The end of October looms and so our last spooky picture book falls under consideration this week. As I mention on the episode, we’ve strayed a bit from the classic book path. Don’t worry. Kate suggested that for our next episode we should do something that’s “bad”. I have an idea. Let’s see if I can bring it to fruition. This week we look at the Caldecott Honor winning Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown. It seemed to fit the bill. And in the process we manage to touch on tattoos, The Monkey’s Paw, and what exactly carroty breathing sounds like.

Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or your preferred method of podcast selection.

Show Notes:

• When the book first came out, this was the book trailer.

• By the way, can YOU name a classic Thanksgiving picture book? You can’t. You can name Thanksgiving picture books, sure, but one that’s massively famous? Not so much.
• This is the carrot with a muffin on its head that we alluded to:

Mmmmm. Delicious.

• By the way, the answer to the quiz question this week is COMPLETELY incorrect. Can you guess the right answer?
• I wasn’t wrong, as it turns out. From 2002-2003 there was indeed a “new” Twilight Zone.
• That Creepy Crawlers commercial Kate remembers? It existed:

• The Peter Brown book about the dog that I couldn’t remember (and that Jon Stewart’s son loved) was Chowder.
• The Monkey’s Paw is best described here.
• I mean the cost of the excavator rental alone . . .

• Vertigo vs. Jasper’s spiral into madness.

• Also from the Aaron Reynolds oeuvre:

• At this point I wanted to include a video of Aaron reading from this book. Trouble is, I couldn’t find one online. That meant I had to find the next best thing.  So, apparently at TXLA they have this lip-synching contest between kidlit vs. YAlit folks. And if Aaron Reynolds didn’t win it for this then what are we even talking about?  This is THE best thing you’ll see all day long.

As God is my witness, I will enter that contest someday.

• The sequel!!!

• Kate’s work on Drew’s Halloween costume is, as I may have mentioned, shockingly beautiful. Remember, he’s going as the boy in Up. Note the bottle cap on the side. She sent me a text earlier that evening wondering if I had a large safety pin I could spare. I didn’t but it hardly matters. Look at the beauty of this thing.

• In case you’re curious about the New Yorker piece here it is: Birth of a Supremacist.
• Happy Halloween!

That guy on the left is owning this costume like a boss!