Sandbox World

I am getting a bit frustrated lately with the recycling of characters and stories. We had grey, green, and back to grey and green once…

How to Build an Igloo: And Other Snow Shelters Snow. I just said it. It’s around the corner and this year I am prepared. If…

The Rejection Collection Vol. 2: The Cream of the Crap One man’s garbage is another man’s gold, or in this case a rejection pile of…

Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children’s Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became An American Icon Along the Way. Can you believe it, it’s been…

Wired magazine is out already this week and they have the coolest issue ever about the invasion of Manga and how it conquered North America.…

Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!: Cartoonist Ignores Helpful Advice With all the hype about biographies on cartoonists, this slipped under the radar of sorts.…

Schulz and Peanuts CD: A Biography The audio version of the newest book on Charles Schulz is very compelling to listen to. With the latest…

Freckleface Strawberry If you can act or sing you can write children’s books it seems. Add Julianne Moore as the latest celebrity to the hat…

Erector Spykee Spy Robot This has to be the coolest toy for a kid, espionage at its best. What little eyes can pry on with this…

Do You Know What I’m Going to Do Next Saturday? Did you ever beat more than one kid at a time? Well, I’m going to…

  Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography Talk about a grumpy old man, seems old Charlie Schulz had a few skeletons in his closet and Carl…

Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis the Menace 1957-1958 (Vol. 4) Peanuts was cerebral in many levels. Hank Ketcham’s Dennis the Menace was a one panel fast paced…

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain Seems only like yesterday when when the world was divided by the iron curtain. The Wall: Growing…

Pippi Longstocking As import characters go, Pippi Longstocking, has a certain appeal to young girls as being a tomboy type of hero. I don’t think…

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art Here is a book for kids and those who want to either draw…

In robotic terms, the best way to describe Astro Boy would be Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein were a scientist creates life not of rotten flesh but from…

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography David Michaelis’s biography, "Schulz and Peanuts," is a bag of mixed nuts. Sooner or later somebody is going to rattle…

If there were a place anybody would want to be in November till December for the holidays, it would have to be New York. You…

Comic Art 9 Keep your eyes on the prize. At one time getting the free prize in a box of cereal was nirvana. You would…

Skelly the Skeleton Girl Jimmy Pickering works his fingers to the bone and in the process has become a cutesy macabre illustrator with his Skelly the…

The Tin Man is coming. Here is a brave new spin on the The Wizard of Oz by the Sc-Fi Channel. Richard Dreyfuss stars in…

The Boy with Two Belly Buttons My 8 year daughter is curious about anatomy in general. She came home last night and asked me why…

Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating Parents are always trying to find ways to tell picky eaters to eat properly…

Charlie Brown will get a rock once again this Halloween but PBS will get the life of Charlie Schulz for the American Master series this…

Dog Trick or Cat Treat: Pets Dress Up for Halloween I will never understand dog owners who dress up there dogs, now they have gone…