The Little Crooked Bookshelf

Leo: A Ghost Story
by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Christian Robinson

This week's bookshelf pick is from Cottager Jamie Michalak.

What it's all about . . .
For many years, Leo the ghost lived by himself in a large house on the edge of the city. But when a family moves in, Leo finds himself unwanted. So he roams the city, where nobody sees him. Until . . . he meets a girl named Jane, and becomes her "imaginary friend." Leo loves his new pal. But if he tells her he's a ghost, will he scare her away?

Why it's on The Little Crooked Bookshelf . . .
Dream team Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson weave together favorite storytime ingredients -- ghosts, imaginary friends, robbers! -- for a spellbinding read-aloud. Leo is humorous, suspenseful, and touching.

Our favorite lines . . .
"I said I was your imaginary friend, but I'm not. I am just your real friend."

Our favorite illustration . . . 

From LEO: A GHOST STORY by Mac Barnett. Illustration copyright 2015 by Christian Robinson.

Why kids will love it . . . 
Christian Robinson's atmospheric art, rendered in shades of blue and black, is enormously appealing, and the story's twists and turns will keep kids' attention until its dramatic conclusion.

Why grown-ups will love it . . .
Those looking for the perfect Halloween or bedtime read-aloud will love Leo. Serve it with a cup of mint tea and honey toast.

The Little Crooked Bookshelf

THE TERRIBLE TWO
by Jory John and Mac Barnett
Illustrated by Kevin Cornell

This week's pick is from Cottager Jamie Michalak.

What it's all about... 
Bestselling authors Mac Barnett and Jory John team up for a terribly funny chapter book about a Prank War between two master pranksters--Miles and Niles.

Why it's on The Little Crooked Bookshelf... 
Because we could read about the Terrible Two til the cows come home. Kevin Cornell's art, with its bug-eyed characters, is laugh-out-loud funny.

Our favorite line...
Although Miles's pranking notebook contained contingency plans for "Tornado," "Bird Attack," and "Food Poisoning," there was nothing in there for "Your Fictional Character Becomes Real, Pulls a Green Pail Out from Behind the Gazebo, and Throws Footballs into the Crowd," which is what was happening right now.

Our favorite illustrations... 

From THE TERRIBLE TWO by Jory John and Mac Barnett. Illustrations copyright 2015 by Kevin Cornell.

Why kids will love it...  
Rubber chickens! The Prankster's Oath! Catapulting pies! What's not to love?
 
Why grown-ups will love it...
The Terrible Two will get kids reading. This reviewer's eight-year-old assistant--a top prankster as evidenced by EXHIBIT A*--kept swiping her copy when she wasn't looking. 

*EXHIBIT A: "The Pranking Play" created by the reviewer's assistant in first grade. He pranked the class so many times that his teacher gave up and encouraged him to perform his best pranks as a play.

"The Pringcking Play"

 

Jory John's Five Favorite Books

When we say Jory John, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Is it his brand-new book Goodnight Already! that is getting tons of buzz and is totally hilarious? His irreverent sense of humor? His charm? His jois de vivre? All of the above? Yes, us too. 

Which is why we're tickled pink that Jory has shared his FIVE FAVORITE BOOKS with us. If you're looking for great gift ideas for the readers on your list, look no further. Jory's got you covered.

THE TOKYO-MONTANA EXPRESS 

by Richard Brautigan 

The Tokyo-Montana Express is an amazing book that I've returned to at various stages in my life, a book that's written in short, beautiful bursts of prose, generally bouncing between Brautigan's days spent living in Japan and his life in rural Montana, with a few exceptions (a story set in the Old West, for instance) scattered throughout. A train icon sits above each chapter, meant to connect Brautigan's life stories, filtering his everyday experiences into meaningful, poetic essays about small things that always represent big things. Brautigan is so skilled at taking the most outwardly mundane event — the purchase and installation of a light-bulb in his home office, say — and infusing it with humor, energy, a narrative arc, and meaning. (P.S. While we're here, and if it's not against The Little Crooked Cottage rulebook — and maybe it is, but I like to live on the edge — I'd like to insert Brautigan's Revenge of the Lawn and also Trout Fishing in America into my favorites list as unnumbered bonus features. Everybody OK with that?)


GEORGE AND MARTHA
by James Marshall

I love so many of James Marshall's picture books, but George and Martha — a series about two hapless hippo friends, written and illustrated by Marshall — are my all-time favorites. The hilarious narration, conversations, and deadpan expressions amongst the hippos make me laugh, every single time I open one of these books. They each consist of five or six chapters that circle back around by the end, chronicling a day or two in the lives of two best friends who are also occasionally dishonest or self-absorbed. Not much is ever completely resolved, but I like it that way. And it's not just about the  absurdist jokes — there's plenty of heart here, too. If I'm feeling low, I look for the nearest George and Martha book. And it helps.

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THE PHARMACIST'S MATE
by Amy Fusselman 

I rarely have a copy of The Pharmacist's Mate in my apartment because I'm always giving it out as a gift or, more specifically, I'm placing it in someone's hands as a litmus test to determine whether they're worth spending more time with. The Pharmacist's Mate is so beautifully written,   hilarious, honest and heartbreaking, and packs so much wallop into its endlessly quotable passages. It concerns Fusselman's recent loss of her father — who worked as a pharmacist's mate on a ship in WWII (he documented his time in a journal, which is occasionally excerpted) — along with her attempts to become pregnant. The author covers so much territory, in a relatively short amount of time, which includes life, death, love, marriage, and more, including this passage, which I bring up anytime a favorite quotation is needed: Call-and-response is my favorite song form on earth. It doesn't matter what the words are. It just has to be one voice calling, and then many voices responding, and then one voice calling again, and many voices responding again. I hear that and I almost always start crying immediately. I am not sure why, except that I feel like I have done the call part so many times, both literally and metaphorically, without hearing any reply, that call-and-response is like an aural fantasy for me, a place where no pleas go unanswered, where no questions go unheard. Call and response is what I wish prayer were. OK? Just read it. Thanks.

KAFKA ON THE SHORE 
by Haruki Murakami 

This is a book about acceptance, time passing and memory. It's a book about the choices we make, and how everybody does something they regret, yet they need to move past it or they'll get stuck in that moment. It's also a book about reading, about books and libraries and solitude, about how a character's personal idea of purgatory is having nothing on hand to read. And then it's combined with a steady stream of pop culture references and unexplained metaphysical elements, a Murakami staple. Kafka On the Shore follows two protagonists, alternating their progress — although sometimes it's not completely apparent what they're progressing towards — seeming to build toward a meetup, then digressing completely. After I finished this book, I wrote to somebody important to me — who had actually recommended the book in the first place — and said, "Wouldn't you love to talk to Murakami for a while and try to figure out how he did that? Sheesh!" This book is like a dream you can sort of remember and you try to tell somebody about the next morning, inevitably failing.

HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY  

by Charles M. Schulz 
I thoroughly adore this book, but I'm also including it as an excuse to talk about my love of Charles Schulz and his legendary comic-strip Peanuts. My first artistic love was cartooning and nobody did it better than Schulz, ever. His characters are so fully realized, his writing is so brilliant, his drawings are effortless; even to this day, nearly fifteen years after he died, he constantly wins the comic page. (And yes, he thought of it as a competition.) Somewhat relatedly: one of my favorite pastimes is heading up the Warm Puppy Cafe, which is located inside the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, which Schulz and his wife built in Santa Rosa, CA. It's a fantastic place to sit and drink a Peppermint Patty hot chocolate with whipped cream and — knowing that I'm sitting in the same place that Schulz sat every morning for years, eating his English muffins and drinking coffee — I love to pull out a pen and notepad and take some notes, write some comics, think about all things creative. Schulz has had as big an influence on me as anybody. Now to the matter at hand, Happiness Is a Warm Puppy was a new type of book that didn't really fit into a specific category in 1962. It was sort of meant for children, and kind of a book for adults, with curious dimensions, all rotating around a specific theme: happiness. It featured the Peanuts characters, although only as actors essentially (they never spoke), helping to present the lines on each page. Truly one of my comfort books.

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Jory John is the co-author of The Terrible Two (a new middle-grade series, starting January 2015) and author of the picture books Goodnight Already! and the forthcoming I Will Chomp You! He is also co-author of the national bestseller All My Friends Are Dead and a sequel, among other humor books. Jory conceptualized and edited Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids' Letters to President Obama, which was published on inauguration day. He spent six years as programs director at 826 Valencia, a nonprofit educational center in San Francisco. He also co-created the webcomic Animals Got Problems. Find Jory at joryjohn.com and/or animalsgotproblems.com and on Twitter @joryjohn.

Read Jory's books!

GOODNIGHT ALREADY!
by Jory John
Illustrated by Benji Davies
HarperCollins, December 2014
ISBN 978-006228602

Meet Bear. He's exhausted. All he wants is to go to sleep. Meet Duck, Bear's persistent next-door neighbor. All he wants is to hang out . . . with Bear. A standout hilarious picture book that will make bedtime memorable.

"Both the repartee and the sight gags display excellent timing, making the most of the classic comic tension between a hulking grouch and a diminutive pest. . . . The one thing readers will not say about this book is 'Enough already!'” — Publishers Weekly


THE TERRIBLE TWO
by Jory John and Mac Barnett
Illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Amulet Books, January 2015
ISBN: 978-1419714917

“A double helping of fun and mischief!”
—Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

“Hilarious.”
—Dav Pilkey, author of the Captain Underpants series
  
“This book is terrible! Terribly funny, terribly full of pranks, and terribly wonderful.”
—Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man and the Frank Einstein series


ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD.
by Avery Monsen and Jory John
Chronicle Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-0811874557
 
Darkly comic. Funny." — Pop Candy, USA Today

"What a charming way to introduce wee ones to all the downers in life." — crushable.com

"One of the most reblogged things of all time (of all time!) on Tumblr." — urlesque.com

"Laugh out loud funny, and a tiny bit disturbing. In other words, perfect." — The Huffington Post

"Hilariously morbid." — Laughing Squid

Mr. Pig Visits. . . Jen Corace!

Hello! Mr. Pig, here--on my way to visit the studio of Jen Corace. JEN CORACE! 

Feeling a little nervous, actually. I'm a HUGE fan of her work in "Little Oink."

Aha. We're here. [Knock-knock]

Ms. Corace--a pleasure! May I come in?

Step right in, Mr. Pig.

What a lovely studio. Bright and sunny! Like my cottage, only um... higher. Let's begin the tour.

Okay. So. Here is my desk. 

To the left is a little rolly cart where I keep paper and pieces of work that are a part of a project but aren't necessarily working on. It keeps them clean and out of the way of any spills or accidents. On the front are some sketchbooks and there are drawers on the side you can't see that hold tape and blades and useful things like that. To the right is a card table where I keep all of my paint and bottles of ink. Super handy.

Super organized! Be still my heart. I'm a very tidy Pig, so I appreciate these things.

I try to keep my desk as free as possible … usually only allowing some reference books and relevant sketchbooks. On the flat surface of the desk I keep all of my tools that are currently in use, palettes, water jars and my pencils and brushes. 

In front of and above my desk (thanks be for angled ceilings) I like to keep a rotating selection of images that serve as inspiration. Generally images are selected and hung according to the project I am working on at the time. Sometimes images elect to fall off the wall because it's a real fight keeping anything adhered to the plastic-y wallpaper. It's a continually evolving surface. 

I like having a mix of images I've come across online, photos I've taken myself, sketches and partial pieces.

It's good to keep a lot of brushes and a variety of pencils on hand all the time. I have a real affection for my porcelain mixing palettes … they're easy to clean and I think that plastic is pretty evil. That being said, the plastic, dog-shaped novelty pencil sharpener is the best sharpener I've ever come across. Hands down. 

It's a beauty. 

Here's where I keep all of my paints and inks, secondary junky brushes and the keyboard to the studio computer. On the upside … the snowy horse metal box is pretty dreamy. On the downside … my keyboard is filthy with graphite. 

Fair trade. Well, hello. Who's this?

This is Leonard. His main job in the studio is making sure the floor stays put. 

Well done, Leonard. Look! Little cottages! My favorite.

I really love wooden blocks … this is my small collection of tiny wooden houses, made by my friend John. I also have an impressive set of blocks that make a free form castle system. Assembling and reassembling the castle system is a nice meditative way to work through creative blocks. Ha ha … pun. 

Oh. Haha. I get it. What's that in the window, there?

That's a piece I made for a valentine-themed group show a few years ago. She casts some nice shadows. 

Lovely. And here?
Over here is the paper beast. Two flat files that sort of keep all of my unused paper and finished projects organized. The top space I can use for cutting and folding. There are cubbies for all sorts of projects … sewing, embroidery, book binding, printmaking, and on and on and on. Some sketchbooks live here as well as reference books. To the side is the package pit … work that has come back to me that I haven't taken the time to figure out how to fit it into the paper beast. 

And the rainbow on the top shelf?

This is the cribbage board that was made for me for my 30th birthday by my friend Lee. It's the best cribbage board in the world. 

I'm an ace at cribbage, you know. (Just saying.) Lots of little treasures over here...

Along this wall of my studio is my humble bookcase. I found it one snowy day walking across Dexter Park in Providence. It was just sitting there, waiting for me. A very nice fellow who works at a nearby grocery store helped me bring it home. The top shelf is all reference books, the bottom is occupied by my personal copies of my children's books and more reference books … oh and more sketchbooks. I have sketchbooks all over the place. To the left of the bookcase is a letter I received from a class of first graders from the Moses Brown School after I visited their class during their book fair. To the right of the bookcase is a closet of secrets. And to the right of that are rolls of massive paper for massive paintings. 

How secret is the closet of secrets?

Top secret, I'm afraid.

Fine. Moving on. Tell me about these...

On top of the bookcase are some favorite knickknacks and images. I have The Mods paper dolls … but not the clear, wax crayon to keep their clothes on (saucy), some old family photos, a Susie Ghahremani painting she made for me for, maybe my thirtieth birthday (?), a framed piece from Our Finest Hour, the feet of a drawing of my mother by Carson Ellis and my wooden train with it's wooden peg people. That train was a real, random, wonderful find. 

I love trains. Nice photos... any relation?

Off and on I collect old photos. Only off and on because I only pick up a photo if it speaks to me. I don't have any hard and fast rules as to what catches my eye when wanting to take a photo home. The general themes are: girls, blurs, plants, old ladies, first communion and odd cropping.

On my oddball shelf is a collection of unrelated doodads. Paper dolls that were in the same box as The Mods, a mix cd and dancing robot from my agent, Steven Malk, a saber tooth tiger patch from the LaBrea Tar Pits (a.k.a. the greatest place on earth), toys given to me by my brother, an old painting AND Little Pea. Back in the day when I stalked myself more often I found a photo on Flickr by a woman who would make these Little Pea dolls to give with the book. I freaked out. It was the best thing I had ever seen …. it's so perfectly round, the eyes are shiny and the freckles are wonderful French knots. I HAD to have one. And I made that happen. Oh … also, just beneath the shelves is a photo of a family of baboons that I love love love.

Hello, Little Pea doll. Aren't you scrumptious? I have an oddball shelf, too. It's a little crooked, but it's home. Thank you for showing me your studio, Jen. It's a marvelous place.

You're welcome, Mr. Pig.

Jen Corace is an artist and freelance illustrator who lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally from the suburbs of southern New Jersey, she eventually made her way to the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a BFA in illustration. Her illustrated books include Little Pea, Little Oink and Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, along with many other titles for young readers. Her latest book I Hatched! by Jill Esbaum was released in January, 2014. Jen is currently at work on a new book, Telephone, written by Mac Barnett. To learn more about Jen's work visit www.jencorace.com.

I Hatched!
by Jill Esbaum
illustrated by Jen Corace
ISBN: 978-0803736887

"An enthusiastic killdeer chick hatches ("Ta-da!") and discovers what he can do in the wondrous world around him. "I've studied me, and oh, my word. I am one amazing bird! This stripe is handsome, don't you think? And look! My eyes can…blink blink blink!" While the rhymes occasionally feel forced, the overall rhythm is satisfying and energetic. There is even a lovely surprise at the end: another chick being hatched. The watercolor and ink illustrations show just the right amount of detail in the chick's surroundings and cheerfully portray his delight in his appearance and accomplishments." --Booklist.

Little Pea
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
illustrated by Jen Corace
ISBN: 978-0811846585

"Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace strike beautiful balance between story and art in 'Little Pea' (2005), a book that pedagogues might point out teaches basic physics and math while poking fun at picky eaters. This critic prefers to describe it as a family portrait of legumes in which the baby has to eat all his candy in order to get spinach for dessert." --The New York Times