Kids and Teen Blog

Tag: Gross

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.

5 Fun Things To Do During March Break

by Siobhan
Kids / March 09, 2010

March Break is coming up! No teachers! No homework! No school! No plans! No idea what to do.... Hey, wait a second...

If you're looking for fun stuff to do over the break, we've got a few ideas for you!

1. Doodle the Days Away

If your teacher is always telling you to stop doodling in the margins, now's your time to open your pencil case (or paintbox!) and go to town.

Here are a few fun, crazy doodle books to get you started... These are not your typical activity books. Colouring outside the lines is definitely recommended!

Looking for something wild and wooly? How about something hairy and scary? My Beastly Book of Monsters: 150 Ways To Doodle, Scribble, Color And Draw is full of scary and silly illustrations and activities: tie a monster's shoes together, draw a creature that's part monster and part ostrich, or scare a monster with a...mouse?!

Visit the Beastly Book mini-site to download and print some sample pages from the book.
 

If there is such a thing as a Doodle Master, Taro Gomi is it! Doodles, Scribbles and Squiggles will keep you busily drawing, colouring and laughing for hours.

Visit Chronicle Book's Taro Gomi mini-site to download some sample activities from his books.

Pocket Doodles for Boys and Pocket Doodles for Girls are a brand-new series: each is packed with over 250 pages of doodling and writing prompts to get you started. Soon you'll be designing a roller coaster, writing messages to put into bottle, turning a beauty queen into a flesh-eating zombie... and who knows what else!
 

2. Bake a Cake!

If you saw the Alice in Wonderland movie (or even better, read the book!) you know that tea parties are not just for little girls. So put on your apron, mess up the kicthen, then kick back and enjoy some delicious homemade treats!

To get you started, here's a recipe for "Tea Cup" Cupcakes from the cookbook, Pink Princess Cupcakes.
 

3. Be Disgusting

If pink and sugary are not your style, not to worry -- we've got you covered, too.

The Big Book of Gross Stuff is basically an encyclopedia for all things revolting -- from boogers, B.O., and belches to sneezes, diseases, and demon cheeses... To sum up the book in one word: EWWWWWW!

Bart King is also sharing some slimey finds over on his Ultra Gross blog.

4. Learn Some Weird Skills

And if your parents beg you to cut out the GROSS stuff, you can always compromise by just getting WEIRD.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Weird Junior Edition is a handy guide to all the stuff they just don't teach you in school.

Find out how to act like a zombie, survive a Mars landing, fight a werewolf, deal with a Bigfoot sighting, outwit a leprechaun, prepare for time travel -- you know, the basics.
 

5. Dazzle! Amaze! Wear a Cape!

And last but not least, something really fun to over March Break: MAGIC!

Magic Up Your Sleeve: Amazing Illusions, Tricks, and Science Facts You'll Never Believe teaches you a bunch of cool tricks -- and also reveals the science behind magic.

Helaine Becker -- author of Boredom Blasters -- shows you how the world of magic is actually based on simple scientific principles of illusion and perception to leave audiences baffled. So not only can you amaze your friends and family with your magic skills -- you can wow them with your genius scientific mind, too! And they thought you wouldn't learn something in your time out of the classroom!