The John, Paul, George & Ben Archives

june-july 2006

august-december 2006

July 31

I’m working on a new Top Secret book. First comes the manuscript, then the dummy, then another dummy, then another and another. I think, This should be so easy! Why so darn hard? Each time a piece to the puzzle is reworked or updated, it changes everything around it in the dummy throwing the balance off.

Then, one day, it starts to come together.

At least until the next change. Then the process begins again.

John, Paul, George & Ben takes the prize. For years I struggled with that one. Here are some early styles and "ruffs":

July 27

On this date in 1777 Congress names 19 year old French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette a Major General in the Continental Army after he volunteers to serve without pay.

July 24

Snapped near Cape Cod by Jarrett Krosoczka. Hey Jarrett, keep those hands on the wheel.Ten and two. And take that bag off your head.

July 20

Kids say the darndest things

From ye olde mailbag. . .

July 13

Dear Lane,

My favorite books are John, Paul, George and Ben, The Stinky Cheese Man, James and the Giant Peach and Bob the Builder.What are yours?

– Erica

Santa Fe, NM

Hi Erica,

Those are good picks. I have many, many favorites. I know I’m going to forget some but here are a few off the top of my head.

The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss & Crockett Johnson

The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone & Michael Smollin

The Treehorn Trilogy by Florence Parry Heide & Edward Gorey

Robert Francis Weatherbee by Munro Leaf

The Can Be Fun series by Munro Leaf

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? By Dr. Seuss

McElligot’s Pool by Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday to You! By Dr. Seuss

Tales for the Perfect Child by Florence Parry Heide & Victoria Chess

Fables You Shouldn’t Pay Any Attention To by Florence Parry Heide, Sylvia Worth Van Clief & Victoria Chess

Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book by Shel Silverstein

Snoopy and It Was a Dark and Stormy Night by Charles Schulz (NOTE: this book is a Stinky Cheese Man-style parody of books. Not to be confused with It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Snoopy which is a recent compilation of Peanuts strips). You'll be missing a lot without the pictures but you can read the text HERE.

The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss & Marc Simont

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Arm in Arm by Remy Charlip

Thirteen by Remy Charlip & Jerry Joyner

Donald and the… by Peter Neumeyer & Edward Gorey

Donald Has a Difficulty by Peter Neumeyer & Edward Gorey

I know I’m leaving out William Steig and Barbara Cooney and Sasek and Dahl and Raymond Briggs and so many greats. Next time.

Recently, on Bob Dylan’s excellent new Theme Time Radio Hour a listener asked him why he doesn’t play many new songs. His answer was perfect. He said, “Well, there are a lot more old songs than new ones.” That’s the way I feel about Children’s Books.

July 11

From ye olde mailbag...

Of course I remember you! You're Emily, right? You had on some kind of uniform? Last in line..? See you St. Helen kids next time.

July 10

"Beautifully designed by Molly Leach. . . "

The NEW YORK TIMES review of John, Paul, George & Ben.

July 9

Hyperion has just posted a How To Draw The Pigeon PDF on their site.

I loved "How To" guides like this when I was a kid so I tried it. Mine came out all funny:

July 6

Sorry for the recent deluge of self-promotion (I know, I know, a personal blog promoting ones self? Unheard of!) But really, now that the Fourth is over the patriotic press attention will die down and this site will get back to doing what it was meant to do: posting kids' drawings of monkeys and underwear.

But here's one last one that was fun - an interview with a couple of hilarious, teeth-obsessed loonies at the Book Report down Louisiana way. You can hear the John, Paul, George & Ben interview about 25 minutes into the show HERE.

AOL Book Maven

Okay, I lied. Here's the last one. The AOL BOOK MAVEN INTERVIEW.

July 5

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

A few days ago, I did an interview for NPR's Here and Now show from legendary Carnegie Hall! Actually, from a small broom closet sized recording studio on the third floor. Guess I need more practice. Haw haw haw. Hear the show HERE.

July 4 - Independence Day

230 years ago on this day we claimed our independence from Britain and democracy was born.

A few hours ago, Mr. Smith met Mr. Smith and big underwear jokes were born. Listen to Lane and Harry Smith on The Early Show HERE.

June 30

From ye olde mailbag. . .

Thanks Lindsey. And watch out for grown-ups who steal their style from kids.

EW- June 30

A nice capsule review and an 'A' from ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY.

June 29

CNN Entertainment

This just in! Insightful comments from 6 year old critic, Andrew Oglesby. Reporting for CNN he writes: "...Why would he [George Washington] cut down every single tree in the apple orchard? Chop. Chop. Chop. No one could cut down that many trees in that much time. And when someone has been in too much noise, they don't get wobbly eyes like Paul." Good points Andrew. I'll be more careful next book. Read the rest of Andrew's review HERE.

USA Today

For those of you who can't get enough of me in a wig. Here it is again. (If I had known everyone was going to use that shot I might have rethought the "girlie" pose .) Here 'tis in USA TODAY.

Bobblehead sighting!

Little George has been spotted quaffing ale on the top shelf above the bar at ye olde GW TAVERN in historic Washington, Connecticut.

Okay, I cannot tell a lie. I may have bribed manager John to put him up there.

June 28

Finally, someone gets it right! Click HERE for rock solid journalism.

June 27

I’m back from New Orleans and the annual American Library Association convention. Mixed emotions. Great to be there – the first convention in the city since hurricane Katrina – but a little uncomfortable celebrating in the very convention hall where not too long ago folks were at the end of their rope, miserable and displaced.

The city is getting back on its feet and everyone there from the cabbies on up seemed happy to have some business back in town. Here’s a report in the NEW ORLEANS PICAYUNE.

Fantastic to see the old crew again: Peter Sis, Greg Galloway, Gina Maolucci, William Joyce, Mo Willems, that Scieszka guy, Leonard Marcus, Jill Davis, Wendell Minor, Alessandra Balzer, Donna Bray and the Hyperion team and all the new folks I met. And, hey, Big Congrats to Chris Raschka winner of this year’s Caldecott Medal. What a class act. In this bunny-eat-bunny world of Kid Books it’s nice to meet a guy seemingly unaffected by it all.

The best thing about these conventions is the opportunity to see all the new books that will be coming out later this year. Saw the new Chris Van Allsburg book, the new David Weisner, the Kevin Henkes, Peter McCarty and Adam Rex books. All top notch! I was personally smitten by the amazing pop-up book by Maurice Sendak. It’s called Mommy? and it’s the best thing he’s done in years. (And I’m not even a pop-up guy.)

Get Patriotic!

July Fourth Books

A nice review of John, Paul, George and Ben in the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE.

June 22

Not only was the George Washington and the Cherry Tree story bogus, but also the widely rumored tale of George's false teeth. They were not wooden but made of lots of things like: hippopotamus teeth, gold, lead, and other human teeth. His tooth decay started early...

and continued into adulthood. Here's a seldom published picture from the National Portrait Gallery:

June 20

E pluribus unum

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson “to bring in a device for a SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” After many delays, a verbal description of a design by William Barton was finally approved by Congress on June 20, 1782.

Ben's initial design was flatly rejected by the other two committee members.

June 17

From ye olde mailbag. . .

June 13

I've had a long history with The Mouse. When I was a teenager I was a Custodial Host at Disneyland. Much later I was the Conceptual Designer on the Disney film version of James and the Giant Peach. Today my books are published by Disney's Hyperion Books. And to think it was all started by a mouse... a mouse under a stukas warplane. This was one of my very first jobs - an album cover for the punk group The Dickies.

June 12

What's the deal with the Stinky Cheese Man?

Check out Ed Briant's TALES FROM THE SLUSH PILE this week.

John, Paul, George and Ben in the windows of Books of Wonder, New York.

June 9

A Stink Link HERE.

Thanks Tristin.

6-7-06

One-day-late ineffectual devils.

June 6

from ye olde mailbag

A question about The Frog Prince illustration in The Stinky Cheese Man:

Sadly, yes, it was for the humor.

– Mrs. Smith

June 4

A tip of the wig to everyone who came to my signing last month at the Monticello Visitor Center.

And kudos to the travel agency for the "period" accommodations. Free tv, shampoo and toilet paper are way overrated.

Thanks Joan for the party/signing later that night (and into the next morning). It was fun. Really!

June 3

Fifteen years before John, Paul, George and Ben there was Howard and George. Back in 1991 I was asked to paint a cover for the New York Times Magazine. The article was on ‘multicultural textbooks in American schools,’ so I painted a big G W head with collaged bits of international text pasted on it.

Not a great solution but they liked it okay.

The next year, Jon Scieszka and I found ourselves in Summerville, Georgia home of eccentric folk painter REVEREND HOWARD FINSTER. He was the famous outsider artist most known for his Talking Heads and REM album covers.

I gave the Rev. Finster a copy of the Times cover knowing that he was a fan of iconic American figures like Elvis, Hank Williams and George. I assumed he would nail it to a tree or shed in PARADISE GARDENS, his manmade sanctuary/amusement park. So imagine my amusement when I received a densely illustrated package in the mail a few weeks later and inside, my painting returned to me with his doodles all over my art.

I guess this was a compliment. . . a collaboration between two kindred spirits. I want to think that. Maybe he just thought my art was junk and worthy of a little graffiti.

June 2

A nice mention of John, Paul, George and Ben in the DETROIT FREE PRESS. And one from the archive: me and Jon on tour a few years back, transcribed word-for-word in comic strip form by the good folks at STRIPPED BOOKS.