The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Via GoComics

Via Sandra Bell-Lundy

Maurice Sendak, probably most famous for his childrens book Where the Wild Things Are will be publishing his first in nearly 30 years. The new book is called Bumble-Ardy and will hit shelves in September.

But in terms of a book completely his own, Bumble-Ardy is the first since 1981′s Outside Over There. Not that he wants to make a big deal out of it. “People from New York have been calling, to see if I’m still alive. When I answer the phone, you can hear the disappointment in their voice.”

Sendak’s sense of humor is pitch-black and ribald, though this fact, and the baroque essence of his work, is often lost on readers now that his books have become canonical. “A woman came up to me the other day and said, ‘You’re the kiddie-book man!’ I wanted to kill her.” He hates to be thought of as safe or his work as classic, and he won’t tolerate overpraise. “My work is not great, but it’s respectable. I have no false illusions.”

Here’s the book’s description from Amazon.com:

Bumble-Ardy has evolved from an animated segment for Sesame Street that aired in the early 1970s to a glorious picture book about a mischievous pig who has reached the age of nine without ever having had a birthday party. But all that changes when Bumble throws a party for himself and invites all his friends, leading to a wild masquerade that quickly gets out of hand. In this highly anticipated picture book, Maurice Sendak once again explores the exuberance of young children and the unshakable love between parent (in this case, an aunt) and child. Bumble-Ardy is the first book illustrated and written by Sendak since Outside Over There in 1981.

It hits theaters on March 11.

According to an article posted on Huffington Post, Homer Marciniak was looking for buyers for his collection that he started when he was six years old. The collection was valued between $40,000 to $100,000. Police suspect that Homer approached Rico Vendetti, a tavern and restaurant owner who once owned a collectibles business and that Vendetti and an accomplice entered Homer’s home to steal the collection. During the robbery Homer was allegedly hit in the face requiring a hospital visit. After police questioning the next day, Homer died of a heart attack.

Sarnoff said he was taken with Breathed’s work and distinctive style. “He has an incredible way of looking at the world,” he said.

Breathed admits he was skeptical when Sarnoff approached him about developing a TV series from his most recent book, “Pete & Pickles,” which was inspired by a drawing by his 7-year-old daughter. “I never associated [Technicolor's] name with production. I said, what the hell are they doing?” Breathed said.

But he found Sarnoff’s boyish enthusiasm refreshing and was impressed by the quality of the animation Technicolor was producing in India. “My 20 years’ experience in Hollywood has shown that there is nothing better than working for a company that is hungry and anxious to prove themselves,” Breathed said.

Breathed is preparing a short treatment for the project, which does not yet have a distributor, to present to networks this summer. “I have a feeling my longtime fans are going to see a lot of Bloom County’s echo in this,” he said.

Breathed has another one of his books making the leap to animation. His book Mars Needs Moms! is being adapted into a Disney feature film produced by Robert Zemeckis.

Wimpy Kid fans (and parents of Wimpy Kid fans), rejoice! The latest installment of the hugely popular series by University of Maryland grad Jeff Kinney is scheduled for a November 1 release. There aren’t many details known about book number five — except that the cover will be purple.

Kinney, who was a cartoonist for the university newspaper, has based his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series on the trials of middle schooler Greg Heffley. The books also have spawned a movie, further spreading the franchise (can an amusement park be far behind?). How popular are Kinney’s books? The last one, which was published in October 2009, had an initial press run of four million copies.

“I told the folks at Technicolor,” recounts Breathed, “that the only way I could get lured to the world of small screen pixels is if a company were to declare their intent to make the coolest, most unique animated show for children’s television — one that shakes up the art-form like my son shakes the grocery bag full of eggs just because its fun. The sneaky schemers agreed.”

No dates have been announced, just the licensing acquisition. Stay tuned.