1.) A strange gift.
My brother was all, “What should I get Maile for Christmas?” and I was all “I don’t know…she really loves to read, why don’t you get her some books? She loves Junie B. Jones, get her some of those!”
On Christmas my daughter opened books. Awesome!
But these books were…different. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris? Never heard of it. I glanced at my brother and he kind of shrugged like “What? Doesn’t she like them?” and I was all “No of course! It’s just…”
I started flipping through it…
“…these are definitely not Junie B. Jones.”
Gretchen says
I LOVE David Sedaris! Please tell me that you have read it yourself, it’s HYSTERICAL. However…definitely not for you kid!! Too funny. I remember once when I was about 10, my sweet, weird uncle gave me a book called The Art of Flower Arrangement. Not exactly age appropriate, but amazingly, I kind of obsessed over it, I would get flowers from the garden and work very hard arranging them according to the book. Who’d have guessed?
jennyonthespot says
Oh gosh. OH GOSH!
Paula Kiger says
Oh my goodness!! Maile definitely needs to put that one aside until the 18th bday!! In the meantime, you should read it – it’ll be hilarious! For an adult, of course. LOL.
Karen and Gerard says
I was so disappointed in this book–the language is horrible and the stories so negative! Here’s my review of it: http://ourstack.blogspot.com/2010/11/squirrel-seeks-chipmunk-by-david.html
Your brother probably just thought the title and cover were cute, as did I!
Single Mom in the South says
Oh My! Those are…. different…
I assume your brother doesn’t have children! :-)
Sue says
Yeah. I’ve read Sedaris. He’s one ca-razy dude. Some ca-razy dudes (e.g. Carl Hiassen) can make the leap to kiddie lit. But not Sedaris. He’s a whole special kind of ca-razy.
But…hey…you got a blog post out of the ordeal…right?
Frelle says
yeah that might have been a disaster!!! Glad you shared it with us, I want to go check it out for myself now!
Kim says
I don’t think I could imagine David Sedaris writing a book that would be suitable for children – well, at least not for children you’d want to say are yours.
Tiffany says
That is hilarious! He was probably all like “Oh, this is about animals. Maile will love it!” Too funny!
SmithShack71 says
Uh, yeah, because the illustrations are so happy. Not disturbing at all. At. All.
-Angie
May says
My 23 yr old loves David Sedaris!
The lovely one says
Ha ha ha ha ha! That’s something that only family would do! I’m sure he didn’t find that in the same section as Junie B Jones and The Magic Treehouse. That’s too funny!
Side note– I might have to read the book myself, based on your comments saying how funny the book is!
MryJhnsn (@mryjhnsn) says
That is fantastic! I would probably read it, not to the kids but, eh, who knows… ;)
thekitchwitch says
I love Sedaris, but that thing is freaking disturbing! I couldn’t stop laughing!
Miriam Gomberg says
I take it your brother didn’t actually look inside the book before giving it to your young innocent child. Almost spit tea up my nose when I saw that. M
Jessica says
That’s some creepy stuff right there. Yikes.
Teresa says
I can see my 20-something sons buying that as a gift. If they think its funny, why wouldn’t everyone else?! My eldest son was going to hang out with a female friend who was babysitting a young sister over the March Break. He was terrified! What do you say to a 6 year old, he asked. Now I know what to put on the “Not” list next time!
Darcy says
Haha that’s like saying “kids like cartoons. Right? Here’s Happy Tree Friends.” (Those illustrations are very HTF like.)
melody says
HA. I have never heard of this book…what a gift! :)
Diane@BeStillaMinute says
That is all kinds of crazy creepy for a children’s book but my boys would have probably been all about it!
Essie says
I’m a children’s Librarian, and I’ve never seen those books. But I’m definitely going to look them up–looks like something my husband would like to read- ha!
I wanted to post about a strange gift today. But the story is about my MIL, who reads my blog. Three Christmasses ago, my inlaws gave us a toilet seat for Christmas. A TOILET SEAT. That’s it. Just…a…toilet…seat.
Yeah. Good times.
Essie says
P.S. It IS in our library system! At multiple libraries! Just requested it. :-)
kelley says
Oh my, that does look like a strange gift. I think I have a few kids and grandkids that would love it actually.
DGMommy (Tamara) says
Twisted. Completely. My siblings would love it! My kids would tell me it was inappropriate! They’re good like that. Can’t wait for your review if you do read it!
Sandee Harned says
I love David Sedaris. I was reading “When you are engulfed in flames” when my water broke 8 weeks early with my first child. I had been reading something really intense, and when that finished I thought “I need David! David Sedaris! Immediately!” so I bought Squirrel seeks Chipmunk. Sorry David. Love you. Hate this. Scary fail.
Jo says
Uuuummm, wow. Is this supposed to be for kids? Cuz wow! LOL I can’t imagine any child not being freaked out by that! Hell, I was freaked out by that!?
Marta says
I’ve read Sedaris before, definitely not for kids!
Jenny says
Oh um wow. Sounds like something my oldest brother would do. Like those boy scout knives that do everything he got my son for Christmas and then I was at urgent care a couple weeks later cause my son tried to open a bag of chips with it. Siblings ya gotta love them ;)