Lewis and Clark in "The Bottle of Thunder" Part 1

Snappy title page, eh? My favorite since the Pinniped Party title page.

I'm sure some of you students of history out there know where this story is going, but don't spoil it. This has a funny twist ending like the isopod story. And, like the tongue eating isopod, the facts in this story are true.

Introducing the History Sack

Weekend Dino-Holiday Sale

Book on sale! BOOK ON SALE!

[UPDATE: Wow! That was quick, the sale is over. Now they have it at $14. Thanks to everyone who ordered a copy. You put the Dinos into Amazon's top 100 Holiday titles for the weekend!]

Amazon has my book, "The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas," at a summer discount of over 52% right now. I know Christmas is a long way off, but you can get the book (Hardcover, 48 fully illustrated pages, a CD full of Dinosaur-themed Christmas tunes and audio version of the book narrated by Al Roker) for $9 right now. It usually sells for $18.99.

Get a copy and put it in the closet for four months. Or get two copies and put them in the closet for eight months. Get three copies...

Anyway, Deck the halls with Stegosaurus--on the cheap!

Box of Drawings 5/5

I only did three original drawings for the "Monster of the Month" project, so I had to do a new one for friday. I hope you've enjoyed them all.

We've maxed out the month's fantasy quota here at the station. So next week starts an all new, history based story. Have a good weekend.

Box of Drawings 4/5

Here's one everybody will know, the Vermicious Knids from Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. When I was a kid, I always liked that second book a little more than the Chocolate Factory. It was probably because of the Knids. Remember when they all spelled out "S-C-R-A-M?"

What a great monster.

Box of Drawings 3/5

Here's another monster...well, creature anyway. This one's from Cornelia Funke's book DRAGON RIDER. I thought I'd showcase some lesser known characters, I didn't want to jump in with Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, I wanted to show that there were TONS of creatures out there in the library to draw from.

Hey, guess what went up for pre-order yesterday...take a look.

Box of Drawings 2/5

A few years ago, I pitched a "Monster of the Month" feature to a children's magazine. Each month, we'd dedicate one page to a creature, animal or monster from a popular children's novel. There would be details, diagrams and characteristics, as if the animal were a real part of natural history. This one was GARUDA, the talking bird from Lloyd Alexander's THE IRON RING. Anybody read that one? (Click the image to read the fine print.)

Anyway, it didn't fly. Getting a story published in a magazine is pretty challenging--getting a monthly feature in a magazine is practically impossible. I did a bunch of sample pages, which you'll be seeing this week. It went back and forth with the editors and the art director (he really liked the idea.) But it ended up in the 'ol Unpublished Box. Up until now, they've never been seen in public.

So if any magazine editors are lurking out there, how about it? "Monster of the Month." Pretty cool right?

Box of Drawings 1/5