The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
© Philomel Boardbooks
An Ode to the Children's Picture Book
By: Pat Ferrara, ColumnistDate: Monday, February 11, 2008
Back before Bantam’s Choose Your Own Adventure novels and R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps, the children’s picture book reigned supreme. Their over-sized, color-splashed pages provide kids with a magical place where genre has no meaning, every living thing and inanimate object is anthropomorphized, and where questions of logic never arise.
Hello Maniac readers and welcome to the Buzz. While going over this week’s rather skimpy release schedule some new debuts caught my eye. Cheryl Grochowski and BookSurge Publishing are debuting three new installments of the author’s Beverly Bunny books this week, prompting me to reconsider the impressionable books of my own youth.
I always think of my first jaunt into genre literature as being Brian Jacque’s Redwall series opener Martin the Warrior, which I purchased at a book fair in third grade. But after some thought I realize I can delve back a bit deeper than that into my childhood. I still vaguely remember a time when books like The Cat in the Hat and Curious George ruled the shelves, when kids everywhere pretended they could read just by looking at the pictures, and when the first crack at a pop-up book trumped all other experiences with literature.
Though I never really thought about it before, the children’s picture book fills a very important literary niche. In the process of teaching us how to read, our favorite childhood titles have permeated our culture, created lasting impressions, and, so far, have withstood the test of time.
Just seeing that green caterpillar from Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar brings back memories, memories of a boyish optimism when board-page cutouts made my day and “more food” still held the promise of morphing me into some sort of winged creature.
I’ll be the first to admit The Berenstain Bears single-handedly shaped my moral compass: that family of four middle-class suburban bears taught me many things, including the dangers of too much junk food, the trouble with commercials, and how to say no to a watermelon patch double-dare.
The power of a picture book to elicit such strong memories is a true testament to their effectiveness, universality, and prevalence in pop culture (Who can forget the decathlon host’s hilarious retort to the botched Pokey Little Puppy reference in BILLY MADISON?).
After so many decades in circulation, it’s about time some of those beloved picture books get a facelift. In an attempt to promote more interaction in children’s games, University Press is currently revamping The Very Hungry Caterpillar into a computer game that encourages both children and adults to play together. And Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is receiving one of the highest praises a story can garner: translation into a full-fledged, live-action adventure by Legendary Pictures.
In some form or another these giants of the children picture book industry will live on, and as long as they do I’ll be sure to pass them on down to my own kids. For all the fond memories, I salute you picture book.
New in Hardcover:
Time’s Tapestry: Weaver, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz)
In a 1940s Britain under the heel of Nazi Germany, the saga of the Weaver of Time's Tapestry comes to a climax.
New in Paperback:
The Adventures of Beverly Bunny, Cheryl Grochowski (BookSurge Publishing)
Beverly Bunny Makes a Friend: Beverly Bunny meets Alexandra from the farm family, and their friendship and adventures begin. Beverly Bunny and the Christmas Tree: Beverly Bunny and her friends learn about Christmas trees, and make one of their own. Beverly Bunny and the Christmas Gifts: Beverly Bunny and her friends learn about gifts and joy of giving.
An Actor’s Nightmare: Three – Two B.G., Jerome Dailey & James Wetzel (BookSurge Publishing)
Young adults get drawn one by one into an ancient web of mystery and prophecy and must prevent geese (seriously) from taking over their world.
Abelmelanomia, Melanie A. Scott (BookSurge Publishing)
Whitney Marks, a young black man, has a brilliant mind and an undiscovered and unparalleled genius for science and medicine. His interest is piqued by the discovery of the newly mutated, lethal virus - abmelanomia, a disease that affects only Caucasians. Whitney meets and falls hopelessly in love with hospital receptionist Sally Jacobsen, and as their romance develops, so too does the deadly abmelanomia virus. When Whitney learns that Sally's father is white, he is torn between his love for her and his absolute intolerance of the white race. Soon enough however, fate intervenes... on Whitney and perhaps the world.
Biting the Bullet, Jennifer Rarsdin (Orbit Books)
I'm Lucille Robinson (a.k.a. Jaz Parks). This is a mission unlike anything my vampire boss, Vayl, and I have ever been on. It's not our usual take them out and run; it's an undercover mission that needs the whole gang: a psychic, an interpreter, and a weapons specialist. We're joining a Special Ops team to nail the Wizard, a major terrorist thorn in the military's side. We've never gone in with such heavy artillery before, but the more the merrier, right? Um… nope. At least not since Vayl and I learned part of our job is to ferret out a mole concealed in our unit. To add to our problems, we're being harried by a pack of reavers bent on revenge, and targeted by a Seer who wants to share Vayl's power - at any cost. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the army of demonic, soul-sucking parasites either. This is going to be a blast. Book three in the Jaz Parks series.
Terminator Omnibus Vol. 1, Various (Dark Horse)
They came from another time to ensure that the future would belong solely to the machines. They are Terminators - indestructible killing engines hiding inside shells of flesh and blood. Tireless, fearless, merciless, unencumbered by human emotion, dedicated to the complete eradication of mankind. But despite the frailty of human flesh, nothing is as immortal as the human spirit, and even the strongest metal will bend by the will of a mother fighting for the future of her children. Dark Horse Comics has long been regarded as the heavyweight champion of adapting film blockbusters to graphic fiction, and The Terminator is one of the finest examples of bringing top comics talents to the expansion of a premier action/adventure mythos.
Predator Omnibus Vol. 2, Various (Dark Horse)
Trophy hunters from another world, hiding in plain site, drawn to heat and conflict. A historical scourge, lethal specters, powerful, savage, merciless. Utilizing their feral instincts and otherworldly technology in the sole pursuit of the most dangerous game… Man. Whether haunting the blazing deserts of the Southwest, stalking the claustrophobic woods of the Pine Barrens, or infiltrating a maximum security prison, the Predators take no prisoners and leave only death in their grisly wake. But even these bestial killing machines can meet their match when men swallow their fear and channel their own primal rage… and the hunter becomes the hunted! Dark Horse Comics set the comics industry on its ear with its comics expansion of the Predator mythos, comics so true to the spirit of the Fox film blockbuster that concepts were incorporated into the Predator screen universe. Predator Omnibus Volume 2 continues the complete presentation of these comics classics-some never before collected-featuring over 400 gripping story pages in full color, penned by a who's-who of top writers.
Twelve Kingdoms Vol. 1: Sea of Shadow, Fuyumi Ono (TokyoPop)
For high-schooler Yoko Nakajima, life has been fairly ordinary--that is until Keiki, a young man with golden hair, tells Yoko they must return to their kingdom. Once confronted by this mysterious being and whisked away to an unearthly realm, Yoko is left with only a magical sword; a gem; and a million questions about her destiny, the world she's trapped in, and the world she desperately wants to return to.
Threads of Time Vol. 11, Mi Young Noh (TokyoPop)
Upon being flooded with all of Sali Tayi's memories, Kim Moon Bin comes to the striking conclusion that he was once Sali Tayi. This revelation leads him to seek out Sali Tayi and engage in what will become their final confrontation. But will it be the young Sali, or the old Sali that emerges victorious? Read on as Threads of Time comes full circle with a spectacular meeting between the past and the present!
Sword Master, Selina Rosen (Dragon Moon Press)
Tarius, the daughter of a great warrior, is determined to avenge the death of her parents, despite her country's archaic rules of the place of women, or her breaking down those rules - especially the one that says women can't wield steel. Even though Tarius leads the Jethrik armies to victory after victory against the maniacal Amalites, and saves the kings life twice, she knows this will not stop his wrath when he learns fully the truth behind Tarius and her skilled sword play.
The Tomb of the Devils, Michael D. Christensen (BookSurge Publishing)
Three astronauts, themselves castaways on the planet Pluto, must determine why an enormous interplanetary space vehicle mysteriously crashed on this planet nearly a century ago.
Shades of Night, Jayce Landberg (BookSurge Publishing)
Jayce Landberg weaves a remarkable journey of a young author returning to the town he grew up in, calmly situated on a European coastline. Called, nay, beckoned to visit the nearby island, unexpected encounters drive his and his friend Luke Massey’s fears to the limits of human endurance. The conclusion is shattering… A spellbinding psychological thriller penned with a tip of the hat to a classic writing style." -Michael Storm (Author of Pulp7).
Heart of Empire, Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)
In a future alternate-reality Earth, one existence in a swirling maelstrom of parallel worlds, a vicious totalitarian British Empire reigns supreme. But in Rome, the dying Pope sets into motion a dark plan to place the throne of Britannica under papal control…by any means necessary. And while such temporal machinations threaten the world's political and social stability, a monstrous force is building across the multiverse, and a countdown begins to almost certain dimensional apocalypse! Luther Arkwright has saved a universe before, but with an infinity of universes threatened with annihilation, all of Arkwright's preternatural talents are needed. If only Arkwright weren't dead... The Legacy of Luther Arkwright.
Professor Flougle and the Flougle Wind Machine, Darren Parchmann (BookSurge Publishing)
Two kids share an adventure with a famous inventor and his quirky staff.
Biophilia, Wena Poon (BookSurge Publishing)
It is 2015. America is fighting two long and boring wars, its troops spread thin across the world. Terrorists have bombed several city blocks in lower Manhattan. The environment is kaput. Everybody hates the government. Worse, Americans have officially run out of gas. This would all have been a terrible bother for car fanatic Imogen Parks, if it hadn't been for Planet Nagy. Thrown through a wormhole onto another planet by a freak terrorist attack, Imogen discovers a world with illimitable energy sources, superb space ships designed by Alien Squids, and - best of all - Talking Animals who need her help.
New in Audiobook:
Virtual Mode, Piers Anthony (Brilliance Audio Unabridged)
Colene does not know what to think of the stranger she has rescued. Darius tells her he has traveled from "his reality" to find her. In proving to Colene that other worlds do exist, he uses up the power of the artifact that would allow them to travel back to his universe. They must try a slower, more dangerous method: the creation of a four-dimensional universe. Darius picks five anchor points in five different universes to set up a skew path, a "Virtual Mode," on which the anchors can walk. Thus begins a tale of romance, danger, adventure, and intrigue as the two travel through a myriad of alternate realities where anything is possible. Narrated by Mark Winston.
Alright Maniacs that’ll do it for this week’s Buzz. Check back next Monday for all the latest info on current sci fi, fantasy, and horror book releases. Questions or comments? Hit me up at Pferrara.mania@gmail.com.
