Product Description

A collection of stories for wise young people and immature old people, written by favorites of all ages: Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy), John Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man), Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, American Gods), and many others. Each story features color illustrations by a different artist, including Barry Blitt, Marcel Dzama, and Lane Smith.

Lemony Snicket adds an introduction and a story of his own—at least, he starts one, and then it is up to the reader to finish. The story appears on the inside of the dust jacket; you add your own thrilling, joyful, or disgusting ending. The jacket then folds up into a fancy envelope, addressed to us. Our favorite ending will receive a fabulous prize of some sort.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #220787 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781932416350
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. This is a charming, funny anthology from little-indie-engine-that-could. McSweeney's boasts an all-star list of contributors from both adult books and children's literature. The collection begins with a hilarious introduction by noted misanthrope Lemony Snicket, who parodies various kid-lit genres (a talking paperweight, a long-division worm who makes math fun, etc.). This sort of kid-friendly irreverence marks the best of these stories. Kelly Link tells the story of a boy who encounters a thoughtful, verbose monster on a summer camp overnight. And Nick Hornby proves his versatility with a quirky tale about a young resident of the world's smallest nation. Some of the stories from adult-book writers aren't as effective--while Jonathan Safran Foer's story (taken from his new novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) is evocative of childhood, its real audience is adult. But rarely does an anthology contain so much good stuff from big names, and whether they are drawn to the book by Jeanne DuPrau or Jon Sciezka or Snicket, middle-grade readers will likely emerge from this with new favorite authors. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap
Contributors include: Barry Blitt, Juliette Borda, Peter de Sève, Shelley Dick, Henrik Drescher, Jeanne DuPrau, Marcel Dzama, Jonathan Safran Foer, Clement Freud, Neil Gaiman, David Heatley, Brett Helquist, Nick Hornby, Richard Kennedy, James Kochalka, David Levinson Wilk, Kelly Link, George Saunders, Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, Lemony Snicket, Rachell Sumpter, Sam Swope, and Jan Van Der Veken.

Customer Reviews

Drop everything and buy this book!
What more can one say about a book that sports brand new, fresh-off-the presses stories by the likes of Nick Hornby, Neil Gaiman and Jon Scieszka?

Plenty.

How about an introduction by Lemony Snicket, that starts: "An introduction to a book of stories is like a warning printed on a bottle in a medicine cabinet....," with funky illustrations by Brett Helquist?

What if Lemony Snicket has also written, on the inside of the dust jacket, the beginnings of a story that, when completed and submitted by some lucky reader, will be eligible for a grand prize? The dust jacket is designed so that it can double as an envelope for your submission, but I really wouldn't want to do that if I were you, since this book is going to be a collector's item. Actually, I wish I hadn't told you about any of this, since I'm going to be buying up as many copies as I can get my hands on.

My two favorite stories are "Seymour's Last Wish," by Sam Swope, and "The ACES Phone," by Jeanne DuPrau. The former features a young lad - the hapless Seymour - whose mother favors cats over him, until a fairy grants Seymour three wishes and his options expand; the latter introduces the reader to a cell phone found on a playground that has unusual spiritual powers with respect to canines.

Want to know more? Well, for starters, there used to be a Sixth Borough in New York City. There's an explanation and a fold-out map in case you're wondering what happened to it.

There is also an Excessively Difficult Crossword Puzzle, for those who like such things. I suspect Mr. Snicket had a hand in this crossword puzzle, crafted by David Levinson Wilk, but you'll have to make up your own mind on that one. And if the answer to one of the questions is "Count Olaf," I certainly didn't tell you.

Just Great
I told myself I bought this book for my son but actually planning to keep it for myself. It is a great collection, all of the stories are charming, fun and interesting.
However, I wasn't allowed to keep it for myself as my 7 year old son loved it even more than me. He read the Neil Gaiman story first but then got sucked in and spent last Saturday morning reading it - I don't think you can ask for a more ringing endorsement than that.

The scary, the funny, and the just plain weird
Take some excellent, renowmed writers, have them write a collection of stories for kids, and this is what you get. An eclectic, fun, sometimes creepy mix of tales that those of all ages are likely to enjoy.

While writers like Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman contribute, the best effort comes from Kelly Link, in his tale titled, "Monster." Although written for children, this is one of the funniest short stories I've read in quite some time - funny, scary, straightforward in its telling - and it's the highlight of an outstanding collection.

The only thing that keeps me from giving this 5 stars is the fact that there are a couple of weak stories that hurt the overall collection. Still, I'd highly recommend this for readers of any age. You might not like every story, but I guarantee that there will be several that catch your fancy.