King Kong lives again!

Perhaps you have heard the thrilling and tragic tale of King Kong, the gigantic ape that was discovered on mysterious Skull Island and dragged to New York to thrill the masses as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

Kong made a special connection with a young woman named Ann Darrow, and, after a romantic rampage through the island of Manhattan, he took her on a sightseeing trip atop the Empire State Building, where he sadly met his doom.

There have been several cinematic versions of Kong’s teary tale, and my current fave is the homemade film made by a bunch of kids in Hyannisport, Maine and Riverside, Connecticut in 1978. Warning! Kong’s rampage is GRUESOME.

Summer fun

When the world is threatened with destruction thanks to a curse from a talking, decapitated witch’s head, what’s a kid to do?

If you’re Thatcher Hill, you stop dusting the fake mermaids and other assorted grotesqueries at your uncle’s seaside Museum of Curiosities, join forces with a princess from the fabled lost city of Atlantis, and kick some monster-squid butt.

Greg van Eekhout’s new middle-grade novel Kid Vs. Squid has it all—thrills, spills, and chills, and it’s a laugh a minute, to boot. Spend the summer with Thatcher and see how much fun a rundown boardwalk can be!

Slimy squid, hero kid. Kid Vs. Squid by Greg van Eekhout is published by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

This is silly

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!

Mascot madness

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.”

Nature’s majesty

After seeing the new Alice in Wonderland movie, I am reminded of what is, in my view, the most amazing of all of Nature’s many wonders.

And that is how this:

Monarch caterpillar. Picture found at bbc.co.uk.

becomes this:

Monarch chrysalis. Picture found at ohiohistorycentral.org.

and then this:

Monarch butterfly. Picture found at wildwisconsinweb.com

Miraculous! I bow my head in awe.

Bird rock

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 result here.

Happy Thanksgiving

Although American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson reputedly called Thanksgiving “the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard,” most of us are glad for an excuse to count our blessings.

Even turkeys have a reason to celebrate: they’ve been roaming the Americas for ten million years. Clearly they’re planning on sticking around!

Look at us! Look at us! Er... on second thought...

Fantastic Mr. Dahl

The tall Mr. Dahl.

Six foot five-inch tall writer Roald Dahl is one of the Immortals. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and his other great books will live from now until the end of time.

Two of Mr. Dahl’s books have been made into stop-motion films. Stop-motion is a form of animation where moveable models are photographed in incremental movement. A model is photographed, then repositioned and photographed again, and again and again until a required action is completed.

The first of Mr. Dahl’s books to become a stop-motion adventure was James and the Giant Peach in 1996.

James and the Giant Peach—the book.

Grasshopper and James mid-adventure in the stop-motion film version. Photo (c) cinefantastiqueonline.com

Now Fantastic Mr. Fox has received the amazing stop-motion treatment.

Fantastic Mr. Fox—the book.

A scene from Fantastic Mr. Fox, the stop-motion film. Photo (c) bbc.co.uk

Wes Anderson is the director of the filmic Fantastic Mr. Fox. He talks about bunk beds and toy trains—the inspiration behind one of the scenes in the movie—here. Included is a sketch of his ideas, and a clip of the scene in question from the new film.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox on the set of their new stop-motion film. Photo (c) huffingtonpost.com

A peach that grows big enough to live in and a fox that talks may sound crazy, but not to those who enjoy having fun. “A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men,” Mr. Dahl was known to say.

The Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the great writer. It is the current home of Mr. Dahl’s writing chair, where James and Mr. Fox came into being. Not everyone gets to sit in Mr. Dahl’s chair, but author Val Tyler can boast of having done so.

Mr. Dahl in his chair. Photo (c) Roald Dahl Museum

Ms. Tyler in Mr. Dahl's chair at the Roald Dahl Museum. Photo (c) valtyler.co.uk

No wonder she looks so happy. She’s probably picking up a lot of great ideas!

Happy Halloween

Or Happy Samhain, if you’re Celtic!

Pumpkin seeds are the ultimate Halloween treat for these trick-or-treating lemurs.

A pair of Lemur catta (ring-tailed lemur) play with a jack-o'-lantern at the Czech Republic's Dvur Kralove Zoo. AP Photo/CTK, Alexandra Mlejnkova.

Listen to Jonathan Coulton sing the greatest song ever about zombies, with its fun-loving chorus, “All we want to do is eat your brains!”

Gumshoe critters

Something got me thinking about books featuring animal detectives, and so I decided to do some investigating. Here’s the evidence I’ve uncovered so far:

Dinosaur Vincent Rubio, in Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia, is a velociraptor private eye who solves crimes in Los Angeles and has a hard time keeping his tail tucked inside his latex human suit.

“What would the world be like if dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct? As this very funny book shows, for one thing, L.A. would be even weirder than it is now.” —Dave Barry

***

In Cat on the Edge by Shirley Rousseau Murphy, a quick-witted tomcat named Joe Grey (who can think and speak human language) solves a murder when he’s not busy calling to order pizza deliveries.

“An excellent tale of cats and humans who may or may not be what they appear to be, and of murder, revenge, and jealousy. Not to be missed!” —Armchair Detective

***

A tiger cat named Mrs. Murphy solves crimes in Rita Mae Brown’s Murder, She Meowed with the help of a fat tabby named Pewter and a Welsh corgi named Tee Tucker. Ms. Brown coauthored this book with a cat named Sneaky Pie, so you know it’s authentic!

“This fast-paced, fun novel provides a good look at small-town life. The clever writing displays the author’s keen insight into the relationships and potential dialogue between pets. A great choice for mystery lovers!” —School Library Journal

***

In Sam the Cat: Detective by Linda Stewart, law meets paw as Sam the enterprising tomcat solves a rash of cat-burglaries. His usual fee? A half pound of lox, plus expenses.

“If (legendary fictional detective) Philip Marlowe came back as a cat, he’d have come back as Sam.” —TV Guide’s Parents’ Guide to Children’s Entertainment

***

Hank the dog is a scruffy, smart-alecky supersleuth in The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson. While investigating a vicious murder on his West Texas ranch, Hank becomes the number-one suspect and marshals all his detective skills to clear his name.

“If you enjoy odd mysteries like who killed the chickens, this may be the perfect book for you.” —Mr. B.’s class review, Building Rainbows

***

Author Elmore Leonard is famous for his adult detective novels, but in A Coyote’s in the House he tells the story of Antwan, a wise-cracking coyote in Hollywood, CA who’s not exactly a detective but does plenty of investigating, particularly as to the whereabouts of peanut-butter cookies.

“The author gives us as much serious fun per word as anyone around.” —New York Times Book Review

***

And here’s my all-time favorite animal detective, Freddy the Pig, the hero of a series of high-spirited adventures by Walter R. Brooks. In Freddy the Detective, the intrepid porker has just read about Sherlock Holmes and tries his hand at gumshoe work around the Bean farm. “Oh, I am the King of Detectives,” he puts down in verse, “and when I am out on the trail, all the animal criminals tremble, and the criminal animals quail!”

How right he is about that. All hail Freddy, King of Animal Detectives!

“Freddy’s readers have called him a porcine prince, a pig of many parts, a paragon of porkers, a Renaissance pig. As the problems he faces require, he is by turns a cowboy, a balloonist, a magician, a campaign manager, a pilot, and a detective. But he is the most unheroic of heroes: he oversleeps, daydreams, eats too much and, when not suffering from writer’s block, writes flowery poetry for all occasions. His tail uncurls when he gets scared. Although lazy, he accomplishes a lot, because ‘when a lazy person once really gets started doing things, it’s easier to keep on than it is to stop.’” —New York Times Book Review

This is an older book than the aforementioned titles, but it is as entertaining as the day it first came out. Overlook Press has reprinted classic editions of all the original Freddy the Pig books. See them here, and sign up to become a Friend of Freddy!