friday feast: shiver me timbers! by douglas florian and robert neubecker

AHOY, ME BUXOM BEAUTIES AND METER-LOVIN’ MATEYS!

Time t’ swash yer buckles, hoist the Jolly Roger and twirl yer tricornes. Douglas “Scurvy Dog” Florian has just penned avast amount o’ piratical poems in Shiver Me Timbers!: Pirate Poems & Paintings (Beach Lane Books, 2012). Arrrrrr!

Leave it t’ Scurvy Dog t’ brandish his literary wit for a 19-poem feast o’ the feisty that’ll fire up a yearnin’ fer the high seas. Pillage, plunder, blunderbuss, dagger. Buccaneer, commandeer, privateer sneer!

Plus a sulphur stinkpot er two.

Aye, this book’s a prize booty, chock full o’ fun-t’-know essentials about the toothless and ruthless: “Names for Pirates,” “Me Pirate Weapons,” “Pirate Flags,”  “Rule of the Pirate,” “Pirate Patter”! If yer wantin’ t’ be the crudest, rudest rascal er robber, swear by this:

THE PIRATES’ CODE OF CONDUCT

Don’t take a bath.
Avoid all math.
It’s best to yell
And blessed to smell.
Act rash and rude.
Dash down yer food.
Be sure to slurp
And belch and burp.
Take lots of naps.
Hide all yer maps.
Dismay, disrupt,
And interrupt.
Rob, steal, and loot,
But don’t get cute.
Tell lots of lies.
Make alibis.
Don’t change yer clothes.
Yell, “Thar she blows!”

Copyright © 2012 Douglas Florian. All rights reserved.

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soup of the day: oh, nuts! by tammi sauer and dan krall

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.

Well, not only do we feel like a nut, we ARE nuts about OH, NUTS! (Bloomsbury, 2012), a brand new picture book by Tammi Sauer and Dan Krall, which officially drops today!

C-C-R-R-R-A-C-K!

Oops.

You know the old saying, “It takes one to know one”? Ahem, Tammi Sauer, Dan Krall. Need I say more? Totally qualified in the nuts department. But somebody should get on their shells about slacking off. Tammi = 5 books out this year. Dan = 2 books out this year. If they’d only stop polishing their pecans, attacking acorns and waltzing with walnuts, they’d have time to make more books! Yeah!

*crowd grows restless* “Par-tay! Par-tay!”

So, are you ready to channel your inner chipmunk? I hope Tammi and Dan have time to drop by today’s celebration. They were last seen at the City Zoo, “meeting their public.” Throngs of peanut nibblers want their copies signed.

Tammi and Dan Chipmunk are the biggest attraction at the zoo today: DO NOT FEED. (This illo fashioned by Dan just for Alphabet Soup)!

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friday feast: happy birthday, jack prelutsky!

Hippo Cupcake via Dot’s Treats

In honor of Jack Prelutsky’s 72nd birthday tomorrow, I’m serving up a few sample poems from his latest collection, I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus (Greenwillow, 2012)which is brimming with 100+ chewy, crunchy, wacky, hilarious mostly animalish examples of vintage Prelutsky word-play, portmanteaux, and cheeky invites to experience a world where imagination reigns supreme.

 

Though I was quite taken with, “My Weasels Have the Measles,” could easily identify with the narrator of, “I Cannot Sleep a Wink Tonight,” wouldn’t mind meeting the “Wiguanas,” and am totally convinced Prelutsky used me as the model for “Especially Serious Sam,” guess which poems I like the best?

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robot zombie frankenstein winner!

 RECIPE FOR A WINNER ♥

You will need:

1 generous author named Annette Simon donating a signed book, chef’s hat and apron
6 feisty blog readers game for competition
5 Alphabet Soup kitchen helpers in disguise
Robot and Robot judges
1 cherry pie
1 blueberry pie
lotsa forks
appetite for fun
gumption

Let the games begin

in 5 . . .

 4 . . .

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

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soup of the day: happy birthday, tree! and the schmutzy family by madelyn rosenberg (and a double giveaway)!

What could be better than celebrating a first book by a fellow Virginia author?

Why, celebrating TWO first books, of course, yes TWO — by our favorite guitar playin’, Bob Dylan-lovin’, popcorn eatin’ ace reporter turned fiction writer Madelyn Rosenberg!!

YAHOO!!

And this is just as it should be — since Maddie (I can call her that cause I’m older) is twice as nice, twice as smart, and twice as cute. We are thrilled to be sending out twice the love♥ today for her two debut picture books, The Schmutzy Family, illustrated by Paul Meisel (Holiday House, 2012); and Happy Birthday Tree!: A Tu B’Shevat Story illustrated by Jana Christy (Albert Whitman, 2012).

Art © 2012 Paul Meisel

I hope you’re in double the partying mood cause we’ve got lots of pictures and snacks and tasty things to say about both of Ms. Rosenberg’s new books :). We’re even revealing a little-known secret: Madelyn may be a very talented writer and all-around good person, but . . . she’s a tad messy! *ssshhh* More on that later.

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