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Okay, you all. I just gotta<\/em> write about another Bruce Eric Kaplan picture book, because whenever he writes and illustrates a new one, I’m reminded how wonderfully weird and refreshing they are. I see a lot of picture books on a regular basis, you see, and some of them start to blur together in my vision, but when one of his shows up, I know I’m likely in for a laugh. <\/p>\n Let me back up first. Kaplan is a cartoonist, whose work regularly appears in the The New Yorker<\/em>, and since he’s known for his darker humor, his picture books have a touch of that as well (which means, of course, I’m going to be drawn to them). Dark humor in picture books is an easy thing to get wrong, though, yet Kaplan hasn’t made a misstep yet. At least, not in my book anyway. His debut picture book was 2010’s Monsters Eat Whiny Children<\/em>, featured here<\/a><\/strong> at 7-Imp, and this was followed last year by Cousin Irv from Mars<\/em>, which I wrote about here<\/a><\/strong> at Kirkus<\/em> (and followed up here<\/a><\/strong> with art). <\/p>\n The new one, Meaniehead<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, came out in June (Simon & Schuster) and features more of his dark, hyperbolic humor and wry (and wise) observations on childhood. Henry and Eve are siblings who are experiencing an ugly new phase (as you can see above), involving lots of arguing. One day, an argument over an action figure (“There’s nothing sillier than fighting about what belongs to whom, but no kids and even fewer adults know that”) leads to a broken lamp, a wrecked bedroom, and the destruction of the house, the neighborhood, the local toy store, the library, the pizza place, the beauty parlor, the park, and all the town’s buildings, really. After a snack break, the intensive arguing continues until … well, I can’t give it all away, but some Texas football teams get involved … <\/p>\n <\/p>\n … and in the end the world explodes. <\/p>\n That’s a Bruce Eric Kaplan book for you. Though you can never expect a moral with his books (thank goodness), there is<\/em> some remorse, post-apocalypse. Best of all, he seems to really get<\/em> those intense childhood fights. (My late brother and I grew up to be the best of friends, but boy howdy did we have some doozies when we were younger. I remember an argument over macaroni that is best not discussed.)<\/p>\n MEANIEHEAD. Copyright \u00a9 2014 by Bruce Eric Kaplan. Illustrations used by permission of the publisher, Simon & Schuster, New York.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> I might have to listen to this great conversation<\/a><\/strong> with poet Marie Howe multiple times. This is excellent on so many levels. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> I took my girls this weekend to this Coretta Scott King event<\/a><\/strong> at the Nashville Public Library, and they got to take writing and art workshops — and I finally got to meet in person<\/em> R. Gregory Christie<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> Reading about this smart idea<\/a><\/strong> (putting a social worker on staff at a D.C. library to work with homeless patrons) led me to this podcast<\/a><\/strong>. It’s from the Dallas Public Library; it’s about homelessness; and it’s hosted by a young man who is himself homeless. I’m on episode three at this point; so far, it’s interesting stuff. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2014\/08\/meaniehead.IN03left.jpg\")
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