And the Winner is...

In the midst of book award season in January, I launched the first BLOGETTES FUNNY PRIZE to honor the books of the past year that tickled our funny bones.  Many readers nominated their favorite titles and voting was opened up on this blog, as well as in social media circles.  And today I am proud to announce that we have a winner.

The 2014 BLOGETTES FUNNY PRIZE goes to Bridget Heos for her hilarious Mustache Baby!

Congratulations, Bridget!

Bridget Heos is the author of Mustache Baby, illustrated by Joy Ang, and
the forthcoming sequel, Mustache Baby vs. Beard Baby (2015.) She has also
written more than 60 nonfiction children's titles, including Stronger Than
Steel, with photographs by Andy Comins. Bridget lives in Kansas City with her husband and four children. You can visit her on the Web at authorbridgetheos.com, on Facebook @Author Bridget Heos, or on Twitter @BridgetHeos.

And for an extra special treat, I have asked Bridget here today to share a little bit about her inspiration for Mustache Baby.  Please give a warm Blogettes welcome to my new friend and recipient of the 2014 BLOGETTES FUNNY PRIZE, Bridget Heos!
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Thank you so much for the Blogettes Funny Prize for Mustache Baby. I am seriously honored. A lot of people ask me how I got the idea for Mustache Baby. Some ask if I wrote the book in hopes of cashing in on the mustache trend. I wouldn't put it past me! But no. I got the idea for the book way back when my fifth grade son Richie was in first grade.

What happened is: We were in the school library—Richie, his friends, and me. They saw the cover of Jerry Spinelli's book, Crash, which features a baby with a drawn-on mustache, and fell on the floor laughing. (Literally, they were ROTFL.) I'd written a lot of books, but all of them had been nonfiction. I'd always wanted to write a fiction book, but figured it wasn't in the cards. I never had a single idea. But now I thought "If these children want a story about a baby with a mustache, I'll give them a story about a baby with a mustache. If it's the last thing I do." And that's exactly what I did. 

I love that kids think Mustache Baby is funny. But what I love most about the book is the way illustrator Joy Ang makes the love shine through. When I first opened the book to her illustration of the family gathered around Billy in the hospital with looks of concern, my heart melted. To me, things aren’t really funny unless there is a thread of kindness running through them. In Captain Underpants, it’s the wonderful friendship between George and Harold, and the fact that they fight meanness with creativity. In SpongeBob SquarePants, it’s SpongeBob’s and
Patrick’s tenacious attempts at including Squidward in their friendship. I think a good sense of humor is a way of seeing the world from an underdog’s point of view and of seeing each other with a generous heart. In that way, it is a way of loving one another. That’s why I really appreciate that you started this award.

Reading this, you probably think Richie is my only son. I actually have three sons: Johnny, Richie, and J.J., and their toddler years are the inspiration for the heroic and dastardly acts that Mustache Baby does. I now have a baby daughter, too. Perhaps she will inspire future Mustache Baby books. In fact, one sequel, Mustache Baby Meets His Match, will be released next year. Like Captain Underpants and SpongeBob, it is all about friendship, but hopefully people will think it’s funny, too.

Thank you again.
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Thank YOU, Bridget.  Humor plus heart equals the BLOGETTES FUNNY PRIZE! I look forward to more page-turning, laugh out loud mayhem with the sequel.  If you ever think you need a Teacher's Guide...ahem.

In previous chapters Marcie Colleen has been a teacher and theatre educator, but now she splits her days between chasing the Picture Book Writer dream and chasing toddlers on the playground as a nanny. Both are equally glamorous!

Her blog, The Write Routine and her Teacher’s Guides, can be found at www.thisismarciecolleen.com.  You can
also follow her on Twitter. Additionally, Marcie is the Education Consultant for Picture Book Month. 

She  contributes the 4th Friday of the month, as a Blogette, right here, posting on humor in picture books.

Marcie lives with her fiancé and their mischievous sock monkey in Brooklyn, NYC.