In the Coop with Mo Willems

We love Mo Willems. And though we already know so much about him from the very useful clues in our contest, we wanted to know more. So we asked. And Mo answered!

Mo's Website
Mo's Blog
The Pigeon Presents

We are especially excited because Mo has a new book out in stores even as we speak. It's called Knuffle Bunny Too. To read more about it, check here.

Thanks, Mo! And thanks to all our readers who stopped by to play along in our last contest! Here's to a great new year at Three Silly Chicks!

When you create a book, do the pictures or story come to you first?

Pictures or words never come to me, I actively seek them out.

As a cartoonist, I find the supposed division between images and words perplexing and arbitrary. It’s like asking if I walk with my feet or my eyes; take away either at any time and I’m guaranteed to stumble.

Is your latest book Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity autobiographical?

Everything in that book is true except the parts I made up.

The non-fiction is that I live in Brooklyn, NY with an irrepressible daughter and wife who, unlike me, is wiser than she is tall. The fiction is the part that reminds me to be a better dad than I actually am.

How do you know when what you write is funny??

The trick is to develop the ability to tell when your writing isn’t funny. Then all you have to do is take the unfunny out and trust your audience to enjoy whatever is left.

Can the pigeon operate other large motorized vehicles?

The Pigeon’s skills are limitless, his insurance premiums, however, can be problematic.

Do you have any tips for writing funny books?

Short answer: Keep the body count very small or very, very large.

On a practical level, the characters I create don’t know they’re funny. Instead, they approach the absurd situations they’re forced into with utmost seriousness and determination. The funny comes from watching them fail wholeheartedly.

Do you have any tips for illustrating funny books?

Short answer: Keep the body count very small or very, very large.

On a practical level, the characters I create don’t know they’re funny. Instead, they approach the absurd situations they’re forced into with utmost seriousness and determination. The funny comes from watching them fail wholeheartedly.

Has being funny ever gotten you into or out of trouble?

Oh yes, both. During high school, I was nearly suspended for including the word ‘fart’ in a cartoon in the student paper, a notorious scandal quickly labeled “Fartgate” (I know it sounds crazy, but you must remember that I attended a conservative prep school in the South during the late Renaissance).

Any-hoo, to clear the air, I was compelled to pen a public mea culpa to all offended Faculty members and student body. Contritely, I produced a document apologizing for my “uncivilized and regrettable mention of anal gaseous emissions in one of the State’s oldest running publications” and added as a post-script, “P.S. This whole fart thing stinks, but it will blow over soon.”

And you know what? It did.

What are some of your favorite funny books?????

I grew up on Peanuts and Doonesbury anthologies, Woody Allen’s Without Feathers and the radio scripts for Doug Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but choosing favorites is like picking teams in second grade, someone funny always gets left out.

If you could live in one of your books, which one would you choose?

The Dull Adventures of the Lucky Little Boy Whose Wife Made Bolognese Every Night And Never Had to Do the Dishes

Do you prefer The Marx Bros or Three Stooges?

Are you kidding? Even without Harpo the Marx Brothers would be the funniest comedy group ever to grace The Great White Way or The Silver Screen. Harpo’s gleefully surreal shtick adds sublimity to the mix.

The Three Stooges punch each other, right?

What was your best Halloween costume ever?

An other time I got in trouble in High School was when I arrived on Halloween in khakis, pressed oxford shirt, and letter jacket. Satire trumps Vampire, I say.

What is your Dream Job for a Day?

Sheep farmer.

Seriously.

Clown V. Mime Deathmatch.? Pick your winner.

Who’s Mime Deathmatch? She sounds all sexy and goth and obtusely mysterious. I’ll take the clown.

Funniest dead person you'd like to meet??

The dead are, by and large, the least funny people you are likely to meet, which is, frankly, odd. I mean, they don’t have to worry about deadlines, or book reviews, or marketing plans, do they?

Actually, Harpo

Happy Birthday, Chicks! And the Winner Is . . . .

Happy Birthday!

Three Silly Chicks!

Dear Readers,

It's our first blogging birthday, and we want to thank you for coming to visit our coop during our first year. We've had so much fun and can't wait to keep on rolling with lots of wonderful book reviews, contests, pie fights, pie eating, bean dip, and of course wonderful interviews with super-talented funny authors and illustrators!

We hope you've enjoyed the year, too, and will keep stopping by the coop to visit!!!

Thank you so much!

The Three Silly Chicks


--------
And now, it's time to reveal our Mystery Guest! Drum roll . . . . .

The Mystery Guest is the Amazing Mo Willems!

But wait! Can we prove it? Why yes we can! Let's consider the evidence:


1. Mo Willems is bigger than a breadbox. This is true. We actually placed Mo in a breadbox to see if he would fit. He did not (in one piece). He did, however, leave footprints in our Wonder Bread and complain that we needed a bigger breadbox. Preferably one with airholes.


2. Mo Willems has more hair than Kenny Chesney and less hair than Chewbacca. See for yourself:



3. Mo Willems is living. (Though he is a little bit squished up and now has bits of Wonder Bread stuck between his toes. Sorry, Mo!)


4. Mo Willems writes and illustrates kids' books. And the world is a better place because of it!

5. Mo does not write in rhyme. At least not at this time. At least we haven't seen any rhyming books by him. (But then, we didn't really check, so maybe we were cheating a bit on this one!) Bad Chicks.


6. Mo Willems is for the birds. And our favorite bird is the Pigeon.


7. Mo Willems is not a grouch (except when stuffed into a breadbox), but he probably knows one! And of course, we're talking about Oscar the Grouch here! As many of you know, Mo has 6 won Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street. And you know we Chicks love Sesame Street! Big Bird is our hero.


We're so excited to welcome Mo to the coop! We will post our interview on Monday! (And it's a hoot!)

And now, the MO-ment we've all been waiting for!

It's time to announce the winner of our Mystery Guest Contest!

There were so many good guesses from our lovely readers. (And some less good ones, but we loved them all!) Six of you guessed correctly: Tammi, Linda Skeers, Jenny, Renee, Lisa Yee, and Pamela.

Your names were entered into a drawing conducted by the same people who pick the winners for the Oscars out of a hat! (And you thought someone voted on them!)

And the Oscar (or the Super Duper Bag O'goodness from the Three Silly Chicks) goes to Jenny!

Congratulations, Jenny! Just send us your snail mail addy to Three_Silly_Chicks@yahoo.com, and we'll send you your prize!

Also, Chris, Lisa Yee, Linda Skeers, Joann, & Cyn all win Chick Magnets for being the first five folks to enter our contest! Send us your addresses, folks! And thank you for playing!!!!

Final clue!

Just a quick little note to remind everybody that today is the day we announce our Mystery Guest!

We've had some wonderful guesses so far. Some of them may be wrong. Some of them may be right!

If you haven't guessed yet, do it now!

If you have guessed, guess again!

We will pick the winner from all the correct guesses.

And for one final clue: Our mystery guest is not a grouch, but probably knows one!

Hmmm. Who could it be? Just leave us a message with your guess!


Winners will be announced tonight when the Chicks are done with dinner. That means about 6:30 central time (Or longer if we eat taffy for dinner. Which we often do.)

Good luck!

Mystery Guest Contest: Clue Three!

Sing along, everybody:

Mystery Guest . . .
Are you ready for our Mystery Guest?
Will he be a dream? Hmmmm?
Or a dud? Awwww!

No way our guest is a dud. No way at all!

Though we didn't think we would tell before the contest ended, we have changed our yellow brains and decided to say that no one has yet guessed our guest! Say that five times fast!

So, it's time to break out some new clues, one or two. (Typed up in blue.) We love a rhyme. Don't you?

Just post a message to enter your guesses! Contest ends on Friday!

Mystery Guest Clues:

1. Bigger than a bread box.
2. More hair than Kenny Chesney but less than Chewbacca
3. He's living (at least the last time we checked)
4. Writes AND illustrates kids' books
5. Does not write in rhyme. At least not at this time.
6. He's for the birds.


Good luck!

Mystery Guest Contest: Clue Two!

Remember folks, this contest is like a Chicago election. You can vote early and vote often. Heck, you can even vote if you are dead! Everyone else in Chicago does!

Here's Clue Number Two!

Clue Two: Our Mystery Guest has more hair than Kenny Chesney and less hair than Chewbacca (see scientific figure 172.3)


Scientific figure 172.3:









Pretty obvious who it is now, eh?

A Celebration and a Contest, too!

What's going on?

The Three Silly Chicks are fluffin' up our feathers, cleaning off our glasses, breaking out the tortilla chips, and getting ready to celebrate!

"Why?" you ask. "Because," we answer, "our anniversary is almost here!"

We began our blog on September 14, 2006 and what a year!

We've read so many great & funny books and interviewed some of our favorite funny writers and illustrators: Lisa Wheeler, Lisa Yee, Aaron Reynolds, Cyn & Greg Leitich Smith, Kevin O'Malley, Esme Codell, David Lubar, Kara & Jenna LaReau, John Manders, Dori Chaconas, Margie Palatini, Kelly DiPucchio!

Interviewing fantastic, funny people is our favorite thing (next to bean dip), so we can't wait to interview more fantastic, funny people!

But first, we feel like having a party and nothing puts us in the party mood faster than bean dip! Sadly, nothing ends a party in a small coop faster than bean dip.

So we're going to have a contest, instead! And here it is:

Mystery Guest

Are you ready for our Mystery Guest?

1. Contest begins NOW!
2. Guess the secret identity of our Mystery Guest! (Click on "comments" down below to leave your guess.)
3. All correct guesses will be entered in a drawing for the grand prize*
4. Grand prize winner will be announced on September 14!
5. First five entries will win a Chick Magnet**
6. First Clue: Our Mystery Guest is bigger than a bread box

* Grand Prize is one of the following:

• A vat of bean dip
• An emu
• An emu in a vat of bean dip
• A super-duper-bag-o'-goodness from the Three Silly Chicks. Bag includes autographed copies of books by Andrea Beaty, Carolyn Crimi, and Julia Durango. Also includes assorted items from our drawer of silliness (not to be confused with our silly drawers as shown here.)

** Chick magnets are not guaranteed to attract chicks, hot babes, hot Emus or hot tamales. May present a choking hazard to Emu, ostriches, and other humorously large birds. Chick magnets are guaranteed to look extremely cute and hold scraps of paper on your refrigerator door so you can ignore them while searching for bean dip.

A Dog Needs A Bone

A Dog Needs a Bone
Written and Illustrated by Audrey Wood
The Blue Sky Press
ISBN-10 054500005X


One silly chick couldn't believe her luck when she passed a book on the bookstore shelves that featured a PUG and was written and illustrated by the fabulous Audrey Wood. Swoon City! True, she had to push aside a few pesky four year-olds who naively thought the book was for them. But honestly, that's what they get for standing in the way of a Chick on a Mission.

The persistent Pug in this tale wants just one thing--a bone, goshdarnnit! He will gladly sweep floors, answer phones and treat his mistress like a queen on a throne, all for a simple bone. We can relate. The three silly chicks have been known to do all that and then some for a scoop of Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce.

We love that Audrey Wood created these illustrations with crayons on brown paper bags. What could be easier than to have kids make their own books using these materials? Kids will also love finding all the bones hidden on each page.

Not only does Audrey Wood own two Pugs, she also has 20 chickens. Paging Audrey Wood! We want a chicken book, please!

Uneversaurus

Uneversaurus

by Professor Potts
David Fickling Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-385-75119-3

It's a funny thing about non-fiction picture books. They usually aren't very funny. But now and then, a book shows up that tickles our funny bones and teaches us just a little bit, too.

Uneversaurus is just that kind of book. Okay, we must admit that were a little slow to get the title (You-never-saw-us!). We thought it was the actual name of a chick-eating dinosaur, but we are small birds with glasses and are a paranoid about things that eat small birds with glasses.

Kids will be drawn to this book's cool cover with an eye that changes to a dinosaur and will giggle over the funny illustrations and comments from the two narrating dinosaurs. All the while, readers will learn some important scientific concepts. How do scientists use clues to figure out what dinosaurs really looked like? How would environment, predators, prey, gender and age affect how they (The dinosaurs, not the scientists) looked? Did old dinosaurs wear false teeth and use canes?

Uneversaurus is a book both serious and silly! Great for art classes and science classes alike!

Dear Readers: What are your favorite funny non-fiction books? Enquiring minds (and Silly Chicks) want to know!

In the Coop with Kelly DiPucchio

Kelly DiPucchio is the author of some of our favorite funny picture books, like Bed Hogs, Dinosnores, and Mrs. McBloom Clean Up Your Classroom! She is smart, funny, skinny and blond, and yet for some strange reason we still adore her. We are hoping that her character Grace from her upcoming book Grace for President is elected when she grows up.

www.kellydipucchio.com

How do you know when what you write is funny?

When my dog laughs. And usually after I’ve written something that totally cracks me up I can’t wait to call my husband at work to remind him just how funny I really am.

Do you have any tips for writing funny books?

Shy away from certain topics like nursing homes, flesh eating bacteria, and dying family pets. Sure, just the right combination of all three could be downright hysterical, but on their own, not so much.

You should also remember who your audience is. Have you ever had a 5-year old tell you a joke? They usually go something like this, What did one French fry say to the other French Fry? Hey! We’re both French fries! I’m not suggesting that as children’s writers we have to completely dumb down our humor, but I’ve come to learn over the years that sometimes simple really is better.

Has being funny ever gotten you into or out of trouble?

My parole officer could probably answer that question better than I can.

What are some of your favorite funny books?

Just how far down can this page scroll?

MY LITTLE SISTER ATE ONE HARE by Bill Grossman, THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOT and MRS. BIDDLEBOX by Linda Smith, MEET WILD BOARS by Meg Rosoff, LEONARDO, THE TERRIBLE MONSTER by Mo Willems, JUNIE B. JONES by Barbara Park , and pretty much anything by Jon Scieszka, Lemony Snicket, Lisa Wheeler, Carolyn Crimi, Margie Palatini, Mike Reiss, Lauren Child, M.T. Anderson, Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, Edward Gorey, and Beverly Cleary.

If you could live in one of your books, which one would you choose?

Hmm…probably not BED HOGS. That story takes place in a pig sty. Mrs. McBloom’s cluttered classroom already strikes an eerie resemblance to my home. I’d have to say, LIBERTY’S JOURNEY because that book features New York City and San Francisco.

Who do you like more, The Marx Bros or Three Stooges?

Call me a knucklehead, but I’m really more of an Abbott and Costello kind of gal.

What was your best Halloween costume?

If you must know, I’m a costume curmudgeon. I’m just one step away from wearing one of those lame THIS IS MY COSTUME t-shirts. The funny thing is, I so love and appreciate the clever and creative costumes that other people create. I’m just not a very crafty person so you can pretty much count me out of anything that involves a hot glue gun and a trip to the fabric store.

However, one year, when Martha Stewart was in prison, I did show up to a Halloween party wearing prison stripes and I brought a tray of pretty pink cupcakes that were decorated with cute little nail files. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to eat the pretty cupcakes because, as it turns out, nail files in pink baked goods just don’t scream, Yum!

What is your Dream Job for a Day?

That’s easy. I would be a Fairy Godmother. Does that count as a job? Just think how much fun it would be to go around granting wishes for people all day long!

If I absolutely had to pick a dream job that was a little more grounded in reality, I would probably choose to be a landscape photographer on location in Hawaii.

Clown V. Mime Deathmatch. Pick your winner.

Mime. He’s a silent killer.

Funniest dead person you'd like to meet?

Funny or not, I’m not so sure I want to meet any dead people.

If you could create your own TV show, what would it be about?

I’d create a new reality TV show called SO YOU THINK YOU CAN ACT.

The show would track the lives of several children’s book authors who go on Hollywood auditions, informing influential casting directors that they are qualified and entitled to star in feature roles on television and in film because they write books for kids.

Heh-heh-heh.

Zack Proton and the Wrong Planet

The Adventures of Commander Zack Proton and the Wrong Planet
Written by Brian Anderson
Illustrated by Doug Holgate
Simon & Schuster
ISBN 978-1-4169-1366-5
www.ZackProton.com

Leapin' Leptons! Commander Zack Proton is back in a third installment of this illustrated chapter book series featuring a bumbling Inspector Clouseau-type space hero and his brainy primate sidekick, Omega Chimp. Interspersed with comic strips, top-ten lists, quizzes, instructional manuals, and tips for young space heroes, these easy-to-read books provide a smorgasbord of slapstick humor with a side of banana peels.

In book three, Commander Zack, Omega Chimp, and their FE-203 robot, "Effie," are detained on their mission to find Zack's missing spaceship, the Risky Rascal, by a disappearing planet, 16 million smelly pigs, and a bad drycleaning incident. But not to worry! In a classic comedy of errors, our space heroes once again save the day and restore peace to the galaxy in a wacky, freshly-scented finale. Introduce this series to your favorite comic book-loving 7 to 10 year-olds, then point them to the "Fun Stuff" at www.ZackProton.com, including printable coloring pages, a Zack proton ad-lib story, and an alien transmission for fans to decode.

In the Coop with Margie Palatini

We here in the coop anxiously await the next Margie Palatini book the way some people might wait for the next in the Harry Potter series. The author of Piggie Pie and Moosetache is Queen of the Funny Picture Book and always good for a giggle. In fact, we'd make her a crown out of eggs and feathers if we could figure out which glue to use.


How do you know when what you write is funny?

Do you ever really "know?"
Funny is so personal. What one person thinks is humorous, another doesn't get at all. But I will usually have a feeling, if something works or doesn't-- for me.

Do you have any tips for writing funny books?

I'm not sure someone can write funny or be funny if they don't naturally think funny.

What are some of your favorite funny books?

I have so many favorites, it's difficult to name them all.
"Funny" out-loud, "funny" clever, "funny" charming, "funny" silly.
Some of my "funny" faves:
Junie B. Jones, Olivia, David Shannon's David, Alligator Boy by Diane Good and Cynthia Rylant. My own book faves: Bad Boys, Sweet Tooth, The Web Files.

If you could live in one of your books, which one would you choose?

Wow. That is difficult, because I've worked with such delicious illustrators--I would like to live in any of the books on which we've collaborated. I love Three French Hens, because it feels so cinematic--and I like the holiday fantasy and the New York and Paris scenes, so perhaps that one.

Who do you like more, The Marx Bros or the Three Stooges?

The Marx Brothers. They are outrageous, clever, verbal, physical, fabulous.

What was your best Halloween costume?

I'm not much of a Halloween person, but my favorite costume was Norma Desmond, with my husband as "Max." (Of course, very few people even knew who we were . . .) eh.

What is your Dream Job for a Day?

I would love to be in a Broadway musical, or have my own restaurant, or be in charge of throwing a spectacular party.

Clown V. Mime Deathmatch. Pick your winner.

I'm going to pick Bruce Willis for both of them. (Refer to Die Hard With a Vengeance.)

Funniest dead person you'd like to meet?

Too difficult! My list is way too long--Jack Benny, Gracie Allen, Judy Holliday, Johnny Carson, Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon, Thelma Ritter, Jack Parr, Gilda Radner...

Some of your books, like Moosetache and Bedhead, are about bad hair days. (We sense issues there.) If you could switch hair with someone, who would it be?

It's always the hair, isn't it?

Actually, it's my son who has the issues--with perpetually bad hair days. Me?...You know what they say -- be careful what you wish for. I think I'll just stick with my own.

Mucumber McGee and the Half-Eaten Hot Dog

Mucumber McGee and the Half-Eaten Hotdog

by Patrick Loehr
Katherine Tegan Books
ISBN: 978-0-06-082327-6

Mucumber McGee is feeling a little peckish. Alas, there is nothing in the house to eat! He scours the pantry and looks through every cupboard – all of them bare. Luckily, the icebox holds a great surprise! Tucked in the very back is one single, solitary raw hotdog. Mucumber snarfs down half of the hotdog before his sister arrives with terrible news. “Don’t you know, Mucumber, that hotdogs are made of meat? And fleshy meat that is not cooked is deadly bad to eat!”

As his sister explains, Poor Mucumber is destined to die. She even has a diagram to illustrate the effects of eating a raw tube steak: innards + bacterium + the theory of relativity = death! It’s all over for Mucumber. He’s toast! There’s nothing to do but go to his room and wait for the end. Luckily, Mucumber’s mother is much wiser than his sister and all’s well that ends well. Of course, all is even better that ends in a great feast for a very hungry boy!

This is a simple tale of hunger and the power of suggestion illustrated in a delightfully dark and slightly sinister style. Loehr mixes his own delightful style with one part Edward Gorey, one part Addams Family, and one part hotdog and comes up with a delicious tale!

Just Grace

Just Grace
Written and illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper
Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN: 0618646426

We love feisty characters. We love feisty female characters. But what we really love are feisty, female, funny characters, and nine year-old Just Grace is just that.

Blessed with "empathy superpowers," Grace cooks up a creative solution to help out her neighbor, Mrs. Luther, the strange and scary big kid teacher who lives next door. But when Grace's plan backfires, she's forced to team up with her least favorite person in the whole world, Sammy Stringer. Sammy is the kind of boy who enjoys lion poop and who manages to get every piece of food stuck in his teeth. (There's one in every class!) The two third-graders arm themselves with oven mitts and go on a quest to find Mrs. Luther's cat Crinkles. In the end, we see that Grace has changed her mind about the poop-loving Sammy Stringer when she wonders, "Maybe he's got magnetic teeth. Maybe that's why food gets stuck there." (We would like to nominate those two lines for Best Last Lines Award, if there is such an award, which there should be.)

Parents and teachers will love the subtle lesson about empathy and kindness. Kids will love the strong, funny voice and quirky illustrations. We happen to love the illustration of the squirrel in running shoes. There's something for everyone here!

Wee Hairy Beasties

Animal Crackers
by Wee Hairy Beasties
Bloodshot Records
ASIN: B000IOMVYQ
weehairybeasties

You may think that all we chicks do on any given day is read silly books and eat sprinkled donuts. And you would mostly be right. But every now and then, we chicks get a bee in our bonnet to shake our tail feathers and our groove things and our whatnots. And when we do, we crank up ANIMAL CRACKERS by Wee Hairy Beasties for delicious, romp-stomping tracks like Flies on My Taters, Ragtime Duck, and A Newt Called Tiny ("I call him Tiny because he's my newt.")

Featuring Kelly Hogan, Devil in a Woodpile, and British punk rockers Jon Langford and Sally Timms of Mekons fame, these Wee Hairy Beasties know how to raise the roof and rock the roost. Kids will eat up these jiggle-wiggle songs like coco pops while parents fall to their knees in gratitude for a children's music CD that doesn't induce nausea after more than one listen.

If you're anywhere near Chicago, check out Wee Hairy Beasties LIVE at Lollapalooza (Kidzapalooza Stage) at Grant Park on Saturday, August 4. At least one chick will be there cutting a rug with her chiclets. Put your boogie-woogie pants on and join the fun!

Pest Fest Winners!

Congratulations to Silvia Hix and chatrabbit! Please send your snail mail information to three_silly_chicks @yahoo.com and we'll get these buggy books out to you ASAP!

Our thanks and pest wishes to everyone who played!

In the Coop with Dori Chaconas

Author Dori Chaconas won our fluffy hearts long ago with sweet, comforting picture books like On a Wintry Morning, One Little Mouse, and Christmas Mouseling. More recently she's been showing off her silly streak with When Cows Come Home for Christmas, Cork and Fuzz, and our personal favorite (for obvious reasons), Coriander the Contrary Hen. Silly or sweet, Dori's books are a treat and so is she! We are honored to have her with us in the coop today.

How do you know when what you write is funny?

I'm never absolutely sure, but when a piece of dialogue or scene comes into my head and cracks me up, I feel pretty confident it's funny. That's why I write in private. It's embarrassing to sit in a quiet coffee shop and suddenly bark a loud guffaw. But it's only when I read the material aloud to someone else that I know if the material is honestly funny or if it only appeals to my misguided sense of humor.

Do you have any tips for writing funny books?

For me, humor is magnified when it takes place in a non-humorous situation. If every line in a story is a funny one, the whole thing feels diluted because the funny lines compete against each other. But if you can have a handful of funny lines or situations scattered throughout a story that has some serious or soft tones, the humor stands out like a giggle during a stuffy speech. Comic relief.

Has being funny ever gotten you into or out of trouble?

I can't think of a single example of one or the other. I've never been considered a funny person, but that's mainly because what people see of my controlled outside doesn't necessarily let on to the silliness that's inside. But I have a few friends who know me to the core, and when we're together, I can get them laughing pretty hard, often helped along by a bottle or two of wine. So there you have it. I'm a straight-faced, wine drinking humorist.

What are some of your favorite funny books?

I love Sara Pennypacker's CLEMENTINE, and Peggy Rathman's OFFICER BUCKLE AND GLORIA. I love anything by Lisa Wheeler. My classic favorites are A. A. Milne's WINNIE THE POOH books – 'the bear of little brain.' There's a sweet innocence about Pooh and his friends, and I love the illogical way in which they think and speak.

If you could live in one of your books, which one would you choose?

Probably the Cork and Fuzz books. Their world is practically ideal. They have no parents telling them what to do or how to behave. They don't have to work for a living, or pay bills. They don't have to bother with shaving their legs or putting on makeup. They always seem to have plenty to eat. The biggest problems they face are dealing with each other. Sounds good to me.

Who do you like more, The Marx Bros or Three Stooges?

Hmmmm… Can I pick the Smother's Brothers? I prefer whacky humor to slappy humor.

What was your best Halloween costume?

Several years ago I worked the reception desk at a busy health clinic and the staff was encouraged to wear costumes on Halloween. I decided not to go in costume, but to go incognito –like a detective who disguises himself to look like a different person. I borrowed my mom's polyester zig-zag print dress, which was much too short, but so perfect because you could see the hem of my slip and the tops of my knee highs. I wore a wig, reshaped my lips with too-red lipstick and my eyebrows with too-black pencil. After a little more makeup work, no one—not even my closest co-workers—recognized me.

The thing I never expected was that when you look like a person with no sense of fashion, no idea how to apply makeup, and are not even close to being attractive, people avoid eye contact with you. I must have checked in over 100 people that day, and NOT ONE person would look me straight in the eye. I looked too weird—too ugly. By the end of the day I felt invisible, as if I didn't exist, I didn't belong in their pretty world, and I didn't matter as a person.

Sometimes a thing can start out funny and end up sad.

What is your Dream Job for a Day?

I'd work for the City Planning Department and be the person who named all the new streets. Not tired, safe names like Maple Lane or Elm Street, nor after aunts and uncles, like Louie Lane or Betty Ann Boulevard. I'd make up names like Kerfuffle Court, and Squeegee Square. But my identity would have to be kept secret or those people who had to live on those streets would be out to get me.

Clown V. Mime Deathmatch. Pick your winner.

Definitely a mime. A clown is too 'in your face.' A mime draws the audience into the act by making them use their imaginations to figure out what the heck he's doing.

Funniest dead person you'd like to meet?

I haven't met a funny dead person yet.

You've written stories featuring a host of funny critters (muskrat, possum, hen, cows, etc.). Which creature from the Animal Kingdom do you most identify with?

The creature I would most like to be identified with is the tiger, for its beauty, grace, and sense of power. But more appropriately, I'd probably be identified with the ostrich. I don't like conflict and sometimes wish I could bury my head in the sand until the conflict went away. But then that would put me in an embarrassing position of having my fat butt stick up in the air.

I'll have to rethink this one.

Bossy Bear

Bossy Bear
by David Horvath
Hyperion
ISBN: 142310336x

Bossy Bear is indeed very bossy. So bossy he yells "Faster!" to a struggling snail and "What do you mean, don't walk?!" to a traffic light. He has perfected the art of shouting "GIMME" and is not shy about ordering Santa around. But when he pushes his friends too far he finds himself all alone with only his cape and his crown for company. Could it be he's bossed one boss too many?

The short, simple text and whimsical illustrations are reminiscent of Mo Willems' Pigeon books. The author-illustrator, David Horvath, is the creator of the popular Uglydolls, and there is a slight hint of Uglidollness in Bear. His many fans won't be disappointed by his latest creation, which is sure to elicit giggles from both toddlers and their grown-ups. The ending suggests that there might be a sequel---we can only hope!

Chick Alert! And a Contest!

PEST FEST
by Julia Durango
Illustrated by Kurt Cyrus
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ISBN-10: 0689855699
ISBN-13: 978-0689855696

It's here! It's here! PEST FEST, the wonderful new picture book by Julia Durango, is here!

Oh that talented Silly Chick! How we do love her!

In her funny, new rhyming book, the creepy, crawly, buzzy, and buggy critters among us hold a talent show.

"Pest Fest! Pest Fest!" the Carpet Beetle barked.
"The talent show is set to go.
The best are placed; come on, make haste!
Let's start the annual Pest Fest!"

So begins the call to all bugs far and wide to show off their best talents. Who will win? The beautiful butterfly? The lovely ladybug? The Queen Bee? Or possibly the lowly little fly? Surely not!

Kurt Cyrus captures the fun in his slightly creepy, very pesky, and simply beautiful illustrations. Kids who love bugs will be overjoyed by this book. Kids who hate bugs will be drawn like moths to it!

Just thinking about a critter contest makes us want to have one of our own!

So . . .

We are having a contest! (And boy is it an easy one!)

Tell us your favorite (or not so favorite) bug** and we'll put your name in a drawing to win an autographed copy of PEST FEST! (We don't need real names, just enough info to contact you.)

On July 1, we'll post 2 winners here in the coop!

Congrats and thanks to Julia and Kurt for this wonderfully buggy book!

** Here at the Silly Chicks, we are aware that the word "Bugs" in fact refers to a limited number of insects from the order Hemiptera which includes cicadas, aphids, and other "true bugs." (We know this because one of us accidentally spent 4 years in college studying biology.)

However, we prefer to use the Kindergarten definition which means anything that crawls and makes your mother scream if it touches her foot. Though we reserve the right to omit from this definition the following: snakes, furry critters, and Mick Jagger.

Good luck!

Who Is Driving?

Who Is Driving?
by Leo Timmers
Bloomsbury USA
ISBN: 978-1599900216

Who is driving? With gas prices these days, it's high time for the pogo stick to make a comeback. But sometimes a chick needs her wheels, and it's no different for the parade of critters in this green gem of a book.

Timmers' guessing game format is delightfully simple and sweet. On the left hand page are four different animals decked out in various attire -- for example, alligator in a red leather biker suit, cat in a Jackie O. ensemble, mole in a mail carrier uniform, mouse in blue jeans -- all with their car keys out and at the ready. On the right hand page is a vehicle. Who is driving...the fancy car? Observant and traditionally-schooled youngsters will correctly guess the fancy-clad Cat, of course. Other young deviants may ask why the leather-clad alligator wouldn't just eat the other animals and hijack the ride for himself. (We recommend boarding school for such children.) Either way, this book is an excellent read aloud, with plenty of visual humor to sustain interest over repeated readings. Who Is Driving? is one sweet ride!

That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown

That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown
By Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton
Hyperion
ISBN 978-142310645-6

Emily Brown loves Stanley and Stanley loves Emily Brown. Emily is a little girl and Stanley is an old gray rabbit. They are best friends. Best adventurers. Best EVERYTHING. Life is great for this pair until the Queen “kindly” notices Stanley and decides she must have him for her own. She tries to bribe Emily Brown with a teddy bear, talking dolls, rocking horses, and all the toys Emily could ever desire. Emily will have none of it and when that spoiled, greedy Queen goes too far and kidnaps Stanley, Emily marches right back to the castle to get him back. Nobody steals Stanley and gets away with it!

Layton combines a mix of art styles using childlike illustrations and photos of the jungle, sea and sky to bring us into Emily and Stanley’s world. Emily’s fierce devotion and loyalty to Stanley in this delightful book will ring true with anyone who ever had a rabbit (or teddy bear or stuffed cat or . . .) of their own.

In the Coop with John Manders

There is a certain silly chick who goes positively nutso whenever John Manders' name is mentioned. She does a funny little dance and sings a strange song about pirate booty. We do our best to ignore her. Still, she has excellent taste. John Manders' work is definitely worth swooning over. He has illustrated some absolutely hysterical books, including Henry and The BuccaneerBunnies and The Perfect Nest. Welcome aboard, John!

www.johnmanders.com

Editors must be sending you manuscripts all the time. How do you choose which ones to illustrate?

I have a pretty simple formula: I check my bank statement, and if there’s less than $50,000 in my account, I accept the manuscript.

Editors send me manuscripts knowing I do funny illustrations---I think they sometimes (okay, often) send me a marginally funny story hoping I can push it up on the laugh-o-meter. Remember, we illustrators wield a lot of power in that regard---the images dictate to a fair degree how you read the story. My crowd (5- to 8-year-olds) generally reads the pictures first, and has the text read to them. Hopefully my pictures telegraph to the reader, ‘This is going to be fun!’

Then, of course, there are the manuscripts that make me laugh out loud, with funny situations and dialogue. These I can hardly wait to illustrate, my fingers itching to draw characters and gags. These stories come along once every couple of years---they’re the reason I’m a picture book illustrator.

Do you have any tips for illustrating funny books?

I feel like an old vaudevillian dispensing advice to an aspiring young comic---

Listen, Kid: start with the character and build sight gags around that character, rather than the other way around. If you’ve designed a character who has some depth, who looks like he has a life outside of your story, then the funny stuff will emerge naturally from your character. If you start with a gag and try to make it fit an underdesigned character, it won’t be believable or funny.

Has being funny ever gotten you into or out of trouble?

The men of the Manders family bear an ancient curse: the irrepressible urge to utter groaners---quips and one-liners---of crushing obviousness. If someone should mention the Isle of Capri, we’ll be sure to sing ‘Was on a pile of debris that I found her…’ If someone talks about ginkgo biloba, like clockwork we’ll say, ‘I used to go to high school with a fellow by that name.’ If someone asks for a tissue, we'll say, 'Tiss you? I hardly know you!' The mystery of this curse is that we think we’re actually being funny.

The hapless women of our tribe are left with little defense but to roll their eyes back into their heads.

What are some of your favorite funny books?

The first funny children’s book I read myself was an A.A. Milne story about a princess. I was probably 7 or 8 years old, and I remember being surprised that something written down could make you laugh.

Favorite funny books: any of the Bertie & Jeeves stories by P.G. Wodehouse, Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, The Pyrates by George MacDonald Fraser, any story by Damon Runyon, Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (this book has a reputation for being bawdy so don’t read it unless you are over 42 inches tall), Asterix comic books by Goscinny and Uderzo, On Beyond Zebra by Dr Seuss.

If you could live in one of your books, which one would you choose?

Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies, of course---aboard our dear old barky, the Salty Carrot!

Oh, buccaneer bunnies roam o’er the salt seas Yo ho, nibble yer greens Our booty be cabbage and carrots and peas Wiggle yer ears and nibble yer greens!

Who do you like more, The Marx Brothers or The Three Stooges?

Are you kidding? The Marx Brothers have Margaret Dumont, lines by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind, songs by Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby---no contest!

My very first art job was with a printer in Manhattan---on Fridays after work the whole crew would assemble at a neighborhood bar which featured a neglected piano. My boss, if you begged him, would open the lid and fire off note-perfect renditions of Chico’s piano solos. What joy!

What was your best Halloween costume?

(jpeg attached) That’s me on the right, the damsel in distress. I built Mrs. Manders’ suit of armor out of cardboard.

What is your Dream Job for a day?

It may be a lame answer, but this is my dream job. I draw funny animals all day, I get to hang around the house with my dog India and parrot Sherman, how much work I do determines how much money I make, I take a nap in the afternoon if I feel like it---I control my destiny, I work in my pajamas, and somebody pays me for it. What’s not to like?

Clown Vs. Mime Deathmatch. Pick your winner.

Clown. There is a significant psychological advantage to be gained by talking pre-match trash in a gravelly Minnesotan wrestler voice. Mimes, of course, eschew verbiage.

Funniest dead person you'd like to meet?

Moses is leading the Hebrews to the Promised Land. They wander around the Sinai Desert for forty years barely surviving, nothing to eat but manna. The Chosen People are disgruntled. One guy says to Moses, “What, there weren’t enough graves in Egypt, you had to bring us here?”

That’s a pretty funny line. Three thousand years later, it still holds up. You can find it in Exodus, which Moses wrote---though he might not have gotten that gag. I guess I’d like to meet the anonymous Hebrew who could deliver a one-liner that stands the test of three millennia. I’d shake his hand and give him a Daniel Webster cigar.

When A Monster Is Born

When A Monster Is Born
written Sean Taylor
illustrated by Nick Sharratt
Roaring Brook Press, 2007
ISBN-10: 1596432543

When a monster is born, there are two possibilities-- Either it's a faraway-in-the-forests monster, or it's an under-your-bed monster. If it's a faraway-in-the-forests monster, that's that. But if it's an under-your-bed monster...

Well, you'll just have to see for yourself what an under-your-bed-monster does. All kinds of fascinating and silly things can happen when a monster is born.

For instance, it can go to school with you, eat your principal, dance the boogie-woogie, or fall in love with a kitchen girl. Yes, readers, those are some of the possibilities in Sean Taylor's new crazy-fun picture book. Each page explores a choice for a monster in modern-day life and then takes it to an absurd extreme.

We think this is a brilliant read aloud. Kids will have such fun guessing what that tricky monster will do next! Nick Sharratt cleverly uses a black background to reinforce the monster's more dastardly choices, reinforcing the "good choice, bad choice" theme. Bold, graphic and goofy, this book will bring a smile to little monsters everywhere!

Moxy Maxwell Does NOT Love Suart Little

Moxy Maxwell Does NOT Love Stuart Little
by Peggy Gifford
Schwarts & Wade Books
Random House Children's Books
ISBN: 927-0-375-83105-3

Moxy Maxwell is a perfectly named kid. The only thing this soon-to-be fourth grader has more of than moxy is ideas. She's full of them. Mostly ideas on how to avoid reading STUART LITTLE. Unfortunately, STUART LITTLE Is required summer reading and summer is almost over. It's not that Moxy has anything against convertible-driving mice. Or reading. Moxy LOVES reading. But she hates being told WHAT to read.

Moxy has tried all summer to read the book. Really she has! She has taken it everywhere: In the car, in the hammock, under her spilled glass of lemonade, into the swimming pool. Can Moxy help it that more important things pop up every time she opens that darned book? Who will plant the new peach orchard in her yard if she doesn't do it? Who will invent the automatic hammock stopper if not Moxy? And really folks, rooms don't clean themselves! MOXY MAXWELL DOES NOT LOVE STUART LITTLE is a great, fun read full of charm and humor told in simple, spunky language and documented by photographs taken by Moxy's twin brother (AKA Valorie Fisher). We love Moxy Maxwell and can't wait to hear more from her in the future!

Not A Box

Not a Box
by Antoinette Portis
HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0061123221

Just look at the bunny on the cover of this book. If you think he's (she's?) cute now, just wait until you peek inside.

This is one of those concept books that's so simple it's genius. Here's how it goes:

1. Our intrepid hero (aforementioned bunny) does various things with a box.

2. An offstage interrogator keeps asking him questions, i.e.: Why are you sitting in a box? Why are you doing on top of that box? Now you're wearing a box?

3. To which our hero replies, with increasing exasperation: It's NOT a box!

4. Turn the page and the next illustration reveals the scene playing out in bunny's head: bunny in a race car, bunny on Rabbit Peak, bunny-robot, etc.

Classic kid stuff and absolutely brilliant.

The tall chick has road-tested this book with a variety of kids in small and large group settings and it's been a HUGE hit wherever she goes, especially at the end when she puts a box on her head and asks the audience what's inside. Highly recommended!