Let's Go Swimming with Mr. Sillypants
By (Author) M.K. Brown
The New York Review of Books, Inc
The New York Review of Books, Inc
14th November 2023
14th November 2023
United States
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage: Personal and social topics
Picture storybooks: bedtime stories, sleep and dreams
Hardback
40
Width 208mm, Height 279mm
A silly, whimsical book about dreaming and getting over one's fears by a celebrated American cartoonist and illustrator. Mr. Sillypants is going to learn how to swim tomorrow. He's excited! It's about time. But he starts to get nervous. "What if I step on a fish" He asks his goldfish. "What if all the other people in the class are better than I am" He says aloud as he makes his favorite bedtime snack, a pickle and peanut butter sandwich. By the time he goes to bed, Mr. Sillypants is not sure swimming lessons are such a good idea after all. When Mr. Sillypants falls asleep, he dreams he's out for a walk, when he suddenly plummets into a big pond. "I can't swim!" he yells. Soon though, his worries about swimming are far from his mind- he morphs into a fish, and chases after deep sea sandwiches and flees from an enormous pickle monsters. The next morning, Mr. Sillypants wakes up with a start-maybe his swimming lessons are going to be okay after all. Told with warm humor and illustrated with stunning watercolors, M. K. Brown has crafted a hilarious adventure out of an everyday fear. This silly-looking man can teach us all how to conquer scary things by laughing right at them.
M.K. Brown is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and children's author. A major presence during the heyday of National Lampoon, her cartoons have also appeared in many outlets, both mainstream and underground- from Wimmen's Comix to The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker. The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco featured a retrospective of her work in 2014-2015. Brown has also been involved with television projects, including a collaboration with comedians Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray, and creating an animated series for the Tracey Ullman Show. Her children's books include Let's Go Camping with Mr. Sillypants and Sally's Room, and collaborations with author Duncan Ball. She lives in Fairfax, California.