Publisher Description
Funny Business, the first volume in Jon Scieszka's Guys Read Library of Great Reading, features ten short stories guaranteed to delight, amuse, and possibly make you spit your milk in your friend's face.
There's something for everyone in this collection of short stories from some of the funniest writers around. This hilarious, offbeat first installment in the Guys Read Library is 100% grade-A humor, guaranteed to have kids of all ages asking for more.
Authors include Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo & Jon Scieszka, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo, with illustrations by Adam Rex.
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"For the most part I enjoyed this collection of stories. As with any anthology some of the stories were more appealing than others. My favorite was Your Question for Author Here by Kate DiCamillo and Jon Scieska. I look forward to Volume 2 Guys Read: Mystery/Thriller (scheduled for release Sept 2011)."
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Yvonne (4 out of 5 stars)
About the Authors
Paul Feig is the creator of the critically acclaimed television show Freaks and Geeks and the author of the adult memoirs Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence and Superstud. He is also the author of a couple books for children. He lives with his wife and two dogs in California.
Jon Scieszka is best known for his bestselling picture books, including The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! and The Stinky Cheese Man. He is also the founder of guysread.com and a champion force behind guyslisten.com, and was the first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.
Adam Rex is the author of many books, including the New York Times bestselling picture book Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, the middle-grade novel The True Meaning of Smekday, and the teen novel Fat Vampire. Garlic and crosses are useless against him. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really. He currently lives in Arizona with his wife.
Eoin Colfer is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including the Artemis Fowl series and several stand-alone novels. He was born and raised in Ireland, where he was appointed Children’s Laureate.
Christopher Paul Curtis made an outstanding debut in children’s literature with The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. His second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, is the first book ever to receive both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award.
Jack Gantos has written books for people of all ages, from picture books and middle-grade fiction to novels for young adults and adults. His works include Hole in My Life, a memoir that won the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert Honors, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award finalist, and Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book. He developed the master’s degree program in children’s book writing at Emerson College and the Vermont College MFA program for children’s book writers. He now devotes his time to writing books and educational speaking. He lives with his family in Boston.
Kate DiCamillo is an American author of children’s fiction and twice winner of the Newbery Medal. Several of her books made the New York Times bestsellers list. Her debut novel, the award-winning Because of Winn-Dixie, was made into a major motion picture, and her book The Tiger Rising was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is the US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014 to 2015, appointed by the Library of Congress.
David Yoo is the author of the teen novels Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before and Girls for Breakfast. He is also a contributor to Guys Read: Funny Business. He lives in Massachusetts, where he teaches in the MFA program at Pine Manor College and at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.
About the Narrators
Bronson Pinchot, Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010, has won Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, AudioFile Earphones Awards, Audible’s Book of the Year Award, and Audie Awards for several audiobooks, including Matterhorn, Wise Blood, Occupied City, and The Learners. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he is an Emmy- and People’s Choice-nominated veteran of movies, television, and Broadway and West End shows. His performance of Malvolio in Twelfth Night was named the highlight of the entire two-year Kennedy Center Shakespeare Festival by the Washington Post. He attended the acting programs at Shakespeare & Company and Circle-in-the-Square, logged in well over 200 episodes of television, starred or costarred in a bouquet of films, plays, musicals, and Shakespeare on Broadway and in London, and developed a passion for Greek revival architecture.
John Keating is an actor, voice talent, and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. His numerous acting credits include Roundabout Theatre’s production of Juno and the Paycock and La Mama ETC’s production of Cat and the Moon, as well as various parts with the Irish Repertory Theater and the Irish Arts Center. He can also be seen in the HBO miniseries John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.
Michael Boatman is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and twice winner of the prestigious Audie Award for narration. He is a versatile television, film, and stage actor whose work on the hit TV show Spin City garnered him a GLAAD Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and nominations for two NAACP Image Awards. For his work playing Stanley Babson on the long-running HBO series ARLI$$, he was nominated five times for the Image Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Aaron Landon began acting in Portland, Oregon, as a child, where he studied the Meisner technique and acted in local theater, film, and commercials. He narrated his first audiobook at the age of nine. After booking roles in NBC’s Grimm and the feature film Gone with Amanda Seyfried, Aaron moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to pursue acting and full-time voiceover work. You have likely heard him voicing promos for Jimmy Kimmel Live and NBC Sports Net, as well as national commercials for Bing, CenturyLink, Warrior Dash, and Fanvision.