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Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
Many, many moons ago you did a fascinating piece on NPR about the smartest dogs in the world. I think you had acquired two of these geniuses and it may well have been before Maxines I and II, even before Lulu. (It might have been Lulu, but it seems they were a tad more cooperative.) I am interested in finding such a dog for my son who has autism spectrum disorder.
Thank you for any help you can give,
Don
It was once explained to me that nature breeds to a norm--there are smart dogs, and less-than-smart dogs, but the range between them is not usually great, and most dogs are somewhere in the middle. While Lulu is sort of incredibly intelligent, what she became really has to do with what we made of her, what our expectations were, and how we were able to let her understand what those expectations were. (We like to pretend she is a genius, but it's really us). In the hands of someone less experienced, and having not observed dogs as long and closely as we have, she might be a holy terror, instead of the easiest puppy we ever raised, and a complete delight to live with. Part of what makes Lulu so clever is her primitiveness--a real, honest-to-goodness arctic sled dog, from the arctic, the wolf instincts are strong in her. But I promise, that is not what you want. Everything has to be negotiated with her, and the fact that we appreciate her sense of humor is important. What you want is a dog who is fixated on trying to find out what it can do to please you. Golden retrievers and poodles might be breeds you could start looking at. And there is a currently popular crossbreed, the "golden doodle," people rave about. People tend to love Labradors--and I don't know why, (notwithstanding we have one), maybe it is because they would lay down their lives for you, when not being clumsy oafs. Maybe you can try to arrange for your son to interact with various types and breeds of dogs, and let him see what seems to suit him. Any dog you wind up with will need to be trained, and as we reiterated frequently in our book, SUPERPUPPY, what happens, (that is, what you cause to happen), to a dog is way more important than what kind of dog it is.
Mr Pinkwater,
I am writing you in the middle of my god-only-knows-how-many-times re-read of Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars.
After telling my wife about how influentual your book was to me as a 10 year old, she tracked a copy and bought it for me around 6 years ago.Every couple of years or so I pick it up and can immediately see what drew me in and affected me.
Your book made me feel confident about being a Leonard Neeble, a skinny short Jewish kid that wasn't into football or ninja stars like the rest of the kids in my school. And I ran with it. I made my own opinions--decided who was worth being friends with for myself, not based on some mass clique histeria. And to this day, continue to seek out obscure facts about all sorts of subjects because it's interesting, and you never know who you are going to surprise, or what can come from that knowledge.
I now have children of my own (7,7,1 years old) and I look forward to introducing them to your work.
Thank you for writing that book. It makes me smile to this day. If you are ever in Connecticut I'd love to buy you a beer.
Jason Unger
Father, Artist, Creative Director, Nice guy
Milford Connecticut is a neat town. I have been there twice. Both times I had breakfast in that little place with all the photos of buildings on fire--is it still there?
In regards to my firstborn son's wealth: he and his sisters before him have somehow required every red cent his father and I have ever earned, and so, the answer is, sadly, no, he does not possess a large sum of money. Reasons you might want to visit his particular school include but are not limited to these facts: an original one-room school house still exists on the property and a bear once visited the playground. However fascinating those occurences may be though, the fact remains that the students have never met an author who might, like Mason Mintz, share something simply because someone asked him to, simply because that's just the kind of guy he is. So, in the spirit of Kevin Spoon, I'll just go ahead and ask, "Daniel Pinkwater, will you visit my son's school?"
You do right to ask--it never hurts. No, I cannot come. There are too many demands on my time. Ask me next year--maybe things will have slowed down.
Hi, Daniel -
Even though I am 10 years old and can read to myself just fine, my Dad still reads to me at bedtime. This is our custom. We really need to keep finding books that both of us enjoy.
We really loved "The Neddiad", as well as the all of the stories in "Four by Daniel Pinkwater."
Can you recommend a couple more of your personal favorites from the rest of your works. Thank you,
Sophia Sommers
I like being read to, and I also like reading aloud. All my books are written for the ear. In fact, my wife often reads parts of my books to me, (also parts of hers), while I am writing them. So, if you like what you've read so far, you may like the rest--you read 4 FANTASTIC NOVELS--there is another like that called 5 NOVELS, and there is LIZARD MUSIC, and a lot of other stuff. You have one of the better sort of fathers.
i've recently introduced my nephew to your works, and he has a question for you:
is Melvin in Borgel the same person as Uncle Mel in Yobgorgle?
I honestly don't know who any of these people are, or how they got my address. But it doesn't matter what I think--what readers think is always more important than what writers think.
I am a graduate student who wants to use your book The Big Orange Splot as a source for one of my assignments. I remember reading this book when I was in second grade. I was going through my sister's library when I ran across this book. The pages are now yellowed. When our children saw the book they immediately begged me to read Mr. Plumbean to them. That is why I think it is important for me to use this book in my assignment on children's literature. My professors's stipulation is that we must use award winning authors. I could not find any information about The Big Orange Splot to see if it received an award. Could you tell me any awards some of your children's books have received? Thank you for your time.
Clarinda
Your professor seems to be a fool. Please tell him or her I said so. Books that win awards are neither the best nor the worst, but the ones the individuals voting could all agree on. Books of mine have won awards, but so what? I don't even think about things like that. However, I will tell you that I myself received the Good Conduct Medal at the Black-Foxe Military Institute in 1952, which was an honor bestowed only on the deserving and the few.
First hello Daniel Pinkwater. I hope you are having a fun time writing stories because they are fun when you read them. I just want to tell you I don't know how to read but my mommy reads your stories to me and they are really great. I like all your books, so hope I can hear another one of your books again.
Love your books!!
Kelsey
(transcribed by her mother because she doesn't know how to write either just yet.)
Later, when you learn how, you can read to your mother, and explain also.
I'm a kindergarten teacher and love your book, The Big Orange Splot. My colleague and I had been looking to get additional copies without luck. However Scholastic now has 16,000 copies of it. Curiousity has gotten the better of me--did you recently publish a bunch more because we heard that title was out of print.
Thanks so much!
Ah, you think I have something to do with decisions Scholastic makes! Or any publisher. Actually it is an easy mistake to make. You are a human, equipped with a brain, and capable of rational thought. I am one too! Publishers are companies. Companies do what companies do. In this case I am very happy they did what you say they did. Now watch them decide to dump all 16,000 in the East River, or lose them in the warehouse, or send me a letter saying the book is being put out of print, and offering to let me buy up remaindered copies, and then when I order a couple hundred telling me they and sorry but they have all been shredded by mistake. I suggest you get as many as you can, while they can be gotten, store some, and sell the rest on Ebay the next time the book becomes unavailable.
Around 22 years ago I wrote a letter to say that I'd discovered you're books in the library in Dunedin, New Zealand and was very much in love with them. I just wanted to say nothing much changes... and I'm glad you are still around and writing I'm looking forward to reading your books to my own kids now. Gypsy
PS Thanks for the postcard you sent me way back then... I treasured it for a VERY long time!
I am still around and writing--and I checked recently, and found that New Zealand is still there! Hooray for the status quo!
What does one need to do to invite you to visit an elementary school? I'd offer you my first born son, but he's the reason I'd like to invite you.
His school is just a stone's throw across the river from you. Would you consider visiting?
Does your firstborn son possess a large sum of money? That can be a factor--I like to charge a.) a lot, or b.) nothing--my choice. Other factors include geographical proximity, and whether there is some reason I would want to visit a particular school, library, woodland mushroom circle, prison, hardware store, etc.
Mr. DP,
When I think "DP", my mind automatically associates the initials with "death penalty".
So, are you for or against the death penalty?
I am against answering questions from people whose minds make such unfortunate associations.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I am very happy that you are finally writing a book with a girl as its main character (the Yggysey). The Snarkout Boys series did have Rat, but she was not the MAIN character. Likewise, Henrietta was female, but she was not human and couldn't speak.
Thank you,
A fan
Actually, forthcoming are _two_ books with female main characters--one happens to be a chicken, but she speaks, and the other is someone you will recognize.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
Just a quick question regarding "Dancing Larry" and "Sleepover Larry" books.
Are Bear number one and Bear number three actualy Irving and Muktuck?
Thanks your friends
Rachel & Hannah
It would seem quite likely, would it not?
Dear D.P.,
A while ago (like 8 years) I heard you and Scott Simon read parts of "Henry Hikes to Fitchburg," and I liked it so much that I bought 2 copies: one for a friend's child and one for a future child that I was confident my wife and I would one day have.
Well, Henry Hikes is now a part of our repertoire, as well as "Big Orange Splot" and "Two Bad Bears." (We call our two boys Irving and Muktuk).
Thanks to you, our older son is convinced that our front yard would be perfect alligator habitat, and has started digging a moat in preparation for our trip to the zoo to collect our new reptile friend. We hate to disappoint him. Any advice?
Sincerely,
Dad of Muktuk
You should be able to find much information on the web about preparing suitable environments for crocodilians. More important are guidelines for selecting same. Temperament is the first consideration.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for playing my song on your podcast!
I have another cat related song on PMN called Pretty Kitty that you might like too!
Thanks, again.
I'll bet I do. You have Webmaster Ed to thank for playing your very excellent song on the podcast. Bravo! Bravo! Great stuff.
I have searched high, low, and elsewhere for the words to a song (or a skit) by Jimmy Durante, the only excerpt of which I remember is:
..."one tooth, a half-a tooth, no tooth, a whole tooth..."
I play banjo and guitar (one at a time) and have a small skiffle band. I have been invited to the retirement party of our dentist of many years, and I'd like to sing, recite or otherwise vocalize that number at the affair.
Your help will be appreciated.
...Bill Hildebrandt
Sorry not to be of any help--I don't know the song. How about Bridge Over Troubled Waters?
Dear Mr. Pinkwater:
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you as a child growing up my favorite book was "The Big Orange Splot" I have great admiration for you as a writer and as a teacher i try to find time to read your literature to my students every chance i get.
Thank YOu,
Dayna M. DiPreta
Occasionally we hear from great teachers here--as in this instance.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I have recently broken my wrist but that does not keep me from reading your boks. I bought the Neddiad and I love it. My favorite line is "Somebody eat that kid".
-Daniel Yim a.k.a Bassoonfreak007
While your wrist is mending you might see if you can find a baritone harmonica and learn to play it one-handed. If you get good at it you will be the one called when the orchestra wants to play a piece that calls for a baritone harmonica. Hint: use chapstick before playing the overture to William Tell.
Here I am, trying to express my regard for your existence by possibly enlightening you to the existence of "The Rabbi's Cat," a strangely wonderful graphic novel by Joann Sfarr (and its sequel)and do you read it? No. You use the excuse that you are writing books, training dogs, writing to fans, messing around on NPR, and generally overachieving. Aren't you ashamed?
Howard Cowan
Two emotions I never feel are shame and guilt--this may be because I am defective and a monster, or because I am careful not to do anything to be ashamed or guilty about. I do sometimes feel embarrassment, very often for others, such as ones who try to use this forum for purposes of promotion.
I heard your reading of "A Visitor for Bear" on NPR, and your theory that bears are proxies for adults in childrens' books. I would like to mention Blueberries for Sal, in which a girl, Sal, mistakes a bear for her mother, and a baby bear mistakes Sal's mother for the mother bear. This corroborates your theory, and suggests that books written for bear cubs feature humans as proxies for fully-grown bears.
Bears and humans, humans and bears--it's so complicated.
