Guess Again! in TIME, The New Yorker, Indie Bound

TIME Magazine just named Guess Again! the #2 children's book of the year! And this is a little older, but the New Yorker's book bench has a great review, too. Plus it's on the IndieBound Kids Next List. All right!

THE REAR END

Yesterday, McSweeney's released its thirty-third issue, which took the form of a one-time-only newspaper called the San Francisco Panorama. The paper explores some bold possibilities and forgotten potentials of print. It's full of great stuff--Stephen King on sports, David Chang on ramen, comics by Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, and Adrian Tomine--and a children's games page, called the Rear End, edited by me. I asked some of my favorite writers and illustrators--Jon Scieszka, Adam Rex, Carson Ellis, Jon Klassen, Kevin Cornell, Jenny Traig, and Jon Adams--to re-imagine the kiddie pages, and the result is both beautiful and fun:



You can order a copy here. And if you want to watch a video about the Panorama that features me as a shouting newsie in a bubblegoose, check this out. (For some reason it's embedded in an unrelated article about charity biking.)

TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED!

Mac is hitting the road for the Guys with Books Tour, making stops around the country, usually with some, and often all, of the following friends: Adam Rex, Jon Scieszka, and David Shannon. You can find video and writing from the road here. Check it out:

26 September 2009

Riverside, CA
The Mission Inn Book Conference
with Adam

28 September 2009

6:30PM
Laughing Loudly For Literacy
Crescenta Valley High School Auditorium (entrance on Ramsdale)
2900 Community Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
with Adam, Jon, and David

29 September 2009

10:30AM
Borders
9301 Tampa Avenue
Northridge, CA 91324
with Adam, Jon, and David

7:00PM
Borders
125 West Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
with Adam, Jon, and David

30 September 2009

6:00PM
Barnes & Noble
6050 El Cerrito Plaza
El Cerrito, CA 94530
with Adam and Jon

2 October 2009

6:00PM
Copperfield’s Bookstore
140 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA 94952
with Adam

4 October 2009

1:00PM
Leroy Haynes Center (sales through Mrs. Nelson’s Bookstore)
233 Baseline Road
La Verne, CA 91750
with Adam, Jon, and David

5:00PM
Warwick's
7812 Girard Avenue
La Jolla, CA 92037
with Adam, Jon, and David

6 October 2009

10:00AM
Office Max Day/ A Day Made Better donation
Location: 1844 South 40th Street
San Diego, CA 92113
with Adam, Jon, and David

8 October 2009

7:00PM
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 South McClintock
Tempe, AZ 85283
with Adam

9 October 2009

6:00PM
Barnes & Noble
21001 N. Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85050
with Adam

10 October 2009

10:00 AM
University of Arizona WALK (Wildcats Advocating Reading and Literacy)
with Adam

2:00 PM
Borders
5870 East Broadway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85711
with Adam

14 October 2009

4:30PM
RJ Julia
768 Boston Post Road
Madison, CT 06443
all by himself

15 October 2009

4:30PM
Books and Greetings
271 Livingston Street
Northvale,NJ
with Jon

16 October 2009

10:30AM and 11:30AM
Barnes & Noble Huntington
380 Walt Whitman Road
Huntington Station, NY 11746
with Jon

17 October 2009

Noon
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY
with Jon and Lane Smith, Art Spiegelman, and Francoise Mouly

18 October 2009

4:00PM
POWERHOUSE ARENA
37 Main Street
Brooklyn, NY
with Jon

19 October 2009

10:00AM
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925

31 October 2009

Austin Book Festival
Austin, TX
with Jon

The Blue Whale and the Gray Lady

There's a great little write-up of Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem in this Sunday's New York Times. You can read it here, but the print edition comes with a piece of Adam Rex art, perfect for clipping, plus a crossword puzzle.

Also, a reminder for those in the Bay Area: Mac will be reading and signing Billy Twitters on Sunday, August 16, at a Great Good Place for Books in Oakland at 11:00 AM. Pick up a Times, come on over, and maybe Mac can give you an answer or two for the crossword.

Behind the Scenes at 7-Imp

Adam and Mac discuss Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem on the always terrific blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. There's background on their writing and illustration processes, plus lots of Adam's art and sketches for the book.

Readings and signings in August

If you live in or near the Bay Area, you should come see Mac read Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem. He'll sign your book, too.


16 August 2009 at 11:00 AM: A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 LaSalle Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94611 (map)

29 August 2009 at Mrs. Dalloway's at 4:oo PM: Mrs. Dalloway's, 2904 College Ave, Berkeley, CA, 94705 (map)


If everything goes according to plan, Mac will be bringing a real blue whale with him to both these events!

A Boy and His Whale

Mac's first picture book, illustrated by Mr. Adam Rex, is out now. It's the story of a boy's worst friend: the blue whale. Kirkus, in a starred review, calls it "definitely funny and slyly subversive." You can go buy it at your local bookstore, or order it online by clicking here.