I was riding my bike home from work the other day and sped by the usual detritus in the street, but my brain recognized a brief glimpse of something archetypal, so I doubled back to check on it. It was a children’s book titled Albert’s Gift for Grandma, and there was a skateboard on the back. On the pages inside, Homer does some scary tricks. “Look at me!” Shouted Homer. “I’m doing scary tricks!” “Oh my!” wailed Grandma. “Your tricks are too scary!” shouted Albert. Selected page from the 2006 publication of Albert’s Gift for Grandma, by Barbara Williams, illustrated by Doug Cushman, after the jump.

Matt Christopher is the “#1 Sports Writer for Kids” according to his bio. Danimal sent me the braille addition of Skateboard Renegade that he rescued from the trash. Buzz cut or ponytail? Grunge look? Tattoo, body paint, or earring? How about none of the above? When Zach takes up skateboarding, he doesn’t realize that he’s expected to look a certain way — and cop a certain attitude, too. At least that what it seems like. But Zach just isn’t comfortable with any of these things; he wants to skateboard for the fun of it, and maybe take part in a few competitions. Will he be ostracized because he looks and acts so “normal”? Or will his decision to stay true to himself mark him as a renegade, the very attitude his skateboarding buddies will appreciate? Oh, the irony of being an outcast amongst outcasts for not embracing being a stereotype. I’m not sure why anyone would throw away a braille book, I would imagine the demand would exceed the supply, so this story must have been especially bad. See the Skateboard Renegade braille edition plus two other sighted edition covers after the jump.

Says Pete the cat, on his skateboard built for two. (Dang it, I posted this last year too.)

How to skateboard, Japanese grocery store checkout style. Learn how to do a “running push,” nose slide and “elevator drop,” which is actually dropping in. Again, thanks to… Danimal? Possibly Colin? My attachments folder says 2009, even though the cover illustration says 1976.

Chris Hadfield has a new book titled An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. The astronaut on the cover is on a skateboard, as is the astronaut in the promo video his son made. Good stuff all around. I guess I should have said “The Right Stuff.” [Source: Metro]

I found Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons at a school book fair. It’s published by HarperCollins. Pete was created by Kimberly & James Dean, but this book was written by Eric Litwin. It turns out Pete has been skating since his appearance on the cover of Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day Is Cool.

I loved Ed Emberly’s drawing books as a kid, and I’m stoked that my kids enjoy them now too. MC must have been going through a box of childhood books, because he found this skateboarding thumbprint in an early pressing of Ed Emberly’s Great Thumbprint Drawing Book. he also has one called the Great Fingerprint Drawing book. I’m not sure if they are completely different or the Fingerprint version is an expanded version encompassing the the thumbprint version, but they are both still in print. The thumbprint version dates back as early as 1977, although I ‘d swear it was from the late 60’s. I had one of these as a kid too, it inspired me to make a comic strip of a thumbprint superhero. I was especially into his Drawing Book of Weirdos, as did MC if this comic is any indication.

Ron Cameron and co-author Christian Kline of Poweredge Magazine are working on a book for 3 years now and this is the rough, unfinished cover. Ron has designed for Blockhead, H-Street, Vision, Acme, Strike, Grape Netwerk, 510 Wood, World Industries, Blind, Toy Machine, Foundation, Scarecrow, Riviera … and  is looking for photographs of his decks in all colourways, especially the Blockhead ones. You can contact him here. All names of the contributors will get their names printed in the Contributors section. Also, Ron and Dave Berthold are working on a new Blockhead project, so that’s cool!

I think these books are supposed to teach traffic safety, but in fact they inspire kids to pretend to run into the obstacles. In this case, a skateboarding elephant. Then there’s the gratuitous electronic noise designed to stimulate young minds and make parents want to jam a screwdriver into the speaker. (Thanks for that helpful advice Shawn F. ) Now that these pictures are taken I can finally make a run to Good Will after 5 years of sitting on this thing. Yes, this post title is my attempt to help David Bowie free associate some new lyrics.

Scene at marriage councilor: Wife: Alright, I’ll give you an example. Just yesterday at our child’s book fair he couldn’t stop posting on his ridiculous blog. We’re supposed to be encouraging our kids to read and sharing in their excitement to learn and he’s taking pictures for his stupid web site. Husband: But I have loyal readers who are bored at work! It’s my sacred duty to help them be unproductive at their jobs. If productivity goes down, they’ll have to hire more people. It’s good for the economy! End. Alterante cover of James Patterson’s Middle School: Get Me Out of Here.