I'm back from summer vacation. I didn't physically go any where, but it was nice to take a mental break.
But now that I'm back it is time to start talking about children's literature again.
And I'm going to start with Lane Smith.
He seems grumpy. 
I flipped through Big Plans (by Bob Shea) with Smith's illustrations at the library this summer. It features an Opie-looking kid whose plans to get his own way morph into a fiendish plot to take over the United States. The book is funny, I suppose, but was just a passing read.
But yesterday I checked out Smith's latest - It's A Book. And that's when I began to worry about Smith. He's always been edgy, but edgy in a way that makes me laugh
(insert The Stinky Cheese Man here). I suppose this book is edgy, but instead, it seems peeved - or perhaps pissed is the correct term.
Yes, this book is tongue and cheek. Yes, there is a part of me that cheers for the book loving monkey and the jeering mouse who are fed up with the technology-dependant jackass.... but.... I just think this one seems bitter.
So, in my concern over Smith, I visited his website.
The good news is that he seems just fine! And after reading his curious pages, I no longer feel concerned. I think I know exactly what he means.
