I think these titles are really intended to appeal to the book-loving adult who will be reading this book five ten twenty times a day. But let’s be honest: “2 rich gentlemen” is no substitute for Austen’s actual story. Perhaps a better alternative would be picture books that develop a love of storytelling in kids AND entertain the reader-writer parents. For our youngest FWR readers and their grownups, here are 5 picture books that will delight writers and writerly offspring alike. No kids? Actually, these are cool enough (and funny enough) that you may want to pick them up for yourself.

1. The Monster at the End of This Book
This is a classic in its own right—and if you haven’t seen it, please do yourself a favor and read it now (and then buy a copy, please). An alarmed Grover notices that the title page promises a monster at the end of the book and begs the reader not to turn any pages. Of course, the reader is pleased to disobey. But The Monster at the End of This Book is immensely satisfying for writers of all ages. As Bret Anthony Johnston points out in a Glimmer Train essay, writers can learn quite a lot from lovable furry ol’ Grover: When your readers want something, do not give it to them.

2. We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems
An heir to The Monster at the End of This Book, We Are in a Book! follows Piggy (that’s the pig) and Gerald (that’s the elephant), who discover that they are–gasp!–IN A BOOK. They have fun making the reader say funny words, but what will happen to them when the book ends? Because, after all, as Piggy notes, “All books end.”

Metafiction for the early reader? Yes please.

3. Harold and The Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
Another classic (published in 1955), this title follows the eponymous Harold and his eponymous purple crayon on an adventure that subtly parallels the creative process. Everything Harold draws comes to life, and along the way his story frightens him, spirals out of control, and moves in unexpected directions before resolving itself in a very satisfying way. Sound familiar to you?

4. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by John Scieszka
In this parody of the Three Little Pigs, the wolf tells his version of the story—and surprise, surprise, it’s quite different from the pigs’ version. After accidentally bumping off one of the pigs, the wolf offers a deadpan explanation for eating him: “It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw. So I ate it up. Think of it as a cheeseburger just lying there.” It’s a study in the importance of viewpoint, with more than a dash of black humor, and writers will chuckle gleefully alongside their children.

5. Keep Our Secrets, by Jordan Crane
This picture book is published by McSweeney’s, which tells you something right off the bat. Readers rub the color-changing ink on each page to revealing that nothing around them is as it seems: The cat has been taken over by mice! There’s a dog in the piano! Writers truck in secrets, and this book teaches children the joy of delving into dark spaces to see what’s hidden. To see it in action, check out this walkthrough by McSweeney’s editor/art director Brian McMullen and his son Alton.

What are your favorite picture books for writers and their kids? Share in the comments!

• Would you give an eBook to your child?
• Do writers want their kids to be writers? Elizabeth Ames Staudt reflects.
• Can’t buy books? Rent them for your kid with BookPig.
• Don’t let this happen to your child

Part 1:

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When you are ready for more books, just return the first set in the pre-paid mailer provided and we’ll “swap” them for the next set of books from your queue! For faster turnaround, we recommend that you log in and use the “Instant Return” feature to let us know what books you have sent back (or are about to) – and we will pre-ship your next set of books. When we ship your next set of books, we will send you an email letting you know what books are on the way.

For a more personalized service, give us feedback as to what books your kids liked/disliked and whether they were too hard, too easy, or just right. Over time, we will learn the reading level and preferences of your children and be able to help them find books they’ll love. We offer two options for feedback – online or via stickers that younger readers can be put right on the book.

The company offers three plans—”casual” reader (2-5 books per month), “active” reader (6-15 books per month), and “avid” reader (consistently reading 16+ books per month).

Would you subscribe your kid to a service like this? Does a program like this hurt publishers by keeping parents from buying books? Does a program like this help kids by giving them access to many more books than they might otherwise be able to afford? (The answers might be yes, and yes, but tell us what you think in the comments…)

Michelle Obama celebrates Read Across America Day (2010). Image credit: Official White House image

Today, March 2, is Read Across America Day, in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. (Really—here’s the official presidential proclamation.) Funded by the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education, the event’s goal is simple: to motivate children to read. Says the event’s website:

The First Lady and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel welcome a star-studded lineup of readers and 400 local schoolchildren to the Library of Congress today for the national kickoff of NEA’s Read Across America. Who’s grabbed a hat to read with the Cat? Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Jessica Alba, Superbowl champion Donald Driver, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi and chefs Carla Hall and Mike Isabella, designer Camila Alves and actors Bridget Moynahan, Jeffrey Ray Valdez, and Mehcad Brooks, along with journalists Norah O’Donnell and Luke Russert.

In addition, Cat-a-Vans are visiting schools, providing books and encouraging reading. Want to participate? Visit the Read Across America website for ideas and resources, pledge to read in the upcoming year, or donate to the organization.

Reading this on March 3—or later? No worries; celebrate reading anyway by creating a reading event, sharing reading-related activities, or just… reading. After all, Read Across America hopes to “[provide] NEA members, parents, caregivers, and children the resources and activities they need to keep reading on the calendar 365 days a year.”

Traditional fairy tales are often far darker than our novelists dare – the troll steals the baby, the Snow Queen comes and enthralls your love, the little match girl freezes to death. Hans Christian Andersen was a master of macabre, dressed brightly for his young audience. For me, the best children’s literature stands with the best literature, period. The same things that make a novel like The Brothers Karamazov endure, make works intended for more youthful readers last: a rip-roaring good tale, an element of danger, characters that imprint on your own imagination. What books from childhood stayed with you? Do you ever revisit them? I’ve often picked up Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World, or Beatrix Potter’s The Roly-Poly Pudding and Two Bad Mice for a quick hit of nostalgia, and a reminder that the best stories are often incredibly simple.

image credit: npr.org

If you decide to follow the tunnel, turn to page 151. If you decide to cross the bridge, turn to page 12.

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? Now you can enjoy the series in ebook format with the new iPhone app U-Ventures. The app was created by Edward Packard, one of the authors of the original Choose Your Own Adventure series and creator of U-Ventures.

In an interview with NPR host Neal Conan, Packard comments on some of the narrative changes made possible by the new digital format. First there are the obvious bells and whistles that ebooks allow:

CONAN: Well, these were obviously interactive books. Clearly these are a natural for dig.

Mr. PACKARD: They were. And so, when we decided to put it into app form with Simon and Schuster, we had to get a developer expanded app out in L.A. and develop it really – which is more than just transferring it into digital form, because we wanted to add a lot of tricks and things and features that the app could perform that you would never have been able to have in the printed book. [...]

CONAN: Books can’t make sounds and that sort of things, yeah.

But there are less obvious point-of-view changes, as well:

[PACKARD:] My original first book, I – first one of these that I wrote, I wasn’t able to sell it, but I got a small publisher to publish it, and we decided we’d have it – try to have a unisex you, so – but even that, it wasn’t too satisfactory. And the publishers, Bantam, when they started bringing out the series in a big way, they said, you know, we have to represent it with somebody as you, the reader. And this somebody turned out to be a white boy, looking like sort of a junior James Bond. And this didn’t sit too well with a lot of people, especially girls.

And so we decided, with these apps, we’re not going to have that problem. We’re going to make it point-of-view, the reader. And as you go through your adventures, all the illustrations show things as you see them with your own eyes.

Listen to the full story here, and if you’ve tried the U-ventures app, let us know what you think of it.

The online version (along with a slideshow of images from the store) is available at no cost on P&W’s website…but if you want a print copy, Poets & Writers‘ special offer to Fiction Writers Review readers (only $12 for a year-long subscription) is still up for grabs; if you order through this page before May 15, you’ll get the current issue featuring Women & Children First. Regardless of when you order, a subscription will show support for independent bookstores everywhere.

Here’s an excerpt from Jeremiah’s Women & Children First profile:

photo by Jeremiah Chamberlin

When I walked into Women & Children First, the feminist bookstore that Linda Bubon and her business partner, Ann Christophersen, founded more than thirty years ago, the overriding feeling I experienced was one of warmth. And it wasn’t because Chicago was having a late-winter snowstorm that afternoon. From the eclectic array of books stacked on tables, to the casualness of the blond wood bookcases, to the handwritten recommendations from staff below favorite books on the shelves, everything feels personalized; an atmosphere of welcome permeates the place.

In the back of the store, a painted sign showing an open book with a child peering over the top hangs from the ceiling, indicating the children’s section. Not far away, a similar sign, this one of a rainbow with an arrow below it, points toward the GLBTQ section. Despite these signs—not to mention the name of the store itself—Women & Children First carries more than books for women and, well, children.

And here’s Linda Bubon, on her (and the bookstore’s) future:

Linda Bubon / photo by Jeremiah Chamberlin

I’m a bookseller, but I’m a feminist bookseller. Would I be a bookseller if I were going to run a general bookstore? I’m not sure. Sometimes I think, “What will I do if the store is no longer viable?” And I think that rather than going into publishing or going to work for a general bookstore, I would rather try to figure out how to have a feminist reading series and run a feminist not-for-profit. Because the real purpose of my life is getting women’s voices out, and getting women to tell the truth about their lives, and selling literature that reflects the truths of girls’ and women’s lives. Sometimes we’re abused; we have to talk about that. Sometimes we take the bad road in relationships; we have to talk about that. Sometimes we’re discriminated against in the workplace; we have to talk about these things. Violence against women in the United States and worldwide has not stopped. We don’t have a feminist army to go rescue women in Afghanistan—would that we did.

The goal of my life has been to get the word out, to understand women’s lives. We have to continue to evolve and change if we’re to have a full share, and if our daughters are to have a full share of the world.

photo: GPN/Nebraska ETV Network and WNED Buffalo

Six months ago, we here at FWR (and many others) mourned the end of long-running PBS show Reading Rainbow. Now, rumor has it that Reading Rainbow may make a comeback. Host LeVar Burton recently tweeted:

You heard it here first… Reading Rainbow 2.0 is in the works! Stay tuned for more info. But, you don’t have to…

If you can complete that sentence, you’re probably one of the millions who can’t wait to see this show—which encouraged kids to love books and reading—back on the air. No further details have been released yet, but we can hope, right?

Via.

“I would tell them to go to hell,” Sendak said. And if children can’t handle the story, they should “go home,” he added. “Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it’s not a question that can be answered.”

In a bracingly unsentimental interview with Newsweek, Sendak, director Spike Jonze, and screenwriter Dave Eggers discuss why Max’s dinner is “still hot” and not “still warm,” why he believes Disney is bad for children, and why it’s okay—maybe even necessary—for children’s books (and films) to be scary:

Jonze: We are squeamish. We are Disneyfied. We don’t want children to suffer. But what do we do about the fact that they do? The trick is to turn that into art. Not scare children, that’s never our intention.

[...]

Sendak: [...] This concentration on kids being scared, as though we as adults can’t be scared. Of course we’re scared. I’m scared of watching a TV show about vampires. I can’t fall asleep. It never stops. We’re grown-ups; we know better, but we’re afraid.

Why is that important in art?

Sendak: Because it’s truth. You don’t want to do something that’s all terrifying. I saw the most horrendous movies that were unfit for child’s eyes. So what? I managed to survive.

Maurice Sendak’s picture book Where the Wild Things Are is nearly 50 years old, but the release of Spike Jonze’s film adaptation has sparked a resurgence of critical interpretations of the story. A sampling:

On the Oxford University Press blog, philosophy professor Stephen T. Asma ties our love for Where the Wild Things Are to our fascination with other monsters–”zombies, vampires, and serial killers”:

As the movie’s trailer reminds us, “Inside all of us is a wild thing.” And in our therapeutic era, we generally accept that it is good and healthy to visit our wild things –to let them off their chains, let them howl at the moon. You can also taste some of this Romanticism in the recent relish of the Woodstock anniversary, with its celebration of noble primitivism. But the hippy view of “the wild” is quite sunny, whereas Sendak (who lost family during the Holocaust) wanted to acknowledge some of the darker aspects of uncivilized life (even, or especially, through the eyes of a child). Despite these darker notes, however, Where the Wild Things Are still affirms the idea that danger, at least in small doses, is good for you. And this latest fascination with beasties, together with the approach of Halloween, reminds us that we have a love/hate relationship with monsters generally. We are simultaneously attracted and repulsed by them.

At The Millions, Emily Collette Wilkinson looks at WTWTA through a Hobbesian lens:

And so we have in Wild Things Hobbes for children and a Hobbesian child hero (“no Arts; no Letters; no Society…the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.”) Max seems constrained by the civilized domestic world in which we find him in the first frame. Sendak reveals Max’s confinement by making his first illustration only four inches by five and a half, with three-inch, white margins; the story’s illustrations grow progressively larger as Max’s wildness escalates and he is finally sent to his room. Only when the imaginary forest realm of the wild things has totally overgrown his room do the illustrations take up the whole of each page—as if to say that only when Max enters his imaginary world of unadulterated wildness and savagery do we see him fully.

New York Times columnist David Brooks uses WTWTA to illustrate the psychologist’s view that “we are a community of competing selves” and meditates on the value of creative work–sort of:

In the psychologist’s version, the good life is won indirectly. People have only vague intuitions about the instincts and impulses that have been implanted in them by evolution, culture and upbringing. There is no easy way to command all the wild things jostling inside.

But it is possible to achieve momentary harmony through creative work. Max has all his Wild Things at peace when he is immersed in building a fort or when he is giving another his complete attention. This isn’t the good life through heroic self-analysis but through mundane, self-forgetting effort, and through everyday routines.

And finally, on Huffington Post Books, the voice actors of the film reflect on the book that inspired it all.

[[Lauren Ambrose]]: That’s exactly what we all do, trying to solve our problems. People lying on couches and going to therapy and trying to access this vast unconscious to allow it to help us solve our problems. That’s what the book is about. One of the things it’s about to me is that this kid goes and is able to access his vast imagination, childlike imagination, which is what we all try to get back to, to help him learn how to be in the world and learn how to solve his problems with his mom. It’s also about how success and fame and being the king is nothing compared to family, community, soup and your mom. That’s the last page, that soup that’s still hot.

Read more here.