We are reading The Worms of Kukumlima and are rolling on the floor overcome with hilarity. Students want to know how to pronounce "Kukumlima" Leema or Lye- ma? Kuku rhymes with kookoo?
Koo-koo certainly, and m'leema. If I remember correctly, (which I sometimes do), it means """"Chicken Mountain.""""
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
We are The independent book in Hoboken NJ. Since opening a year ago, we have sold 56 copies of the Hoboken Chicken Emergency. We need Looking for Bobowicz! Tell us how we can get it!
Come visit us!
Your friendly booksellers in Hoboken!
You need not only Looking for Bobowicz but The Artsy Smartsy Club, (also set in Hoboken, same cast of characters), and possibly Jolly Roger, a Dog of Hoboken. No idea how you can get them. Neat there's a bookstore in Hoboken!
Daniel
I read Lizard Music in 6th grade in 1987 at the recommendation of my school librarian. I fell in love with this story. I revisited it often and ordered a copy on Amazon so I can share it with my child.
Question. Why is this not a film? Can this be a film? What can I do to get this made into a film? Is Mr. Pinkwater the least interested in making the Lizard Music movie? My God, it would be incredible. I feel like I must see this happen in my lifetime.
Here is a story. I got a phone call from a young friend. """"Hello. I am suddenly the third from the top man at a major motion picture studio. I am in charge of acquiring new scripts. Would you like to write a movie?"""" """"Sure."""" """"Good. What movie would you like to write?"""" """"You want to know right this minute?"""" """"Yes. I have to go into a meeting. What movie?"""" """"I am a genius, but I can't come up with a whole idea for a movie in a minute."""" """"No, not what movie that you might make up. What movie that you have seen. We don't make movies, we re-make movies. What movie have you seen that you would like to write a new script for?"""" """"Oh! In that case, I have one. The Horse's Mouth, based on the Joyce Carey novel and made in 1958 starring Alec Guiness."""" """"Got it. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you how it went in the meeting."""" The next day: """"Sorry, we can't remake that movie. It didn't make enough money the first time."""" """"I see. Do I get to pick another one?"""" """"No. Now you have a reputation for not being commercial.""""
I think I still have that reputation.
I am now confused. I was just at Mike Rosen's house and I was asking if he knew you (he did – as did Mim Chenfeld) or Chris van Allsburg (he did). I remembered you from when you were a contributor to All Things Considered but have not heard you in ages. Then, on this website, it references NPR appearances. Are you still on NPR? (I used to enjoy listening to your commentaries)
I was a contributor to All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition Saturday for about 25 years, and did lots of other radio things too. That is a long time to work in a competitive and political environment without participating in alliances, plots, coups, and relationships of convenience. At last someone rose to a certain level who either didn't like me, or needed to sacrifice a popular broadcaster to demonstrate power, or both. So they stopped using my stuff. I can't complain--it was lots of fun.
Hello from Vancouver, B.C., Canada!
I am a 41-year-old music producer who was greatly influenced by your book Wingman growing up in terms of cultural awareness, diversity, and creativity. I have been looking for any additional information/context about this book, its creation, the characters, and hoping that you might be able to share any memories.
Sending my best!
Kevin
I lived in a loft building in Hoboken, New Jersey, where my neighbor, a math professor, and I, became friends. In the evenings, we took to drinking coffee, and he told me stories of his early life. I based the setting and characters in Wingman on his stories. He also took me to the old neighborhood, where I was able to photograph, the laundry, the school, the kids climbing on the George Washington Bridge, etc., and I used the photos in making the illustrations.
Hey Webmaster Ed and Daniel,
Great recording of Blue Moose with music! Listened last night, love it.
Also, I just dropped my son of at college and knocked him on the head just like Larry's mother did to send him off into the world…
Anyway thank you for all the wonderful stories!
Warmly,
– Matt
It is not for me to criticize or make suggestions, but knocking one's offspring on the head, after having arrived at college and presumably with the bursar's office of said college knowing where and how to get in touch with the parent, may be a teensy bit after the moment. Had you written, """"Here is a picture of me knocking my son on the head with a Brown University catalog, beside the Interstate, before disappearing into the night,"""" that might have been more in the spirit of making sure the lad would have an interesting story to tell later in life...to the other polar bears.
When I was a kid I read Lizard Music and then a little later, Alan Mendelson, the Boy From Mars. They were two of my all time favorite reads. Now as a 47 year old mom, I brought my old copy of Alan Mendelson along on a recent family camping trip and read aloud nightly around the campfire. I can't tell you how much fun it was to share that book with my kids (11 and 12 years old ) and to hear them laughing out loud with the description of the various adults in that book. The begged me to keep reading late into the night. We were in the desert, stars carpeting the sky, the light of the fire glowing on our faces, and that wonderful, quirky book keeping us all entertained. It was magnificent! Thank you, Daniel Manus Pinkwater, for all the good times I've had with your books!
What an honor, that a book of mine should be part of that splendid memory! I was raised and educated not to dwell too much on the glory of being an author, but once in a while....well, thank you very much.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I read Mrs. Noodlekugel and the Drooly Bear. It sort of seemed like there should be another book. Are you going to write another one?
Thanks,
Jonathan-Peter, grade 4, home schooler
Takoma Park, MD
I was going to write another one, but the publisher was disappointed the books we had already done were not making a ridiculous stupid huge amount of money. (The books keep being reprinted, so I assume they are making money, just not ridiculous, stupid, huge.) This is how things are done, and it is not my fault. I hope you will find other books of mine you like. There are more than 100 titles.
Does the Theory of Displaced Misery work if you buy an old Jaguar? Asking for a friend ….
Depends how old. I think Jaguars live something like 12-15 years in the wild, and as much as 23 years in captivity, which makes it possibly the longest-lived cat. Unless you're a accredited zoo or wild animal park, I think it's illegal to own a jaguar in this country, and that's a good thing. I suggest you get a regular pussycat and forget about a jaguar. You didn't mean the car, did you?
hi Mr. Pinkwater,
You might like to know that another "piggie" sea monster was recently documented, not in Lake Ontario, but in Fraser River (British Columbia). Unfortunately, it appears that neither the Flying Dutchman, nor Professor Ambrose McFwain were available for comment:
www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/29/sturgeon-whisperer-catches-and-releases-pig-nose-the-fabled-650-pound-sturgeon/
When I was in college, I used to sit at night by the edge of the Hudson River, near which I still live, and listen to the sturgeon at play. They would leap out of the water and smack down with a mighty splash. It was said there were 10-footers, but I never saw one other than smoked, sliced, and behind glass in a deli.
Hi! So, I'm a big fan of your books, I just recently finished reading 4 Fantastic Novels, and a miraculous idea came to me. Could I write and publish a cookbook for the various foods mentioned in your books?
I don't know, could you? It might be a little disgusting. On the other hand, that doesn't seem to deter successful commercial enterprises, people getting nominated for high office, etc.
Hi Mr. Pinkwater!
I just re-read "Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars" as the 44-year-old adult that I now am (having read it many, many times as a kid). It really holds up, and the adult characters are even better at 44 🙂
I have many unanswered questions about the book, but perhaps the one I'd most like answered is: was the Bermuda Triangle Chili Parlor based on a real place? Have you, in real life, eaten Green Death chili? I'm thinking of opening such a place when I retire (with your permission, of course!)
Fondly,
Chad
You don't need my permission to retire. I have been in some chili joints a sane person would cross the street to avoid breathing nearby, and I still wake up screaming when I dream of a chile I ate in Africa in 1967. As we age, we tend to become less robust. I suggest you take this into account, and name your enterprise, RETIRED PERSON'S CHILI PARLOR.
WHAT IS YOUR PINEAPPLE STORY DANIEL
There are 8,000,000 pineapple stories in the naked pineapple city. Mine is one of them.
Dear Daniel Pinkwater,
I have written you before and likely asking the same thing I'm about to ask now.
You used to participate in the NPR Weekend Edition radio program with Scott Simon called "children's literature with daniel pinkwater" and I think I looked forward to them, more than anything else. I loved hearing you and Daniel read and review the children's books that you would bring in to the program. In fact, I loved them so much, that I often went out to buy them for a library I was forming for "potential grandchildren" (my 30 year old children have yet to grace me with them, but there's always hope, thus the library development). My very first was Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart by Vera B. Williams. After that I also bought, not necessarily in this order, Henry Builds a Cabin by D. B. Johnson, Little Beauty by Anthony Brown and perhaps the very best, Beautiful Yetta The Yiddish Chicken by Daniel Pinkwater, Illustrated by Jill Pinkwater. I just listened again to the reading of it in in the NPR archives. What an absolute joy!
So, I'm wondering why it stopped? Bring it back! Bring it back! Please!!!
Sherril from New Jersey
I wondered why it stopped too. It was a lot of fun, and it went on for about 14 years, (maybe that's why it stopped). You show good taste in your choice of books to buy.
Mr. Pinkwater,
I am a high school drama teacher in Wake Forest, NC who has always admired eggplant and your stories. My students and I provide an educational matinee series for elementary children in our county. We would like to present a dramatization of your story, "The Big Orange Splot," as one of our selections this year with your permission.
Admiror unicornium,
Marie Jones
I am honored. You have my permission provided it is for school use, and you do not charge admission, or sell copies, transcriptions, videos, long playing 33 1/3 rpm grooved stereo phonograph records, player piano rolls, or polaroid photographs. Also you may not broadcast it on radio, TV, wifi, the internet, flashing lights or semaphore, sell it to Hollywood, or commission a Broadway musical based on the book. And you may not teach chickens to sing the words while accompanying themselves on guitars, (however, if you can do that, I would be willing to talk.) I think that covers everything, and good luck.
