Perez Hilton...children's author!?

The manchild who has made fun of every celeb on the this green Earth, has drawn cocaine smears on the mug shots of Hollywood's fast set, and made jabs at others' weights, lifestyles and levels of diminished talent, is now publishing a book. A children's book. A children's book that "celebrates individuality and self-acceptance, and is inspired by Hilton’s desire to promote equality in readers of all ages."

I have no words. Only this cover art. Please go ahead and design your own caption. Because I am completely and utterly speechless.

For all the beautiful, lonely people.

Daul Kim, a Korean model-just 20 years old, killed herself the other day. On her blog, she'd recently written...

i just know

the more i gain

the more lonely it is

In a previous entry, she had posted this cartoon version of one of my favorite books from childhood, The Giving Tree, which I never knew existed and am happy now to know exists.

Farewell to all the lonely, beautiful people.

Ms. Kim.

Mr. Silverstein.

The tree.

The boy.

Worthy Reads: The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley.

Tonight, my out-of-town mother and I wandered into Echo Park's incredible independent bookstore, Stories [which incidentally turned 1 today--congrats Stories!] and I picked up a picture book I hadn't read before.

The story goes like this...

Riley, a rat, is content with life's simplest pleasures (food, family, his one and only love), whereas humans never cease to aspire to achieve more (better food, a larger home, better and more beautiful mates, and so on).

And the take-away message is summed up over the book's last few pages...

This is why it's never a good idea for people to compare their lives to animals. You will only end up feeling depressed...

because realizing that rats have a better life than you do, is really, really sad.

And the answer is very simple really--you just have to be happy with a lot less.

Release your inner Riley

The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley is so poignant, so truthful, that it seems almost unfit for children. But, I remember, children are much more accepting of truth than us adults. And some messages are best learned at Reading Level-Ages 4 through 8.

Buy the book on Amazon.

Where the Wild Things Are. As interpreted by dirty hipsters.

I saw 'Where the Wild Things Are' last week in the theatre. I was disappointed. Spike Jonze and Warner Brothers turned my beloved childhood tale by Sendak into a drawn out, emo, plotless film. It was beautiful, yeah. But as my friend noted--it totally could have/should have been a short.

I just saw 'Where the Dirty Hipsters Are' about two minutes ago. I was thrilled. Secret Sauce turned an underwhelming feature into a smart, two-minute short with fun LA references for us Eastside Angelenos. It was awesome.

[via FishbowlLA]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar turns 40.

Don't miss author Eric Carle when he celebrates the 40th anniversary of a storybook classic at the LA Times Festival of Books later this month.

I'm personally hoping for a picture with the caterpillar...maybe a hug...maybe, just maybe, a lunch date together.