Daily Archives: May 15, 2010

“And now on NPR…Here’s Alan Cheuse!”

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I was on the phone with Alan Cheuse, book reviewer for NPR. He sounded a little tired. Maybe he was doing a Blogathon 2010 himself. We talked briefly about my book. It reminded me of the time I was in New York with my comic strip Camp Pinetar, talking with the guys at King Features. New York, and Washington are really far away from where I live. Those guys and I have very different lives. But we all enjoy good books and good cartoons. I really believe that my new book “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” www.jerrybegly.com/tooth is a winner. How do I know? When a grandma comes up to me on a ski slope in Aspen and gives me a big hug because of the book, I know it’s a winner. When a parent tells me that she has read the book “about 18 times already”, I know it’s a winner. When a parent comes back 5 times in a month and orders more books to give away, I know it’s a winner. I hope you’ll try the book. You deserve a good laugh. Thanks. Jerry.

17th Blog Stretch

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Blogarooney, Blogmeister, Blogarama, Blogalooney, Blogglemania, Bloggenheimer. I think I’d better take a break.

The Shootout

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An Aspen school teacher put my book into her weekly book “shootout”. The idea is that 2 books are read to the kids and they get to vote on their favorite one. Then that winner goes on to the next week and is read against another book. My book “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” www.jerrybegly.com/tooth.beat out 3 books, including “Stone Soup”. But when “Dad, the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” went up against “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, I got knocked out. I told the teacher, “The GRINCH? Why didn’t you just throw me to the lions?” I was thrilled to be shot down by Dr. Seuss. The only thing better than that would be to get shot down by Snoopy on his doghouse.

The Best Kind of Book

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What kind of children’s book do you like to read? Dr. Seuss. I Spy. Richard Scary. Sandra Boynton. Those are all favorites of mine. I like cartoons. Long drawn out verbiage bores me and my kids. Yes, chapter books are just fine as the kids grow a little older. I like color, and surprises. Books where the child goes to sleep at the end of the book are too predictable and trite. The only exception to that is Dr. Seuss’s “The Sleep Book”. Watching all of those crazy little creatures yawn make me yawn when I read it. Just writing about it makes me want to yawn right now.

On a Softer Note…

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As stated previously, my wife has been a huge influence on our children with her reading. What’s really nice is that she’s such a good reader, that I too enjoy just lying there listening to her read. On car trips, she can hardly put a book down because the kids and I want her to keep on reading. She is trained in Classical and Opera music, and comes with all of the voice classes and coaching that that entails. Her voice is so smooth and mesmerizing that everyone loves it. You might not have that kind of a voice. Maybe you sound more like Peter Faulk (Colombo). But in the classic movie “Princess Bride”, Faulk reads a book to his grandson the entire movie. His character and voice are absolutely fantastic. You probably fall somewhere between Peter Faulk and my wife. So grab a book and read to your little one. You’ll both love it.