Tom was there to hear the announcement. I knew the night before, but didn’t tell him. It was worth keeping it a secret! You can hear a distinct yell (or at least I think I can) when you watch the webcast! That yell made me very happy.

But someone was NOT happy. And that someone is your friend and mine, Sock Monkey. He’s here today to point out something very important, that often gets overlooked: Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie received the International Disco Ball Hall of Fame and Fortune and Dance Award. And he’s got the picture to prove it:

S.M.: A bad loser, or a good winner? You make the call.

Sock Monkey thinks the nice flowers that came for — ahem — someone else (and thank you Madge and Candlewick Press, very much) — actually came for him. And I’m letting him think that, because a moody monkey makes for a very difficult housemate. Here is the kitchen version of S.M. with his flowers:

Fleurs from Madge and her family…

…and fleurs from Candlewick Press. Featuring Thing from the Addams Family!

Anyway, thanks to EVERYONE everywhere who has made this such an exciting time for all of us. Just, wowza wow wow, is all that can really  be said.

The writing is just absolutely atrocious, including this bizarro poem:

A Day at Kroger’s

My eye caught a jar of pig’s tongue
And Alex the Kroger Man noted with cynicism
That the tongue over pastrami would enhance
Your taste buds like Crispy Cereal Snacks. I
Hunted for the suggested cereal but found Mr. Bubble
The bath salts that leave one feeling sagordantly.
Still hunting for the cereal, I found these incredible
Pickles among the Kroger Graffiti Candy.
Forever hunting, a man from Zen Folks’
Circular Church asked me for a donation.
“Listen,” I said, “This place is Kroger’s. It’s
no place to ask for moo-la.” He left & Mrs. Terwilliger
The crazy woman from the Toy Shop approached
and offered me a peppermint candy.
I hate peppermint, but politeness forced me
To accept with charrin.

Sagordantly? What? Charrin? What what?

There’s much, much more. All of it rotten!

I got the rare chance to do up a wrap-around book jacket, one of my favorite things out there. Just picture the book’s spine in the in-between space of the cover and the back that I scanned in, and you’ve got a good idea of what the whole book jacket looks like when opened all the way.

This was my first experience illustrating a book that someone else wrote, and I quite liked doing it! Especially since the writing (and heck, the drawing part, too) of my latest project has been so, well, daunting. It’s always a treat to see the fruits of your hard work while you’re toiling in the fields of a different project.

Onwards and upwards!

Lookee! Crankee Doodle stickers are here! I’m gonna take a bagging job at Kroger so I can pass these out to all the wee Kroger kiddie customers! And the book comes out in June!

Meanwhile…first one to respond to this post via Twitter gets a couple of sheets of these beauties!

It’s Yoda! And–eek–Adam also included Robot from my book Rabbit & Robot. Amazing, eh? Make sure you check out all of Adam’s cool books. He is astonishingly good.

On another note, I hope everyone is recovering quickly from Sandy and her aftermath. I was very fortunate to be one of those on the East Coast who was spared most of her fury.

Be good, everybody!