So we folks at Wednesday Cute have been featuring a lot of “baby animals being cute” videos lately. But can you blame us?! They are so cute!!

This baby elephant just wants to snuggle. And who are we to deny him? Get over here, buddy, and let’s hug it out! (via)

He doesn’t know his own size—and that is CUTE. He’s like the world’s largest Snuggle Puppy! Have fun out there, little guy; maybe someday you’ll find a snuggle buddy your own size.

–Avery, who would cuddle with this elephant any day

This week in Wednesday Cute: slippery seal babies!!

Here is a seal pup trying to wriggle its chubby little body up onto a surfboard! It’s almost four minutes of baby animal goodness. (via)

A highlight begins at 0:37 (did someone grease the board?!), and it only gets better when the little guy gets its face all up in our business (1:28, 2:16, 3:24!!). We’d say we wish the poor pup’s buddies would be more helpful, but then we wouldn’t get to watch him slither and wiggle all over the place.

And hey, if you’re feeling down or frustrated, just take your inspiration from this resilient fellow: He didn’t give up in the face of adversity, even when it looked like the whole world (or at least the surfboard) was conspiring against him. Go get ‘em, champ!

–Avery, whose feelings about baby seals can be summed up as follows: <3

Guys! Guys! Hey, you guys! It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for some Wednesday Cute!!!

My Modern Met has assembled a collection of animals and their mini-mes! That’s right: There are animals that are adorable in their own right, accompanied by their adorable, smaller doppelgangers! Folks, we’ve got proof positive of Cute Overload’s Rule of Cuteness #7: A thing, accompanied by a smaller version of that thing, is always cute.

• And a bonus item: From the Huffington Post come these adorable kids’ letters to the Tooth Fairy, in which they express their hopes, their fears—and their desire for more cash. Dream big, kids!

—Avery, who thinks the ultimate pairing would be a tiny turtle with its even tinier turtle twin. 2 cute 2 handle!!!

“I took the liberty of redecorating your office! -JM”

Congratulations to Jordan Matter, whose beautiful book Dancers Among Us comes out next week!

In the New York area? Join us to celebrate the book’s release next Tuesday October 23 at the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Click to learn more and purchase tickets, which includes a signed copy and drink tickets.

Today we’re serving up some adorability that originates long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

That’s right, it’s Wednesday Cute: Star Wars-style!! Let’s get right into it.

The newest book on everyone’s minds around here is Star Wars Origami, a book of 36 amazing paper-folding crafts from the Star Wars universe. Ever wanted to make an Origami Yoda? How about a Darth Paper? (Any Tom Angelberger fans out there?) Check out the book—and this video of author and creator/illustrator Chris Alexander discussing the projects!

• Speaking of cute videos, remember this?!?! This kid is using the Force for good.
  
• Also this! Star Wars according to a 3-year-old! She’s so wise!
• This is the squishy Millennium Falcon you’re looking for.

Yo dawg, we heard yo’ dog likes Yoda, so we put Yoda on yo’ dog…yo.

—Avery, who wants to buy that Yoda hat for everyone she knows, canine and otherwise

As summer winds down, more and more people are heading out of the office and away from the city to get in some pre-Labor-Day vacation time. We’ve got a short list this week, which goes to show that people are out on the beach reading books rather than their emails. Good for them!

What are you reading this week?

• Last Bite: A Novel of Culinary Romance, by Nancy Verde Barr
  
• The Feast of Love, by Charles Baxter
• Werewolves in Their Youth, by Michael Chabon
• A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel, by Lee Child
• 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction, by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
  
• Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King
• We Sinners, by Hanna Pylväine
• Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
• The Art Forger, by B.A. Shaprio
• Scoop, by Evelyn Waugh

After reading Gabrielle Hamilton’s memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter, I’m dying to have brunch at her restaurant, Prune.
—Emily P.

I’m on vacation, so I’m reading Stephen King’s 11/22/63, as is much of Cape Cod. Looking down the beach, one  saw that enormous tome in many people’s hands. That, or Fifty Shades.
—Suzie

I’m less than halfway through 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, but I’m already fairly addicted to its characters as they wade, awkwardly and enthusiastically, in alternating and parallel fashion, through issues of faith, reason, morality, and purpose. It sounds heavy, and Goldstein’s approach is dense on the intellect, but her short chapters—and irreverent academic humor—make for incredibly fun(ny) and digestible subway reading. I’m looking forward to what I expect will be a very lively book club discussion…
—Megan

I’ve finally gotten around to reading The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter, after a friend recommended it to me years ago. It’s a series of interconnected love stories played out by average, middle-class Americans in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2007 the book was made into a movie starring Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. Perhaps that will be next on my Netflix queue.
—Erin

I’m partway through an advance reader’s edition of the new Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child (A Wanted Man, coming next month). A sales department favorite—James has been overheard saying, “What would Reacher do?” Fast-paced,  well written, and the coolest good guy in print!
—Page

I’m reading Swamplandia! but I just got started and I’m not loving it yet.  I think once I get some solid reading time in that will change—for the better, I hope.  I do tend to read books all the way through one way or the other.
—Suzanne

As for me, I’m reading We Sinners, Hanna Pylväine’s debut novel about a Finnish-American family of 11 and their relationship with their community and church. It’s a poignant family drama with lots of intricately drawn characters.

—Avery, who wouldn’t mind taking this book to the beach

Twitter is awesome: It’s a direct line to everything exciting and interesting that’s happening on the Internet—a huge portion of which is totally adorable. (Do you follow us @WorkmanPub?) This week we’re highlighting some of our favorite cute friends who tweet. (Also cute: the Twitter bird!)

It’s only August, but copies of our 2013 calendars are already rolling in! (You might not be surprised to learn that we’re never really sure exactly what year it is around here.) As a preview of the coming year, we’re pleased to present you with this picture of the 2013 Pocket Pigs calendar, featuring some of the teacup pigs of @PennywellFarm themselves! We just want to put them in our pockets and let them wee, wee, wee all the way home!!

• Speaking of cute calendars, did you know there’s not one but two Cute Overload calendars?! Stock up, people, 2013 is only 5 months away… And follow @CuteOverload to stay up-to-date with the latest adorable animals on the web.
• One of our favorite Twitter Feeds ever is @PreschoolGems, where preschool teacher Leslie McCollom collects the brilliantly hilarious things her students says (“gems”) and tweets them out for all to enjoy. A recent tweet: “When I’m a Mommy, I’m going to have a girl, a girl, a boy, and name them Peanut, Yogurt and Santa.” Too cute to handle? Just wait until you see the book, released yesterday by Penguin. And be sure to read the author’s blog post about the story behind Preschool Gems. “First I wasn’t a mermaid, then my dream came true!” Indeed.
• In a similar vein, check out @TextsFromDidi! Sarah tweets actual texts from her 9-year-old sister who lives across the country. A choice example: “Mama got me a sugar free pie and this is the worst birthday ever.” Also: ”OMG!!!! i just got a 38 inch pinata!!!!” Kids text the darnedest things.

Look at this tiny gorilla getting a check-up!!! The stethoscope is sooooooo cooooold!!! (via Wild for Wildlife and Nature)

• Did you know that when you give a lemon to a dog, this happens?!

—Avery, who believes that small versions of big animals are the best

The Olympics may be playing on every TV (and computer screen) across the globe, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have time to get in some Friday reading! Below, Workman’s Friday Reads list for this week. Happy reading! And tell us what you’re reading in the comments!

• A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez
  
• The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
• In the Kingdom of Men: A Novel by Kim Barnes
• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
• The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
• A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
• Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• No Regrets by Ace Frehley
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Iron Man by Tony Iommi
• The Ambassadors by Henry James
• Grounded by Kate Klise
• 40 Things I Want to Tell You by Alice Kuipers
• The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
• The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
• Snow White and Russian Red by Dorota Masłowska
• It’s So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• After Claude by Iris Owens
• The End of Men by Hanna Rosin
• Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson
• Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

And in their own words:

I mainly read biographies of rock musicians. I just finished It’s So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan  (Guns and Roses) and Iron Man by Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath). Currently I’m reading No Regrets by Ace Frehley (Kiss).
—Anthony

I’m in the middle of Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child. 63% done, to be exact. It’s incredibly detailed! I’ll know everything there is to know about Julia and Paul Child once I’m done.
—Bintal

I’m reading The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  It’s concisely written and complicated. Highly recommend it.
—Pat

My current subway read is The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, which is excellent—clear, efficient language and ruthless logic.
—Sarah G.

Just finished The Underwater Welder, a new graphic novel by Jeff Lemire. It was somber and haunting, two qualities I fall for every time. I’m currently reading Snow White and Russian Red by Dorota Masłowska. It’s an impressive debut novel. When it was released in 2002, Ms. Masłowska was heralded as the new face of the Polish literary world. A few pages in, it’s clear why.
—Randall

I’m reading A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge which is fabulous and weird.
—Leslie

In the Kingdom of Men: A Novel by Kim Barnes. Gorgeously written story of a small-town Oklahoma woman’s move to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1960s when her husband gets a job with an oil company there—superbly etched characters and setting. Barnes is the author of two previous novels, and two memoirs, one of which, In the Wilderness (which I edited), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Next up: something I have been pretending to have read for years—David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (after that trailer, how could I not?).
—Bruce

After falling hard and fast for Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I’m continuing the love affair with her new book Tiny Beautiful Things. It’s a collection of the advice columns Cheryl has written for the past few years as the formerly-anonymous advice giver Dear Sugar on The Rumpus. The depth of her empathy and honesty is life-affirming. To say I’m a fan is an understatement.
—Erin

Went to Paris recently, and brought along The Ambassadors by Henry James. Didn’t get much into it there (spent all free reading time perusing Paris restaurant blogs…), but upon returning, well, it’s un-put-downable. Am three-quarters of the way through and can’t wait to find out what happens. Imagine that: Henry James, page-turner.
—David

A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers (hero reviewer of Just Ride).  Sad, smart, informative, short, moving, compelling. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is next in line!
—Mary Ellen

Recently read Gone Girl (along with everyone else!) and was pretty riveted. Am currently perusing The End of Men by Hanna Rosin (fascinating and depressing and empowering all at once) and about to start The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson,  an novel told from the point of view of a young girl about what happens when the earth’s rotation slows.
—Margot

I’m reading After Claude by Iris Owens. Over the top, bizarre, and very funny. It’s refreshing to read a female protagonist who is foul-mouthed, hostile, and totally crazy.
—Maisie

The Hare with Amber Eyes—on the face of it, a true story of a collection of Japanese netsuke passed from generation to generation, but really a wonderfully absorbing social history of a fabulously wealthy Russian Jewish family and the journey of one of their descendents to unravel their personal triumphs and tragedies since 1871.  I can’t wait to finish it!
—Carol S.

Olympics! Olympics Olympics Olympics!! Aaaaaahhhh London 2012!!!

If you’re anything like us, your every waking moment over the past week has been consumed by thoughts of the Olympics: the races! the medals! Her Majesty skydiving! But you might have missed this: an adorable short film by Amael Isnard and Leo Bridle in which the vermin—ahem, excuse me, urban animals of London carry their own tiny Olympic torch through the streets. It’ll make you see rats in a different light (i.e. a cute one). (Via The Mary Sue)
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/46296980[/vimeo]

• Excuse us, CNN, but why are you asking if the Olympic mascots are “cute or creepy”? Wenlock and Mandeville—yes, those are their names—were forged out of steel and rainbows. STEEL AND RAINBOWS, people! We all know the answer to their question is “absolutely adorable.” And if you don’t think a big-headed alien-type-thing can be cute, we implore you to watch E.T. immediately.
• Over at her blog, Katie Workman, author of The Mom 100 Cookbook, writes about making food for two young boys who aren’t always that easy to please (and what kids are?). But this week the tables turned, when her son Jack and his friend Aaron made breakfast for the whole family—specifically, popovers. This blog post has the double-whammy of cute kids and adorable little puffed breakfast pastries. Yum!

What with the rumor-mongering and mud-slinging that’s so prevalent in contemporary politics, we wouldn’t be surprised if all this election talk was getting you down. Luckily we have the solution: Kid President! This little POTUS knows what’s what, and he can also seriously cut a rug. Plus, he’s wise beyond his years: “If it doesn’t make the world better, don’t do it.” You’ve got our vote, Kid President!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/7bW7s98R088[/youtube]

•  On the one hand, this story about bears in Bearsville invading a home multiple times while the owners were out is scary. It’s sad that their kitchen was ransacked, although fortunately nobody was hurt. On the other hand, you adorable silly bears!! We know you probably got confused because you live in Bearsville, NY, but that’s not your house!! (Via Stephen Colbert)
• If we’re going to blog about cute things we might as well include this link to a piece on the origin of the word “cute.” It even has a totally cute graph.

We’re suckers for a cute animal video, and goats rank SUPER high on the hierarchy of animal adorability. Need proof? This tiny goat is doing parkour—off her friend’s back.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/5IuRzJRrRpQ[/youtube]

• Speaking of cute animal videos, enjoy these kittens drinking from tiny bottles. You win again, Cute Overload!!

—Avery, who’s off to practice some parkour

Wednesday’s great for many reasons, but our favorite is Wednesday Cute, your weekly dose of cute things from around the Web. This week: singing clouds, a hand-held pony, and a tooth-brushing PSA to end them all.

It may seem an unlikely source for cute things (after all, their motto isn’t “All the CUTE That’s Fit to Print.” Although it should be), but last week the New York Times brought us dock-diving dogs and I’m still not over it. This week’s Times photo is a bit older but just as charming: “Billed as the smallest pony in the world: Santab, which at the age of a year is only 25 inches high and weighs 60 pounds [!!!], on display as an attraction in a London store.” See this and more great photos of old at The Lively Morgue, an oft-updated blog of pictures from the Times archives.

•  We know the adage says you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but when this six-year-old guessed the plot of classic novels based solely on the jacket art, we considered erasing that old expression from our memories and encouraging children far and wide to judge away! A choice line, from her review of Jane Eyre: “This is about a girl that goes mining. I don’t know why, but she looks like she would go mining, mining for gold.” Don’t let Jane hear you say that, kid.
• If you didn’t think clouds could be cute, you haven’t seen Cloudy, an animated short about the lives of the world’s most adorable clouds.

Usually we’d just link to a video we like, but this is too good not to put right here on the page. The Oregon Dental Association made a PSA about brushing your teeth called Teach Me How to Brushy. That’s right: It’s based on “Teach Me How to Dougie,” and it features kids breaking it down in the name of oral hygiene. We know it’s aimed at children, but it’s even inspired us to floss (and brushy).

[youtube]http://youtu.be/5ugQLL65BKc[/youtube]

• We don’t mean to obsess, but have you seen the entries in the My Dog Needs Glasses contest?! They’re…wait for it…SO CUTE. And hey, if you upload a photo of YOUR dog wearing glasses by July 31 you’re entered to win a signed copy of Barney Saltzberg’s Arlo Needs Glasses, probably one of the cutest books of all time. Who doesn’t want that?
• The 2012 Olympics are exciting, impressive, inspiring—but are they cute? Not really. You know what are cute? THE GUINEA PIG GAMES.

This kitten—named Nugget, for cute’s sake—loves Bananagrams. There’s not much more to say. You win this round, Cute Overload.

—Avery, who as a kid had a toothbrush that sang “I’m your friend Brushy-Brushy, / I keep your teeth shiny and bright. / Please brush with me every day, / Morning, noon, and night!”