I LOVE THE SLJ AGAIN AND AGAIN!

I know I'm annoying.

ALL I do is talk about the SLJ.

It's SLJ THIS and SLJ THAT.

But how can I NOT talk about them when they gave 1000 TIMES NO such an awesome review?!

(Wednesday, April 01, 2009):
Pre-K Noah, with his unruly blond curls and oversize diaper, is a stubborn little fellow with a fondness for every toddler's favorite mantra: "no!" When his mother sweetly says, "It's time to leave," she is met with page after page of negation, from cowboy speak to pig Latin, Mandarin Chinese to Morse code. Gouache cartoon scenes visually reinforce Noah's multilingual vetoes, from a full-page sphinx and hieroglyphics to a small square panel with a text message. Endpapers provide identification of the languages, pronunciations, and cultures that the precocious youngster employs. Delightful fun in its theme and delivery, this story will be asked for again and again."

What?

You don't know?

The SLJ is the School Library Journal- THE world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens. You can check out their site HERE but to get to the juicy stuff you gotta have a subscription and stuff.

And obviously they have AWESOME taste in books.

YAY!

BONUS: If you're into picture books... then you should be checking out Fuse #8's blog that's attached to the SLJ. Currently she's listing the top 100 picture books as picked by her readers!

Le Brotheres Krause

Most of you have probably seen this since it appeared on Cartoon Brew yesterday, but for those who don't frequent Jerry and Amid's sooper source for animation news, I'm sending you on over.

They've posted a very nice interview with animation cowboys Fran and Will Krause, two of New York's funnest, quirkiest, most creative filmmakers. They were nice enough to give me a mention or two since we've been kinda inextricably linked over the years in assorted ways. Not quite so far as for me to be called 'the third Krause twin', but linked nonetheless. Here art some of the ways:

1. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, these guys scored a pilot with Cartoon Network that eventually found itself amongst the 10 shorts competing in the networks 'The Big Pick Weekend'. The same one that Codename: Kids Next Door was competing in. Unfortunately for them, Utica Cartoon didn't win. Fortunately, for me, KND did. And double fortunately for me, Fran and Will harbored no ill. That I know of...

2. The boys eventually moved down to NYC and became an integral part of the ASIFA-EAST scene, amazing folks with their sooper fun independent films. Like this here Moonraker thingie.


3. Cartoon Network still wanted to work with the brothers and slogged through years and years of development, eventually churning out another pilot called The Upstate Four. Oddly, the network wasn't convinced by the pilot (even after it won Best Children's Film at Ottawa!) so they decided to make ANOTHER pilot. But this time, I was brought in to serve as advisor/translator/shepherd/dinner date for both sides. Which basically means, I would meet up with Fran and Will, usually over a yummy dinner paid for by CN, and listen to their ideas, help brainstorm, give advice on navigating the choppy executive waters, and order another round of drinks. Will always made sure to have pie.

Unfortunately, with major shifts in Cartoon Network came major shifts in what they were looking for, and the Upstate Four was jettisoned before the 2nd pilot could be made. A shame, too. It was a funny story about a completely Clapper-automated house going ballistic when a clap-happy game show comes on the TV.

Who knows... maybe it was ME who ruined everything?

Regardless... you can read the interview and see the Upstate Four pilot HERE!

Also don't be shy to check out Fran's and Will's websites!

I DIDN'T ALWAYS DRAW BAD...

I DREW WORSE!
Yeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaah... it's not that I WANTED to revisit any of the comics I did in high school.

But a couple weeks ago I needed some reference material for bad high school comics. And I thought, "Why not go right to the MASTER of bad high school comics?"

ME!
So I called an old high school chum who I knew had a secret cache of original art by me and my (more talented) friends and voila! Take a look at this one circa 1984:



Yikes...

So let's analyze:

• Obviously this was intended as a pseudo-satirical geopolitical post-ironic biting commentary on the difference between 'being' and 'becoming'. With a little Green Lantern thrown in...
• Please note the clever addition of 'in the year 2000' to the title. This added exactly .21% more humor to the ENTIRE comic.
• It's aTOMic... because my name is Tom... and it's a a comic... and... aw, jeez.
• Got 'funny' names? Hows about these: Chutney Featherby and Dr. Goreslimey? (Yeeesh...)
• Cheese AND Spam in the same comic?! Madness!

Yeah... I'm gonna go bury these comics in the backyard.

WAIL?

DRESSING LIKE IT'S 1997

Whilst brushing my teeth the other night I espied this image in the mirror
(only backwards):


And WHO is that motley assortment of characters arranged like tasty chocolates in a box?

Why, they're all random secondary characters from Disney's Pepper Ann,
of course!

Duh.

What? You didn't recognize the disembodied topiary giraffe head from the episode 'Megablades of Grass'?

Or Emmit Swink?

Or the Artsy Guy?

Me neither... that was a loooooooong time ago and
my memory ain't what it used to be.

But I DO remember that this t-shirt was given out as a holiday gift to the crew from awfully awesome Pepper Ann creator Sue Rose and hilarious head writer Nahnatchka Kahn back in 1997. They figured that the OBVIOUS thing to do was make a shirt with Pepper Ann, Nicky and/or Milo on it... so why not do the opposite and give the show's 'extras' some love?

The REALLY cool thing is that they're all my drawings... except for a couple, like Ms. Bladdar. That one is totally Sue's. And there are a couple she did a rough for and I just added a thing or two. And I don't think I did Shelf McLain, either. But the rest are TOTALLY mine- I swear! I was SOOOOOOO proud when I first saw this shirt!

But dang if I can remember who they all are.

Good thing the back of the shirt has a handy dandy key to who's who:

CN ACTION PACK #35

On the shelves of your local comic shop is the latest issue of Cartoon Network Action Pack which contains the latest rockin' tale of Kids Next Doorness.

In this story, the KND receive a visit from Numbuh Ouch, the KND's Defense Against Spanking instructor who had to have his backside surgically removed after it took a beating in The Great Paddywhack Machine Rebellion. And you know what that means:


Man, I love my job.

HEY, I JUST WRITE AND DRAW IT...

...I don't come up with the $17.99 price tag.

Still, this is a very nice review of my book from Reader Kids View, a site with book reviews by kids, for kids.

1000 Times No
Mr. Warburton
HarperCollins (2009)
ISBN 9780061542633
Reviewed by Brooke James (age 5) and her mom for Reader Views (3/09)

“1000 Times No” by Mr. Warburton is about a struggle between a toddler and his mother. It all starts when Noah’s mother says, “It’s time to leave.” Noah proceeds to say ‘No’ in many, many different languages. Once he realizes where they are going, he says yes. However, as soon as his mother wants him to get dressed, he is back to saying most toddlers’ favorite word – NO!

Mom: “What did you think about this book?”
Brooke: “It is pretty funny when he says no in so many ways. I didn’t know there were so many languages. The pictures were funny.”

Parent’s comments:

This book was definitely a hilarious situation that most parents have been through at least once! The pictures were great and I found the story very funny. However, I did not like how the toddler got his way at the end of the book. I used it as a lesson for Brooke: “Do you think he should have been able to go to the park after acting like that?”

The other problem I had with the book was the price. I would never EVER pay $17.99 for a book with this little substance. “1000 Times No” by Mr. Warburton was funny and the illustrations were awesome, but $17.99 is too much for this type of book.

Seriously, though. At less than 40¢ per NO, the book is a bargain! Other authors charge as much as $6.50 a NO, and even then they're all in ENGLISH. No Tagalog, Pig Latin or Aboriginal Australian. Just plain old English.

I'm like the Crazy Eddie of NO's- Cutting out the middle man and passing the savings on to the reader.

But perhaps the reviewer didn't see the Amazon link in the corner of the review:

Best price = $12.23

At that price it's like we're giving 'em away!

But hey... any review that uses the word 'funny' multiple times and says that my illustrations are 'awesome' has my eternal love.