Suzukis, Horrifying Clowns, and Meat Glue

• Adam Rex will be having a contest this week on Ironic Scans.  It’s all so very very simple.  You’ve all read Mr. Rex’s series on Characters In Search of Stories, yes?  Well, all you have to do is make up one of your own, post it in the comment section of Ironic Scans, and Adam will draw it and give it to you.  For further details, just look at the Ironic Scans post.  I dunno about you guys, but I’m going to go and make up one of my own.  It’ll be tough, though.  There are already some pretty good suggestions out there.  I’m personally fond of "Hee B. Geebee and his Spooky Suzuki."  That I’d like to see.

• Speaking of Mr. Rex, I see that I’ve been lax in following his blog lately (it happens).  So somehow or other I completely missed the official appearance of some Abraham Superlincoln fanart.  Don’t you just love the ASL on his chest.

• Fanart.  That reminds me.  I get such a kick out of Mo Willems’ fan mail and I’m happy to report that a new batch is up at his site. Don’t Let the Pigeon Fall In Love is now my favorite book suggestion he has received. I wonder if other illustrators could do this once in a while on their own sites.

• A good authorial website is difficult for a children’s author.  On the one hand, it’s cool to have something fun and funny enough for the kids.  On the other hand, you want a layout that adults can navigate.  Author/illustrator Katie Davis balances both needs with more than a little aplomb on her lovely little website with its great intro and nice set-up. I’m fond of her blog Brain Burps too.

• J.L. Bell discusses horror within the Wizard of Oz universe. I don’t know about you but the term "Meat Glue" as found in the picture Bell includes, is probably the most horrific phrase I’ve come across in a long time. It would also make a good band name.  "Helloooo, Kalamazoo!  We are Meat Glue!!!"

• I was unnaturally pleased with Monica Edinger’s illustration she did as a kid for A Wrinkle in Time. 

• Now I may not have enjoyed the covers Wiesner did for The Dark is Rising series (could the Greenwitch have looked any more little-old-lady-adorable?) but his take on the Narnia books does, to my mind, look better than those by Chris Van Allsburg a couple years ago. Bookslut has now included the books in the regular Judging a Book by Its Cover series and Heather Smith has an interesting point of view.  We don’t see eye-to-eye, of course.  Where she thinks Van Allsburg is the best of a bad lot, I object to his shot-through-a-sun-filter take on everything from ships to horsies.  And her objection to Wiesner’s adorable unicorn on the cover of The Last Battle (which I agree was the freakiest of the bunch) conveniently forgets that Van Allsburg did the same damn thing for his version as well, only he set his at magic hour.  Neither is exactly ideal, but I’d take the very first cover appearance of Eustace as a doleful dragon over Van Allsburg’s sleepytime delight anyday.  And for the record, I think her idea of Hilary Knight illustrating Watership Down would be freakin’ awesome.  Don’t underestimate the man’s prowess.  Thanks to Original Content for both this link and one to Bookseller Chick about whether or not authorial blogs build readership.

• Here’s a Coraline poster they made for Comic Con. I had a dream last night that Neil Gaiman attended my Preschool Storytime. I saw him wandering about the room and in a blind panic I attempted to find our reference copy of Coraline for him to sign. Tell me, doctor, what does it mean?

• Oh, and in case you forgot, today is Scary Clown Day. Okay, not really. Scary Clown Day is officially on May 31st, but I’m getting a leg up this year. Here’s my contribution thanks to Eric Berlin. Happy Scary Clown Day, everyone.

• And finally, DO NOT forget that we’ve a Kidlit Drink Night this Wednesday (tomorrow) at Sweet & Vicious at 6:30. Seriously.  I want to see y’all there.

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