Talk to DP Forum

Sahar Yousefi

The Big Orange Splot

September 19, 2025

Hello Mr. Pinkwater!

When I was 5 my mom bought me a copy of The Big Orange Splot because she liked the cover, she thought it was cute and colorful. To hell with the content. It quickly became my favorite book and I read it cover to cover every few days for quite a few years thereafter. I loved that it was a story that encouraged people to celebrate their uniqueness and creativity. And all it took was one person to make that ripple and change the persepective in their community and ultimately create a better world around them. Even after I “outgrew” picture books, I still revisted The Big Orange Splot, and to this day I keep it in a special spot in my room. 

I’m now 37 and on occassion I dabble in working with kids. Next generation of artists and all that… A few weeks ago I started recommending The Big Orange Splot to parents who ask me for book recs. I even get to tell them to buy it from my local bookstore instead of big scary corporations. Getting to share one of my fav books with my impressionable littles has given me lots of joy and has made me want to come look you up on the google where I saw you have this wonderful thread which made my heart burst into joy because when I was five I dreamt of growing up and becoming a writer-storyteller-actor-musician-artist which meant that I got to meet you and tell you all this in person and show you pictures of my future plumbean inspired home. (Longest sentence ever.)

Alas dreams have a mind of their own. So here I am. I thought you might like to know you have a cult following of under fives (and perhaps a spike in sales) thanks to this unhinged still forever five year old. 

(I did grow up to be a full time storyteller, I write and act and color and dabble in other creative endeavors.)

Thank you for your wonderful work. 

Sahar

Daniel replies:

Since you wrote such a nice letter, and praised my book so much, I will tell you a story about that book. I wrote the story when I was away from home. I didn't have my semi-professional art kit with me. So I went to the drugstore. I bought a sketchbook meant for children, for a dollar. I also bought a set of markers, also meant for children, also for a dollar. I did sketches, and mailed them, along with the story, to a publisher. The publisher mistook the sketches for finished art, and offered me a contract. It wasn't a good contract, my share or royalty would only be five cents for each book sold, but there was some money up front, and I needed some money. Besides, I didn't know any better. I thought, if I had worked on it more, it would have been a good book, not that I thought it was bad, I wasn't ashamed of it...just, it might have been better, I thought. And so it wasn't a favorite of mine. It was an early attempt, and I learned more about contracts, and how to be a professional, and I didn't think much about this book. Actually, I sort of never thought about it. A government official called me. She said that all her subordinates had to read this book, when they came to work for her. "Why?" I asked. So she explained the book to me. "That sounds like a good book," I said. Later I found out it has sold more than a million copies. So you see, other people, including you, understand this book better than I did.


Leo

Lizard Music Movie???

September 14, 2025

Hello,

i just submitted a message to this forum, but right afterwards i saw that lizard music is being made into a movie??? are you going to be involved in the movie? i just started relistening to the lizard music audiobook to jog my memory so that whenever the movie comes out i can see how close it is to the book. by the way i love your audiobooks and how accessible they are and how you read them yourself. they are so fun to listen to. i am so shocked that lizard music is being made into a movie, i hope it turns out in a way that you like. im excited that your work is getting more attention! okay bye bye for real now.

-Leo

Daniel replies:

I am going to be involved in the movie to the extent that I've been invited to record audio as the voice of the mayor of the lizard city. I am 99.9% certain I did not write a mayor of the lizard city, but that's how movies are. I hope it's great. Listen for my part as the mayor.


Leo

Who is Colonel Ken Krenwinkel again?

September 14, 2025

Hi!!!!

i have loved the neddiad/yggyssey/cat whiskered girl books for many years, and i’ve made it a tradition to listen to your audiobooks of them every thanksgiving and winter break i have off from school. they are my three favorite books ever. iggy is definitely my favorite character and i have even made her a playlist of songs on youtube (the playlist contains Your Feets Too Big, That’s Amore, Mule Train, Nature Boy, A Night In Tunisia, High Noon, I Put a Spell On You, Serutan Yob, as well as many other songs that i’ve decided iggy would probably listen to/hear around). so anyway my question! i’ve had the name colonel ken krenwinkel in my head for the past couple of days and i just cannot remember who he is. but i’m like 95% sure he is in one of those three books. i tried to google it and there was nothing. i would look through the books but there are like three of them and. omg wait i feel like his name is also the title of a chapter. okay one second actually. okay i’m back super sad news i could not find it. so back to my question. who is that guy again? is he even from one of those books? i hope you remember but if not that is okay too. anyway i think you are so fun and awesome and i love your books dearly. i love how funny and whimsical and weird they are, and i honestly don’t think i will ever get tired of rereading them. okay i think that’s all for now, thank you for writing books and being cool.

-Leo

p.s. (in case you are interested in the iggy playlist, here is a link! youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBHpFD9btovzyKVwLHs7-hRBAFoe0fI43&si=tZG6SbasqtMmJ2Fg )

p.p.s (it’s possible that i accidentally sent this message like five times and if so i apologize)

Daniel replies:

I like your playlist, and yes I know who Colonel Ken Krenwinkle is, and which books of mine he's in. And I'm not going to tell you. Not trying to be mean, but you have to learn to get along without privileged information from the author.


Frank Pergande

Spreading the Joy

August 24, 2025

Hiya Mr. Pinkwater!

I recently started working in the children’s area of our local library after having worked with teens and college students for the last 25 or so years. 

We have a “Staff Favorites” shelf, which has me thinking about the books I loved when I was smaller, which lead me to think about you. 

Our library doesn’t currently have two of my personal favorites (Fat Men from Space and The Hoboken Chicken Emergency), but it does have Borgel and a host of other books that I now get to read before they inevitably make their way to the “Staff Favorite” shelf. 

Thanks for all the laffs!

I hope you are well!

Your pal,

Frank

Daniel replies:

Frank, you have one of the great jobs in all of history. Not me, you. You get to deal with all these books, and they're finished and complete, and all you have to do is match them up with clients, who will very possibly enjoy them and maybe have warm memories of some of them, and you did this. Me, I got to write some of them and protect them as best I could from idiots who are numerous in the publishing industry. You have the better job.


Alix

No question, just thank you!

August 15, 2025

Dear Mr. Pinkwater,

I read many of your books as a young teen and you gave me permission to be weird and curious and to have fun. Thank you so much, I cherish those days and your books so, so much! 

I hope you are well and that many generations of readers find you and appreciate your books.

Daniel replies:

What a perfect thing to read from a reader! Thank you so much! I bet you are a swell person.


Evan Variano

Would you like a hat?

August 13, 2025

Mr. Pinkwater,

Your writings have shown me ideas for how to live in the world joyously, as well as how to nurture others with bravery and compassion.  Thank you a million times over to you and Jill for sharing such a gift.  As a young person, I took inspiration from Alan and Rat.  As an adult raising an amazing foster child, I found inspiration again from Neddie and Molly.  When I lost a beloved a teacher and companion, a big part of what got me through was knitting and reading Java Jack.  Speaking of knitting, would you like a handmade cozy hat for chilly days?  If so I would be honored to knit one for you and send it to your PO Box.  Please share size/shape/style preferences if you have them!  Since these messages sometimes get publicized on pinkwater.com, who knows, you may get hats from other people too!  Again, thank you from the center of my heart and from the bottom of my belly laugh!

PS What other author has brought great vision and richness to my life? George Eliot!  You’re in well-respected company 🙂

Daniel replies:

Thanks for the kind words and the kind offer of a knitted hat. I am a daily morning walker, and over years have evolved a hat pattern. In chilly weather it is a genuine Basque beret--these are the warmest, waterproof and never ever wear out. In warm weather, it is the standard billed feed or baseball cap. I have a straw hat for hot days, but I never use it, also a red hunter's cap, which I might wear in the woods in deer season. Were you to knit it would be for naught. (I also have a felt yarmulke made of wolf-fur combings from my old friend Miranda, but it is ceremonial Lupine-Hebrew (sha'at ha'ze'ev).


Danny Sichel

DS

July 14, 2025

I just wanted to say that I enjoyed the Snarkout Boys books when I was younger. And Yobgorgle, and Alan Mendlesohn.

Too often, people die before you have the chance to tell them you enjoyed their work.

Daniel replies:

Thanks for telling me. I think I won't die right away just the same. Who knows? I might be writing something else you'll like.


John Kurth

Met you as a child

November 24, 2024

Hello Mr. Pinkwater,

I wanted to let you know I met you when you visited my elementary school sometime in the 1970s and I haven’t forgotten that. I still have the autograph/self portrait that you gave me. This was at Netherwood Elementary in the Hyde Park School District. You inspired me then, as I didn’t know any authors or illustrators before that. I went on to work the arts for many years before becoming a high school special education teacher, which I still am today.

You popped into my mind and thought I would look you up and say hello, and thank you. I hope you are doing well and still inspiring children.

Thank you.

John Kurth

Macon, GA

Daniel replies:

I can't say I remember you specifically, but I do remember visiting the Netherwood School. This is not because of my phenomenal memory but because I drive past that school all the time. As to inspiring children, I do what I do...those children seeking or willing or encouraged at home to be inspired will find inspiration, even in books of mine. What I am able to do hardly compares to the work of a special education teacher. Therefore it is an honor to be accused of contributing to your inspiration and subsequent activity. Thanks for thinking of me!


Alan D Wilcox

Is Henrietta A Were-Chicken?

November 1, 2024

Hello, Mr. Pink water,

Alan Wilcox at your service, I am a self-proclaimed film aficionado and avid reader of kids novels and I was wondering if you would like it if some of your books got turned into movies someday like I heard that Warner bros Animation tried to turn your book Blue Moose into an animated movie but they never did and I heard that The Jim Henson Company tried to turn your book Borgel into a movie too which never happened but if Jim Henson Productions did turn Borgel into a movie I envision it being a stop motion animated movie reminiscent of Wallace & Gromit. But one thing I have been meaning to talk to you about is your Jersey Giant chicken Henrietta is she a Were-Chicken or is she a just an overgrown mutated barnyard fowl? I read the Hoboken chicken emergency and blue moose, and I thought that they were real page turners, and I think that they should be turned into fully animated movies and if Henrietta really is a Were-Chicken then what if she was also a caricature of Lucille

Daniel replies:

Not a were-chicken or a was-chicken; she is an is-chicken.


Jack Porter

What goes on down there, anyway?

October 2, 2024

Hello, Mr. Pinkwater, I have long been a fan of your books, and my son has too, for slightly less long. In particular, we have been re-reading the Snarkout Boys books and Chicago days/Hoboken nights. We may visit Chicago this fall, and I was curious if there were any extant inspirations for those books in that city. Is there a Lower North Aufzoo Street? Thank you, Jack

Daniel replies:

There is a Lower Wacker Drive, which is a better name than the one I made up. It could have had a name change. That happens. Let me know if it's now called Lower Pinkwater Drive.


Robert L. Summers

Uncle Boris in the Yukon

September 22, 2024

I found a hardcover copy of “Uncle Boris in the Yukon” at the Village Bookstore.  Just what is needed to get my mind off all the hateful speech and other nastiness that makes up today’s current events.

RS

Daniel replies:

What a nice thing to do! Thanks for taking the time.



Larry Pringle

Tibet

August 8, 2024

In the event of a spontaneous combustion of all terrestrial libraries, what would the librarians of the astral plane do with the resulting cosmic confetti, and how might this event inspire a new form of Tibetan throat singing? Please advise.

Daniel replies:

It was foretold that you would ask that question. 


Jay Barnes

How do those cylinder TVs work, anyway?

August 1, 2024

In the back of my mind, I had this memory about a book I read a long, long time ago. Talking lizards with their own town, and they would watch TV on a spinning stone cylinder, with their eyes closed…

I was able to get a copy of “Lizard Music” last week and finally gave it a re-read. What a fun story, no wonder I remembered parts of it! Thank you for helping to stoke the fire that’s kept me reading all these years!

Daniel replies:

You're asking me? How does something I wrote about work? In this case How do the sort-of Tibetan prayer wheels the lizards use to watch TV work? What makes you think I have a clue? If you go to the Library of Congress site, you can see 134 titles attributed to me, plus maybe some stuff that hasn't been cataloged. In every case, I started out by asking, "Book? What's a book? Who writes them, and how do they go about it?" Typing, and to a limited extent, spelling, are my skills, not knowing things. Sorry to have been no help with your question.


Christopher Davies

Alan Mendlesohn was a good friend

June 12, 2024

Hi Daniel,

When I was a skinny little eleven-year-old kid failing to meet friends in a new school, I learned to hide in the library. Nobody could be mean to me in there, because librarians are superheroes dedicated to protecting the sort of kids they used to be. One of the first books I picked up was Alan Mendlesohn, The Boy From Mars. 

I read it many times.

Just like Leonard, I wanted a friend and eventually managed to find one. I still liked to pretend that I had a secret Martian friend as well. (Of course I never smoked a brandy-soaked cigar or made an Omega Meter play Jingle Bells, although I did call my mom’s chili Green Death.) When I left that school in 1988 on my way to 8th grade at the big scary high school, I was able to take a few books with me. Alan made the cut (I think Crisis on Conshelf 10 was the only other one I could grab)

Now I’m 50, and have three kids. While cleaning out a room in my house, I found Alan hiding in a box of old school stuff. My kids are now the right age, so I’ll start reading it to them this weekend.

I just wanted to thank you for writing such great books for kids like me, ancd let you know that your older books are still making their way to children today.


Thanks,

Christopher

Daniel replies:

You'd think, me being such a great author with so many books written, that a post like this would be routine, and I'd be long past smiling all over my face and feeling my ears vibrate when I read it. But in fact I am delighted a book of mine meant something to a kid like you were. I do have to mention that a book has no utility until someone reads it, and a dull reader would get nothing from a book a reader like you could bring imagination and smarts to. So we're both to be complimented.


Ken

Memory lane

May 15, 2024

No question, I’m just listening to the Car Talk podcast, which airs the old episodes in order (I think we’re in the mid-90s at the moment), and you called in. I had forgotten that you used to do that! It was so wonderful to hear your voice after so many years, and I decided to look you up to see what you’ve been doing all these years, and found myself here. Looking forward to checking out The Pinkwater Podcast next! 

I always loved how NPR personalities would call in or be guests on other NPR shows; there always seemed to be such a great comradery there. Thanks for the smile!

Daniel replies:

I started as an NPR contributor in what might have been the network's golden age. There were so many talented people, not just the on-air personalities, editors, producers, engineers, working, I think, for less money than they'd have gotten in some commercial application, but delighted to be somewhere they could do their best work. 25 years later it was still good, but not in the same way. Maybe it was just that people matured, and aged. 


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