The Four Deadly Sins

Lust. Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Envy. Wrath. Pride.

But enough about my weekend.

Today's blog is about a series of unusual books by William Pene Du Bois, each focusing on one of the vices known as the "seven deadly sins." Such topics were standard fare in Sunday School books of the past,


but by the swinging sixties, a series of children's books on sins must have seemed almost anachronistic.

Yet Mr. Du Bois treated these transgressions with sly, often wacky, humor, allowing readers to laugh at his errant protagonists as he simultaneously made a moral point.

The first book in the series, LAZY TOMMY PUMPKINHEAD (1966) concerns slothful Tommy Pumpkinhead, who lives in an "electric house" that takes care of all his needs. In the morning, Tommy's bed lifts to the ceiling and plunks him into a tub of water. He then slides down a chute to get into his clothes and is fed breakfast from an "eating machine." Most of the book's appeal comes from the color illustrations depicting the amusingly complex inventions that do all of Tommy's work for him. ...When an electrical outage occurs, Tommy's life is turned upside down and he realizes (a bit abruptly) that "I really must turn over a new leaf."

Vanity is the sin du jour in PRETTY PRETTY PEGGY MOFFIT (1968), the story of a girl so obsessed with checking out her own appearance (not just in mirrors, but in store windows, puddles, and raindrops) that she suffers a series of accidents and costs herself a role in a film. Readers will laugh at Peggy's vanity as she falls into duckpounds and coal-chutes but, once again, the protagonist learns her lesson too quickly on the very last page of the story. Incidentally, the book's title character appears to be based -- at least in appearance -- on real-life model Peggy Moffitt, best known for her work with fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, whom Du Bois acknowledges on the copyright page ("Miss Moffitt's clothes designed, as usual, by Rudi Gernreich.") See the resemblance?




Though the first two volumes might be classified as picture books, PORKO VON POPBUTTON (1969) feels more like an intermediate-grade novel, with a greater focus on text than illustration. This story of a 274 lb. boy who transforms from class laughingstock "Porko Van Popbutton" to slender ice-hockey hero Pat O'Sullivan Pinkerton reaches a more satisfying conclusion than the earlier books. It's also the best-known volume in the series, partially because the text and some of the illustrations were printed in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED just before the book was published.


The fourth book, CALL ME BANDICOOT (1970) also emphasizes text -- and it has fewer illustrations than any of the previous volumes. In this story, the nameless narrator (who seems to be based on Du Bois himself) meets young con artist Ermine Bandicoot on the Staten Island ferry. Bandicoot tells an elaborate tale, which touches on such contemporary topics as water pollution and the dangers of cigarettes, while extorting free food from the narrator. As always, Du Bois's gift for invention is evident in the story and color artwork (particularly the elaborate creation of a giant cigarette to be placed in the hand of the Statue of Liberty as part of an anti-smoking campaign) but the book also offers a touch of pathos, a nice message about storytelling, and a neat final twist that makes us wonder exactly who is exhibiting the sin of greed in this story.

CALL ME BANDICOOT was the final volume in this series.

That's right, William Pene Du Bois published only four books about the seven deadly sins. And then he just...stopped.

So we have no book on envy.

No book on wrath.

No book on lust.

And I was so looking forward to that one.

I've checked a number of reference sources, but have never found any information about why the series went unfinished.

(I hope the reason wasn't sloth.)

I think the fact that this series is incomplete ultimately hurt its reputation. The publisher couldn't do a paperback reissue with matching covers, couldn't do a "Seven Deadly Sins" box set. This series is seldom even discussed today. Of course the books do have some other problems as well. The individual volumes vary in style, tone, and quality. Sometimes they end too abruptly. The silly character names and outlandish illustrations occasionally make the books seem like spoofs. And while never preachy, per se, the moral lessons are often pretty transparent.

Reading the books forty years after publication, I'm surprised by how dated they've become. The pop-art cover images and references to Charles De Gaulle and Lyndon Johnson bespeak a different era. And some of the illustrations -- such as a tomahawk-touting sports mascot -- would never cut it today. Yet at the same time, the subject matter itself -- the vices of sloth, pride, gluttony, and greed -- remain timeless. Everyone can relate to them.

Whether it's 1966 or 2009, let's face it -- sin never goes out of fashion.

Sunday Brunch for HUNGRY Readers

Among other topics, today’s Sunday Brunch discusses the HUNGER GAMES phenomenon, lists some books about spelling bees, and explains why I now blush when I see the book PAT THE BUNNY.

INDIANA JONES AND THE ARC OF THE COVETED

Back in the late seventies, I got very interested in the field of entertainment. In that pre-imdb.com world, I obsessively read VARIETY and even subscribed to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. I knew what a Nielsen “ratings share” meant, could translate Hollywood trade headlines (“B.O. BOFFO IN BEANTOWN!”; “STIX NIX HIX PIX!”), and learned an entire new vocabulary of show-biz lingo. Back then I was the only person in my circle who knew what “sweeps month” was all about. I was the only one who knew that, in “the business,” the word “web” referred to a television network.

Well, over the past thirty years, that certainly changed. Now, thanks to TV shows such as ET and ACCESS HOLLYWOOD -- as well as increased coverage of entertainment news in the media -- everyone is glib about these matters. We follow the box office charts in the newspapers, get constant updates about Susan Boyle on CNN.com, and even little kids know when sweeps month rolls around.

When I first began working in the field of children’s books, I marveled every time I saw an ARC (advance reading copy) of a forthcoming novel. How cool was it to read a new book months before it hit the bookstores? I felt like I was part of a small, select circle of “literary insiders” who had this opportunity. I felt special.

But now, once again, the world has caught up with my special interest. Thanks to the web (the internet kind, not the “television network” kind) and blogs, people are growing much more savvy about the publishing industry. Nowadays, everyone knows about ARCs -- and everyone wants them. Why sit around waiting for a book to be published months from now when you can get an ARC right now? Especially if you can get it free?

I remember the good old days...like, six months ago...when the most frequent search bringing readers to this blog was “What’s that book about a babysitter who makes soda pop come out of faucets?” That innocent era is long gone. Today’s most frequent search request is “How do I get an ARC of CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins?” or “Where do I get a FREE ARC of CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins?”

CATCHING FIRE is the second volume in the series that began with THE HUNGER GAMES. In case you’ve been in a coma for the past year (or perhaps living in S.A. Bodeen’s compound) THE HUNGER GAMES is a futuristic novel in which twenty-four young people are chosen by lottery to participate in a fight-to-the-death competition which is broadcast on television. Nearly everyone who has read this breathlessly-exciting story of sixteen-year-old Katniss trying to survive knives, spears, and fire is desperate to read the second volume, CATCHING FIRE, which will be published on September 1, 2009.

A week or two ago, Scholastic sent ARCs of this novel to selected readers. This weekend copies were distributed at the Book Expo in New York.

Now the children’s book world is divided into two categories -- the Haves and the Have-nots.

And it raises some interesting questions.

When a Have posts a blog or listserve message about the book, are they merely being informative...or are they “lording it over” everyone else? (Tip to the Haves: avoid phrases such as “Nah-nah!” and “I’ve got what you don’t have, I’ve got what you don’t have!”)

When a Have-Not posts a covetous comment, are they being cute...or are they insanely jealous? (Tip to Have-nots: don’t try the “I’m sick...and may not make it till September” ploy. If you’re that desperate, go to eBay and fork over $100 for an ARC. Some of the Haves are already selling their copies over there.)

Anyway, if Scholastic wanted to whip readers into frenzy by issuing these ARCs early, they have succeeded.

I think there is only one way they can top this when the final volume is published next year.

I suggest that they only release one ARC.

Yeah, just a single copy.

Then readers can enter a lottery in order to win it. Twenty-four finalists will be chosen and these latter-day Indiana Joneses will compete in a televised fight-to-the-death match to win the ARC. Can you imagine a fourteen-year-old kid slugging it out with a sixty-year-old librarian? A pair of booksellers launching flame-throwers at each other? A blogger skilled in numchucks going after a book reviewer whose only talent is a catty tongue? And what about the inevitable show-mance between two young Suzanne Collins fans?

Twenty-four readers.

One ARC.

Be the first person to read it....or die trying.

How “hungry” are you?

Watch the premiere of “THE HUNGER GAMES” GAMES

On CBS, coming Fall 2010.


SPELLCHECK

The other night I taped the National Spelling Bee off television and, in typical fashion, the tape cut off two minutes before the contest ended. But that’s okay -- I later learned who won in the newspaper. And I’d already seen enough to realize how dumb I am.

Bouquiniste?

Sophrosyne?

Laodicean?

I have a hard enough time remembering that there are two Rs in “embarrass” or two Cs and one L in “broccoli.”

Still, it’s great to see kids getting recognition for being smart.

Unlike other endeavors, such as sports and music, that are performed by both adults and children, spelling bees seem to be geared toward young people only. That got me wondering how many books there are on this topic, so I stopped at the library to see if Debbie the Desperate Librarian had any appropriate bookmarks. She did not, though -- in honor of this week’s National Bee -- she did have a bulletin board display which included dustjackets of appropriate titles under a banner that said “READ THESE BOOKS AND YOU COULD 'BEE' THE NEXT SPELLING CHAMPEON.”

Obviously, Debbie never won a spelling bee herself. Anyway, here are a few of the dustjackets she had stapled to the bulletin board:

SPELLBOUND by Karon Luddy

THE BERENSTAIN BEARS AND THE BIG SPELLING BEE by Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain

PINKY AND REX AND THE SPELLING BEE by James Howe and Melissa Sweet

THE SPELLING BEE AND ME by Gail Small and Kendra Yoshinaga

PHOEBE AND THE SPELLING BEE by Barney Saltberg

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU : FROM THE FILES OF CHRISSIE WOODWARD, SPELLING BEE DETECTIVE by Adam Selzer

HAMSTERS, SHELLS, AND SPELLING BEES : SCHOOL POEMS by Lee Bennett Hopkins

TOMMY CANNON AND THE FOURTH GRADE SPELLING BEE by Gayle Knight

Are there any others I should add to this list?

MY MOST-USED VOLUME

Despite my confusion over embarass and brocolli -- I mean, embarrass and broccoli -- there was once a very brief time in my life when I could spell pretty well. Back in sixth grade, after many weeks of studying, I actually won the class spelling bee and received a dictionary from our local newspaper. I still remember the day I won (it happened to be Valentine’s Day and I was wearing my lucky shirt) and the summer Saturday when a mail truck pulled up outside delivering the dictionary -- the first time I ever got a special delivery or saw my name on the cover of a book.

Now my name is almost rubbed off the front cover. The spine is unattached. The sides are frayed. The pages are bent. But I always have this book on my desk...just a foot away from me. I use it nearly every single day.


One year after winning this book, I lost the seventh-grade spelling bee on the first round. No wonder I treasure my dictionary. It reminds me of how fleeting success can be.

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

Last week’s Sunday Brunch asked the question “Is Razzles a gum or a candy?”

Now there’s a new book that asks the question “Is it a duck or a rabbit?”

DUCK! RABBIT! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld looks at the same optical illusion:


while two voices debate what, exactly, the figure is. This single joke is beautifully sustained for over thirty pages in a funny and thought-provoking book about perception.

I also noticed an optical illusion on the cover of Rich Wallace’s latest, PERPETUAL CHECK:


I found this story of competing chess-playing brothers a little thin in plot and character-development, but kids who enjoy the game will want to take a look at this novel.

Finally, did you notice the illusion on the cover of this year’s Newbery winner?


Being such an observant and detail-oriented book-lover, I of course noticed the optical illusion immediately!

A NEW BOOK WHICH PERTAINS TO THAT LAST SENTENCE

Who am I kidding? I did not notice the optical illusion on the cover of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK immediately. Heck, I didn’t notice it the first 5000 times I handled the volume or saw the cover illustration in blogs, in magazines, or anywhere else.

Truthfully, I didn’t notice it at all until someone pointed it out to me this week.

Now I feel as dumb as I did when I lost the seventh-grade spelling bee in the first round.

No wonder I felt compelled to lie about it.

Speaking of lying, Justine Labalestier has a new novel coming out this fall called LIAR.

Earlier I spoke about ARCs being released before the publication of a book. Here is another example of pre-publication publicity -- a promotional pamphlet containing excerpts from a book.

This one, promoting LIAR, contains an intriguing letter from the editor (“Will you like this novel, knowing you’re about to be lied to? Will you like being betrayed by a character page after page?”), followed by excerpts from the text.

It’s very intriguing.

I have been thinking for a while that Justine Larbalestier is poised for bestselling success. Could this be the book that finally does it? Stay tuned.

THE X-RATED BUNNY

A lot of people I know and trust thought that Jake Wizner’s 2007 debut novel SPANKING SHAKESPEARE was the best thing since Shakespeare himself. I have to admit that I wasn’t a fan, finding the protagonist unlikable and a lot of the humor (especially the scatological stuff) to be forced and a distracting disservice to the text. Now Mr. Wizner’s got a brand-new book out and if the cover illustration promises HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, the title should tell you otherwise. I mean HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL was rather tame...a nice PG film. This book is closer to one of those movies you rent from the backroom of the video store. You’ve heard of George Carlin’s “seven dirty words”? On the first page of this book, I counted THIRTEEN new words to add to Carlin's list!

Since it’s nearly impossible to review a book of this type without devolving into all kinds of NC-17 puns, I think I’ll just say for now that CASTRATION CELEBRATION did make me snicker and even laugh out loud a few times and there is no doubt that a lot of kids will like this fast-paced story of teens attending an arts camp at Yale.

For the purposes of this blog, however, I want to point out that the book contains some references to classic children’s books!

Unfortunately, once you've read the author’s riffs on PAT THE BUNNY and WINNIE-THE-POOH, you may never look at those books the same way again....

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. Hope you’ll return.

From Fan to Friend

It was a hot summer afternoon. I had taken a vacation day off work, so happened to be home when the mail arrived. One of the items was a red-white-and-blue Priority envelope. The return address label said "M.E. Kerr."

Even though I'd been corresponding with Ms. Kerr for several years, it was still something of a shock -- and a thrill -- to see the handwritten name of my favorite author on a piece of mail. I'd been a fan for over thirty years...but never expected to have her as a personal friend.

I eagerly opened the package and was surprised to find a paperback "uncorrected proof" of her next book, YOUR EYES IN STARS, inside.


Of course I already knew a little about the book from Ms. Kerr's earlier letters. I knew it was set in New York state and that it concerned two girls -- one whose father ran the local prison and the other a visitor from Germany. I knew it was set in the years before World War II. But I didn't know that an advance copy would be available this early -- or that I'd be lucky enough to get one.

Needless to say, I was very eager to read it!

I sat down, opened the book to the title page, but was a little disappointed to see that M.E. Kerr had not autographed it. Then I turned the page and saw that she had signed it -- on the dedication page! I gasped out loud when I saw what it said:


I never expected to see my name on the dedication page of any book -- much less a novel by my favorite writer. I was overwhelmed to think I'd made the transition from "fan" to "friend."

It was the fall of 1972 when I first saw the name "M.E. Kerr." I was the kind of kid who liked to read the "professional journals" on the reference desk of my local branch library. And it was while reading those magazines -- Publishers Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal -- that I learned about M.E. Kerr's first young adult novel, DINKY HOCKER SHOOTS SMACK! The reviews were raves, but the story sounded dizzying to me: a cat-loving boy who wanted to be a librarian? A mouthy fat girl? Another girl with emotional difficulties who rhymes sentences when nervous? And what did the title mean anyway?

The book didn't show up in my local library until the following summer, but I still remember the exact day I brought it home and how it felt to meet Tucker and Dinky and Natalia and P. John for the first time. The author's voice -- a perfect blend of humor and melancholy -- seemed to speak directly to me. And the climax of the story, when the title phrase appears graffiti-style "on sidewalks, on curbstones, on walls, on the sides of buildings. and on the doors of automobiles" seemed then (and now) to be one of the most perfect, emotionally-overwhelming scenes I'd ever read. As soon as I finished the last page, I turned to the front of the book and began reading DINKY HOCKER SHOOTS SMACK! over again.

And that's how it went with every successive Kerr title -- IF I LOVE YOU, AM I TRAPPED FOREVER?; THE SON OF SOMEONE FAMOUS; IS THAT YOU, MISS BLUE...the list goes on and on. It wasn't for a few more years that I learned M.E. Kerr's real name was Marijane Meaker and that, long before she was Kerr, she had spent the fifties and sixties writing the best-suspense-books-ever as "Vin Packer," nonfiction as "Ann Aldrich" and "M.J. Meaker," and magazine fiction under all kinds of pseudonyms. (She later adopted the name "Mary James" when writing for middle-grade readers.) I spent some wonderful weekends visiting cobwebby old bookstores trying to track down each of those older titles, such as Vin Packer's THE EVIL FRIENDSHIP or THE DAMNATION OF ADAM BLESSING.

Many years later, when M.E. Kerr had her own website, run by another fan-turned-friend, Michelle Koh, I finally got up the nerve to contact Ms. Kerr and ask if she would autograph some of my books. I'd never done that before, but just really wanted to let her know how much her books had meant to me for over thirty years. We have kept in touch ever since then, and I've found the person behind the books -- Marijane Meaker -- to be just as funny, wry, thoughtful, kind, and big-hearted as one would expect from her novels. And it goes without saying that she knows how to tell a great story or anecdote in her letters...just like she does on the pages of her novels.

I'm so glad that our correspondence -- a rare, old-fashioned correspondence on paper with stamps and envelopes -- has continued for these last few years, so glad that I somehow made the transition from "fan" to "friend."

Incidentally, you saw what she inscribed in the proof copy of YOUR EYES IN STARS. Some months later, I received the hardcover edition:


The comment about "my turn" is quintessential Meaker. Marijane knew that I began writing fiction, switched over to nonfiction, but wanted to return to fiction-writing -- and she has consistently encouraged me in that endeavor. Going back as far as the 1950s, she has always encouraged other writers to create, to persevere, to publish. Over twenty years ago, she established the Ashawagh Hall Writers Workshop in East Hampton and continues to teach there today. Many published books have come out of that group -- often with the name "Marijane Meaker" mentioned in the acknowledgements or on the dedication page. That's a measure of how helpful and inspiring she is, as a teacher -- and as a friend. And now that I know the thrill of seeing my name on a dedication page, someday I hope it will be "my turn" to reciprocate by putting the name of MY "friend and fellow writer," M.E. Kerr, on the dedication page of a novel I write.