Daniel and
Jill Pinkwater are my idols. Their collaborations (he writes, she illustrates) have produced some of the weirdest, funniest little kids’ books on the planet (including
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency and The
Big Orange Splot), he writes the occaisional awesome essay for NPR, and she is the author of my favorite teen girl book of all time, the dazzlingly weird and wonderful
Buffalo Brenda.
Aftertaste:None.
Availability:Libraries or online. Alas, my beloved
Buffalo Brenda has gone out of print (as have many of their books for younger kids). Should Wordcandy ever have the power to reprint books,
Buffalo Brenda is first on the list.
Other Recommendations:The Phantom Tollbooth and
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, by
Norton Juster (for fans of their books for younger kids)
Sorcery and Cecelia, by
Caroline Stevermer and
Patricia C. Wrede (for fans of
Buffalo Brenda)
Website:http://www.pinkwater.com/pzone/ -
Comments
Statler
The kids that I babysit love the Pinkwaters' story about the rainy day. (The one with the corn muffins and the animals and Beethoven and the small European circus?) I don't know if it's still in print, but you can get it in libraries.