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Cast Your Vote: The 2014 Blogettes Funny Prize...by Marcie Colleen

1/24/2014

5 Comments

 
Picture
It’s awards season!  

Social media is abuzz with mock ballots and predictions.  Every day seems to bring nomination lists or announcements of wins of awards, some of which I have never even heard of.

As the prestigious Caldecott draws near the question on everyone’s lips: are you Team Journey or Team Mr. Tiger? 

It’s fun to get caught up in the excitement.

There are a slew of awards…

but where is the award for the funniest book of the year? I really wish America had an equivalent of the UK’s Roald Dahl Funny Prize.  

Well, if necessity is truly the mother of invention, I hereby establish the Blogettes Funny Prize and I cast my vote for what I think was the funniest picture book of 2013.

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Joy Ang.

Now for a little personal backstory.  When this book first came out I rolled my eyes.  Maybe it’s because I live in Brooklyn, the facial hair capital of the hipster world.  Mustaches are such a trend right now and I found it silly that a picture book would stretch that trend.  I just didn’t get it…but I had never read it either.

After hearing lots of people rave about this book, I finally picked it up at a bookstore one evening. And it was laugh out loud funny! Dare I say, it was brilliant!

The premise:
When Baby Billy is born with a mustache, his family takes it in stride.  They are reassured when he nobly saves
the day in imaginary-play sessions as a cowboy or a cop and his mustache looks good-guy great.  But as time
passes, their worst fears are confirmed when little Billy’s mustache starts to curl up at the ends in a suspiciously villainous fashion.  Sure enough, “Billy’s disreputable mustache led him into a life of dreadful crime.”  

Why my nomination for the Blogettes Funny Prize: 
  • Heos’ has created a brilliantly unique twist on the idea of moods, the terrible 2s, and naughtiness that has never been done before!  Through the idea of a “good guy mustache” or a “bad guy mustache” she is able to address these evergreen subjects with a fun modern flourish and avoids sounding stale or heavy-handed.
  • The illustrations support this funny text, but the humor is truly from Heos’ hilarious premise and dazzling storytelling.      
  • The unexpected abounds with every page turn.  I had no idea what to expect from this book, but literally laughed out loud.·        
  • I like to be proven wrong. 
 
So what about you?

Cast your nominations for the Blogettes Funny Prize.

Nominations must be picture books traditionally published in the year 2013.

In the comments, tell us your choice and the reason for your nomination.

Let’s make this the year we shine a much-deserved light on the books that make us laugh.

Picture
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.
 

5 Comments
Carol Munro link
1/23/2014 10:39:37 pm

TOO MUCH GLUE by Jason Lefebvre, illustrated by Zac Retz, 2013, Flashlight Press. Funny pics, funny text. And a great father-son relationship. It can't get better. Unless the author signs your copy. ;-)

Reply
Stacy S. Jensen link
1/23/2014 11:03:41 pm

HOW MARTHA SAVED HER PARENTS FROM GREEN BEANS, By David LaRochelle and Illustrator Mark Fearing, 2013 Dial Books for Young Readers. Loved this one twist on the picky eater story. Great read aloud for parents.

Reply
B. G. Hennessy link
1/24/2014 02:05:30 am

This was a great year for picture books in general. My nominee for the funniest book is BATTLE BUNNY by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, with pictures by Matthew Myers. OK, maybe this should get the naughty/funny prize, but it would be right up Roald Dahl's alley.

Reply
Stacy Couch link
2/3/2014 10:48:12 am

I'd love a Funny PB Award! There are so few awards for a PB author--much a less a funny one.

And I'm totally down with MUSTACHE BABY. I love BATTLE BUNNY--so groundbreaking--but MB's little "cereal criminal" cracked me up.

Reply
Kim Pfennigwerth
2/4/2014 03:20:36 am

That Is NOT A Good Idea by Mo Willems. Loved the humor in this one.

Reply



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    Meet the Friday Blogonauts

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  • Home
  • WRITING
    • Mastering Great Graphic Novels >
      • 2023 Mastering Graphic Novels Registration
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
    • New!! Middle Grade Mastery Instant Access
    • 2022 Kidlit Palooza >
      • 2022 Palooza Program
      • 2022 Palooza Faculty
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • NEW!! Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books Instant Access
    • Never a Dull Moment Workshop
  • TECH
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty, Lives & GT Judges
    • Testimonials
    • Books by Students
    • Our Bookshop
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • Blogfish
  • MN Course Access
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship