DONUTS...GOTTA HAVE THEM DONUTS!!!

The problem with the picture included with this post is that it doesn't do justice to this book. Author / illustrator Mark Alan Stamaty has, in this wonderfully bizarre story of a boy who helps out a donut collector on his rounds collecting donuts, created a masterpiece by filling every possible space with unbelievable, intricate detail. Every square inch of each of the pages is heavily and laboriously illustrated with scenes of all sorts -- each of them including at least one donut. (the rear blurb of the book mentions a grand total of 3,487 donuts in all, but who on earth could count all those donuts ... and I think the number is too small anyway). In the end, the boy, who has taken over the donut pick-up route saves an old lady who is drowning in coffee (you have to read the book to understand) by dumping his load of donuts and thereby soaking up the liquid and saving the day.
Bizarre.
Weird.
Wonderful.
Unbelievable illustrations.
WOW.

(I'll see if I can add some pictures from inside the book as well).


PS: strangely enough, there are no cops standing around carrying / eating donuts in this book -- at least none that I could see.

Hiiiiyahhh!!!.... oops?

I know this is not in my main specialty area, but I'm rather fond of this book -- in a weird sort of way. No, I don't practice karate (except in that place in my mind where I'm capable of doing all sorts of things like karate, ballroom dancing, fencing, ballet, etc.) but I've had this book in my database & online for years & still it intrigues me.

Not only can karate stun and maim, it can outright kill -- the goal of this book is to help those who study the art of karate (or any martial art, for that matter) to realize just exactly what the consequences of a particular move / blow are on a typical body. It is both an instructional guide and a very graphic cautionary tale.

When the instructor says don't try this at home....

He MEANS it!


Most of all, it's a strange book, but it's COOL....

Look for a Kitten...

Dare Wright was a wonderful author / photographer, but her personal life was an unfortunate mix of unhappiness and complexity. Her father left her mother when she was young (taking her only brother with him) which left her alone with a dependent and possibly abusive (psychologically and physically speaking) mother who may have shared her bed up until her mother's death.
While her home life was sad and twisted, her love of photography came to her aid and helped her find a place in the world. Her first book Lonely Doll became a success and helped make her name in the world of childrens picture books. The book was made with black and white photographs of one of Dare's own dolls named Edith. More than slightly autobiographical in nature, the story of Edith the doll has become a classic picture book and started Dare on her career.

Look for a Kitten is one of Dare's later picture books and features a live kitten as the central character. Strangely, even though it is a later title, it's not easy to find & copies in decent condition (and not ex library copies) are quite pricey.

The Beginning...

In the beginning, there were no words -- until someone wrote them down.

This is a brand new blog for me (and a brand new medium to learn) so here goes.

I mainly intend to use this blog to talk about books, book selling / book buying and to show off some of the more interesting books I acquire or have for sale.

But there will be times when daily life creeps in and you might find posts about my two children, my husband, my mother, my sister, my strange cats, etc. Normal everyday life does exist for a bookseller & sometimes it's more interesting than the book at the top of my stack to enter into my database.

So that's what you can expect -- at least that's what I'm hoping to write about. Let's see how it goes from here.

Enjoy your day.

Stephanie