A is for A New Book

A very amusing children's book came to my attention, written by a fellow named Brad Herzog, who has a series of "Alphabet books."  Things like H Is For Home Run, P Is For Putt, and G is for Gold Medal -- though my favorite title is the one named W Is For Wrigley.  (Outside of loving it for the obvious Cubs ballpark reason, it's a pretty witty name, too.)…..that kind of stuff. But he's written others, as well, including Francis and Eddie, which tells about the friendship between legendary amateur golfer Francis Ouimet and his gradeschool caddie Eddie Lowery (which was the basis of the wonderful movie The Greatest Game Ever Played, that I wrote about here.)  Actually, he's written over three dozen children's books, as well as three travel memoirs and a five-book non-fiction series on tales of sports personalities.  His alphabet book, S is for Save the Planet, was even a finalist in the National "Best Books 2009" Awards. 

It turns out that Brad Herzog has a new alphabet book, more of a satire -- actually, it's a political satire, quite a rarity for children's books, about being nice and kind to others, and bullying, called...D Is For Dump Trump:  An Anti-Hate Alphabet book.​

Okay, it's really as much for adults as children, probably more so.  Some of the "lessons" are  M is for misogyny, N is for narcissism, and X is for xenophobia.  The book is full of poems and 20 illustrations, basically political cartoons, and as you can see from the cover above, the kiddies can even learn about things like Karma.

(One has Trump reading a Fascism for Dummies book.  Another is a political rally where the room is full of empty chairs as a "Women for Trump" banner falls to the ground.)

You can get the book on Amazon.  (Or see more about his other books here.)

By the way, in what can only be described as a serious case of nepotism, the illustrations are by the author's wife, Amy Herzog.
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And, hey, I'll be you didn't think there was a way I could tie a series of childrens books to Camp Nebagamon, which I most-recently wrote about a couple weeks ago.  Well, ye of little faith.

Brad Herzog is not only a Nebagamon alumni, but the son of Bud Herzog, who I knew at the camp when I was a very little kid.  And when I say a very little kid, I really mean it.  I wasn't even a camper yet, I was too young.  My dad was the Camp Doctor for a few weeks every season for four years, and I'd be there as "doctor's son," starting when I was a tyke of seven years old.  So...yes, a very little kid.  And Bud Herzog (whose nickname I recall was Zog) was a counselor -- and as warm and kind a person you'd be hard-pressed to find.  And hilariously funny, too.  (I can see where Brad gets it from and then developed it to his own.)  To be clear, this isn't the memory of a little kid thinking someone is funny, which isn't a hard thing to pull off, if you're able to blow milk out your nose.  No, Bud Herzog was genuinely a very funny person -- my memories are less about me laughing (which I was) but the whole camp -- campers and adult counselors alike -- roaring when he would perform at camp "show" night's.  I particularly recall parody songs that he'd perform with another counselor named Al Goldman, often under the name of "Play Shrine."  (Why that name, I don't know, perhaps it was a parody of something popular at the time, but I was too young to get it.)  I was even the target of one of the verses, as I remember.

So, I have very fond memories of the wonderful Bud Herzog.  And am so glad to know that his son Brad is as witty and thoughtful, and taken all that to his own terrific literary level.

And while you're ruminating on all this, here to help while away the time and make it more enriching, here's a lovely 15-minute talk that Brad Herzog gave, full of entertaining stories, as the guest speaker at one of the off-shoots of the excellent TED series, this for TEDxMonterrey, about using your creativity.

And yes, that fisherman below is Zog -- his dad, Bud Herzog.