This is the first in a series of videos I shot with children’s librarian extraordinaire Susie Heimbach. You can normally find her sharing great books with kids of all ages at the Mulberry St. branch of the New York Public Library. She has an infectious enthusiasm for books and reading and impacts countless kids who pass through her library. Hooray for librarians! In this clip, she talks about five great books to get kids in the mood to go back to school.

Here’s a list of the books from this clip (Amazon links):

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Welcome to Kindergarten, by  Anne Rockwell

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, by  Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff

Miss Nelson Is Missing!, by Harry Allard

I Hate School, by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

I have been enjoying watching the progress of this kid’s book make its way through Kickstarter. Written by Amber Jones, an award-winning concierge who knows a thing or two about how to show visitors the best sights – and smells – of NYC. Her scratch-and-sniff tour of NYC includes many of the smells that are all too familiar: Garbage, Pizza, Hot dogs, Sewer steam, Fish, Horse Manure, Shish-kabobs, Smoke, Bagels and more.

As a Kickstarter backer, I was given access to some preview pages and can share them with you.  Jones has covered all the key New York points – from the depths of the subway to a sidewalk cafe in Little Italy. The book is a feast for the eyes and will certainly be for the nose – IF it makes its funding. Jones is still $3,200 shy of her goal of $20,000 to fund the first print run with only a week to go.

Tim Probert’s illustrations are great on the eyes. I hope we all get to smell them.

Hopefully, she’ll get another last round of momentum. This is a fun book that I hope gets a chance to see the light of day and the dark of kid’s nostrils!

The Kickstarter link.

More about Amber Jones and Scentsational Books.

 It’s not for the kids, but parents and non-parents will appreciate this zombie take on Pat the Bunny. Perhaps this is another sign of the impending Zombie-pocolypse that a beloved children’s character has been recast as a Zombie. It’s never too soon to educate the young about Zombies and their habits. Still, I got a good laugh out of this one.

Kudos to Aaron Zimm and Kave Soofi for a “dead-on” parody.

Pat the Zombie: A Cruel Adult Spoof by Aaron Ximm and Kaveh Soofi.

I connected with my pal Morgan Taylor of Gustafer Yellowgold fame and challenged him to tell a story on a single page. He spent about an hour and a half completing the drawing as my camera snapped about a frame a second. It was a blast watching the picture – and the story – come to life on the page.

The result is a charming story about a picnic with friends that turns into a rescue mission. I am hoping to do more of this with other authors, artists and storytellers in the future.

The concept was inspired by director Jack Ferry’s music video for Jeffrey Lewis.

YouTube link: Poster Story: Gustafer Yellowgold.