Thursday, July 1, 2010

Doug Dennis and the Flyaway Fib


Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of going to hear Darren Farrell author/illustrator of Doug- Dennis and the Flyaway Fib read at my favorite bookstore (if you have a moment click on that link and read about the store's opening).


Doug-Dennis is a sheep who goes to the circus with his best friend, but he gets himself in some trouble (he eats his friend's popcorn) and tells a lie to try and get out of it. His lie inflates and grows and makes poor Doug-Dennis float away up into space where many others are floating around, tethered to their monster fibs.

The illustrations for this book are so much fun--I kind of want Doug-Dennis sheets, and I have laughed so hard at all the silly flyaway fibs floating around through space. This is definitely my birthday present pick of the year--I always keep several copies of one of my favorite books, wrapped in a drawer for those birthday party emergencies . . . and I can give signed copies of this one. Bonus!!!

Later that afternoon, my husband and I were able to entice Darren, his Southern friend Jason, and Jill from Square Books to stop by our house for drinks. Darren is a fellow Penguin-ite, so I got to quiz him about the process of working with Penguin as an author/ illustrator. Well . . . I didn't quiz him too hard--we mostly just laughed and listened to my daughter play guitar. And, Jason came up with a great idea for a book. It involves a toenail kept in a jar of formaldehyde. Watch for it someday. It's gonna be huge.

And, look! We got a mention on the Doug Dennis blog!!! Woo hoo!

Hope everyone's having a great summer!
sf

3 comments:

Weronika Janczuk said...

What a cute cover and great photo. I love that you two make it out to author events - I don't have the time or the energy to follow Twin Cities' stuff. :)

Great post, SF!

Jemi Fraser said...

That sounds like a terrific book! I love picture books - and these illustrations look great :)

darren said...

Hey, thanks for the shout-out! Doug-Dennis is proud to make your birthday list.

Had a blast in Oxford, still dreaming about the Broccoli Rice casserole at Ajax Diner. Mmmmmm.

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