Test-Folder

/ . / B O O K S ➻ F R I E N D O F D $ A $ L $ S $ The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord and Janet Burroway A small town (Itching Down) is infested by wasps, to the point that folks can't deal. The townspeople have a meeting, where it's decided that they will build an enormous, field- sized jam sandwich, to trap all the wasps. Watching them do this, page after page… I can still feel the child excitement. They turn a swimming pool into a mixing bowl. They turn the town's biggest building into a giant brick oven. The pictures are bright but also detailed and subtle. If your kid loves books, it's a minor crime not to read him/her this one. Shaggy Fur Face by Virgil Franklin Partch A dog has a good master–and mistress, a little girl–but they're poor, and they can't keep him. They sell him, for ➸ When Jenny launched Dinner: a Love Story two and half years ago, I sent out a group email to all nine of my friends to help spread the word. She called me at work a couple of hours later, excited. "John Sullivan just registered on the site," she said. Our first victim! John Sullivan, aka John Jeremiah Sul- livan, is a writer, a funny person, and a kind soul. Have you heard of him? In 2011, he pub- lished a collection of essays, Pulphead, that got some halfway decent reviews. NPR called it "a collection that shows why Sullivan might be the best magazine writer around." The New York Times Book Review called it "the best, and most important, collection of maga- zine writing since [David Foster] Wallace's 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.'" Dwight Garner, reviewing it in the Times, the cost of "ditch-digging britches," to another man, who seems nice at first, but turns out to be a tyrant. That's when you get the story: of Shaggy Fur Face's escape from the new mean master, and his return to the old nice family (who are doing better financially, thank you). The line I've had in my head for 35 years now, that sus- tains me sometimes, is, "And he kept paddling south. And he kept paddling south." Billy's Balloon Ride by R. Zimnik A boy is sick. His friends and relatives keep bringing him balloons, which his mother ties to his bed. Finally one night, there are so many balloons, he floats oZ into the sky. Great, gently suspenseful storytelling. Strange, haunting, somehow German-looking illustrations. The boy has a chubby red face and glasses. I'll never forget Here are four beloved books of my childhood, possibly out of print, but worth the while of parents to hunt down, espe- cially if their youngsters are between, say, three and six. Written by an author who has actually prepared multiple DALS recipes (greatly enjoyed by family in cases where he didn't burn, mush them up, or accidentally serve them raw). P.S. DALS also turned me on to Don Pepino pizza sauce in a can. It's all I use anymore. —JJS John Jeremiah Sullivan said it "put me in mind of one of Flannery O'Connor's indelible utterances." Time had this to say: "He's the closest thing we have right now to Tom Wolfe, and that includes Tom Wolfe." To which I will add: The fact that you can buy his book for less than I spent on a bunch of Swiss chard at the market last weekend is one of the great bargains, and investments, to be found on this earth. It's hard to put into words just how sublime his stories are. John, in addition to being a Din- ner: A Love Story charter member, was kind enough to oZer up a few of his favorite chil- drens' books for us. Of his picks, I can only claim to have read The Giant Jam Sandwich, but I'm here to say: if John Jeremiah Sullivan says these books are good and true, I'm going to believe him. —Andy him. Haven't seen this book since my own actual childhood but could, if I knew how to draw, recreate it page for page. Lamont the Lonely Monster by Dean Walley and Don Page Lamont is sad. He has no friends. He's too freaky looking. And so he searches for buddies. But in a twist that turns on its head the whole crap Nick, Jr. narrative of "Just act nice and normal, and you'll be popular and happy!!", Lamont's soul- mate turns out to be… an even scarier monster! Who's named, in a delightful Dickens nod, Uriah the Heap. Read your kids this book, and then when they're a little older, read them David Copperfield. Great way to teach them what "allusion" means. John's Picks 8

• Cover