Jack Kent (1920–1985) had two distinct and successful careers: newspaper cartoonist and author of children’s books. For each of these he drew upon different aspects of his personality and life experiences. From 1950 to 1965 he wrote and drew King Aroo, a nationally syndicated comic strip beloved by fans for its combination of absurdity, fantasy, wordplay, and wit. The strip’s DNA was comprised of things Kent loved—fairytales, nursery rhymes, vaudeville, Krazy Kat, foreign languages, and puns. In 1968, he published his first children’s book, Just Only John, and began a career in kids’ books that would result in over sixty published works, among them such classics as The Fat Cat and There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon. Kent’s stories for children were funny but often arose from the dark parts of his life—an itinerant childhood, an unfinished education, two harrowing tours of duty in World War II, and a persistent lack of confidence—and tackled such themes as rejection, isolation, self-doubt, and the desire for transformation. Jack Kent: The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of a Comic Storyteller illuminates how Kent’s life experiences informed his art and his storytelling in both King Aroo and his children’s books. Paul V. Allen draws from archival research, brand-new interviews, and in-depth examinations of Kent’s work. Also included are many King Aroo comic strips that have never been reprinted in book form.

In the late 1950s, Ted Geisel took on the challenge of creating a book using only 250 unique first-grade words, something that aspiring readers would have both the ability and the desire to read. The result was an unlikely children's classic, The Cat in the Hat. But Geisel didn't stop there. Using The Cat in the Hat as a template, he teamed with Helen Geisel and Phyllis Cerf to create Beginner Books, a whole new category of readers that combined research-based literacy practices with the logical insanity of Dr. Seuss. The books were an enormous success, giving the world such authors and illustrators as P. D. Eastman, Roy McKie, and Stan and Jan Berenstain, and beloved bestsellers such as Are You My Mother?; Go, Dog. Go!; Put Me in the Zoo; and Green Eggs and Ham. The story of Beginner Books-and Ted Geisel's role as ""president, policymaker, and editor"" of the line for thirty years-has been told briefly in various biographies of Dr. Seuss, but I Can Read It All by Myself: The Beginner Books Story presents it in full detail for the first time. Drawn from archival research and dozens of brand-new interviews, I Can Read It All by Myself explores the origins, philosophies, and operations of Beginner Books from The Cat in the Hat in 1957 to 2019's A Skunk in My Bunk, and reveals the often-fascinating lives of the writers and illustrators who created them.

Eleanor Cameron (1912-1996) was an innovative and genre-defying author of children's fiction and children's literature criticism. From her beginnings as a librarian, Cameron went on to become a prominent and respected voice in children's literature, writing one of the most beloved children's science fiction novels of all time, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, and later winning the National Book Award for her time fantasy The Court of the Stone Children. In addition, Eleanor Cameron played an often vocal role in critical debates about children's literature. She was one of the first authors to take up literary criticism of children's novels and published two influential books of criticism, including The Green and Burning Tree. One of Cameron's most notable acts of criticism came in 1973, when she wrote a scathing critique of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl responded in kind, and the result was a fiery imbroglio within the pages of the Horn Book Magazine. Yet despite her many accomplishments, most of Cameron's books went out of print by the end of her life, and her star faded. This biography aims to reinsert Cameron into the conversation by taking an in-depth look at her tumultuous early life in Ohio and California, her unforgettably forceful personality and criticism, and her graceful, heartfelt novels. The biography includes detailed analysis of the creative process behind each of her published works and how Cameron's feminism, environmentalism, and strong sense of ethics are reflected in and represented by her writings. Drawn from over twenty interviews, thousands of letters, and several unpublished manuscripts in her personal papers, Eleanor Cameron is a tour of the most exciting and creative periods of American children's literature through the experience of one of its valiant purveyors and champions.

In the late 1950s, Ted Geisel took on the challenge of creating a book using only 250 unique first-grade words, something that aspiring readers would have both the ability and the desire to read. The result was an unlikely children's classic, The Cat in the Hat. But Geisel didn't stop there. Using The Cat in the Hat as a template, he teamed with Helen Geisel and Phyllis Cerf to create Beginner Books, a whole new category of readers that combined research-based literacy practices with the logical insanity of Dr. Seuss. The books were an enormous success, giving the world such authors and illustrators as P. D. Eastman, Roy McKie, and Stan and Jan Berenstain, and beloved bestsellers such as Are You My Mother?; Go, Dog. Go!; Put Me in the Zoo; and Green Eggs and Ham. The story of Beginner Books-and Ted Geisel's role as ""president, policymaker, and editor"" of the line for thirty years-has been told briefly in various biographies of Dr. Seuss, but I Can Read It All by Myself: The Beginner Books Story presents it in full detail for the first time. Drawn from archival research and dozens of brand-new interviews, I Can Read It All by Myself explores the origins, philosophies, and operations of Beginner Books from The Cat in the Hat in 1957 to 2019's A Skunk in My Bunk, and reveals the often-fascinating lives of the writers and illustrators who created them.

For the first decade of the 2000s it was nearly impossible to find an artist in the renowned Minneapolis-Saint Paul music scene that wasn't connected to Erik Appelwick, Eric Fawcett, John Hermanson, and/or Darren Jackson. As songwriters, performers, and producers, they formed the core of a musical collective that spanned genres - folk, power pop, R & B, electro-funk, and indie rock-and included the beloved bands Storyhill, Spymob, Alva Star, Kid Dakota, Vicious Vicious, Tapes 'n Tapes, and Olympic Hopefuls. Their thoughtful songwriting, well-crafted albums, and exciting live performances brought them to the precipice of achieving their rock 'n roll dreams. This shared biography-drawn from over thirty new interviews and hundreds of articles-documents the intersecting musical journeys of these four remarkable talents. It traces their paths as they converge and diverge, from playing air guitar to KISS records to rocking gyms in high school cover bands to touring the world and sharing stages with some of pop music's biggest names. Equal parts celebration and cautionary tale, here is an intimate chronicle of the rewards and pitfalls of life as an independent musician.

Jack Kent (1920–1985) had two distinct and successful careers: newspaper cartoonist and author of children’s books. For each of these he drew upon different aspects of his personality and life experiences. From 1950 to 1965 he wrote and drew King Aroo, a nationally syndicated comic strip beloved by fans for its combination of absurdity, fantasy, wordplay, and wit. The strip’s DNA was comprised of things Kent loved—fairytales, nursery rhymes, vaudeville, Krazy Kat, foreign languages, and puns. In 1968, he published his first children’s book, Just Only John, and began a career in kids’ books that would result in over sixty published works, among them such classics as The Fat Cat and There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon. Kent’s stories for children were funny but often arose from the dark parts of his life—an itinerant childhood, an unfinished education, two harrowing tours of duty in World War II, and a persistent lack of confidence—and tackled such themes as rejection, isolation, self-doubt, and the desire for transformation. Jack Kent: The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of a Comic Storyteller illuminates how Kent’s life experiences informed his art and his storytelling in both King Aroo and his children’s books. Paul V. Allen draws from archival research, brand-new interviews, and in-depth examinations of Kent’s work. Also included are many King Aroo comic strips that have never been reprinted in book form.

Eleanor Cameron (1912-1996) was an innovative and genre-defying author of children's fiction and children's literature criticism. From her beginnings as a librarian, Cameron went on to become a prominent and respected voice in children's literature, writing one of the most beloved children's science fiction novels of all time, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, and later winning the National Book Award for her time fantasy The Court of the Stone Children. In addition, Eleanor Cameron played an often vocal role in critical debates about children's literature. She was one of the first authors to take up literary criticism of children's novels and published two influential books of criticism, including The Green and Burning Tree. One of Cameron's most notable acts of criticism came in 1973, when she wrote a scathing critique of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl responded in kind, and the result was a fiery imbroglio within the pages of the Horn Book Magazine. Yet despite her many accomplishments, most of Cameron's books went out of print by the end of her life, and her star faded. This biography aims to reinsert Cameron into the conversation by taking an in-depth look at her tumultuous early life in Ohio and California, her unforgettably forceful personality and criticism, and her graceful, heartfelt novels. The biography includes detailed analysis of the creative process behind each of her published works and how Cameron's feminism, environmentalism, and strong sense of ethics are reflected in and represented by her writings. Drawn from over twenty interviews, thousands of letters, and several unpublished manuscripts in her personal papers, Eleanor Cameron is a tour of the most exciting and creative periods of American children's literature through the experience of one of its valiant purveyors and champions.