John McRandle on his unusual picture book for grownups, THE AWFULBET

There's little in life I admire more than weirdness and originality, preferably both in the same work. And so, it's my great pleasure to introduce you to the oddest picture book you're likely to see today, The Awfulbet, written and illustrated by John McRandle.

*   *   *

The Tale of The Awfulbet

by John McRandle

The Awfulbet: A Bracing Compendium of Disease & Effluvia For Grownups is an ABC book with a collection of 26 letters who endure a wide range of amusing afflictions. From Acne to Zombification, and all infirmities in between, each letter has been given an alliterative assortment of awfulness. For example, meet ‘B, who is Beset by Bunions, Baldness and Boils’, or ‘R, who is Ripe with Ringworm, Rosacea and Rabies’—the characters of the book possess a certain comical charm that will appeal to kids and grownups alike.

This is my first book, and my first foray into the world of self-publishing. Starting as a germ of an idea two years ago, the project came to me in a late-night burst of creativity. The writing was the fastest part, with the droll diseases flowing from my pen. But the illustration took a lot of time, as each letter’s illness had to be anthropomorphized and personalized to build the character. I suppose the genesis for The Awfulbet can be traced back to my youth reading Mad magazine and collecting Topps’ Wacky Packages, which fueled my interest in the sort of subversive humor that kids love. Some of my largest influences are Dr. Seuss, Edward Gorey, and Roald Dahl, as they play a huge role in my literary and artistic interests—and my love for darker and more disturbing work.

As a young person I was fascinated by the creatures you would find when turning over rocks, or the strange old things you'd find packed in the attic or basement that had been discarded by their owners but still had stories to tell. Growing up as the child of a German historian and an audiology professor, I always had an interest in language and science. We had a large library filled with art, natural history, and science books, and linguistic humor and wordplay were always popular in our house. What I hope to do with The Awfulbet is make something curiously creepy and grossly entertaining that appeals to the 13-year-old rock flipper and attic explorer in all of us.

BLURB:

The Awfulbet: A Bracing Compendium of Disease & Effluvia For Grownups chronicles the sad state of affairs in which these endearingly ill letters find themselves. From Acne to Zombification, there is no end to the problems these troubled souls will endure.

This contagious interpretation of an alphabet book springs from the fevered mind of John McRandle, a New York-based illustrator and musician. Night after night, he toiled until the wee hours, delving into the lives of these 26 little creatures. Now, the fruits of his labor can be yours!

*   *   *

Learn more about The Awfulbet on the book's website.

You can purchase The Awfulbet from the Blurb bookstore. 

See more of John McRandle's work on Tumblr and follow him on Instagram as @jdmcrandle

Allyn M. Stotz Presents HIPPO BOTTOMLESS

It's picture book time again on Jester Harley's Manuscript Page. Please welcome. Allyn M. Stotz and her incredible sinking hippo.

*   *   *

Starting With the Title

by Allyn M. Stotz

I love a good hippo story, don’t you? Why are these creatures so cute and yet so big, weird-looking, bald, and intimidating? I think it’s for these reasons that we adults find them fascinating and kids find them cute and funny. Adults want to know how to avoid them whereas kids want to know if they

could fit their entire body in a hippo’s gargantuan mouth!

When I sat down to write Hippo Bottomless, I knew I wanted to write about a hippo but that’s about all I was sure of. So just like I’ve done so many times in the past, I started picking my pea-sized brain for titles of the book first. I thought Hippo Bottomless was a funny name and would grab people’s attention and possibly give them a chuckle. I discovered after writing The Pea in Peanut Butter that the title of a book can make a huge difference in whether or not someone is interested in taking a peek.

Once I was sold on the title, I began writing down different scenarios for what might happen in the book. Would the hippo have a huge appetite and eat everything in sight, therefore everyone teased him about being a bottomless pit? Or would the hippo have some kind of problem with keeping his shorts up? I tried both of these possibilities but neither was working.

Then a writer friend of mine told me that her daughter is obsessed with hippos. So I thought it would be fun to challenge her daughter by giving her my title and letting her come up with an idea for the story. I promised if her idea worked and I got my book published, I’d thank her in the book. And luckily, her idea worked! The minute I started writing about a hippo who couldn’t swim, the words just flowed on the computer screen and Hippo Bottomless was born. And my book became that much more special… at least to me.

When writing for kids, the more you can get them involved, the better the story. Although my little helper didn’t help me write the story, she came up with the idea and without that, Hippo Bottomless might still be sitting in my “To be finished” book folder.

Writing a children’s book might seem easy to those who have never written one and gotten it published but trust me when I say, it’s difficult and there’s a lot involved. Including research. Yes, even though I was writing fiction about a hippo, it still had to be believable and accurate. It was during my research that I realized hippos can’t really swim. They just basically run on the bottom while keeping their heads above water. That’s why you don’t see a herd of hippos out in deep water. So with that knowledge, I decided to incorporate the message to never give up because most times things aren’t always as they appear.

Poor Echo the Hippo kept trying to swim, but even with some training from friends along the way, he could still only manage to splash, splash, splash as he sank, sank, sank to the cold, murky bottom.

You’ll have to read the book to see if Echo ever achieves the ability to swim along with his other Hippo friends.

*   *   *

You can purchase an autographed copy of Hippo Bottomless by contacting Allyn M. Stotz at allyn_stotz@yahoo.com or through her blog. 

You can also purchase Hippo Bottomless on Amazon.