Cleaning out the hard drive… I spotted The book Skateboard Party on a 2017 poster for Battle of the Books at my kid’s school. It’s book two of The Carver Chronicles, by Karen English, Illustrated by Laura Freeman. The book was published in 2015. Here’s the synopsis: Richard can’t wait to show off his flat-ground Ollies at a friend’s birthday party at the skate park, but a note home from his teacher threatens to ruin his plans. He really meant to finish his assignment on howler monkeys, but he just got . . . distracted. If only he could focus on his schoolwork, he wouldn’t get into this kind of trouble! Can Richard manage to put off getting the note signed (and facing the consequences) until after the party, or will the deception. Just a heads up: The Dead Kennedys do not make an appearance in this book.

Two illustrations from Christoph Niemann’s illustrated children’s book titled Words. Christoph says “I am inviting kids (and readers of all ages) to intuit and puzzle out meaning, and to see language as a source of ideas and stories.”  Is that a bunch of hooey to justify a pet project? I don’t think so.  I have to admit, the juxtaposition of these two illustrations definitely had me pondering how a young child just learning to read might process this page spread.  There’s an extra layer of interest to me as a skateboarder, being able to recall my first skateboard and how very fond of it I was at a young age, separation anxiety and all. [Source: Creative Review] – Thanks to MC for the tip. 

Here’s a couple pages from Lane Smith’s 1993 book The Happy Hocky Family. I guess the alliteration in Happy Hocky is more catchy than the Sardonic Hocky Family. – Thanks to MC for the tip.

This is the second and last installment of Fun to Draw Skateboard Action book. Along with the familiar misnomers and weird physics, the second half of the book features a couple of filler pages with some “totally rad” action and an exercise to match the safety equipment with the part of the body that it goes on.

“Skateboard Action” was a popular title for kids books in the 80’s, as this is not the only book to use it. Skateboard Action from the Fun to Draw series was published in 1989 by Hamburger Press. The illustrations are by Ed Francis, so the blame for mislabeling has to go with the author Debra Rowley. It’s got 36 pages jam packed with goofy little fox on a skateboard cartoons and the typical 4 step drawing instructions you find in these things. The illustrator has the human figure basics down but occasionally has difficulty placing the figure in relation to ramps and coping. It’s as if someone went through a skateboard magazine and cut out the skateboarder from each photograph and the illustrator used them as a reference without knowing how they related to the real world. The illustrator’s take on aftermarket 80’s skate graphics and fashion is spot on and worth a chuckle. Part one of the installment after the jump.

Ellray Jakes and the Beanstalk was written by Sally Warner and illustrated by Brian Biggs. There’s one skateboard illustration on the cover, plus two on the inside. When my second grader finishes reading it, I’ll have him write a review. Can Ellray master the moves in time to win his friend back?EllRay Jakes may be the shortest kid in his class, and he may get into trouble from time to time, but he can always count on his best friends Kevin and Corey. But lately, Kevin has been skateboarding with the meanest boy in class. Could EllRay be losing one of his friends?Not giving up without a fight, EllRay asks his older neighbor to show him a few jaw-dropping skateboard moves—like ollies and kickflips. EllRay must learn as many tricks as he can before the secret boys-only third grade skate-off. But will it be enough?

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.

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.