I’ve found some comfort lately in a book called The Tall Book, by Arianne Cohen, who is 6′ 3″.
The Tall Book by Arianne Cohen is a celebration of life from on high. Published by Bloomsbury USA.
This book is written for adults, but tall people of all ages can be glad it’s on the library shelf waiting for them when they need help in unlocking the mysteries at the center of talldom. It’s helped a lot of people already.
“As a twelve-year-old told to act my age and not my shoe size, I could honestly say, ‘They’re the same.’ This is a book for everyone, like me, who grew up (and up) to be proud of their height,” says 6′ 4″ Olympic gold medal basketball player Rebecca Lobo. I’m glad I found it!
Callum, the boy in my MG (middle grade) novel, was raised by wolves. Here is a character who was raised by wolves AND kangaroos, in a video I made with friends in the animation biz. Presenting Silly Goose!
The Easter B brings a smile. Photo found at sketchybunnies.com
How can he not turn a frown upside down? After all, he visits the Rainbow Bird every year and shares that miraculous creature’s colorful eggs with the world.
Unfortunately, just like with everything else, there’s another side to the story. Witness the trauma endured by 16-year-old Matt Bunny. The Easter Bunny is his dad, and living with Mr. Hoppity hasn’t exactly been a basket of delight. Let’s hope Matt can get over it and learn to live in peace and joy with Daddy Big Ears. After all, Easter comes just once a year!
Most school sports teams have a mascot that cheers them on to victory and urges them not to give up when the chips are down. Here a few good ones.
Stanford University’s mascot, The Tree.
A big smile from The Tree. Photo found at SF Weekly
Xavier University’s mascot, The Blue Blob.
The Blue Blob: blobby! Photo found at Comcast.net
Scottsdale Community College’s mascot, Artie the Fighting Artichoke.
Artie the Fighting Artichoke. Eat your vegetables! Photo found at TopTenz.net
And University of California at Santa Cruz’s mascot, Sammy the Banana Slug.
Sammy the Banana Slug. Don't call him slimy! Photo found at TeamExpress
Brenton Silbert-Ford portrays Wilbur Wildcat, the mascot of the University of Arizona.
Brenton Silber-Ford takes a break from mascot-dom. Photo (c) Ernie Somoza/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Brenton has come out from behind the fur to reveal that he is a veteran mascot performer. He was a high school student in San Diego, CA when he put on his first mascot suit at Sea World. His character? A fun-loving otter.
As Wilbur Wildcat, he is famous for his good dancing. Despite the hundreds of rabid fans who cheer him on at every Wildcat game, he says mascots aren’t in it for the glory. “You do it for the kids and the fans,” he says. “Not for anyone else.”
As you know, I have a book called The Boy Who Howled coming from Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books this fall that deals with the thrilling subject of a boy who was raised by wolves. I was excited to learn of a new book called The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood that features THREE children raised by wolves and had to read it pronto.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood is everything a book should be. The terrific cover is by Jon Klassen. Published by Balzer+Bray.
My verdict? It is worth its weight in gold. Fifteen-year-old Miss Penelope Lumley faces endless obstacles in her mission to tutor Alexander, Cassiopeia, and Beowulf, three wild children whose bark is (perhaps) worse than their bite. And mysteries abound at creepy Ashton Place. Hilarious and scary. Pick up a copy and see!
As you may remember from an earlier post, the sight of birds on a wire inspired Brazilian musician and videographer Jarbas Agnelli to compose a special piece of music.
French artist and composer Céleste Boursier-Mougenot has also turned to her avian friends for inspiration. She has a new installation at the Barbican Centre in London that features zebra finches playing electric guitars.
Photo of birds playing guitar by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. Courtesy Galerie Xippas. Found at http://www.greenmuze.com
Ms. Boursier-Mougenot furnished an aviary of zebra finches with electric guitars and other instruments. The birds create music as they go about their daily routines. Watch a video of the resulthere.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too old to play with toys. I’m as old as the hills, and though I don’t play with toys very often, I am still very into them. Thus I was intrigued to learn about the American International Toy Fair, the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere, which was held recently in New York City.
Many hot new toys for 2010 were unveiled. Here are some of the ones that caught my eye.
The Perplexus 3-D maze, with three mind-bending levels to solve, will keep you busy turning, rotating, angling, and balancing to get its metal ball down the correct track.
The Perplexus 3-D maze is tricksy, my precious! Photo found at huffingtonpost.com
Bioloid Robot Kits from Robotis are the first educational robot kits based around “smart serially controlled servos” which are not only capable of switching between positioning and full continuous rotation, but also provides you with access to sensory feedback such as position, speed, temperature, current draw and voltage of each servo. Bioloid kits are designed in a way that allow the user to construct multiple types of robots. Warning: these kits are super expensive! Good for wish lists, for sure.
Bioloid Robot Kits are responsible for these cool bots. Photo found at huffingtonpost.com
Simpler and less expensive fun can be had with a Motorized Bubble Light. I’ve got a weakness for the magical beauty of iridescent bubbles. To see them lit up in all their glory would make for wonderful nighttime fun.
The Motorized Bubble Light features glow-in-the-dark wand and dip tray. Mesmerizing! Photo found at huffingtonpost.com
Celebs are hopping on the toy wagon too. Check out one of the WWE’s most successful superstars of all time, Triple H, and his personalized action figure.
I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of this guy. Even his action figure looks like it could hurt me. Photo found at huffingtonpost.com
In case you haven’t heard, skateboards are old news. Today’s street-riding thrills come courtesy of the RipStik. Just twist and go!
It's as easy as it looks to ride a RipStik, once you figure it out! Photo found at huffingtonpost.com
And now it is time to introduce the Toy of the Year for 2010. It is fun, it is inexpensive, it is A MECHANICAL HAMSTER!
Meet Zhu Zhu.
Zhu Zhu is honored to be named the Toy of the Year. He wasn't expecting it! Photo found at huffington.post
What do Zhu Zhus do? They zoom around! What could be funner? Here’s another look at this playtime wonder.
Zoom, zoom, zoom! Photo found at huffingtonpost.com
Zhu Zhus also make toilet-flushing or teeth-brushing sounds when they enter the bathroom of their special habitat and sleeping noises and alarm-clock sounds when they go into their bedroom. That’s enough for a Toy of the Year these days. All hail Zhu Zhu!
We finished Griffin’s Gold, our story about the legendary Griffin, and we printed copies. Here’s one for you. You can share this excerpt. It’s from the part where Griffin and Dragon fight to the death for Griffin’s gold, only Griffin lets Dragon live to see another day. That’s good because later on they have to join forces to battle an evil Giant. What do you think?
Griffin's Gold book cover by Sam and Andy
From Griffin’s Gold by Sam and Andy:
Griffin and Dragon were face to face with each other. Warily they circled each other. Griffin twitched his wings in eager anticipation of the battle to come, while Dragon snorted plumes of smoke into the chilly air.
Despite the cozy fire he had built, Griffin’s lair was almost as cold as the frozen mountaintop. Dragon lifted his mighty tail and slammed it down hard, pounding the rocky ground. The metallic scales of his impenetrable body armor glistened in the fire’s glow.
“Give me your treasure,” he told Griffin, “and you can avoid a good beating.”
Griffin’s razor-sharp claws drew sparks from where they scraped the rock. “It’s you who are going to get beaten, Dragon,” he replied. “I’ll give you ten seconds to skedaddle on out of here. Otherwise, you’re in for it big time.”
“I ain’t leaving here without that gold,” said Dragon.
“Suit yourself,” said Griffin and lunged at Dragon’s vulnerable throat with his fearsome eagle’s beak. The battle for Griffin’s gold had begun.
T replies:
Wow, Sam and Andy! I am thoroughly impressed. The adventure was gripping, the suspense was unbearable, and I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I can say that Griffin and Dragon are a force to be reckoned with. Great job!
The post about the wild Russian knitwear got me thinking I had seen some living grass fashion somewhere, so I looked it up. As long as you water these clothes, you’re good!
Grass hat? Check. Grass suit and tie? Check. Grass car? Check. Grass underwear? Um ... he's not telling! Image found at imageisunrelated.com
You can’t wear a grass suit and tie all the time. Sometimes you want to play it a little more casual. That’s when you reach for your grass flip flops.
Comfy! Image found at monster-munch.com
And where are you when you’re at home? In your grass house, of course!
Homey! Image found at travelblog.org
Or maybe you’d rather live in a hobbit hole. You probably would, you grass fanatic!
A hobbit lives here. Image found at thepalantir.org
Life is full of choices. Some are difficult, some are easy, but no matter what, whenever you're given a choice, you learn a little something about yourself. With that in mind, I choose ...
Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat? Oatmeal.
Fireworks or carnival rides? Fireworks.
Sno-Cones or Snowballs? Sno-Cones.
Carrot or celery? Carrot.
Strawberry jam or grape jelly? Strawberry jam.
Monkeys or penguins? Monkeys.
Glue stick or glue bottle? Glue stick.
Nachos or French fries? Nachos.
Darth Vadar or Darth Maul? Darth Vadar.
Darth Sidious or Darth Maul? Darth Maul.
Darth Maul or General Grievous? General Grievous.
Clones or battle droids? Clones.
"Aye, aye" or "Roger, roger"? "Roger, roger."
Crab or lobster? Crab.
Aquarium or zoo? Aquarium.
Bungee jumping or parachuting? Parachuting.
Curly or straight? Curly.
Stripes or polka-dots? Polka-dots.
Offend or defend? Defend.
Crossword or Sudoku? Crossword.
Text or email? Text.
Space Mountain or Splash Mountain? Splash Mountain.
Waffles or pancakes? Waffles.
Making something or buying something? Making something.
