humor

soup of the day and a giveaway: the great lollipop caper by dan krall!

~ jama ~ 56 Comments

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If you’re in the mood for a tempestuous tale of jealousy, greed and world domination, you’ve come to the right place.

The frenetically talented and unusually hungry author, illustrator, animator and art director Dan Krall (yes, he’s tall) has just today released a brand new shiny briny picture book called The Great Lollipop Caper (Simon & Schuster, 2013)! Yay, Lollipops!

Some would say respectable grown men shouldn’t write about sweet lollipops, but here’s the lick: at first glance, this may seem like a simple, albeit saccharine story. But all you diehard sourpusses will be happy to hear this tome has a testy tart edge — it taps into the inner torment (for crying out loud) of one little green wrinkly caper. Oy, a caper’s cautionary caper — bite me!

Before I tempt you any further, a couple of party accoutrements.

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friday feast: a peek at world rat day by j. patrick lewis and anna raff

~ jama ~ 50 Comments

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Usually I don’t like to say this in polite company, but ahem . . .  I smell a rat!

Actually four rats, nattily sporting bowtie, necktie, fedora, and boater, casually working the stripes, football jerseys, overalls, scuba gear and yes, bunny ears, as they boogie, strut, scamper and cavort through the pages of this brand new poetry collection by our studly but relentlessly mischievous Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis.

Due props to him and award-winning illustrator Anna Raff for creating this zany celebration of 22 “Real Holidays You’ve Never Heard Of ” in World Rat Day (Candlewick, 2013), destined to be an instant favorite among munchkins and short grown-ups who enjoy quirky-fun animal poems, what poet Bobbi Katz calls “ear food for elementary school kids.”

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a big spoonful of excitement: tiger in my soup by kashmira sheth and jeffrey ebbeler

~ jama ~ 43 Comments

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Friends, you need to get your big fat paws on this brand new picture book. Talk about a roarin’ good time!

Here I was, my meek, mild-mannered self minding my own business, when this ferociously funny SOUP BOOK growled at me. Open me, read me, devour me, it said, slurp. up. every. word! Who am I to ignore such a request?

Seriously. I didn’t stand a chance from the get-go. When I opened the book, I saw this:

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Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

See what I mean? Look at the endpapers! I want to marry them.

In Tiger in My Soup by Kashmira Sheth and Jeffrey Ebbeler (Peachtree Publishers, 2013), a young boy left in the care of his older sister begs her to read his favorite tiger book to him. Alas and alack, she is too absorbed in her own book to pay him any attention, prompting the boy to pull out his most imaginative stops to get her to change her mind.

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friday feast: hamming it up

~ jama ~ 48 Comments

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Oinkity oink oink.

Happy March!

It’s National Pig Day!

Gather round, ye swines, sows, piglets and poetry-loving porkers. We’re mud-wallowingly happy to squeal your praises today. Surely none other in the animal kingdom is as clean, intelligent, belly beautiful or lick-the-fat-off-your-face tasty!

*pork fat reverie*

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Mr. Cornelius delivering the keynote address at the 2013 Alphabet Soup Pig Day Conference.
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Captive audience hangs on his every word.
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“Now, let’s talk about that flying thing . . . “

Where would we be without our Sunday morning slices of crispy bacon, our juicy honey-baked Easter ham, our Wednesday night pan-fried pork chops with biscuits and gravy, our fall-off-the-bone bourbon-glazed baby back ribs? Oh, tempt me with your tenderloin, your coy cutlets, your heavenly hocks! Whether sausage, shoulder or bountiful butt, you alone wear the Crown.

To barbecue or not to barbecue — that’s not even a question. Aye, there’s the dry rub.

*trit trot, trit trot*

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chatting about the moogees with author/illustrator leslie mcguirk

~ jama ~ 12 Comments

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Don’t move a muscle. Word on the street is that the Moogees are on the move!

If you’re really lucky, they just might move in right next door to you. In the meantime, you can read all about them in this fun and whimsical new picture book, The Moogees Move House, written and illustrated by the endlessly creative, and yes, quirky, Leslie McGuirk.

It’s always a treat to see just what Leslie will do next. You may remember the last time she was here to chat about her amazing alphabet book, If Rocks Could Sing (Tricycle Press, 2011), or the time before that, when she and co-author Alex von Bidder shared tasty tidbits about Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant (Candlewick Press, 2009). Doggone delish!

In The Moogees Move House, a family of fanciful creatures searches for a new home. The perky, picky, peculiar-looking Moogees want something round, on the ground, “with class and a nice wide yard and plenty of grass.” With the help of Moogee realtor Mr. Ruru, they see and then reject homes that are too blue, too expensive, and too cheesy (if it were me, I’d move in immediately with a lifetime stash of crackers). Will they ever find just the right house? And what do the three baby Moogees know all along, as they scream, waa waa moogee doogee wee wee low lum!?

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