Book By Its Cover

2.5.08
Lane Smith

review by Jess Rosenkranz

Just click the link above to find out more about this week’s guest blogger Jess.

I was super excited to attend a book reading to get this book signed. It was so worth it, since after an auditorium full of children and I listened to a nice story, Mr. Smith even drew a happy little drawing just for me. He often illustrates books written by other authors (probably most notably The True Story of the Three Little Pigs with Jon Scieszka) but this book is one of several that he also wrote. When my high school self discovered this book around 1997 (it was first published in 1993) something about the vintage style illustrations, the craft paper look of the paper, and that hard-to-explain dry, weird, McSweeney’s-like humor all made perfect sense in a life-altering way. So ahead of its time.

I should buy this book in bulk since I tend to give it away as a gift so often. You can buy it here.

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7 Comments
02/5/08  10:00am
Janet wrote

My kids LOVE Lane Smith. Great pick!


02/5/08  12:41pm
Mary-Laure wrote

I love the colors and the happiness in those drawings, as well as their retro feel…


02/5/08  4:12pm
Abbey H wrote

I love this book! I also love Lane Smith’s work- it’s hysterical!


02/7/08  11:02am
olivelse wrote

I have this wonderful book and I love it!
All the work of Lane Smith is great, I love “La malédiction des Maths” and “The stinky cheese man” too… :)


02/17/08  10:17am
helen:) wrote

It’s a great book! I have it and the kids love it!
Lane Smith is awesome!


02/25/08  1:16pm
Lane Smith wrote

I was excited to see one of my all-time favorite books, “Uncle Shelby’s ABZ” here. The tone of it influenced greatly my own Hocky books. Then I scroll down to find “The Happy Hocky Family” themselves on the site!
I guess we think alike.


01/5/09  5:48pm
Klee wrote

Yes!!! I, too, have given at least a dozen copies of this book to friends (IN FACT, the reason I stumbled upon this page today is that I came online to look for some more copies to buy!). Have loved it since its original publication date. My friend and I quote it all the time (our fave line is ‘My apple is CRUNCHY.’). My only caveat to giftees is that they allow me to read the book to them upon presentation– tis my favorite book of all time to read aloud. (PS: I am 42 years old.)



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© Julia Rothman 2007