction.  As his voiceover read the chapter the multiple cameras would remain fixed on the man as he began his sketch.  The sketch would relate to some element of the chapter, but whether that scene was at the beginning or the end of the was unknown until the sketch was done.

Now there was a nice variety of books read for this show, including titles like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (the sketch involved the man with no nose, which I’ve always found memorable) and Caddie Woodlawn.  One day, though, the sketch was from a book called Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater.  I’d never heard of the book.  I hadn’t heard of most of the books this guy did, but this one definitely sounded interesting. Particularly when he got to this part:

“I was almost at the point of running into the kitchen and looking up the number of the resort where Mom and Dad were staying, when the lizard band came onto the screen.  These were real lizards, not people dressed up as lizards, and they played regular musical instruments.  There were five or six of them.  At first it was scarier than the movie, especially the close-ups, but as the lizards played and swayed together, I sort of got used to it.  The music was very strange.  It wasn’t like anything I’d ever heard before.”

The story, if you want the condensed version, is about a kid named Victor who sees these mysterious musicians on his television after the late-late movies have broadcasted (his parents are out of town, y’see) and he wants to know where they come from.  The book is a bit of a cult hit too.  Originally published in 1976, since its creation I’ve heard it mentioned as the Daniel Pinkwater touchstone.  Seek ye to know the mysteries of why men all over this country go crazy for his stuff (including Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow, judging by their blurbs on the back of this reprint), look no further than this brand spanking new edition published by the fantastic New York Review Children’s Collection.

According to the bio in the back, this was the first book Pinkwater wrote.  He has, as you may have noticed, continued his productivity relatively unabated since.  I’ve kept an old and original 1976 copy on my own library branch’s shelves, just in case a Pinkwater fanatic (or, simply, “Pinknatic”) asks for it by name.  Now that I’ve cast mine eyes on this pretty little edition, though, I may scrap the old for the new.  Here’s the old:

The covers are gratifyingly similar.  Fortunately the new one classed up the title’s font a bit.

Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl Daniel Pinkwater

Big Audrey is from another plane of existence. You can tell, because she has cat whiskers. She makes her way to Poughkeepsie where she finds a job and place to stay at a bookstore devoted to UFOs. The owners think she's an alien and she doesn't correct them. While in Poughkeepsie there are several adventures featuring real aliens, hops to other planes of existence, giants, and a mystery from the past.

It's very episodic and very weird and nutty, often just for the sake of being weird and nutty, and it just didn't do anything for me. I tend not to enjoy highly episodic plots anyway and the weird nuttiness never gelled into something for me. I kept reading to see where it was going and when it finally got there... eh.

This is one of the those books though, where it wasn't the book, it was the reader. I think the right reader will find this to be the most brilliant thing ever written and enjoy it thoroughly. I just wasn't the reader for this book.

Book Provided by... my local library

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A Magic Moscow Story by Daniel Pinkwater Four Winds Press / Scholastic 1981 A throw-away sequel to a story about a boy, the neighborhood eatery where he spends his days, and a fake mystic who nonetheless manages to conjure the corny joke-telling ghost of Attila the Hun's younger brother. There really isn't much more to say. Norman Bleistift is a kid who spends his summers working at a

“Leave a Mark” online auction – Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl
The latest offering in the “Leave a Mark” auctions benefiting First Book is a marked-up copy of First Book staff member and author extraordinaire, Erica Perl’s Vintage Veronica. Bids are accepted online through 11: 59 pm EST on Tuesday, December 22nd – cast your bid today!

Children’s books 2009: It’s all good! says Jon Scieszka
Don’t miss this humorous report on the state of Children’s Books from the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature, Jon Scieszka.

Kids’ Book Boasts The Best Words, Real Or Not
Listen to this interview with Daniel Pinkwater about a new release of an old book Ounce, Dice, Trice by Aleister Reid, an book for children that is full of words — both real and made-up.

Children’s Books 2009: With a reluctant young reader, the grosser the better
Susan Carpenter shares some book titles and other ideas to get reluctant readers interested in books.

Reading Corps wants YOU
Read this stirring appeal from the Detroit Free Press seeking for tutors to help Detroit’s would-be readers.

The Concord Museum’s tree exhibit celebrates children’s literature
Those in the greater Boston area won’t want to miss the Concord Museum’s “Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature,’’ an exhibit that spans 14 years and generations of authors and readers.

Reading Practice Can Strengthen Brain ‘Highways’
Your child’s brain on books – NPR shares some interesting research that suggests that intensive reading programs can produce measurable changes in the structure of a child’s brain.

Lindsay duPont's
Jim Copp, Will You Tell Me a Story?

Listen to Daniel Pinkwater's review on NPR's Weekend Edition

You can read Daniel Pinkwater’s new book The Yggyssey online; it’s being serialized.

I think this is a smart move–it’s fantastic book promotion. It allows readers to get hooked on the story, talk it up with other readers, and want to buy a copy they can hold in their hands, not just read on the screen.

I found myself interested reading just the opening sentence. Of course I read on further.

Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link!

 
"All my books were easy to write -- doesn't it show?" 
                                         ~ Daniel Pinkwater


          Snowball and Ursula talk PInkwater over blueberry muffins and tea.

How could I not like Daniel Pinkwater?

Whenever I see his name I smile. I was thinking how this is a strange, conditioned response. I don't know how or why it happened. Sure, he's written around 100 books. And to be honest, it's not like I've read dozens and dozens of them. I've read maybe ten. But they got to me. So much so, that whenever I see his name on a book, I put my Ugawawa mocassins on the wrong feet, step slightly to the left of center, and shift into giggle-and-snort mode. I just know it's going to be good.

Hello. How could I not like a man who writes about polar bears and blueberry muffins?

So far, there are five titles in the Irving and Muktuk, Bad Bears, picture book series (ages 5-8). Trust me. This 9-foot tall pair with slitty, sneaky side eyes and galompo feet will have you rooting for them after the first page. Their main crime? Well, they do cheat each other at cards. But mostly they are motivated by the quest for muffins and more muffins, which results in questionable behavior, like, um, stealing.

In the first book, Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), we are introduced to the arctic town of Yellowtooth, which holds a Blueberry Muffin Festival every New Year. After Officer Bunny sees the bears trying to break into the muffin warehouse, he lures them into his station wagon, and has them airlifted by helicopter far above the Arctic Circle. The following New Year, the duo returns to Yellowtooth disguised as very large penguins. They are airlifted again and return three more times with different schemes, until Officer Bunny finally makes arrangements to have them relocated to the Bayonne Zoo. Still, one can't help but admire these almost-masters of disguise.

      

In Bad Bears in the Big City, we learn that besides being large, clever, and sneaky, Irving and Muktuk are really just like the rest of us. Sure, they've arrived at the zoo with a note saying they are not to be trusted. But that doesn't mean they eat people. And if you met another polar bear named Roy, and he got to leave the zoo at the end of the day to sleep in his own apartment, wouldn't you long to explore life on the outside, too? Especially if there's a muffin factory right next door? And if, after your little adventure, you realize you're in big trouble, wouldn't you break out in tears and milk them for all they're worth?

           

In each book, Pinkwater pulls our emotional strings, as we watch these master manipulators at work. The narratives have a mock serious tone, fueled by Pinkwater's signature sense of humor, which can only be described as understated, wry, droll, and huh? When paired with Jill Pinkwater's bright felt pen and ink illustrations, the result is irresistible. 

But it's not just an exercise in wackiness. There's something very endearing about two polar bears lying on boxes of peas in the frozen foods section of the supermarket. Something heartwarming about two large, furry heads resting on matching green pillows. Something ingenious about two bears able to disguise themselves as furry muffins. Or the fact that bad as they are, huge as they are, they can be transformed into models of good behavior by a chastizing little bunny.

           

This blend of guile and vulnerability makes Irving and Muktuk very accessible to young readers. They will admire the bears' craftiness, laugh at their silliness, totally understand their hurts and fears, and above all, embrace their badness. Just the type of thing to make the parental units squirm. Isn't one of the biggest frustrations of childhood being misunderstood?

And if you fear that your little ones will growl for more after devouring these five books, rest assured that Mr. Pinkwater has already seen to that -- a series of picture books about Larry, another polar bear who is Roy's brother. Irving and Muktuk appear in these stories, too, but never steal the spotlight from Larry, who is busy playing bongos, dancing ballet, and eating ice cream. 

     

I was thinking about how Daniel Pinkwater has influenced my own writing. I have a tendency to dwell in school teacher mode -- to be adult, logical and politically correct. This comes from wanting to be taken seriously, I suppose, to feel like I'm part of the group. The creative side of me always longs to do just the opposite, and whenever I read a Pinkwater book, I am reminded about the importance of pleasing the child within. He once said:

I imagine a child. That child is me. I can reconstruct and vividly remember portions of my own childhood. I can see, taste, smell, feel, and hear them. Then what I do is, not write about that kid or about his world, but start to think of a book that would have pleased him.

Well, he's obviously doing something right. Should I send him some muffins?

                              

For more about Daniel Pinkwater, visit his website. Not to be missed are two food-related pieces, The Ratatouille Diet, and The Infamous Chicago Hot Dog Commentary. You probably know that he also reads and discusses children's books on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon.

Andrea and Mark have a podcast interview with him at Just One More Book, along with reviews of several Pinkwater books.

Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast reviews Irving and Muktuk Go Visiting (Houghton Mifflin, 2007), along with lots of bear books by other authors here and here.

Finally, Adrienne of What Adrienne Thinks About That, wonders why more people aren't talking about Irving and Muktuk, here.

Oh, and if, by now, you simply MUST have some blueberry muffins, my recipe can be found here!
 

In 1972, Daniel Pinkwater wrote and illustrated "Bear's Picture." A new edition of the book was published with pictures by D.B. Johnson.

Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen

read from Flamingos on a Roof.

The sore throat turned into something chesty and evil. Then all the hot water in the house dried up and went away. Still, my mood is better. And stuff is starting to get done. And I managed somehow get hot water to come out of the taps again. The wind is howling around the house...

Over at The New York Times, this article about SF that US politicians should admit to reading made me smile, althought I thought a few of the descriptions were pushing it.

Dear Mr. Gaiman,In Search of a Book to Read to My Nephew--
Part I
After countless hours of googling bizarre combinations of your name, "children", "books", "favorite", and various other words, I came across a book and its sequel titled GRIMBLE and GRIMBLE AT CHRISTMAS written by Clement Freud (grandson of Sigmund--as I'm sure you know). After discovering these titles, I proceeded to famous internet retailer Amazon.com to discover they, both of them, were out of stock and were "Used & New" with the lowest price being about $45. I then found my way over to eBay, and located a copy of GRIMBLE for... drumroll... $130! In light of these unfriendly prices (I'm cheap, you see) I was hoping you could utilize your "well-known author" powers to possibly influence a publishing company to bring GRIMBLE back in to print, or simply direct me to a website selling them for a reasonable, middle-class friendly price.
Oh, yeah--I almost forgot--can you recommend any other books to read to my five-year-old nephew (I've already read to him CORALINE, and he, as well as I, loved it)?
With much thanks and a fan always,Ben [last name removed by NSA... just kidding]

Actually, and in part because of my lobbying, Grimble was reprinted in the McSweeney's children's anthology with the astonishingly long title. I'd suggest you get the book directly from McSweeney's who tend to have it up very cheaply on their website -- recently they even offered it for nothing (plus postage) although I was too late to put that up here. All profits go to Good Causes too.

(And they have lots of cool stuff that would make nice presents up at http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm).

Beyond that, it's kind of hard to suggest books for a five-year-old, in the same way that it's hard to suggest books for a 38-year-old. People are different. (I know that at 5 Maddy loved Roald Dahl, for example, and all the Daniel Pinkwater picture books and early chapter books.) B

But I know that I need to put up some lists of books and authors -- and links to books that recommend other books.

Incidentally, I just noticed that over at the Pinkwater website there are Pinkwater Podcasts which include readings from Fish Whistle, the book that kept Terry Pratchett and me sane during the 1990 Good Omens tour.

Hello! I have a question for you about the signed limited edition of Coraline. According to amazon.com, the release date was November 30th. I pre-ordered mine over two months ago, so I assumed I'd have no problem getting one. But I just got a notice from Amazon saying that my order has been delayed until at least January. This either means that Amazon is sold out, or that the book has been delayed. I'm obvously hoping for the latter, so there's a chance I can still get a copy. Do you have any information on the situation? Thanks!-Brandon

The book was delayed, and it was mostly my fault -- there was a point in there where the box of sheets for me to sign was following me around the world (literally) and it didn't get signed until I got home from the Beowulf touring.

Having said that, I see from http://www.subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2007/12/16/neil-gaiman-update-coraline-shipping-soon/ that the books are going out in the next few days.

(I also understand that the first shipment of Hill House Press Anansi Boys has just arrived in New York from Poland. More information as I get it.)

...

I spoke to Jason Webley, and told him I'd love to put one of his songs up here, and he agreed. So for right now you can download or listen to the complete version of Almost Time To Go from his new CD The Cost of Living at http://www.jasonwebley.com/audio/AlmostTime.mp3.

Guess you never really stuck around
All that long anywhere.
I guess I should have known that you'd skip town.
You always did catch me unawares.
Looking now at your debris,
These trails of paper strewn across the floor,
Towards an open door.
Look at all you've gathered, all you own,
Hold it in your hand, does it weigh more than a single feather?
If the things you feel outsmart the things you know,
It's almost time, it's almost time to go.

Happy-sad in a load of good ways. (Especially if you're writing a book set in a graveyard.) Go and listen to it, or download it.... Read the rest of this post

Daniel Pinkwater is the author of at least 100 books for children, young adults and even adults. He makes frequent appearances on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon to read and discuss books for children.
Listen (and Look) Here

The March edition of The Edge of the Forest is out and I have to say that the interviews and articles for this month are probably the best yet.

Indefatigable Kelly has a write up of Readergirlz.

Pam MotherReader Coughlan has an insightful and inspiring article about what it takes to become a B-List Blogger and member of this terrific community of Kitlitospherians.

Liz Burns's interview with author Kirby Larson is outstanding.

Adrienne Furness explores the expanding presence of Sock Monkeys in children's books.

Allie has one of her thoughtful and fascinating interviews, this time with author Jenny Han.

Kim Winters describes the Day in the Life of Laura Ruby.

Interesting reviews, What's in the Backpack and Sherry Early's Kid Picks of homeschoolers plus a podcast with Daniel Pinkwater...

Bravi, team!

Just One More Book! is a regular contributor to the online Children’s Literature Monthly Journal, The Edge of the Forest. This information-packed online resource includes book reviews, interviews, the latest news from the online children’s/YA literature community and much more.

Our monthly audio segment is called Sounds from the Forest.

This month, Mark speaks with author Daniel Pinkwater about promoting children’s books on NPR, spending six months in his “jammies” to write The Neddiad, using the web to build an audience for the book, and why he writes children’s books.

Books mentioned:

• The Neddiad (due for release April 2007)
• Lizard Music
• Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears

Participate in the conversation by leaving a comment on this interview, or send an email to [email protected].

I don't read many picture books anymore, so sadly I haven't had the opportunity to get to know the work of Mo Willems. But I know he has a legion of fans in the kidlitosphere, so I thought this would be of interest. Book Expo America (BEA) just announced the line-up for its children's book and author breakfast, to be held June 1 at the Javits Center in New York:

...this opening-day breakfast will feature Mo Willems, author of Knuffle Bunny too! A Case of Mistaken Identity (Hyperion Books for Children); Jacqueline Wilson, author of Candyfloss (Roaring Brook Press); and Daniel Pinkwater, author of The Neddiad (Houghton Mifflin Children’s Book Group). Libba Bray, author of The Sweet Far Thing (Delacorte Press) will be the Master of Ceremonies.