Kids and Teen Blog

Tag: Bart King

Things That Make You Say, “Awww!”

by Guest
Kids / September 20, 2011

A guest post by Bart King

Writing Cute! A Guide to All Things Adorable (for readers 9-13 and immature adults) put me in an analytical frame of mind whenever I saw a baby or a duckling. This led me to conclusions about what we find cute. And if you’re good, I’ll share some of them with you.

For this guest blog post (thanks Raincoast Books!), I thought I’d consider the very first thing I saw today that I found cute. And here it is:

My friend took this photo after her son’s Boy Scout troop lost a sailboat racing tournament (hence his tragic expression). But just as the portrait of his grief was snapped, the Scout’s sister joyously photobombed it.

I find this cute, and perhaps you agree with me. But why? What is it about this shot that makes us respond with an “Awww!”? First, just by virtue of being YOUNG, these two kids get automatic Cuteness Points. A scientist named Konrad Lorenz studied cuteness and found that almost everyone automatically thinks babies are cute. It doesn’t stop there. Anything that even LOOKS like a baby is also cute. As a child ages, he or she looks less like a baby, but there are enough reminders (chubby cheeks, smooth skin, large noggins) that we are still favorably predisposed to kids like these two.

But CONTRAST is the main reason I find this photo cute. It turns out that contrast can really enhance cuteness. So because a little girl is little, she’ll look really cute if she holds something BIG. That means a five-year-old girl holding a giant inflatable killer whale is probably cuter than if she were just standing there empty-handed.

image credit Jennifer Kalis

Anytime a little kid wears something big , the contrast is funny AND cute. Like little boys in football uniforms: No matter how well the equipment fits, those helmets always look too large. Cute! And here, this young man is in an official scouting uniform. He’s engaged in some official business regarding a small sailboat. But his thousand-yard stare is SO serious, we can’t take him seriously. And he is obviously utterly unamused by his sister’s antics. For her part, the grinning ginger jester provides a perfectly contrasting counterpoint . . . and it’s just darned cute!

In conclusion, please buy my book. It’s the cutest thing you can do today.

Bart King in Toronto!

by Dan
Humour + Kids / June 10, 2010

Earlier this week, author Bart King came to Toronto to talk about his latest book The Big Book of Gross Stuff!

The trip started at 6:30am (gross!) with a stop off at Breakfast TV in Dundas Square where Bart discussed eating squirmy mealworms — fried with breadcrumbs and olive oil (and uh, yeah, officially G.R.O.S.S.) — with host Dina Pugliese.

Dina was thrilled as you can see: 

Bart also paid quick visits to the nice folks at Today's Parent, The Magazine, and The World's Biggest Bookstore before heading off for a hilarious chat about slime eels (ick!), underwear (yuk!), and leeches on eyeballs (vomit!), with Carlos on YTV's The Zone! 

Come back soon Bart! 

Books by Bart:

• The Big Book of Gross Stuff
• The Big Book of Girl Stuff
• The Big Book of Boy Stuff
• The Pocket Guide to Mischief
• The Pocket Guide to Girl Stuff
• The Pocket Guide to Boy Stuff
• The Pocket Guide to Magic
• The Pocket Guide to Games
• The Pocket Guide to Brilliance

AND coming this Fall:

Bart's King-Sized Book of Fun

Jam-packed with awesome jokes, silly trivia, cool activities, mysterious puzzles, and much more, this book is the perfect companion for kids everywhere!

Available from Gibbs Smith and Raincoast in September 2010! 

High Fart Content

by Sarah
Humour + Kids / March 15, 2010

Every month, readers across the country enter the newsletter contest to win new books published by Raincoast's client publishers. I love getting feedback on the books I send and today I received an email from Pat in Waterloo, Ontario, winner of the February draw for Bart King's The Big Book of Gross Stuff (which Siobhan blogged about last week). He said:

I am now convinced that putting the word "FART" in any book will get boys to read.

Dion [Pat's 8-year-old] has barely put the book down, and has read to me the same sections at least two or three times with a laugh that brings a smile to all parents' faces." The Big Book of Gross Stuff "has brought a lot of laughter into our house over the weekend and it has a little boy reading it over and over."

Lucky Pat will get to fully enjoy the bounty of Bart's latest book on Wednesday; apparently Dion is creating a gift of fake vomit using Cheez Whiz and green food colouring. Happy birthday, Dad! Can you say ewwww?

If you'd like to learn more about Raincoast's latest offerings, and take a chance at winning some cool (and gross!) books, sign up for the Kids' Book newsletter.