How To Be A Baby in the NY Post!

Great review of HOW TO BE A BABY in the New York Post.

(What fabulous taste that newspaper has.)

ANOTHER NEW PINKLISH WORD?

LONDON--This just in. Sam the Tiger (left) has been hot on the trail of yet another Pinklish word. (Previous discovery, Jan 31, 2007 post)

PONKCORN
(pronounced: pong*'korn)
noun
1) popcorn you are enjoying inside a movie that's all pinkly and lovely

(as in: "We had ponkcorn inside Charlotte's web")

There is, however, some controversy surrounding this latest discovery and serious questions as to whether its etymological origins are indeed Pinklish. Why would it not be called "pinkcorn" for heavens sake? some Pinklish scholars are asking. (Like the notorious Professor of Pinklish--Suley Lloyd-Heap of Pinksford University in Pinkly-cum-Sparkly in the heart of the Pinkswolds).

But for Sam the Tiger there can be no doubt. Ponkcorn is indeed part of the Pinklish language. How does he know? Because first it sounds much more tasty and noisy, and second, it can be yellow or any color and still be Ponkcorn and doesn't have to be just pink. Is he against Pink popcorn, then? No. Far from it. It's just a matter of accuracy. "Basically," says Sam. "Pink Ponkcorn is what that would be."

It's not easy being a baby

Think about it. You have everyone picking you up all the time, and telling you stuff you can't understand, and stopping you from doing anything you want to do, and feeding you stuff you don't even know what it is. And if you try and say something, they stuff a plug in your mouth.

Sometimes on a day like that, there's only one thing for it: screech and bellow and cry and wail and scream your head off. Which is what Annabel is doing here.

Her big brothers and sister are reading to her from THE manual on baby behavior. Which is very helpful of them. I think from this picture, though, she knows very well how to be a baby (and is rather good at it) and doesn't need anyone to tell her.

But seriously Annabel is very lucky. After all, she has Andrew, Daniel, Sarah, and Thomas (all four of them star in HOW TO BE A BABY--strangely enough, also on a pink sofa.) And the quadruplets are very lucky because they have baby Annabel.

But no prizes for guessing who has who wound around their little finger... (clue: she's the littlest one with dark hair)

(BTW: if you're anywhere near Cold Spring, NY, this Saturday, stop by Merritt Books where I'll be reading and signing HOW TO BE A BABY and HANDBAG FRIENDS at 11am-1pm)

my blog interview with eucatastrophe

Love this blog run by Dan Cruver. Check it out. It's a very thought-provoking, moving, inspiring blog by a really cool guy who loves my new storybook bible, which means he is not only really cool but also really extremely smart (!)--no, truly, it is a huge compliment (and he really does know his stuff. He's a Professor of Bible apart from anything, but once you start reading his blog you get the idea.) Anyway, he was kind enough to interview me (to read interview click here <+> ) about what it was like writing The Jesus Storybook Bible.

I knew I'd love his blog the minute I read the quote in the mast head (plus I learned a new word, coined by Tolkein, "eucatastrophe" which I thought at first was an alarming mix of catastrophe and an apostrophe--like some kind of unfortunate grammatical error that might lead to terrible things like the downfall of empires. But, happily nothing of the sort--it means "happy ending." Except Tolkein believed joy doesn't end and neither does the Story... so it's only an approximate translation):

"The story begins and ends in joy." J R R Tolkein.

Harry, The Strong and Cool and Brave

This is Harry (when he was quite a bit smaller than he is now). As you can see, he's full of adventure and an intrepid explorer. Which is why one of the bravest characters in Handbag Friends is named after him. And, just like him, he's very handsome, too (but you don't need me to tell you, you can see very well for yourself).

And I get to be his aunt. (Which only makes me the luckiet, proudest aunt alive.)

Right now I'm working on a story for him. I just hope I can finish it before he's too grown up for it. But then I prefer to think about the lovely thing C S Lewis wrote in his foreward to THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE:

"MY DEAR LUCY, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow up quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
C S LEWIS”

The 2007 Oscar-winning Danish Poet

"Can we trace the chain of events that leads to our own birth? ... Is our existence just coincidence? ... Do little things matter?"

These are the impressive, scarily intelligent, completely frightening sorts of questions that might easily give a person a headache if they were not very careful. But, in this oscar-winning best animated short, they are explored to brilliant effect. The Danish Poet is great storytelling, great animation, and great fun. I loved it. And no headache in sight. (Written and directed by Torvill Kove (14 mins 24 s)

(This scene is particularly enjoyable, I think, for anyone in the midst of growing their hair. As I am.)

Are you THE Wilberforce?

In the same way that I am often asked, "Are you related to THE Lloyd-Jones" (see Feb 24th post) lately poor Balloon Bird is being asked all the time, "Are you related to THE Wilberforce?" (Balloon Bird's real name, for those who are not familiar with his lineage, is Sir Wilberforce-Ping.)

He is forced (as am I) to say, "No" (since he doesn't care to lie any more than I do) but then he feels he must apologize--like me--and so because he says things in threes--he has to say it three times: "sorry, sorry, sorry".

Which is a bit embarrassing for him, he says.

But there is one good thing about it. (Which actually makes the question a fine compliment.) Because, just like me, Sir Wilberforce-Ping does have a glorious namesake: Sir William Wilberforce (1759-1833)--the heroic British abolitionist who is right now in the news because of the wondrous film Amazing Grace.

And Eric Metaxas has written the book Amazing Grace that goes along with it! He's a wonderful writer and (best of all) my wonderful friend.

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus!

Today is St David's Day. So, as I say: Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus!

You know this of course, but for those of us like me, St David (seen here in a stained glass window from Jesus College, Oxford) is the Patron Saint of Wales from the 6th century who helped spread Christianity among pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain and he only ate watercress and once stood in the middle of a lake up to his neck--but I don't remember why. He is famous for saying, "Gwnewch y pethau bychain" ("do the little things") but then proceeded to be canonized and do great big things.

But then didn't someone else say do not despise the day of small beginnings? Or you never go anywhere except one small step at a time.

I'm all for that. Hooray for St David! and Hooray for St David's Day! and Hooray for the little things!