Monsters for Halloween, no? (Get ready for some hyperbole.) This book has been in my possession for a few years (after perpetually checking it out at the library) in its nicely repackaged Gingham Dog 2002 reprint form. Which was totally awesome up until about five days ago when I stumbled upon a copy of the original Golden Book printing, and I have to say... WOW. I love that publisher's take the time to do the reprints at all, but changing from an over sized, art-to-the-end-of-the-page format to a more dignified, dust-jacketed and proper-sized book really didn't do the illustrations justice. The wraparound cover art alone is worth the price of admission. This book is nothing less than a visual stunner. My son was in the love with it before, but now... it's like his favorite book EVER! EVER! Having this treasure in our library has literally changed my life and made me totally reevaluate all the things an excellent children's book can offer. So... for your mouthwatering Update Friday pleasure, I offer up the new and improved visual extravaganza that is Mercer Mayer's Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo.
And yes. I am going to marry it. Expect nuptial announcements shortly.
Seems a rip-off of "Where The Wild Things Are"..... is this older or later than the M.Sendak book?
ReplyDeleteI added this to my paperback swap wishlist last week when I joined. Now to go back and check the edition. Found a Mayer at our booksale last night..."Me and My Flying Machine". Also found a copy of "Alexander", which I read about here and LOVE!
ReplyDeleteThat was one of my favorite books as a kid. I wish my parents had kept it for me!
ReplyDeleteLots of people have said that about Mercer Mayer's monster work. Not sure how much he was influenced, but Sendak had only one book (two if you count Seven Monsters) that featured his monsters wherein Mayer has dozens. I think they were the sorts of things Mercer drew his entire life from the time he was young and not just a one hit rip-off. If he did indeed take things from Sendak's lexicon, he certainly made them his own and created worlds within worlds of characters. His work doesn't have the timeless swank of Sendak, but they sure are a hell of a good time!
ReplyDeleteThe monsters in Professor Wormbog do resemble the ones in Where the Wild Things Are. Sendak's book predates Mayer's book by about 10 years. The stories are totally different, though.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorites as a kid! (And I've still got it on my shelf.) He's got a wild assortment of monsters in this one, and I really wouldn't call it a Sendak rip-off.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to add this to our wishlist! My son and I have just discovered the zipperump-a-zoo in some of the other Mercer Mayer books. He would love this one for Christmas!
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