Mr. Bean Gets a Makeover

Mr Bean and his beloved Teddy

Just some Monday Madness for you today. I know that art purists won’t find this amusing but I love when art is transformed into pop culture. It becomes art with a twist. The latest marriage between art and pop culture, created by artist Rodney Pike, features Mr. Bean.

Obscure Scan Sunday: Look What I've Got! by Anthony Browne

Look What I’ve Got
Anthony Browne
1980

“Anthony Browne? Eh, never heard of him.” That was my first thought the first time I laid eyes on this book. The cover caught me by surprise though. I mean, a boy holding a cube that looks like the sky. I would say that’s pretty surreal, wouldn’t you? So I bought it, brought it home and read it. Although the story didn’t really impress me all that much, some of illustrations in here are begging to be blown up and put on a wall.

Banned Book: Winnie-the-Pooh

By A. A. Milne
Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
Originally published 1926

Sing Ho! For the Life of a Bear!

Winnie-the-Pooh is part of a collection of stories written by A. A. Milne featuring a boy, Christopher Robin, and his group of animal friends, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Little Roo, and Eeyore. This book has delighted audiences for many generations, so why was it banned?

Banned Book: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
By Lewis Carroll
Illustrations by John Tenniel
Originally published in 1865

Illustrations by
John Tenniel
1866

Originally banned in china because of the humanistic portrayal of some of the animal characters, namely their being able to talk and more recently challenged in the 1960’s in relation to the drug culture of that time, Carroll’s story of Alice has been met with trepidation. Still, it’s a fine example of fantasy in children’s literature.

Banned Book: Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are
By Maurice Sendak
1963

Where the Wild Things Are is a story about a child coming to grips with his emotions. Max is truly a terror and is punished for being so. Alone in his room, Max creates an alternate reality complete with tumultuous seas, sharp toothed monstrous Wild Things and deep dark forests. In this reality Max is King and enjoys romping around creating chaos, that is until he craves the comforts of home.

Banned Book: A Light in the Attic By Shel Silverstein

A Light in the Attic
By Shel Silverstein
1981

Many of Silverstein’s books have been banned quite frequently. Along with A Light in the Attic, number 51 on the American Library Association’s list of 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999, are two other Silverstein classics, The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends. These are books most of us are familiar with and yet they were all challenged at one time or another because of controversy surrounding some of their content. So why has Silverstein’s work been challenged so often?

Banned Books Week September 21-27

It’s Banned Books Week this week, all the way through September 27^th.  Libraries, bookstores, and classrooms around the country celebrate the freedom to read through elaborate displays and fun events. Books that have been challenged or banned both in the U.S and around the world will receive recognition this week.

So what exactly is a banned book?

Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff

Over in the Meadow
Written by John Langstaff
Illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
1957

Hey Kiddos! The Boog and I are up to our ears in nature books and I thought I would share one of her Faves. I have posted on this book before. It's always a big hit with the kids, especially since it is sung instead of read. My last post only touched on the book briefly and there was some interest as to the lyrics and music by a few readers. It always makes me smile to know that my readers have a connection with the material I post. That being said, I would like to share a bit more than just the cover. The pictures are double spreads so I decided to take pictures instead of scan them. Musical notations included in the closing photo.

Enjoy!

Obscure Scan Sunday: A Day in the Woods

A Day in the Woods

National Geographic
By Ronald M. Fisher
Photographs by Gordon W. Gahan
Illustrations by Tony Chen
1975

The Boog loves BUGS! We have an extensive library on the subjects of bugs/insects/nature. Natural Science has encompassed our daily lives since she was about 4 years old. This is probably very common in little ones, as they have such healthy appetites for knowledge. What she loves more than anything though are realistic picture books. Informational picture books are at the heart of our collection right now. Stories where children interact with other children are especially gobbled up with enthusiasm.

TMNT- Case of the Killer Pizzas

TMNT- Case of the Killer Pizzas

Written by Douglas Booth

1988

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a gang of anthropomorphic turtles, named after Renaissance artists, and well trained in the art of Ninjutsu, which they learned from their anthropomorphic rat sensei Splinter. They live in the sewers of New York, kick major butt, and enjoy eating Pizza while defending the citizens of New York from evil overlords Krang and Shredder. There were many hours of my youth spent sitting in front of the tube, eating sugar clumps in milk, watching Saturday morning cartoons. Not very productive, not to mention probably not so healthy, but that was the 80s world I grew up in. Things are much different these days…. But I still have a love for the turtles.

That is why, as of late, I have been trolling all of ebay and etsy, picking things up here and there. Turtle lunch boxes, vhs, action figures and trapper keepers. Some of them are actually a decent price, and some are severely over priced. (Some totally rad items listed below.)

The other day I picked up a TMNT vhs tape circa 1988. I know I usually post about books and such, but today I have turtle fever. I have, for your viewing pleasure, compiled a little taste of TMNT Awesomeness: Case of the Killer Pizzas, snapped from the comforts of my living room. 

So, these bad dudes take it upon themselves to poison the Turtles with what appear to be tiny little meatballs, only they happen to house little tiny creatures inside. You with me so far?

Now, in order to entice the Turtles to eat the imposter meatballs, Krang assigns Shredder and Baxter with the task of enticing them with a Free Pizza Bakeoff. Of course they can’t resist and find themselves face to face with the Shredder.

He gets a little pie in the eye while in the meantime the Turtles gift their pizza to a Miss April O’neil- Reporter extraordinaire, and Irma. The other was accidentally intercepted by the pizza boy who delivers it to a couple of snot nosed kids.

The creatures hatch in the microwave while the pizza is being reheated. (Again, it is the 80’s so it appears that reheating pizza in the microwave was not only acceptable, but common practice.)

The Turtles chase these creatures into the sewer, intercept the remote from evil doers Shredder and Baxter, and arrive home in time to enjoy some pizza that may or may not have been laced with the leftover meatballs containing the horrid meatball creatures. 

Everyone has a laugh. The End.

On a side note, I always wanted to be an April. It's like the classic Betty vs. Veronica.... I am in reality an Irma. See Irma, looking around the corner there? That's me, well, minus the yearning for romance and creepy glare. 

Now here are those "totally rad" items I promised. 

Vintage TMNT 100 piece Puzzle 

Bebop action figurewith accessories

 Krang Sealed1989 Action Figure

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Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle

Where Did I Come From?

Written by Peter Mayle

Illustrated by Arthur Robins

Designed by Paul Walter

1973

“This Book is all about you.
We wrote it because we thought you’d like to know exactly where you came from, and how it all happened.”

A good old fashioned birds and bees book.  I picked this up because it looked familiar to me, as I witnessed the animated version (here) of the book on vhs at the ripe age of 8. My sister and I would giggle during the bath tub scene and share crooked glances at one another during some of the more preposterous parts. Some of the key elements in the book were changed around a bit for the animated version, which Howie Mandel narrated.

Little Red Riding Hood by Roald Dahl

So I have been away doing shcoolish things as of late. I am working my way towards a degree and The Boog and I have been paving the way towards the start of first grade. Although I do updates on my Facebook Page Books We Grew Up With, I came to the sad realization that my last posting on the bloggedy blog was in January. I aim to remedy that with an impromptu post and the promise to return more frequently. The Boog's reading skills and taste in books have changed substantially over the last half of this year and I look forward to sharing some of our new found favorites along with some classic standbys.

With that I leave with this poem I recently stumbled upon from Roald Dahl's version of Little Red Riding Hood. The poem can be found in his ghastly collection of classics "Revolting Rhymes."

A version only Dahl could have thought up! ;)

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