When the New York Times reviewed The Day-Glo Brothers last month, my younger son had some questions for my wife — which he asked out of earshot of me.
“It used to be that nobody liked Daddy’s book, right?” asked five-year-old F, knowing all about the 23 rejections the manuscript received before Charlesbridge acquired it.
“That’s right.”
“But now, everybody likes it.” Meaning, even someone in New York.
“It’s gotten good reviews, yes.”
“Isn’t there anybody anymore who doesn’t like it?”
“Well,” my wife said, “there was one reviewer who said the bright colors gave her a headache, so she didn’t really like it.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” F replied. “I thought I was the only one.”
Too funny! I love kids. The kids at my school LOVED the book. I think it could change the way they think about biographies. They all of a sudden seem interested since seeing your book.
We can always count on our families to keep us grounded. Great story!
Excellent! Only from the mouth of a babe…
Oh, no! And you wrote it just for him, right?
When my first book sold, my youngest dtr’s response was, “not that one!”
The toughest reviewers live with us!
Oh, my, I have not laughed this hard in a long, long time!
Don’t tell him a whole committee of librarians loved it, then! Congrats!
Congrats on your Sibert! Woohoo!
Chris! Congrats!
[...] Bartography « He’s so over it [...]
I have tears streaming down my face I’m laughing so hard. Nothing tops a kid’s candor.
Congratulations on the tremendous success of The Day-Glo Brothers, Chris!!
Everyone’s a critic. (Most aren’t this funny, though)
This is why I love kids so much! Congratlations to you, Chris!
My seven year old says the same thing about my cooking. Lucky for us they aren’t the only judges!
That was soooo funny. And very glad about your Sibert honor…your day-glo dreams come true!
You mean I’m not the only one whose kids deal blows to my self-esteem on a regular basis? Sometimes I feel like telling my son, “You know, there have been people out there who have thought me cool!”
Congrats on the award. And on the funny kid!
[...] I would have hoped for this, but I wasn’t sure how keen the committee was on this one. This post could not be better [...]