Reading room

I love all libraries, but my favorites have a special look and feel to them—in other words, ATMOSPHERE. If I could travel back in time, I would love to spend some quality time in a library at sea. Just looking at this picture of the library aboard the United States Lines’ S.S. America makes me want to sit down and open a book.

I could have my pick of chairs to read in here! Image found Out There.

This is the S.S. America, the ship that contained that sweet reading space.

Full steam ahead! The library's open. Image found at cruiselinehistory.com

Now, what book would I choose to read in such a salty situation? How about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!

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

Tower of Power

I’ve posted before about being tall.

I am 6′ 7″, and it’s been a blessing and a curse.

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!

Wild ones

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!

Read an excerpt here.

Griffin’s Gold

Sam and Andy from Chicago, IL write:

Dear T,

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!

1001 reasons to smile

If I thought about it really hard, I could probably come up with the names of twenty children’s books I consider to be immortal classics. Never in a million years could my feeble brain think of one hundred. Author Julia Eccleshare describes an incredible 1001 of them in her new book, 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.

1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up is the best guide to classic and contemporary children’s literature today. Organized by age group in nine hundred and sixty pages of glorious full-color illustrations, each title is reviewed by a top-notch author (Judy Blume, for one!) with mentions of related books readers might like. Included are many foreign contributions to children’s literature, such as France’s La Vache Orange (The Orange Cow) and Sweden’s Visst kan Lotta Cykla (Lotta’s Bike).

This heavy hardcover is much more than just a reference guide. It will take you on a journey of discovery into fantasy, adventure, history, and much more, introducing you to, or reminding you about, books that enable you to travel to some of the most famous worlds imagined, such as Narnia, Middle Earth, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You may fall down a rabbit hole, as Alice does to reach Wonderland, get swept up in a cyclone to Oz, or crawl through the back of a wardrobe to experience the snowy wastes of Narnia.

Above all, this book is fun, fun, fun. Every one of its nine hundred and sixty pages brings a smile to my face.

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!

Dream team

One of my favorite books of all time is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer, published in 1961.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer, is published by Random House.

Who can forget such lively characters as Tock, the faithful watchdog, and the Humbug, who was so sure of himself while being wrong about everything, and Faintly Macabre, the Not-So-Wicked-Which? And what could be more terrifying than the Demons of Ignorance, particularly the Horrible Hopping Hindsight, the Everpresent Wordsnatcher, and the Overbearing Know-It-All?

Now, forty-eight years later, EW.com is reporting that Mr. Juster and Mr. Feiffer are collaborating again, this time on a book called The Odious Ogre, which is about a brutish ogre who meets a kindly girl and learns a lesson he will never forget.

“Norton and I agreed some time ago to do a book together every fifty years,” Mr. Feiffer joked. “Now that the first fifty are up, we are talking about our next venture after The Odious Ogre. Fifty years hence, look for either The Phantom Ogre or The Odious Tollbooth.”

Good things come to those who wait, as the saying goes. The release for The Odious Ogre is scheduled for 2010. I’m counting the days!

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!

Knock, knock …

Eric from Columbus, OH writes:

Dear T,

I’m writing a book about the adventures of a street lamp and a telephone pole, and I’m drawing the pictures for it, too. The only problem is, Lampy and Poley are stuck in the ground and can’t go anywhere. All they can do is tell Knock Knock jokes. What should I do about that?

Drawing of Lampy and Poley by Eric

T replies:

I say keep ‘em telling Knock Knock jokes, Eric. The world could use a few more of those. With all the problems we have to face every day, we can all use a good laugh!