A Posthumous Publication

Feeling under the weather of late. Something less than death, but more than a hangnail. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction, which is the fancy word for nausea, and the distinct and terribly unpleasant feeling that a weasel has crawled into my right ear and is slowly exiting on the left. Enough whining (if that’s possible.) After all, not everything viral is bad. To wit~

Signs of the apocalypse ~ ‘My Beautiful Mommy: How a Picture Book Explains Liposuction to Kids.’ Wow. In my book-selling days, I used to scoff at the affliction/lifestyle-specific picture books, but this is cutting-edge (or sucking edge) pseudo-counseling at it’s most idiotic. The review is hilarious.

Shaun Tan wins the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize, announced in Bologna. Largest prize in children’s books. First an Oscar, and now this? What’s next, Sexiest Man Alive? For additional fun, here is a slideshow of Eric, a chapter in Outer Tale of Suburbia. Love this guy.

Random House to publish new Dr. Seuss book collecting stories previously published in magazines. From the truly awesome (and newly discovered) Where the Best Books Are blog, here’s a sneak-peek.

A superb post from Playing by the Book! In response to the ’50 picture books every child should read’ article in the UK, the inspired creator of this blog asked 6 illustrators to give their top ten choices. 32 Pages is an homage to the books I consider to be the best of the best. However, I can’t imagine my life (or a child’s life) without the above-mentioned Shaun Tan (Tales of Outer Suburbia, The Arrival), Dr Seuss (What Was I Scared of), Michael Sowa (Esterhazy, Little King December), The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip (Lane Smith), Oscar Wilde (spec. The Happy Prince), Peach & Blue, Outside Over There (Sendak), Big Wolf & Little Wolf, The Leaf that Wouldn’t Fall, South (Patrick McDonnell), The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs (Joyce), The Widow’s Broom, The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg), Lisbeth Zwerger, Anthony Browne, Gennady Spirin, Ralph Steadman, and so on…

A fabulous new find courtesy of @lavermeer about D.B Johnson’s incredible series of ‘Henry’ books. “Outstanding cubist-style illustration plus an early intro to Thoreau.” Thanks Leslie, this Cubist illustrator is now on my wish list.

Non-book related~As a long, long, long-time fan, I was pleased to see Cinema Blend’s celebration of Christopher Walken‘s Birthday with 10 Great Walken Moments. Missing from the list? Every scene from The Dead Zone.

Best April Fool’s Joke: From 100 Scope Notes~”What is this world coming to?? Did you see the latest Horn Book Magazine starred reviews?” Heh. Also, courtesy of the same twitterer, a retrospective of Anthony Browne from BBC News.

Great article about Mo Willems in my local paper. For mo’ Mo, see my review of Ctiy Dog, Country Frog.

Is it possible to continue writing humorous books in earthquake-stricken Japan? A postcard from Satoshi Kitamura

More non-book related:  Kate Bush reveals guest lyricist on new album – James Joyce. As all fans know, The Sensual World is based on Ulysses. Yes I said yes!

From the wonderful Age of Uncertainty blog, a bibliophile’s amusing take on…the Kindle.

Next book: I’m working on it, as the weasel permits…