MotherReader

Melanie Watt’s tour is hot, hot, hot right now. Her character Scaredy Squirrel spoke up over at Big A, little a on Monday. On Tuesday, a clever kid asks the questions over at Book Buds. I’ll have an interview here on Friday with, ummm... sock puppets! Okay, not really. I’m so lame.

The March/April 2008 issue of The Edge of the Forest is up with interviews, reviews, and much, much more. Lately I’ve been lax about writing for this wonderful resource, but I’ll get back on the ball. Soon. If you’re interested in submitting an idea or article, get in touch.

Sign-ups continue for the Third Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. Don’t make me hunt you down! I’m going to start trolling for prizes, but again, don’t make me hunt you down! Seriously, I’d love signed books, fun jewelry, t-shirts, and notecards. I feel fairly certain that BACA merchandise will make an appearance. Original illustrator artwork, doodles, or even scribbles will make my heart leap with joy. Most of the donations will be combined to make prize packages, so don’t worry that no one would read twenty books in two days for your signed book or Scrabble cufflinks. Drop me a line at motherreader AT gmail DOT com and make me an offer I can’t refuse.

I am lifting this announcement from Kelly’s site, minus all the links, because I don’t have that kind of time. But I wanted to make sure you know that it’s time for the January 2008 issue of The Edge of the Forest, now entering its third year of publication.

There are many exciting features for you this month, as well as interviews, reviews, and much more. Specifically you’ll find an interview with Holly Thompson, a look at The Class of 2K8, an article on Booking your New Year’s Resolutions, A Day in the Life with Jane Resh Thomas, and an interview with Blogging Writer Candice Ransom. Looks like some excellent reading, even if I didn’t contribute this month. ;^)

Today’s re-posted list from last year again has some classic favorites and some often new-to-you 2006 highlighted titles along with a matching gift idea. If you’ve become inspired by the match-up game, throw out your titles and gifts in the comments. I’m very disappointed that I couldn’t think of a good gift match for some of my favorite books, including Clementine (other than a box of the fruit, which could be a huge disappointment to an eight-year-old), but it’s fun to try.

Speaking of book suggestions, before I turn you over to the list, let me point out that the new Edge of the Forest issue is up with a wonderful compilation of suggestions from the editorial board (me included). Check it out for more great ideas about books to give or just to read this holiday season. Among the other wonderful reviews, features and interviews, this issue includes my round-up review of four of the picture books nominated for the Cybil awards that also happen to be bedtime books. And I’ll be sure to read the interview with über-cool blogging writer Sara Lewis Holmes. She rocks.

Before I go, I must point out that right now, I have the best collection of posts ever on my front page. Three lists of books as gifts. A BACA rant, along with the announcement of BACA-brand material now available at the MotherReader store. A review of an incredible book by Grace Lin. The Carnival of Children’s Literature, with tips, tricks, and suggestions galore. And my tips on adding humor to your writing. Looking at this lovely line-up — if I do say so myself — I may never post again. Scroll and enjoy.

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When the going gets tough, the tough get going... making more obsessive lists of books ’n stuff. I went back to look at some of my favorite books of the year — and ever — to see if I could match ’em up. I’ve already covered many of the ideas with the first list, but here are some more.

1. Pair Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus with a toy bus and a cargo truck.
   


2. Pair The Moon with a flashlight and a promise for a nighttime walk or two.
   


3. Pair new-classic Duck and Goose with a bright spotted ball (fans will know why).
   


4. Pair MotherReader favorite The Day the Babies Crawled Away with a baby doll.
   


5. Pair the funny wordless book Once Upon a Banana and a stuffed monkey — but show your sense of humor by throwing a banana into the gift bag.
   


6. Pair silly beginning reader book The Monster in the Backpack with a cute backpack (monster additional).
   


7. Pair classic A Bargain For Frances with a tea set.
   


8. Pair the offbeat book Pecorino Plays Ball with a bat and ball. You can throw in a coupon book for practice sessions.
   


9. Pair Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs with a kazoo.
   


10. Combine sweet Jenny and the Cat Club with a red scarf (don’t worry if it’s too long — so is Jenny’s) and a black cat.
    


11. Pair Clarice Bean Spells Trouble with a game of Scrabble, and some of your time to teach it.
    


12. Pair a drawing book like Draw 50 Airplanes, Aircrafts, and Spaceships or Draw 50 Cats with a couple of nice sketch pads.
    


13. Pair Phineas MacGuire... Erupts! with a science kit, or the next book in the series, Phineas MacGuire... Gets Slimed! with the slime science kit.
    


14. Pair a spy-themed book like Steal Back the Mona Lisa! (picture book), The Case of the Climbing Cat (beginning reader), Harriet the Spy (chapter book) or Secrets, Lies, Gizmos, and Spies: a History of Espionage (nonfiction) with rear-view sunglasses and/or a fingerprint kit.
    


15. Bigger girls like stuffed animals too. How about Hoot with an owl, The World According to Humphrey with a hamster, or Room With a Zoo with a puppy?
    


16. Pair a magic book of your choice with magic tricks.
    


17. Pair The Crafty Diva’s D. I. Y. Stylebook: A Grrrl’s Guide to Cool Creations You Can Make, Show Off, and Share or The Girls’ World Book of Friendship Crafts: Cool Stuff to Make with Your Best Friends with a gift card to a local craft store, and maybe some shopping and crafting time together.
    


18. Pair Knitgrrl: Learn to Knit With 15 Fun And Funky Projects and/or Chicks with Sticks: It’s a Purl Thing with yarn, knitting needles, and a promise for some lessons.
    


19. Pair Ductigami: The Art of Tape with... well, rolls of duct tape.
    


20. Pair King Dork with a CD of The Mr. T Experience.
    


21. It’s not really a toy or separate gift, but take a special book, like Wow! It Sure is Good to Be You (which is about an aunt loving her far-away niece) and make a CD recording of you reading it.
    

Thing Number One:
There’s a DC-brand KidLit Drink Night this Saturday, November 10th. Because we define DC broadly here, it’s actually in Bethesda, Maryland. The Rí~Rá Pub & Restaurant at 4931 Elm Street features a cheap parking garage across the street (its meters take change) and easy access from the Bethesda Red Line Metro stop. I’ll be there at 6:00 p.m., along with writers Sara Lewis Holmes and Caroline Hickey, and hopefully you! (Rumors that Bono is attending have not been confirmed.)

Thing Number Two:
In case you missed it yesterday with my long-winded introduction, I’ll be hosting the November Carnival of Children’s Literature. Carnivals are simply collections of posts in a specific topic area (in this case Children’s Literature), pulled together by a host for easier reading. Since they can have a theme, I’ve decided to do something a little different, maybe even a bit of a stretch. For this month I want a tip as a reader, writer, illustrator, reviewer, publisher, or editor of children’s literature. I want a lesson learned from a teacher, librarian, author, or parent with regards to kids’ lit. It doesn’t have to be a post that you did in November or October, though you may consider tweaking and re-posting an older entry to use; you can pick a post from any point this year. The deadline for submission is Saturday, November 24th, and I’ll post the Carnival on Wednesday, November 28th. Send your links through my email (see the Email MotherReader! button) or the Carnival site — and please indicate, if possible, whether the tip/trick/hint is more for reader, writer, illustrator, reviewer, publisher, editor, teacher, librarian, or parent. (Yes, I know that there is plenty of overlap, but it would save time for me in organizing the posts if the suggested category were included with your link.) Some examples (and indeed previews) include Kelly’s writer tips, Sara’s how to write a poem, Robin’s look at writers and money, and my booktalking for teens. I’d love to see some editors and publishers give us some ideas for getting a foot in the door. Some librarians share a special program that rocks. Some reviewers tell how to handle the mountain of books. Some authors address school visits or writer’s block. I know that we all have so much knowledge to share with each other, and I wanted to present one great big opportunity to do so.

Thing Number Three:
Today, Poetry Friday is hosted by A Wrung Sponge, and she has an excellent idea for us. She suggests that we take our poetry out into the world. Put a poem by the microwave at work! On the bulletin board in school! In the bathroom stall at Target! Okay, I might have added that last one for giggles. Today I’m taking out a poem from John Grandits’ book, Technically It’s Not My Fault. It’s a collection of concrete poems, and I’ve used a couple of them in booktalking sessions to the middle school, particularly the title poem, which is on the cover and goes something like this:

I know, I know. You’re really mad. But I can explain. See, I was reading about Galileo, a guy who made all these great discoveries and did cool experiments. and the book said that he dropped a heavy object and a light object out of a window to show they’d land at the same time because gravity is constant. But I thought, No way! Heavy things fall fast and light things fall slow. We know this from Saturday morning cartoons, right? So I decided to do the experiments myself. I found a concrete block in the garage and I got a tomato from the fridge, and I took them up to the attic and opened the window and rested them on the sill. And it really, really looked like there was going to be plenty of room for them to fall between the house and the car. I mean, like, who knew?

(If you want to read the rest, click over to the Amazon listing and click on the Browse Sample Pages: Front Cover. I’ll tell you, read fast, this poem kills at booktalks.) Today, I’ll be putting a copy of “The Little House” by the water fountain at work (kids love water fountains). It has a drawing of a house, and the first part has the words all piled up on top of each other in a way that I can’t replicate here, but they say:

Building a poem is like building a little house. You start with some bricks — a pile of words. They’re all mixed up. There is no order. They keep tumbling all over each other.

Those words are in a pile like the bricks they mention, but then the other words of the poem are inside the house and the ideas are of building, taking your time, and leaving space. I love this poem, but since I can’t find it online and can’t (and wouldn’t) post it here, you’ll have to look for it on your own or come to my library and visit the water fountain.

Thing Number Four:
Don’t forget to check out the newest issue of The Edge of the Forest, which features an interview with Sara Zarr, a discussion about readergirlz’ “31 Flavorite Authors for Teens,” and many reviews of Young Adult novels. It also includes an article I wrote, “Can A Funny Book Be Taken Seriously?” and I’m feeling pretty positive about it. After all, it reveals a conversation wherein a noted literary agent calls a Printz-winning book crap, and then ends with a brilliant paragraph on the topic area by the author of that Printz-winning book in a way that could be summed up by a current expression — that expression being SNAP!

I’ve returned from a long weekend which was equal parts complete delight in my toddler niece and emotionally draining upkeep of my mother. Ah, family. Gotta love ’em.

I’ve also wasted my one day that is both off work and at home sneezing my poor nose off. Delayed allergy attack from cleaning twenty pounds of pine needles off my mother’s roof? Oncoming cold to taint my good deed karma? A coup by my nose against my very face? Wish I could tell you.

I can find a little bit of peace in being able to post an announcement about the new Edge of the Forest issue instead of writing up something today. The issue includes an article I wrote, “Can A Funny Book Be Taken Seriously?” which included some great insights from some wonderful writers (who are particularly wonderful for responding to my article question quickly, much less at all). I can only hope it included some interesting bits from me. The Edge also features an interview with Sara Zarr, a discussion about readergirlz’ “31 Flavorite Authors for Teens,” many reviews of Young Adult novels, and even more for the low, low price of... nothing!

In other news, there looks to be a DC-brand KidLit Drink Night on Saturday, November 10th. Okay, it’s actually in Bethesda, Maryland, not DC, but we’re all one big regional family here. The new locale is the Rí~Rá Pub & Restaurant at 4931 Elm Street. There is a cheap parking garage across the street (its meters take change) and it’s about three blocks from the Bethesda Red Line Metro stop. I’ll be there along with writers Sara Lewis Holmes and Caroline Hickey, and you’re invited too! We’re meeting around 6:00 p.m. and staying until we get sick of each other. Come on out and hang with the cool crowd — oh, and me.

I’m booktalking today to middle schoolers, and thought that I would share with you an article of my hints that was originally in The Edge of the Forest. (Check out the original article for an abbreviated sample booktalking session.)

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If you were to ask a librarian whether she would prefer to talk about books to a room full of seventh graders or walk into a cage with some tigers, there would be a short pause. Then the inevitable question: “How many... tigers?”

It’s not that you think that the students are judging you. You know they’re judging you. The very thought transports you back to middle school when some boy pulled up your skirt in the school play and everyone called you Susie Underpants for the rest of your school career. Or maybe that was a Friends episode.

In any case, you do not need to be afraid. You will probably be judged, but it will be less frightening than you thought. They’ll laugh if you mention that the book Plastic Man made your car smell like rubber, but they will then move their mental attention to the topic of whether Madison really kissed Tom after the game and will Evan pound Tom or instead make a move on Annie? Important stuff.

I have not been booktalking at middle school for long, but I can share what I have learned to make your experience successful. Or perhaps convince you to give it a try.

1. Dress Down
   
   While it would be unwise to wear layered tanks and pants with “JUICY” across the butt, it would also be unwise to dress in a tailored suit with a flowered pin. While not drawing attention to your clothes, you want to look like a person who enjoys young adult books. Actually, you want to look like the kind of person who wouldn’t use the phrase “young adult books.” Start with the assumption of flat-front khakis, black V-neck T-shirt, and decent black shoes as the perfect outfit and work from that point.
   


2. Work the Crowd
   
   Comedians and rock stars have a warm-up act to get the audience ready for the show. You just have... well, you. If you are in an auditorium where kids are filing in, try to make a little conversation. I’ve asked kids about the shirts they made for a school project. I’ve asked if they’ve seen the latest hot movie. I’ve said hello to kids I’ve seen at the library. I’ve encouraged them to move closer to the front. All of this gives the kids a chance to warm up to me a bit. If I were coming into a class, I might not have this same chance. But I might start my booktalks with one that asked a question of the class, or ask about any projects displayed in the classroom.
   


3. Identify the Problem Spots
   
   Walking around also pinpoints the kids who might mouth off. I’ve subtly asked teachers if a kid will be a problem, and they’ve sat with him. I had one kid try to shock me by telling me that when he played soccer he would get hit in the balls. I said, “Wow, you must not be very good.” Snap. Then during my booktalk, I asked that kid to explain to the group how mummies are made, using his need to be noticed for good.
   


4. Quick Introduction
   
   I usually go to the middle school at the beginning and the end of the school year. I introduce myself, and talk about the library services for teenagers or the summer reading program. I do this quickly, walking the front of the stage and making lots of eye contact. If I see talkers, I give them a little extra eye contact.
   


5. Beg for Tolerance
   
   After my quick intro, I take a long pause. Then I say, “Talking in front of all of you guys is not the easiest thing librarians do. I hope that you’ll pay attention and hear about some great books. But if you can’t listen, just please don’t talk. It’s very distracting, and makes it harder for me to keep it interesting for you. Thanks.”
   


6. Jump Right In
   
   Lead off strong with your clearest winner. Mix up your booktalks with types of books and types of talks. I usually do one book where I ask the teens a question. Then maybe I do a straightforward booktalk. Then maybe one with a little gimmick. Then maybe I read from a book. Keep it moving and keep it fresh.
   


7. Show No Fear
   
   After my little “No Talking” speech, I can usually keep things quiet with steady eye contact on the talkers. If that doesn’t work, I walk near that person and talk directly to them until they get the point. My last strategy involves a completely innocent tone. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you have something to say about the book? No. Then do you mind if I finish sharing it with the class? Thanks.” Then I move right on. Only once has someone responded with, “This is boring.” I responded, “Yeah, I can see how you would rather be writing a report. I’m sure your teacher could arrange that if you prefer.” “Nah, I’m okay,” I heard next.
   


8. Drink Water
   
   If you’re talking a lot, you’ll get thirsty. Enough said.
   


9. Bring Your Best Game
   
   Full booktalking days generally give me a headache. I take Advil before I even leave home. Do what you need to do to keep your energy up.
   


10. Time Your Closing
    
    When the bell rings, those kids are gone. I’ve learned to time some of my booktalks for right at the end. Know what time you’re got and actually work with it. This is my favorite ending booktalk: “You’ve all heard of book banning, right? Generally, it’s the content of the book that is in question. But this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a movement to have a book banned based entirely on the title. [Tell about the story.] Now, do you want to know what is this title that is so destructive to today’s kids? [Here’s the reveal of the book.] Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love.” As the kids go wild about me saying the word “sex” in school — if I timed it just right — the bell rings.

You have the tools, you have the knowledge, and you have the love of books. You can do it. Go out there and face down the tigers. I mean teens.

So many goodies to share, so little time before I go to work.

You heard it here first... you know, maybe... but a sixteen-year-old translated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into French and put it online. He’s kind of in trouble, but I’ve got to admire the determination. And what’s the deal with the French publishing the ending of the book but running that article upside down? Silly French people.

In the Potter vein, if you want somewhere to go and talk amongst yourselves about the book, head to Scholar’s Blog Spoiler Zone and spill your guts. Also on Potter, I was surprised that my quoting the phrase “who doesn’t know Hogwarts from genital warts” didn’t get more of you to check out Defective Yeti’s hilarious post from the point of view of the Amazon warehouse employee. I mean, I just used the words “genital warts” in my blog. Do you realize what that’s going to do to my keyword searches? The least you can do is read it.

If NerdFighters (do you think that word is actually a CamelCase?) donate to the campaign of Daniel Biss or to the Foundation to Decrease WorldSuck, John Green will entertain us. At two hundred donations he says, “I will find a cat, lick it, wax two limbs of your choice while drinking a thoroughly blenderized Happy Meal from McDonald’s.” I don’t care much about the waxing or the Happy Meal, but I deeply love the idea of him going up to a neighbor and introducing himself by asking to lick their cat for a videoblog. The donations are so close. We can make it happen. Oh, and blogbuddy Kelly Fineman makes an appearance in a later video. You go, girl! If you adore Brotherhood 2.0, check out the fabulous article written by Little Willow. Her piece was also part of...

The Edge of the Forest, where I contributed a self-interview about the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Extra props to Kelly for her work getting up another great issue even after computer crashes and scheduling problems galore.

I heard from more than one place that The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar endorses Junie B. Jones, but I’m giving the nod to Bookshelves of Doom because, man, that chick has been a posting fiend lately! Anyway, at the SPOGG Blog (what wouldn’t you give for that name), they talk about the recent blast on the books by The New York Times and support Junie B. Take that, naysayers! Personally, I am highly in favor of Junie B. Jones books, and wrote about it here.

Speaking of Junie B., remember how I said I was going to send Barbara Park my article and write her a letter for Tell an Author You Care Day (Week)? I didn’t know where to send it, but her publicist saw my post and told me that I could send the letter to her attention. Of course the email was in my new, exciting MotherReader email and I kinda had forgotten I had that new thing. But the lovely publicist forwarded my article and website on to Ms. Park, and she was thrilled with what I wrote! That makes me so happy in my heart! As it turns out, in the summer laziness I’ve been feeling, I hadn’t sent the letter yet, so I’m going to get it out of here and in the hands of my writing idol soon. Soon. Yes, soon!

On the topic of laziness, I feel the need to apologize. I thought that with less on my plate in the summer I’d be more focused, but that has not been the case. I’ve neglected to respond to emails, including forgetting that I had an entire separate email account. I didn’t send my check for the Kidlitosphere conference. (It’s in the mail!) I have books I was totally going to review, but I’ve slacked off. Generally, I just want to say that it’s not you, it’s me.

Oh, and my beach visit was lovely. We only spent one day at the ocean, but what a day. Often we see dolphins offshore, but this time they were really close. In fact, a pair of them swam about three yards away from my eleven-year-old daughter! I went running in to join her, but with my glasses on I couldn’t go deep enough. Stupid bad eyesight. Still, extremely cool.

Honestly, I was going to copy two entire posts from Big A, little a and paste them here, but apparently I don’t know how to do that and retain the links. So instead I’ll have to link only to the Edge itself, and the allow some text to tempt you to delve further.

The May issue of The Edge of the Forest is up. Here’s what’s in store this month:

Kelly interviews Kerry Madden and investigates JacketFlap. Allie discusses “The Bermudez Triangle: Too Cool for School?” and profiles author Deb Caletti. Kim Winters talks to children’s writers on retreat about what they are reading and why for the In the Backpack column, and gets personal about writing for children in A Day in the Life. Kelly Fineman interviews David Lubar in our Blogging Writer feature. There are reviews in all categories — from Picture Book to Young Adult — and Best of the Blogs covers THE scandal of the month (you know which one...)

Don’t miss the 14th Carnival of Children’s Literature, to be held one week from today at Chicken Spaghetti. Stop by there and email your submission or use the form at the Blog Carnival site. The deadline is Thursday.

Thanks, Kelly, as today I only had the energy to slap in a couple of links and edit a smidge.

The March 2007 issue of The Edge of the Forest is now up, featuring interviews with Newbery Honoree Kirby Larson and with the hilarious Jenny Han. There are also reviews in all categories — from Picture Book to Young Adult. (Don’t miss Brian Farrey’s “Open Letter to Adam Selzer.”) Lots of other features to numerous to mention make this a must-read ’zine.

The Edge includes my new article, “Be a B-List Blogger.” I felt I needed to give some tips back to the book blogging community after being asked so many times about my own rise to B-list fame. Okay, maybe I was asked once. And now that I think about it, the question may have been if I could “go all night long,” but anyway, I took it as a cry for help.

I entered the kidlitosphere in complete and utter naiveté. My husband had been bugging me for a year to get a blog, after the many times I would bug him about including some adult book or some earth-shattering thought of mine on his blog. Then one day I just decided to do a blog about books. We set up the site, and I started writing. I knew nothing of other book blogs. I hadn’t followed blogs at all. I was actually quite surprised to find out how many were out there, and how good they were. While I started writing pretty much for myself and my friends, I soon wanted to be part of the larger community. But how?

The answer to that question is contained in my article at The Edge. Most of the tips came to me along the journey. Some of them were only available to me upon reflection. But I hope that the suggestions can help other bloggers that are struggling with their own road to blog-improvement.

On a personal, related note, in my article I mention that commenting on blogs helps get you noticed, and I want to say to some bloggers who comment here, that I do notice you and I do appreciate your support. I often bookmark blogs that are new to me, and I visit occasionally to see how they’re growing up. I rarely put a blog that is just starting out on my blogroll, because I think everyone needs time to find their voice. And honestly, sometimes I just forget. I am not an organized person, and I am at this point a deeply overwhelmed person, so there are things that just don’t happen. But I am happy that you read MotherReader, and I hope you keep coming back until the day you’re an A-list blogger and I’m begging you for a little blog-time. ’Cause that’s how things roll in the fast-paced, high-stakes world of blogging.

So, Mo sent me a little something. Signed sketchbooks — including the famous Pigeon one — and an original Monster in Underpants picture! It’s a perfect way to introduce my interview with the man himself. On this site is one part, a little teaser. At The Edge of the Forest, you’ll find the rest of the interview, along with other reviews, articles, and features.

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Teaser question: How did the sketchbooks get started? Who do they go to? And how, exactly, did the Pigeon go from being the sketchbook to a picture book?

That’s three teaser questions and consequentially requires dull exposition about the early 1990s.

Ahem. Back in the early 1990s (yawn!), I was part of a very young, very dissolute literary scene centered around a guy by the name of S. Pratt. Pratt had two things going for him: he put out a monthly ’Zine¹ that older, less dissolute literary types apparently read, and he lived in a big loft where you could really party.²

Being dissolute, my friend quickly ran out of stuff to fill his ’Zine,³ so I suggested hijacking one issue with New Yorker-style cartoons that I’d doodled over the previous year.

The issue was a success, as it filled all the required pages and doubled as an xmas card for my clients and friends. So, the next year we made another. After a few years, Ersatz dissolutely dissoluted and Curious Pictures⁴ started to “publish” them annually. Staples were replaced with binding, the covers had two (count ’em, two) colors, and things generally appeared semi-professional.⁵

Some of the books are collections of cartoons, others short stories, or more serious illustration. Essentially, the sketchbooks are an outlet for me to play and experiment with things that otherwise no one in their right minds would publish.

This January I shipped out my 14th edition of the Mo Willems Sketchbook, entitled Mr. Willems’ Essential Reference Guide to MONSTERS IN UNDERPANTS [Abridged and Incomplete]. It is, as you might guess, a guide to various Monsters and their undergarments.

The most “famous” of these sketchbooks, I suppose, is the original version of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, which fell into the hands of an agent who was amused, who in turn showed it to multiple publishers, who were not.

Two years later my agent stumbled across an editor silly enough to be enthusiastic about the Pigeon and before I knew it, I was glamorously doing internet interviews.⁶

The King of the Creeps called to Emil and Karl. “I know that we were Counting on Grace,” he said, “but it looks like that Sweet Thang has failed.”

“You know I will not let you down, your highness,” said Emil, “I see Your Eyes in Stars, I daily sing your praises, Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You to the ends of the very...”

“Enough already! Your syrupy phrases are enough to make me crave The Loud Silence of Francine Green, and nothing’s worse than a mime,” said the king.

“A Klepto is,” muttered Karl under his breath, as he watched Emil pocket a small sculpture of a Black Duck.

“I’ve called you here to announce to the world at large that the new Edge of the Forest issue has arrived, with reviews of ten books in Twentieth Century YA Style, among other fine interviews, reviews, and articles. The Aftershocks of such marvelous works of writing will be felt far and wide,” said the king. “Let everyone know that the issue is ready for the people!”

“It shall be done,” said Emil, as he and Karl bowed and walked out of the room.

This month in The Edge of the Forest I’m back with the last list of funny books for all ages. This time it’s books for teens. A shout-out to Little Willow who gave me some great suggestions and helped me fill in some gaps. Later I’ll post the titles here on MotherReader as part of my “MotherReader Suggests” section. In the meantime, cruise on over to The Edge of the Forest and check out the features, reviews, and interviews that it has to offer. You won’t be sorry.

Today, in a continuation of the Things About Me meme, I expand on this statement:

2. Some people think I’m funny.

I’ll bet that more than half of the people I know through work, the kids’ school, and Girl Scouts would not think of me as funny. Or really amusing in any way. I don’t always put forth that persona, I guess. Or if my sense of humor doesn’t click with them, I don’t even try. I’d like to think that I am thought of as funny here in the blogging world. And I suspect the people who know me think I’m a crack-up. So, only some people think I’m funny. And. That’s. Okay.

Now I’ve turned my power of humor to good and produced another “Bring On The Funny” list, this time for ages eight to twelve. You’ll find it — along with many other great articles and interviews — at The Edge of The Forest.

And since I can’t tag the wonderful editor of the online journal, given that she tagged me, I’ll instead turn the attention to someone else. This special someone routinely comments on my posts, especially noting when I write something funny. I like that about her. She’s done a couple of contests to get us all up and moving, and this new one captures my attention with the search for the funniest lines in children’s literature. She’s a poet on this wonderful journey that we call life; I tag Journey Woman.

What better place for me to plug my enduring love of Junie B. Jones than the new issue of The Edge of the Forest? And, if my feature article isn’t enough for you, there are reviews, interviews, and Charleston Chews. But just before you go, let me say...

Yeah! Yeah! There’s a new Junie B. Jones book. And it’s super funny! The first grader heads off to Hawaii with her parents in Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha!. The book chronicles her hard-to-contain excitement in class, her plane ride with the two grouchy ladies, and her visit to paradise with a deflated swim ring around her waist.

Here’s the totally topical Junie B. version of the airport:

We started waiting in a million jillion lines.

First, we waited in the “getting our car into the parking lot” line. Then we waited in the shuttle-bus line, and the “give the man your suitcase” line, and the “get your boarding passes here” line.

After that, there was just one more line to go. It is called the “now we’re going to look through all of your stuff with our X-ray vision” line.

That line is exactly like the lines at Disneyland, except for it’s longer. Plus there’s no actual ride at the end.

Now, doesn’t that capture the experience pretty accurately? Not convinced of the joy that is Junie B.? Pop by my article in The Edge of the Forest and see if I can’t change your mind.

The new Edge of the Forest, a kidlit online magazine, is ready for viewing. There are many wonderful reviews, interviews, and whatnot, but note the featured article by yours truly. I wrote about funny books for babies to first graders. Stop by and take a look.