How to Sell Laffy Taffy

We found this on the computer:

Hello I want to work at [Daddy's advertising agency].
I want to be a copywriter just like my dad.
I really want to do adds and different asignments.
I am really interesed in being a writer.

Sincerely
[Tintin]

So Daddy told Tintin how to make an ad. Here's his first one:













 Award-winning, no?

Books of the Year, 4-Year-Old Boy Edition, Graphic Novels

The following books are Johnny Boo's favorite graphic novels; however, his 7-year-old brother has read and loved them all as well.

Benny and Penny

Author/illustrator: Geoffrey Hayes

Our review

Find it on Amazon: Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!, Benny and Penny in Just Pretend, Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker

Find it at Lone Star Comics.

Phonics Comics: Cave Dave

Author/illustrator: Carol McAdams Moore and Mike Dammer

Find it: Amazon

Johnny Boo

Author/illustrator: James Kochalka

Our reviews: Johnny Boo Book 3: Happy Apples, Johnny Boo Book 4: The Mean Little Boy

Find it on Amazon: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4

Find it at Lone Star Comics.

Johnny Mutton

Author/illustrator: James Proimos 

Our review

Find it on Amazon: The Many Adventures of Johnny Mutton; Johnny Mutton, He's So Him; Mutton Soup

Mo and Jo: Fighting Forever Together

Author/illustrator: Jay Lynch and Dean Haspiel

Our review

Find it: Amazon; Lone Star Comics

Otto's Orange Day

Author/illustrator: Jay Lynch/Frank Cammuso

Our review

Find it: Amazon, Lone Star Comics

Polo

Author/illustrator: Régis Faller

Find it on Amazon: The Adventures of Polo, Polo: The Runaway Book, Polo and Lily, Polo and the Magic Flute, Polo and the Dragon, Polo and the Magician!

Find it at Lone Star Comics.

Yam:Bite-Size Chunks

Author/illustrator: Corey Barba 

Our review

Find it: Amazon, Lone Star Comics

Books of the Year, 7-Year-Old Boy Edition, Graphic Novels

Here are Tintin's favorite graphic novels from  2010 (but not necessarily published in 2010). We haven't reviewed all of them, but they're all books Tintin would read again.

The 3-2-3 Detective Agency: The Disappearance of Dave Warthog
Author/illustrator: Fiona Robinson

Our review
Find it: Amazon

The Adventures of Tintin, Volumes 1-7
Author/illustrator: Hergé 

Our review
Find it: Amazon

Amazing Greek Myths of Wonder and Blunders
Author/illustrator: Mike Townsend

Our review
Find it: Amazon

Babymouse, #s 1-13
Author/illustrator: Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm 

Find it: Amazon 

Coming May 10, 2011: Babymouse #14: Mad Scientist

The Clouds Above
Author/illustrator: Jordan Crane 

Find it: Amazon, Lone Star Comics

Kaput and Zösky
Author/illustrator: Lewis Trondheim, with Eric Cartier

 Our review
 Find it: Amazon

Knights of the Lunch Table, #s 1 & 2
Author/illustrator: Frank Cammuso 

Our review
Find it on Amazon: #1: The Dodgeball Chronicles, #2: The Dragon Players 
Find it at Lone Star Comics: #1: The Dodgeball Chronicles

Little Vampire
Author/illustrator: Joann Sfar

Find it: Amazon

Lunch Lady, #s 1-4
Author/illustrator: Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Find it on Amazon: Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians, Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta, Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown

Coming December 28, 2010: Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit

Magic Trixie, #s 1-3
Author/illustrator: Jill Thompson 

Our review
Find it on Amazon: Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over, Magic Trixie and the Dragon

Sardine in Outer Space, #s 1-6
Author/illustrator: Emmanuel Guilbert and Joann Sfar

 
Our reviews: Sardine in Outer Space 3, Sardine in Outer Space 4
Find it: Amazon, Lone Star Comics



Tiny Tyrant, Volumes 1 & 2
Author/illustrator: Lewis Trondheim

Find it on Amazon: Volume 1: The Ethelbertosaurus, Volume 2: The Lucky Winner
 Find it at Lone Star Comics: Tiny Tyrant, 1st Edition




Wizards of Mickey, Volumes 1 & 2
Author/illustrator: Stefano Ambrosio/Lorenzo Pastrovicchio

Find it on Amazon: Volume 1: Mouse Magic, Volume 2: Grand Tournament
Find it at Lone Star Comics: Wizards of Mickey

Coming February 1, 2011: Wizards of Mickey Volume 3: Battle for the Crown

The Eyeball Tower

Sometimes sibling jealousy can be a good thing, like when the younger brother sees the older brother taking "writing classes" from Dad.

So recently we began having Johnny Boo dictate stories to us. He can write on his own, but dictating helps him focus on his ideas rather than on whether he's spelling correctly.

Here are the results of our latest dictation, a story by Johnny Boo, age 4:

Once the Eyeball Tower was alone and he didn't have any friends. 'Cause he had eyeballs all over him. And he had snot in his nose. The Eyeball Tower doesn't have any friends because it's not real.

It doesn't do anything fun. It just stays where it is. It has buttons.

The Eyeball Tower turned into the Eiffel Tower because it took potions. It plays every game at the carnival. It has Eiffel Tower friends that look like babies.

The End

For another story by Johnny Boo, see The Little Tiny Mouse over at Mother Is Not Concerned.

Marco and the Ape King

A story by Tintin, age 7

Chapter 1: All About Marco

Marco is 10 years old. He lives in a green house in Italy. He has a mother and father and a brother named Jon. They are a nice family. They have a little green house.

Marco is a big boy. He has brown hair and blue eyes, and he is fat! His favorite color is black. He is good at eating. He likes to eat Poppies cereal and he dislikes soup and raisins. His friend is named Myron.

Chapter 2: Marco Goes to South Africa

Marco goes to the airport and gets on the plane to South Africa. It takes eight hours to get there. Once they are there they go to a hotel. They slept there for one day. Then they started their adventure.

Chapter 3: The Ape Ninjas

They went through the jungle until they heard a "hee hee" sound. Ape ninjas were all around. Then they were captured by the ninjas. They were brought to the ape castle. The ape king put them in prison.

Chapter 4: Ape Prison

The bars were too thick to talk to other people. It was dark and scary. There were eight skeletons. It smelled awful!

Marco was crying because he missed his brother and his mom and dad. Marco wished someone would save him.

Chapter 5: Mr. Squirrel

There was a "squeak squeak" sound. There was a squirrel. He said his name was Mr. Squirrel. He chewed on the bars so they could escape the prison. They went back to the airport. They finally returned home.

The End

Books coming up

3* Marco and the Silvermoon Crystal
4* Marco and the Underground Demons
5* Marco and the Vampire Dogs

Johnny Boo and the Mean Little Boy

Review by Johnny Boo, age 4

Johnny Boo and the Mean Little Boy (Book 4)
Author/illustrator: James Kochalka

Johnny Boo and the Mean Little Boy is about Johnny Boo and Squiggle. Johnny Boo and Squiggle are ghosties. Squiggle had to make new friends. The mean little boy comes over and thinks the ghost is a butterfly. Johnny Boo finds Squiggle in a jar. My favorite part is when Johnny Boo lets Squiggle out of the jar. I like this book because it's funny and pleasurous. The funny part is when the mean little boy pees in his pants and he changes his pants. I would recommend this book to hilarious kids and funny kids.

Editor's note: My Johnny Boo doesn't know it yet, but Johnny Boo Does Something! (Book 5) is coming out in August. I think I'll wait until July to tell him about it – otherwise I'll be hearing "Is it August yet? How about tomorrow?" every day for the next several months.


And to show you what a completist he is, here he is with his Johnny Boo collection, including Owly and Friends from 2008 and 2009 (we still need the one from 2010):

Our Roald Dahl Loot

Tintin entered the Roald Dahl Reading Dahlathon and was one of the first 1,000 participants, which means that in addition to his certificate and free book, he also got an Official Reading Dahlathon Medal. For the contest he had to read three Roald Dahl books between September 1 and December 31. He was so excited about getting a medal that he finished all three books – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Magic Finger, and The Vicar of Nibbleswicke – in September.

Here's his medal:

And his new book:

The Witches: A Set of Plays
Author/illustrator: Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake

Adapted by David Wood, The Witches: A Set of Plays consists of seven short plays about a boy, his grandmother and (bear with me, I haven't had a chance to read this yet) probably some witches. Tintin has had a fascination with reading plays ever since he took acting classes 2 1/2 years ago, so I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy reading this and performing the plays with his puppets and his brother (who is also sometimes his puppet). From the back of the book: With useful tips on staging, props, and costumes, these plays are easy to perform and are sure to be great fun for everyone.

Other plays adapted from Roald Dahl books:

• The BFG: A Set of Plays
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: A Play
• James and the Giant Peach: A Play
• The Twits: A Set of Plays

Thanks to Penguin Young Readers Group for the prizes and congrats to Tintin!

Muffin Tin Monday – Mutton Soup

Or should I say Mutton Tin Monday...

This week's muffin tin meal is based on Mutton Soup: More Adventures of Johnny Mutton, by James Proimos. In this fun-to-read graphic novel, Johnny Mutton is a sheep being raised as a boy who learns many things: that it's not so important to set a world record if you're just going to get sick doing it; that there's a time for fun and a time for eating; and that not all old people are scary. The only downside is that Johnny Boo now goes around saying, "Old people are scary!" whenever he sees an old person. Fortunately, none of them has ever heard him say it.

More Johnny Mutton books: The Many Adventures of Johnny Mutton; Johnny Mutton, He's So Him


And now for the muffin tin, which includes some of Johnny Mutton's favorite foods:

• Mutton Soup: 100% melted vanilla ice cream with a cherry on top
• Mutton Pudding: chocolate pudding with a cherry on top
• Mutton Gravy: the maple syrup that goes over the pancakes that have a cherry on top
• Mutton Pie: cherries in a bowl with a cherry on top
• Mutton Sandwich: two cupcakes with a cupcake in between and a cherry on top

And the boys:

Check out more muffin tin meals at Muffin Tin Mom.

Also, enter my giveaways (please?).

Giveaway: Happy Haul-idays From LitLad and Chronicle Books!

Chronicle Books is offering $500 worth of books to one blogger and one commenter. Just comment on this post and you'll have a chance to win the following books from Chronicle Books with us!

Here are our choices for beginning and independent readers (descriptions from Chronicle Books):

Let's Draw and Doodle Together: Blue Apple Books, Elise Gravel

Inside this clever and innovative activity book, each spread becomes a shared creative adventure. Draw airplanes or cars, birds or shapes, even each other! Great for long car or plane rides, rainy aft ... more

Faces, Faces Everywhere: Color and Draw Activity Book: Blue Apple Books, Yukiko Kido

Faces are everywhere in Yukiko Kido's universe. With 220 full-color stickers included, kids will enjoy stickering, creating kooky faces, and coloring—inside (and outside) the bold lines. more

Ants In Your Pants: Color-and-Draw and Read-and-Write Activity Book: Blue Apple Books, Yukiko Kido

Yukiko Kido's entertaining, engaging, all-in-one reading and coloring book offers a fresh and fun way to develop a child's creativity and literacy. By encouraging children to color, draw, sticker, and ... more

Monster Comics:Blue Apple Books, Mike Herrod

Drawing monsters is fiendishly fun in Mike Herrod's newest addition to his bestselling Comics to Go! series. The "invisible ink" pen and light reveal both the hidden images printed within the more

Comics to Go: Blue Apple Books, Mike Herrod

Mike Herrod's playful illustrations give the beginnings of many different stories, and it's up to the reader to complete them by adding just the right villain, musical instrument, ice cream cone. Once ... more

Other Goose: Re-Nurseried and Re-Rhymed Children's Classics, J. Otto Seibold

It's Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, Jack Be Nimble, Miss Muffet, Little Boy Blue, and more, like you've never seen them before! Renowned artist J. Otto Seibold re-nurseries and re-rhymes over the Mothe ... more

Bear in Underwear: Blue Apple Books, Todd H. Doodler

Best-selling pop artist Todd Goldman makes his Blue Apple Books debut with this zany story about a bear, a backpack filled with underwear, and a group of furry friends who cheer him on. Readers of all ... more

Around the World with Mouk, Marc Boutavant

Filled with vibrant illustrations, search-and-find challenges, and 46 reusable stickers, this oversized book is a spectacular play space for future world travelers. And Mouk is the perfect tour guide! ... more

Long Tail Kitty: Blue Apple Books, Lark Pien

Lark Pien's clever, precise, unique comics are favorites with graphic-novel fans, and Long Tail Kitty marks her debut in the children's-book world. Meet Long Tail Kitty and his friends and ne more

Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles, J. Patrick Lewis, Lynn Munsinger

Thirteen witty and wacky poems pose riddles that challenge readers to "Name That Book." With a glass slipper here and a spiderweb there, Lynn Munsinger's adorable illustrations lead young readers to t ... more

Big Rabbit's Bad Mood, Ramona Bădescu, Delphine Durand

Big Rabbit has a mood. A bad mood. A mood with attitude. A big, disgusting mood that won't leave him alone. What's a rabbit to do? He tries watching TV, but the bad mood is on every channel. more

I Know a Lot of Things, Paul and Ann Rand

This reissue of the childhood classic I Know a Lot of Things is a celebration of all the new and intriguing knowledge children delight in possessing. Written from the simplicity of a child's more

Flip-a-Word: Quack Shack: Blue Apple Books, Harriet Ziefert, Yukiko Kido

The Flip-a-Word series has won accolades from consumers, teachers, and librarians with its fun, innovative approach to word families. Now two more books join the series! Learning phonics is even more ... more

Flip-a-Word: Wet Pet: Blue Apple Books, Harriet Ziefert, Yukiko Kido

The Flip-a-Word series has won accolades from consumers, teachers, and librarians with its fun, innovative approach to word families. Now two more books join the series! Learning phonics is even more ... more

The World Almanac for Kids Puzzler Deck: Reading, Ages 7-9: Mind-Bending Brainteasers, Lynn Brunelle

The No. 1–selling kids' almanac becomes a fun educational tool in these portable decks tailored by age and subject. Seventy-five curriculum-based activities encourage children to develop their compreh ... more

The World Almanac for Kids Puzzler Deck: Geography & the 50 States, Ages 7-9: Mind-Bending Brain Teasers, Lynn Brunelle

The No. 1-selling kids' almanac becomes a fun educational tool in these portable decks tailored by age and subject. Seventy-five curriculum-based activities encourage children as young as 3 to develop ... more

Kangodile: A Mix-and-Match Menagerie, Janet Landay

What's a kangodile? It's a kangaroo-crocodile! Mix and match heads and tails to make a kangodile, a babodile (baboon-crocodile), a shurtle (shark-turtle), and many more with this playful accordion-sty ... more

All Mixed Up: A Mix-and-Match Book, Carin Berger

Once you start to play with this clever mix-and-match book, you won't be able to stop. By flipping the cut pages, readers can create more than 13,000 quirky characters, each accompanied by its own sil ... more

Fillmore and Geary Take Off!: The Adventures of a Robot Boy and a Boy Boy, Mark Shulman, Phillip Fickling

Fillmore and his robot pal Geary are best friends and expert inventors. So it's only natural that when they decide they need a dog, they work together to build one. But Sbot (short for Super Dog Robot ... more

Find a Face, Francois Robert, Jean Robert, Jane Gittings

If you look hard enough, you can find a face in the most unexpected places: on a light switch, a shoe, a cardboard box, or a map. Look around. They're everyplace! With its funny illustrations, colorfu ... more

Sumo Mouse, David Wisniewski

"Grrr!" growl the cats. "Eeek!" squeak the mice. So it goes in the battle between cat and mouse. But when feline crime hits Tokyo, an unlikely hero strikes back. He's not lean and mean. He's round and ... more

His Shoes Were Far Too Tight, Edward Lear, Daniel Pinkwater, Calef Brown

Renowned author Daniel Pinkwater and best-selling poet and artist Calef Brown team up to champion the ridiculous! These endlessly fascinating and imaginative poems are as fresh and delightful today as ... more

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition Boxed Set, David Borgenicht, Justin Heimberg, Robin Epstein

Boxed set includes: • The Original Junior Edition • Extreme Junior Edition • Weird Junior Edition more

The Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure: Everest: You Decide How to Survive!, David Borgenicht, David Morton, Yancey Labat

An interactive adventure like no other! On this epic climb up Mount Everest, readers are part of the youngest team ever to climb the world's tallest peak. Only YOU can make the right choice about your ... more

Balloon Toons™: Adopt a Glurb!: Blue Apple Books, Elise Gravel

With simple text and cartoon artwork, Balloon Toons™ are the the perfect way to engage and encourage new readers. Award-winning and up-and-coming cartoonists lend their inimitable and illustrati ... more

Balloon Toons™: Super Crazy Cat Dance: Blue Apple Books, Aron Nels Steinke

With simple text and cartoon artwork, Balloon Toons™ are the the perfect way to engage and encourage new readers. Award-winning and up-and-coming cartoonists lend their inimitable and illustrati ... more

Balloon Toons™: Rick & Rack and the Great Outdoors: Blue Apple Books, Ethan Long

With simple text and cartoon artwork, Balloon Toons™ are the the perfect way to engage and encourage new readers. Award-winning and up-and-coming cartoonists lend their inimitable and illustrative tal ... more

Balloon Toons™: Doggie Dreams: Blue Apple Books, Mike Herrod  

Do dogs really dream? In Mike Herrod's hilarious Doggie Dreams, they do! And this pooch has dreams of grandeur: dining in a fancy restaurant, being a rock star, and becoming a brave knight. more

The World of Noodoll: Ricehead's Revenge: Blue Apple Books, YiYing Wang

Who is Noodoll? He's the number one singer, dancer, athlete, and star of Noodletown, where everyone and everything is made of noodles. But not far away lives Ricehead, the number one troublemaker of R ... more

L Is for Lollygag: Quirky Words for a Clever Tongue

A is for apple? B is for ball? Humbug! Forget about that hackneyed gobbledygook. In this lexicon of linguistic delights, word lovers of all ages will discover that A is for alle more

Children's Miscellany: Useless Information That's Essential to Know, Matthew Morgan, Samantha Barnes, Niki Catlow

Do you know . . . . . . how to milk a cow? . . . the symptoms of a venomous spider's bite? . . . where to find the fastest roller coasters? You won't find such an eclectic col more

 Children's Miscellany Too: More Useless Information That's Essential to Know

Do you know... ...how to hypnotize a chicken? ...why the sky is blue? ...which animals are most commonly named "Jaws"? ...how to make invisible ink? ...where to find the town more

Even More Children's Miscellany: Smart, silly, and strange information that's essential to know, Guy Macdonald, Nikki Catlow

Even more fascinating and bizarre facts to excite and entertain young readers! How to talk like a pirate . . . which snakes can eat a 6-foot crocodile . . . whose favorite food is caterpillar milk . . ... more

Mazescapes, Roxie Munro

On your mark, get set, GO! It's time for hours of fun with Roxie Munro's A-to-Z round-trip search-and-find. more

Circus: Over 50 flaps plus seek-and-find!, Roxie Munro

From the Astounding Agile Acrobats and the Elephant Ballet, to terrific trapeze stunts and high-wire acts at dizzying heights, there's always lots to see at the circus—and lots to do, too! more

Books to Check Out for Kids: A Journal, Imagineering Company, Grady McFerrin

Following up on the success of Books to Check Out, this version for youngsters offers space to track books they've read and want to read, plus provides mad-lib style book reviews, a time chart, 




And for me:

The Exquisite Book: 100 Artists Play a Collaborative Game, Julia Rothman, Jenny Volvovski, Matt Lamothe, Dave Eggers

In The Exquisite Book, one hundred indie artists play an ingenious version of the Exquisite Corpse drawing game. Each adorns a page with artwork—having seen only the page of the artist immedi more

52 Fun Family Games, Lynn Gordon, Karen Johnson

These 52 entertaining activities include a wide range of games that will amuse family members of all ages and interests. They're perfect for any family that finds itself stranded on a desert island, t ... more




Don't forget to comment for a chance to win these books. Winners will be announced December 13. And if you want to win just one book from Blue Apple/Chronicle Books, check out my other giveaway.