Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Five top specimens of outlandish children’s literature

Whitney Collins is the author of The Hamster Won't Die: A Treasury of Feral Humor and the creator and editor of two humor sites -- errant parent and The Yellow Ham.

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog she tagged five children’s books that make her feel like she's drunk, including:
The Skippyjon Jones series, by Judy Schachner

The premise of these books is simple: Skippyjon, a Siamese cat with massive ears, is convinced he is a sword-fighting chihuahua named “El Skippito” who goes on adventures with a group of make-believe chihuahua friends called Los Chimichangos.

Much of this delightful but boggling series is written in song, in Spanish, and in phonetic dialect. There are many fantastical illustrations. There are lots and lots of references to frijoles. I think the fifth book, Skippyjon Jones Lost in Spice, might actually be the rough draft of the Cheech and Chong “Up In Smoke” screenplay. Anyway. I think you catch my drift. Reading this when you’re just on Diet Coke is always a bit baffling.
Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue