Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson is the author of The Family Fang, Perfect Little World, and Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. He's quickly become one of my favorite authors, but I especially love his short stories. I had a chance to see him speak at a local university, and he was down to earth and very level-headed about being a writer. After being in an MFA program, I've started to hate stories with that typical MFA-touch of having no real resolution, and no real point. Kevin Wilson's short stories are the opposite of that. They bring up interesting, bizarre ideas and make you think, and leave you with your imagination in overdrive.

My two faves!

The Family Fang: The Fangs are a family of artists, creating pandemonium in public and filming the confusion. Kind of like a four person flash mob, before there were flash mobs. Annie and Buster participate with their parents as children, but as they grow up, they grow tired of a life of hoaxes. Both children move on, but when they’re down on their luck, they come home. Their parents ask them to participate in one final artwork, but can the kids give up all they’ve worked for towards getting away from this life? Very amusing, deep, and interesting. Wilson is a must-read.

Perfect Little World: Izzy gets pregnant by her high school art teacher, and isn’t sure what her small town can offer her after graduation. When a unique opportunity presents itself, Izzy has to take part. Even if it means promising ten years to a sociological experiment in which her child wouldn’t necessarily be hers, but raised equally by 18 other people. The story is just as multi-faceted as it sounds, and Wilson’s character development is amazing. I would love to get inside of Wilson’s mind. His stories are so vibrant and creative; beautifully written prose that borders on genre - usually sci-fi - but staying mainstream. I recommend this book to everyone, regardless of reading tastes or general interest.

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: I'll be honest - the title and cover art grabbed my attention for this book, but I'm so glad it happened that way. These are some of the best, most innovative and interesting short stories I've ever read. The first story pulled me in and each of the following were just as fascinating. Wilson writes in a world where there is a company of stand-in grandmothers for families who aren't ready to tell their children that granny has passed on, where letters must be manually sorted in a Scrabble factory, where a museum of whatnot is a setting for love. Another book I'll be recommending to everyone.

Harry and Clare's Amazing Staycation

Harry and Clare's Amazing Staycation

by Ted Staunton, illustrated by Mika Song

This beautiful picture book came just in time for spring break! Their family is not going out of town for vacation, so Harry and Clare have to find their own fun. When the rain keeps them indoors, they rely on their imaginations even more.

Clare, being older, takes the lead on these imaginary trips, leaving Harry to do the grunt work. She bosses Harry around all week, until he decides to take the matter into his own hands and show Clare that he's more than just her sidekick!

I love the realism the book is framed on - that not all families can or will go out of town on school breaks. Instead of whining about this fact, Harry and Clare set themselves up for adventure. I think this will inspire a lot of children to find fun in what's around them.

Big Friends #UnlockTheirImagination

October's #kidlitpicks theme is Unlock Their Imagination. So many books came to mind with this theme because picture books are one of the best ways to explore imagination! I thought about books starring imaginary friends, like The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat, Dotty by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Julia Denos, and Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer and Oliver Jeffers, which I've featured before.

Recently we've read so many clever picture books that engage children's imaginations, whether the books asks for the child to search for a hidden detail in each picture (Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug!), answer questions posed in the text (Trashy Town), or just broaden their horizons with new vocabulary and interesting illustrations.

On our quest, we found a great book about real friends, Birt and Etho, who use their imaginations to transform boxes into...anything else! Birt loves his best friend and how their imaginations fit together to make all their days fun. When a new boy, Shu, wants to join in with the box-fun, Etho welcomes him, but Birt isn't so sure.

Underneath all of the box imagination fun, Big Friends by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies is a gorgeous, touching picture book about the fragility of friendships and how they can grow.

A great read alike for Big Friends is Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. We have the board book, so it was a natural progression to step up to a bigger, more involved picture book. In Not a Box, a bunny plays by himself, imagining a simple box is a race car, a boat, and more. In Big Friends, two boys play together to imagine what a box can be for them.

Check out other books to #unlocktheirimagination on the homepage @kidlitpicks, and tag your favorite #imagination books to be featured!

Imaginary Friends

I think today was my favorite storytime I've had with SRVS! The theme was "imaginary friends" - we've all had them, and some of us still do! We talked about that for a few minutes, and then I read Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. The class remembered Oliver Jeffers from other programs, like when we read The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home. They also remembered that we read The Incredible Book Eating Boy at the first storytime! I love Imaginary Fred so much, I made a rave review video about it for A Book A Minute.

Next I showed them the Beekle cover, and then took off the dust jacket. The room seriously gasped! This is the most beautiful book I've ever seen. The gorgeous cover made the class eager to read the book.


I lucked out one day at Bargain Hunt and found this cool "Padzooks!" book for two bucks; it has 36 little paper bobbleheads that you can fold up and accessorize. I thought it would be perfect for this program because we could make our own "unimaginary" friends like Beekle and Fred. Everyone loved picking what character they wanted to fold and accessorize; some people even made more than one!


I've also written about previous library programs for adults with disabilities.