SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

August 23, 2016 by Betsy Bird

When Celebrity Picture Books Go Kuh-kuh-kuh-KRAZY!

August 23, 2016 by Betsy Bird   11 comments

Celebrity picture books.  The gift that just keeps on giving.

Now in the past I’ve had my say about CPB ah-plenty.  Heck, there was an entire chapter devoted to them in Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. Today, we’ll switch tactics and tackle a topic that no one ever discusses.

Weeeeeeeeeeird celebrity picture books.

Specifically, the ones based on pop songs.

Here is how I imagine how the process usually goes.

Big publisher with lots of money sits down with the people of big famous celebrity singer.  Big publishers offers to get a top notch illustrator (who really needs the cash) to illustrate it.  Celebrity singer is keen on the idea, a deal is struck, and the book is made.  This happens time and again and usually the results are very normal.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

But then . . . once in a very great while . . . the impossible happens.  The artist is allowed to be  . . . artistic.

What do I mean like that?  Okay.  Let’s start with the pop novelty song turned picture book.  And in keeping with the sheer number of foxes in picture books these days (Travis! You need to add the new version of The Dead Bird by Zolotow & Robinson to your list!) I am showing you this:

WhatFoxSay

Remember that little post-Gangnam Style hit on the interwebs?  Currently cresting at 616 million views on YouTube (nope, I’m not kidding) someone at Simon & Schuster decided it could be worth it to give the lyrics book form.  After all, it sounds like a children’s song in a lot of ways (right down to the elephant going “toot”).  And usually when a YouTube sensation gets turned into a picture book you get something like a Golden Book Grumpy Cat or a Tiny Hamster or a talking shell, and that’s fine.

Then there’s this:

FoxSay1

FoxSay2

FoxSay3I had to wonder how this happened.  Did Ylvis insist on having his own illustrator?  How did they get Norwegian artist Svein Nyhus in the first place?  How could something this . . this . . this cool be based on a YouTube video?  It was Debbie Ohi’s blog post My WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY? obsession, solving a mystery AND the new picture book from Simon & Schuster BFYR that answered all my questions.  Turns out, Art Director Laurent Linn may have had a hand in the works.  Makes sense.  The man has fine taste.

And if you’re saying to yourself, “Fine and all, but clearly this is an aberration” you’d be half right.  Certainly it would take an act of God for another Svein Nyhus picture book to appear on our shores (our Norwegian picture book illustrators available here in the States are a bit, uh, lacking, shall we say).  But odd adaptations of songs into picture book formats don’t stop there.  Consider this:

LittleBlackSpot

Yep.  That’s a Sting song.  Now note the name of the illustrator: Sven Völker.  We’re with a German this time around.  Of course, the interiors might have given that away . . .

LittleBlackSpot1

LittleBlackSpot2

LittleBlackSpot3

I’m sorry but I kind of love this.  Obviously the song isn’t really meant to be for kids, but at least they didn’t cutesy it up.  It would have been easy to go the Shel Silverstein route and follow the adventures of a chipper little spot as he traverses the world.  Instead we get . . . actually, I’m not sure what we get.  Something weird, that’s for sure.

These first two books I’ve mentioned work because the publishers decided to get European artists to do the interiors.  So how often do you find a song adaptation that’s a bit on the peculiar side and that’s illustrated by an American?  Hardly ever.  Of course there are some exceptions:

IfDogsRun

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Dylan gets adapted into picture books on a frequent basis.  And he usually gets some perfectly good artists like Paul Rogers or David Walker or Jim Arnosky (that one was a surprise).  One time he got Jon J. Muth and I got really excited.  But the art was pretty standard stuff.  There was a paper airplane motif.  Ho hum.

But Scott Campbell?  He’s different.  This guy has a whole life dedicated to his adult cartoons, which are delightful.  Ever see this book?

GreatShowdowns

If not, I think I’m helping you out with your holiday gift giving already.  That book is a hoot.

In the case of the Dylan book, Campbell appears at first glance to be doing everything straight.  Dogs are running free.  That’s really all there is to it.  But there’s this undercurrent that’s hard to ignore.  See if you feel it too:

IfDogsRun1

IfDogsRun2

It just doesn’t feel like other celebrity song books.  There’s a wildness reined in here.  The song isn’t one of Dylan’s better ones, so there’s that as well, but at least the pictures are interesting to look at.  The downside is that I haven’t seen Mr. Campbell do any picture books since this and Hug Machine.  Boo-urns, sez I.  More Campbell, please.

I welcome any other suggestions of odd song-adaptation picture books, though I know they’re not easy to come up with.  A goodly chunk of them are dull as dishwater.  Very straightforward.  Artists doing something rote for a nice sized check.  But if you do hear of a case where the artist was allowed to be, y’know, artistic, you just let me know.  This is the kind of stuff I really dig.  And if you can’t think of anything then just sit back and enjoy this fake picture book adaptation of David Bowie’s Major Tom.

SpaceOddity

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
celebrity children's authors (may they rot)celebrity picture bookspicture book song books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

June 2022

Have You Seen the Darkness? A Richard Fairgray, Black Sand Beach Interview

by Betsy Bird

June 2022

Publisher Preview: Ellen Myrick (Part Three!)

by Betsy Bird

June 2022

Newbery/Caldecott 2023: Summer Prediction Edition

by Betsy Bird

June 2022

School's Out for Summer So We're Talking About Lunch Lady Day!

by Betsy Bird

May 2022

The Sun Does Shine: How Does an Adult Title Get Adapted for Young People? A Talk with Olugbemisola Ruday-Perkovich and Anthony Ray Hinton

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Children’s Books in the Amazon Top 100

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Amazing Bone by William Steig

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Banana Fox and The Gummy Monster Mess | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Continuing the Mock Newbery Process: Time for July Suggestions

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

by

The Classroom Bookshelf

by

The Yarn

Shark Week, Vanilla Ice Cream, and the Honda CRV: Bob Shea and Brian Won Team Up for ADURABLE

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

To Read or Not to Read: 9 YA Adaptations of Shakespeare's Works

Kids Chase Their Dreams in These 'Better Nate Than Ever' Read-Alikes

21 Board Books to Enchant and Inspire Young Children

Done with 'To Kill a Mockingbird'? Read These 8 Books Next

Summertime Stories: 8 YA Rom-Coms, Thrillers, and Other Beach Reads

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yukari M. says

    August 23, 2016 at 8:08 am

    I have What Does the Fox Say in my work bookcase and those illustrations really work with the text/lyrics. It’s all-around wacky! (As an aside, did you know I work with Alison Morris and Lori Prince?)

    I love Scott C. too! Around the same time as Hug Machine he illustrated Zombie in Love 2 + 1 (by Kelly DiPucchio).

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      August 23, 2016 at 9:52 am

      And then disappeared into the mist . . . .

      Say hi to Alison and Lori for me! Miss those guys tons.

  2. marjorie ingall says

    August 23, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    Delightful post.

    You know, I would totally buy a board book of David Bowie’s “Kooks.”

  3. Travis Jonker says

    August 24, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    Noted on the fox in The Dead Bird – good call there

  4. melanie hope greenberg says

    August 25, 2016 at 12:08 am

    Those are the lyrics for King of Pain? What was I singing? And didn’t Bowie threaten to sue that illustrator for copyright infringement using his song without permission on the internet? I kind of remember the illustrator thought he was doing Bowie a favor (omg). Cool art for the fox book. Too bad that song went the way of the macarena. Really, what were the publishers thinking? My musician friends on Facebook (with kids) joked about that fox song and not in a good way. They were not going to buy a book about it.

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      August 25, 2016 at 9:57 am

      Bowie did threaten to sue so it went down. I Googled it and found it was back up again. I suspect his estate has bigger things on their plate than faux picture books these days.

      • Kate Milford says

        August 27, 2016 at 1:15 pm

        There was a complete (if digital-only) picture book at one point–I remember seeing the entire thing on his website, beginning to end. I wanted it so badly for McNally I emailed Mr. Kolb to find out if it was ever going to be a physical book. It’s still listed on his website as a “Space Themed Picture Book,” with the Space Oddity title blurred out.

        I’m still cranky about how much I wanted to own that book.

  5. melanie hope greenberg says

    August 28, 2016 at 12:45 am

    I’m telling David Bowie…..oh, wait… Hey Kate, please don’t encourage Mr. Kolb. In fact, if Kolb ever replies please advise him to write his own damn song then illustrate it.

  6. Kate Milford says

    August 28, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    Oh, he totally replied–this was years and years ago, but if I recall the answer was that it was just a labor of love and there wasn’t going to be a real book unless by some miracle the Bowie estate loved it and made it a reality. It was something like extended fan art, albeit from a professional artist?

    Admittedly I’m no expert on where the line on acceptable use in fan art is, so I’m not arguing that it was OK. I’m just saying I will forever be sad that David Bowie didn’t see it and fall in love, too, because I thought it was really cool. 🙁

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      August 28, 2016 at 10:13 pm

      It was super cool. And gorgeous at that.

  7. melanie hope greenberg says

    August 30, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Wows! I am just coming back to this. I believe Bowie (who was living at the time) got wind of it and threatened to sue for copyright infringement. The professional way would have been to approach Bowie first and ask for permission to put it online. Not the other way around. That is probably why it was asked to be taken down. Whether it be a labor of love or of financial reward putting it online opens it up to the world so technically it’s no longer a labor of love to please oneself. I got kicked off an illustrators FB group for saying this same thing when one artist said they create just for themselves…no they don’t… once it goes online.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2022


    COPYRIGHT © 2022