Hi! I just heard about you on my CSA test! I got so excited to message you that I tried to get on to your website ASAP! And now I read your books whole lot!
It is an ill wind that blows no one some good. (Or, as Danny Kaye said about the oboe, it is woodwind that no one blows good).
In your book, The Artsy Smartsy Club, there's a character named Ivan Itch. He goes by Nick. Am I right? Well, In Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead, on the second page of the introduction, is a character named Ivan Ivanitch Gvozdikov. Yes. His middle name, or second first name, or his first last name, is Ivanitch. Is this just a coincidence, or was Dostoyevsky copying you?
PS: I think you should really start writing more books faster, because I thoroughly enjoy rereading Borgel every week or so.
PSS: Why is Borgel out of print? It shouldn't be. I think I'll start a petition.
I'm going to have to speak to Fyodor about this....again! Of course he won't listen--he's an idiot and a gambler. Plagiarism is a crime, but he eludes punishment because he's underground...in the house of the dead, you know? At least he steals from the best.
I am undoubtedly a fan of your work. As a child, I was not a complete outsider, not the object of constant bullying and ridicule, and your books did not save my childhood. OK, I did have a rather unusual childhood, but I went to very good schools and had very good teachers. I was aware enough to realize, even as young as third grade, that I should be grateful for caring, intelligent, challenging teachers. I never even had many lazy or misguided teachers to compare them to–I was truly lucky! I mention all this to illustrate that your work appeals to many of us who did not have a parallel experience to your protagonists (along, or course, with those who did). What does appeal to me is the individuality and confidence of your characters–the fact that they can assemble the world from their own unique perspective. When that comes into conflict with the way we are often told the world works, the result is that rare, wonderful combination of humor and wisdom that makes great literature.
Yes? So? Are you under the impression that it matters to me whether readers of my work had childhoods out of Charles Dickens, or were born into families of enlightened billionaires? Did you want to send this post to Maurice Sendak maybe, and since he has gone where the wild things are you sent it to me instead? I never said that I thought my characters were outsiders. Some reviewer said that, and all the others then said it too. I think they are insiders. I am never sure what you are talking about, but I do think you have a lot of cheek.
Dear Mr.Pinkwater,
i just heard about you in one of my spelling test and it said your name and your website. i am only in forth grade but our teacher read us one of your books and i think you are the best book writer in the whle world/universe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
Maybe just the best book-writer in the galaxy. The universe is a big place.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I was not much of a reader when I was in middle school (25 years ago), until I met your books! I read every single Pinkwater book I could get my hands on. It was such an exhilarating experience to discover books and ones filled with silliness and intrique at that, a rare combination. My classmate and I wrote you a letter filled with questions including "do you write about fat people because you are fat?" to which you responded by cassette tape.
The correspondence with you was one of my most treasured grade-school memories and I just wanted to say thank you.
Sincerely, Tammy.
It is for me to thank you. So, thanks.
Hello! I'm a long-time fan, just wrote about you here:
dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/2012/05/never-bet-on-an-eggplant.html
Thank you!
Hang onto that piece so it can be read over my grave. (Possibly the reader should wear a raincoat, because there may be fruit thrown).
I don’t know that you will ever live down the Pineapple and the Hare. Even though I like all your responses in this blog? re the test controversy, you might consider communicating with other authors who don’t sell control of their works to basal readers or test “developers”-
I do enjoy your stories and have promoted them constantly when I taught children’s literature. On another matter: Has Wingman ever been republished? or are there plans to? I think it is one of your best.
A long time ago one summer I invited you to speak in Reston, Virginia to a group of nuns who were in a Master’s program at VPI&SU-a great adventure.
Thanks
I well remember that visit to Reston VA, and the cool nuns.
I know you’re sick of the whole test thing, but it took me a week to figure out what I wanted to say enough to blog about it.
I don’t mean to, as Jogn Hodgman says, buzz-market my blog; i only send this as a way of expressing what your works have meant to me.
Here’s the link: lenschiff.com/2012/04/28/a-specter-is-haunting-education-the-specter-of-tropical-fruit
Fnord,
Len
Nice.
i just read your book The Frankenbagel Monster and your humor is excelent.
But that book is supposed to be scary!
I will not comment about the New York State Pineapple Clothes test. I do want to thank you again for weblishing your new novel, _Bushman Lives_. I am enjoying the weekly chapters immensely! I also want to comment on the web site. The font and colors work to make the text easy to read, the images are always in place (and brilliantly illustrate the story), and the comment section always works. While these may sound like basic standards for a professional web site, you might be surprised at how many commercially run web sites do not live up to them. Congratulations and thanks to you and Webmaster Ed for a job stupendously well done!
(And you could probably cash in on the whole test fiasco by launching a line of produce clothing, starting with Pinkwater’s Patented Pineaple Sleeves).
Well this website is not professional or commercial. It has been Webmaster Ed's work of art all this time.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater:
I just want to say I absolutely love your work. You are a literary genius!!! My favorites are maybe the Snarkout Boys books or Borgel. Practically no one I know reads your books, but they all read the Hunger Games, which isn’t as good.
Wait, almost all of them read the Big Orange Splot which I think is part of the art curriculum at the local elementary school.
Anyway, I just want to say I really like your books and things.
P.S. You probably hear this all the time, but do you know where you can buy a book of your comic strip Norb? I think it’s really funny, but I could only find it in one place where it cost almost fifty bucks.
I have the best readers, not the most readers. I like it that way. Don't pay $50 for that NORB book! It's badly bound, and the pages tend to fall out. Sooner or later you'll come across a copy for $1.98. Thanks for your kind words.
I love listening to you on NPR with Scott Simon on Saturdays. The best is when you both read one of your books. I now have a new granddaughter, now 15 months old. What book(s) would you recommend for me to get her at this age. There are so many. Is there a way to search on a web site for age appropriate titles. Thanks.
Why not visit a book store, or the children's room at a public library, and look at actual books?
Mr. Pinkwater, I am a parent of two teenagers and a public school teacher. We love(d) reading your books and listening to you on the radio. I teach high school history which makes your hilarious and absurd stories and books even more entertaining and useful! However, rather than just dodging this issue about the misuse of your story, why don’t you actually speak out about the misuse of our students, their brains and this ridiculous emphasis on testing? That would show real acountability and contrition. And remember think, in world of robo-taught students, there will be no audience (or time alotted) for laughter and joy in the classroom. Is this the future you want for our children?
I was interviewed by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Daily News. I answered all their questions, and clearly expressed my views about standardized tests. You can easily find those interviews by Googling. I also posted an account of my experience with the test-making company here on the main page, and another as a post in the forum you addressed with your post. What do you think I am dodging? Also, how does high school history make my books even more entertaining and useful? Thanks for your kind words, and comments.
If a short man falls in love with a chicken, what should he do?
Candy corn is always a nice present. Good luck.
what was your favorite when you were young?
Vanilla.
