Adam Rex and Halloween

The leaves are falling fast now and the nights are getting pretty cold. I have pulled out my wool socks. All of this means that it's fall. And with fall comes Halloween. I'm actually in the mood for the season this year. Normally I dread fall because of what follows it. This year I'm really excited for the cool temperatures and the beautiful fall colors. And to celebrate the upcoming holiday I have purchased Adam Rex's books on monsters.

I make it no secret that I absolutely adore Adam Rex's work. I started by reading The True Meaning of Smekday and went out to buy everything he's illustrated or written. The next one that ended up in my home was Pssst, a cute little story about a little girl who's trip to the zoo turns into a shopping trip with an unusual ending. Rex tells the story through words and pictures but it is his fantastic illustration that keep you coming back for more. Everywhere you look on the page is a fun little detail. The humor is sometimes silly, sometimes dry but always fun.

But the real reason I'm posting this is that there are two Adam Rex books that are just perfect for Halloween. In his first book in the series, Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, he gives us poems about how the Phantom of the Opera can't get familiar tunes out of his head. Poems about the invisible man getting a haircut, the creature from the black lagoon who goes swimming too early after eating. My favorite is a wonderful poem about how Dracula has spinach in his teeth and no one knows how to tell him. Adam uses different art styles with each poem to make this a visual feast as well as a poetic one.

The new book is Frankenstein Takes the Cake. This is possibly even better than the first. In this one we follow Frankenstein as he gets married to his bride. My favorite pages have the Headless Horseman as he writes a blog about people wanting to eat his head, and why he wants people to stop copying his look. Please take note that those are not illustrations but pictures. Adam made the head and photographed it. Adam writes a wonderful little poem about Medusa and her problems in school. Even the dust jacket and the inside pages have jokes. They are everywhere. The thing about Adam is you have to read everything: signs, copyright information....

So here are two books that are perfect for the upcoming holiday. I recommend them to both kids and adults. Kids will love the humorous rhymes, and adults will love all the cute references and inside jokes in the pictures. I don't often tell people that you have to buy books, but you really do need to buy these. If you do pick up his books and enjoy them, also check out Adam Rex's blog.

P.S. The actual titles of the books are

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Other Stories You're Sure to Like Because They're All About Monsters and Some of Them Are Also About Food. You Like Food, Don't You? Well Alright Then.

and

Frankenstein Takes the Cake Which is Full of Funny Stuff Like Rotting Heads and Giant Gorillas and Zombies Dressed Like Little Girls and Edgar Allen Poe. The Book, We Mean--Not the Cake.

Yeah even those are hilarious. I love this man's work.

To see how he made the Headless Horseman's head, check out this amazing blog entry on the always wonderful 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Feathers For Lunch

I've become a bit of a birder in the last year so Lois Ehlert's Feathers for Lunch was a treasure to find. I again judged a book by its cover and picked it up based on the beautiful illustration on the front. And that was only the tip of the beauty that is this book.

Ehlert works in collage, creating brightly colored spreads filled with action and beauty. The book follows the adventures of a cat who slips out the front door and attempts to eat the birds in the yard. But the cat is wearing a bell and the birds fly off before he reaches them leaving just feathers behind. The book is told in simple rhyming phrases which would be easy for any child to read by themselves. The first time I read it, I took so much time gawking at the gorgeous art that I didn't even hear the rhyme. On the second time through I noticed the poem-like quality to the book. Ehlert mixes just enough white space in that we are not overwhelmed by action and color and there is a sense of peace to the book, even with its hunting theme.

The birds are what caught my attention in the book. Using bright colored paper Ehlert brings a number of different birds to life. There are warblers, cardinals, blue jays, and more. And each are stylized beautifully. These paper representations are better than some guide books I've seen. Ehlert includes the birds chirps and alarm calls and has a section at the back which gives information on each bird. This is a perfect book for a young child who is interested in birding. They will marvel at the beautiful illustration, enjoy the fun rhymes, and learn a bit about birds in the process. This would be a great book to use before going on a birding field trip with little children. They will get more from this than any field guide. Most pages include the cat and one or two of the birds he is hunting. I can't say enough about those illustrations. Gorgeous. Stunning. They pop off the page. I'm a huge fan of collage work and Ehlert is a master. I'll be checking out more of her work. A gorgeous find. And one that I will be on the lookout to purchase.

Zorgamazoo

I would bet you have never read anything like Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston.  I had certainly never read anything like it. I picked up the book this week at the library mostly because of the recommendation of Mark and Andrea at Just One More Book. If you love children's books and aren't listening to their amazing podcast, you are missing out. Not only do they discuss some wonderful children's books, but they have some great author/illustrator interviews. And do not (and I mean it) miss their recent Rock Stars of Reading tour. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting with Zorgamazoo but it defies pretty much any ideas I could have had about it. First I was under the assumption that this was a picture book. I kept checking in the new picture books to find it. But that's not the case. The story is a chapter book, full of adventure and excitement. It does have some pictures but they are small black and white illustrations along with some interesting typography. But the most amazing thing about this book is that it is all told in rhyme. Yes, all 280 pages or so of this book are told in rhyme. I'm no poetry expert so I'm not sure what the actual rhyme scheme is. I found I read it mostly as rhyming couplets. 

At first I was sure this would distract from the story. But the rhymes that Weston chooses are very natural sounding. It really doesn't feel like he is stretching too far for any of his rhymes. Instead the rhymes keep the story moving at an almost frantic pace. The story follows Katrina Katrell who is a bright inquisitive child living with a terrible guardian who is convinced she is crazy. When her guardian hires a doctor to give her a quick lobotomy (try explaining that one) she escapes and meets up with Morty the Zorgle, a bumbling creature who's the son of a famous Zorgle explorer. But Morty doesn't like excitement. The two are thrown together on an adventure to save some Zorgles that have disappeared. I don't want to go too far into the plot for fear of spoiling it. Please believe me when I say you must read this book. It is a fantasy adventure that was literally out of this world.

I'm a big fan of rhyming although all of the rhyming books I have ever seen tend to be picture books. That kind of wordplay isn't normally sustained for too long a period of time. But Weston pulls it off flawlessly. Not only does he create a magical book of rhymes but he creates a story that has excitement, danger, and likable characters. I could not put this book down. I had to keep turning the pages to find out what odd situation the two would get into next. The plot is silly and poignant at the same time and children will love this book as a read aloud. The rhymes are just so perfect. I am in awe of the work that this book took to create. The author makes what had to be an incredibly tough book to write seem effortless. An amazing book. You have seriously never read anything like this.