Shown down below is a totally wonderful Promo Video that brings together some of the most beloved literary characters to rally people behind the BOOK PEOPLE UNITE movement and help get books in the hands of kids who need them the most. Join the movement at bookpeopleunite.org

Starring: Pinocchio, Madeline, Greg (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Rip Van Winkle, LeVar Burton, Three Blind Mice, Humpty Dumpty, Curious George, Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Goldilocks and the three bears, Captain Ahab, Three Pigs, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Babar the Elephant, Mr Men, Little Miss, Mr Tickle, Little Miss Chatterbox, Mr Tall, Peter (The Snowy Day), The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Black Beauty.

This post is just for fun and it’s where we post some recent pictures we have found that are all pretty funny! The 1st pic is the very recent cover to George Orwell’s classic book, Nineteen Eighty Four 1984 ( not designed by Chip Kidd ). This is a Penguin Group printing and it’s hard to believe that they blacked-out the title of the book AND the Author’s name. Oh man, that really takes some balls, ha ha! But the design concept here is really cool. Actually, the black bars are dull black and the lettering is high-gloss. So, you can see the title if the light hits it right.

Next up is a photo that is Chip Kidd related. It shows two people using the Book jacket for Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 (Knopf 2011) to cover their faces. It matches up pretty good with their own heads and it’s totally hilarious!!

Back in February of 2010 Chip Kidd gave a lecture at the Whitaker Center for the SOCIETY OF DESIGN. They are a really great non-profit group located in Pennsylvania made-up of architects, educators, filmmakers, graphic designers, industrial designers, photographers, writers, and many other professions who all get together to discuss creative ideas.

For the event they had some Design Students create posters and that ended up being a contest where the Winner got to have his poster printed for the show. The winning poster is shown up above and if you CLICK HERE you can view the other examples. Also, they just recently got around to posting the video of Chip’s lecture. Now, the video/audio quality is great, & Chip is pretty funny, but it’s a little hard to follow because most of what Chip is talking about are projected images that were on a large screen behind him and they don’t show that ( weird ). But overall you get a great idea on how the event went.

Oh yeah, if you ever want to know when Chip Kidd is giving another Book Signing or Lecture then please be sure to visit our “Next Appearance” page by clicking the TAB that is just below the header. Thanks!

LOL, Ha Ha!

Here’s a really great humor video that has been on the Internet for awhile but it’s worth posting because it’s both hilarious… and true! It’s all about being a Writer. So, if you want to be an Author please give it a view.

Over at THE CASUAL OPTIMIST Website they recently put-up a blog posting of a wonderful Podcast Interview with Cartoonist Charles Burns as he discusses his new Graphic Novel Book, THE HIVE (Pantheon), with Michael Silverblatt of KCRW’s THE BOOKWORM. We have provided a link, right HERE, that you can click on to go give it a listen. Hey! It’s almost 30 minutes of total craziness as Charles Burns talks about his art & story process.

Here’s quick post to share some pretty eye candy! Shown here is a nice collection of Chris Ware’s artwork that has appeared on the covers to a few issues of THE NEW YORKER Magazine, enjoy.

A collaborative series with photographer Max Oppenheim and prosthetic artist Bill Turpin that pays tribute to Charles Burns for his artwork as seen in the Graphic Novel Book, BLACK HOLE.

Here’s a LINK to the INKSTUDS Blog where Chip Kidd was recently interviewed by Robin McConnell. Their discussion is all about Chip Kidd’s new Book titled, “SHAZAM! The Golden Age of The Earth’s Mightiest Mortal” (Published by Abrams ComicArts, 2010 ).

This HUGE over-sized book features a ton of cool vintage toys, figurines, clothing, secret decoders, temporary tattoos, and other rare collectibles featuring Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel.

It’s a short interview but very well done ( Thanks Robin! ). You can hear it, for free, by just clicking right HERE!

You can also order the book at 20% off the regular retail price, by clicking HERE!

Before you head to your favorite Bookstore this evening, Jimmy Fallon wants to give you a bunch of books you should avoid, including “Caring For Your Miniature Donkey.”