As a publicity intern at Workman, my regular work includes putting together press kits and mailings. But every once in awhile, I get a task that’s a little more out of the ordinary! Like when I was recently asked to find a snake piñata for a Splendid Spotted Snake event.

After some brief research, I became determined to make a piñata myself. When I left work that day, I had my mind set on a large, snake-like balloon and papier-mâché piñata, which I would then paint and cover with crepe paper. Once I arrived home and consulted my mother, however, my plan quickly changed after she wisely reminded me that papier-mâché has never been my artistic medium. (To bring you up to speed,  I’ve had some scarring formative papier-mâché experiences: Picture a bespectacled third grader attempting to make a festive paper bowl with just a balloon, newspaper, glue, and a dream. Now imagine a loud balloon pop, a crumpled blob of gluey newspaper, and a newly disillusioned third grader. You get the picture.)  Not to mention, my mother was also careful to point out that the piñatas of my youth were radically unsafe (thanks, Mom), and that newer piñatas are equipped with colorful strings that, when pulled, open a secret trap door in the body of the piñata. The candy is then released into the ecstatic and, most importantly, uninjured group of waiting children. Oh, the wonders of modern piñata technology!

My very splendid, very spotted piñata!

I decided to go to Home Depot to look for a wide pipe of sorts that I could cover with a splendid spotted exterior. Luckily I found one that was lightweight and somewhat flexible. The downside: it was black and ribbed. I bought it anyway, took it home, and cut a hole for the trap door in its “belly.” To cover it, I wrapped it in a taut layer of plaster (the type used to make casts for broken bones — this can actually be found in craft supply stores). This step got rid of the ribs, giving me a splendidly smooth snake body, and covered the black exterior. For the head, I used this same plaster over a balloon (almost too close to the aforementioned bad experience for comfort) and for the tail, I wrapped the plaster over a freehand newspaper cone. Then I waited patiently for these parts to dry and attached it all with yellow duct tape.

Instead of painting it, I decided to give the snake texture by wrapping it in yellow crepe paper. I sprayed the snake with adhesive and then wrapped the snake in strips of the crepe paper.

Lest you think it was ALL about the piñata...there were lots of activities to keep kids entertained!

So now I had a yellow snake with a big hole in its belly! I crafted the spots and face out of felt, and glued them all on with tacky glue. To keep with the theme, I then filled the snake with: gummy worms (like little snakes), gold and red Mardi Gras-type necklaces, and confetti (aka flying spots).

Spots, spots, and more spots! Kids decorated their own spotted snake art.

SPOTTED at the event: Authors Betty Ann Schwartz and Alexander Wilensky!

To seal the great beast’s belly, I sewed one ribbon onto a big sheet of felt, and taped 15 or so ribbons to that same sheet. These were the trick ribbons! Only the magic ribbon would unleash gummy worm joy onto the children. So once the snake’s cavity was stuffed, I fitted the felt into the hole and my snake was complete!

After about 7 hours of crafting, a few haunting childhood memories, and a major glue meltdown, I was done! I  drove my masterpiece into the magical land of New York City, and led it into the magical offices of Workman Publishing, where my efforts were recognized with the  esteemed title of “Intern Extraordinaire”!

The Splendid Spotted Snake piñata made its grand appearance at an event at McNally Jackson in NYC on Saturday, November 5, 2011 where it was a big “hit”–or pull, as the case may be. Thanks again to everyone involved in the success of this event!

Barney Saltzberg, known around the office for being a Good Egg and a Beautiful Oops-urtunist, recently took a break from working on his next book, Arlo Needs Glasses, to stop by the Workman offices.  In addition to his talent for writing and illustrating, Barney plays guitar, a hobby he shares with Workman’s group publisher, Bob Miller.  Watch the two play Jackson Browne’s “Song for Adam” below.  The song doesn’t have much to do with Arlo, an interactive book for kids (coming in April) about the elementary school rite of passage of going from two eyes to four, but we like it anyway.

Dogs, dogs, dogs! We can’t get enough of them here. And as all dog people know, your most important responsibility is making sure your pup is in tip-top shape. After all, a healthy dog is the happiest dog! In the final installment of our family-friendly My Dog! video series, author and dog expert Michael J. Rosen takes you through a basic 60-second check-up to make sure your pooch is feeling fabulous.

Simple, right? Give it a try — and then go whip up some Liver Lover’s “Brownies” to thank your dog for being so awesome. Trust us, despite your human “eww-that-sounds-gross!” bias, your dog will love ‘em!

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.

We’ve already established how much we love dogs. But you know what we love most of all? Pictures of pups (either of the gorgeous or hilarious variety)! You, too?! Want to elevate your canine picture-taking game? Let’s turn once again to dog expert, and author of My Dog!, Michael J. Rosen for some picture-perfect tips.

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Got it? Now get out there and start snapping some cool canine pics!

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.

So, you love dogs. (We do, too.) You want to make a special treat for your furry best bud–maybe it’s his birthday, or she mastered the “stay” command, or it’s just a Tuesday and you feel like baking something yummy. How does a dog-friendly peanut butter carrot cake sound? Amazing?! Great! Check out the video below, where Chef Josh teaches you how, with a little help from guest sous-chef (and author of My Dog! A Kids’ Guide to Keeping a Happy and Healthy Pet), Michael J. Rosen.

Mmmmmmmm. Want the full recipe? Head on over to the “My Dog! Delights” section of the the My Dog! website.

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.

It’s no secret that we love dogs. Pretty pups, bad doggies, and those that need a little training to bring out their best–by which we mean all of them. And now we’re welcoming a new breed into the mix: My Dog! A Kids’ Guide to Keeping a Happy and Healthy Pet. It’s the ultimate family owner’s manual that teaches everything you need to know about your pet, from choosing a family dog to training, care, feeding, games, and more.

So, what’s the first step? Figuring out what breed might be right for your family. Let’s turn to the expert, author Michael J. Rosen, who breaks it down in a handy little video to help you learn about different breeds for different needs.

Unless you DO plan on asking your dog to herd reindeer or rescue you from a snow drift, any well-trained dog should fit perfectly in your family! Now go out there and adopt the large/tiny/fuzzy/hairless/regal/smush-faced pup you’ve always wanted!

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.

Gah! Scary.

Happy Month of Halloween! We here at Workman love a good costume just as much as we love our Papertoy Monsters, so we thought, “Hey, why not create a Papertoy Monster COSTUME?!” Genius, if we do say so ourselves. Simply click, select one of three monstrous masks, print, cut, and then go out and scare your fiends friends!

Want to win a free Papertoy Monster?* Head on over to the Papertoy Monsters tumblr and submit a picture of yourself, your kid, a friend, a pet, an arch-nemesis, or whoever wearing one of the spooky monster masks. Easy as papertoy monster-shaped pie. (And what monster doesn’t dream of having a mini-me monster of one’s own?)

* While supplies last!

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For more news (and monster pics), check out the book by Castleforte, visit the Papertoy Monsters tumblr, and “like” the Papertoy Monsters Facebook page.

Have you met Oscar? Oscar is a little kid with a BIG friend—a giant one, in fact! When Oscar discovers a very big, VERY hungry giant in his backyard, he knows he has to do something. But what? How do you feed a hungry giant? Would he like an enormous pizza, or a gigantic quesadilla, or a humongous pile of chocolate chip cookies? How much food can one giant eat?!

These are the key questions in How Do You Feed a Hungry Giant? by Caitlin Friedman, with illustrations by Shaw Nielsen. Check out the book trailer below and watch the adorable pop-up book come to life!

Like many kids who grew up in suburban New England, I spent a lot of my childhood outdoors. Yes, I did enjoy reading on the top bunk/bed-fort, but I also liked to climb the pine tree in my back yard and build enormous snow castles at the end of my driveway. (These were also good places to read.)

Despite a love of nature, I never once went camping as a child—at least not what I considered real camping. My parents weren’t (and still aren’t) really into the whole not-sleeping-in-a-bed thing, so they didn’t take me and my siblings on any trips that involved mosquitoes or canned food or “roughing it.” Another problem was my mindset: To me, camping required lots of gear, none of which we had. Okay, we had sleeping bags, but they were cotton and covered with pictures of Snoopy and the gang—no waterproof exterior, no thermal lining, more appropriate for the living room rug than the forest floor. We couldn’t cook a hot-dog or roast marshmallows because we didn’t have a camping stove, and our parents certainly wouldn’t allow us to start a roaring campfire without their help. And, probably the clincher, we didn’t even have a tent. Talk about pathetic.

Thinking back, I shouldn’t have felt so hopeless, because the truth is that I really did do a lot of camping, just not in the traditional sense. I never pitched a tent, but I did spend more than one night sleeping on a friend’s backyard trampoline. And roasting marshmallows was a bit of a Fourth of a July tradition in our neighborhood; granted, they were roasted over the barbecue, but the s’mores surely tasted just as sweet.

All this (phew!) to say that it’s August, and summer is winding down, and you should definitely give “real” camping a try if you’re able. Below is an excerpt from Camp Out!, the ultimate guide to camping for kids, that details the intricacies of finding the perfect spot for your tent, and what to do once you’re set up. And remember that you can still have fun even if the “perfect spot” for your tent just happens to be your living room.

As for me, I still haven’t parked myself in the woods for a night, but I’ve come close the few times that I’ve gone to Bonnaroo, an annual music and arts festival in Tennessee. There am I in front of my tent with a real camping stove and a really large number of mosquito bites. Perfection.

From Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids’ Guide, by Lynne Brunelle
Location, Location, Location
No matter what type of tent you have, before you put it anywhere, think about the location in terms of water, sun, slope (is it on a hill or in a ditch?), ground surface, and wind. Tents are incredible contraptions, but they work best when smartly placed. After all, the tent is your outdoor bedroom; in some ways, it’s the most important room in the “house”!

• Stay dry. Though it may seem ideal to pitch your tent on the banks of a pretty lake or near that pond in your yard, you should always be at least 200 feet from any water. Being next to water can mean you’ll wake up drenched in dew. Water evaporates from the body of water and forms a cloud as the night air cools. Land around a body of water gets a bigger share of the moisture or dew. Also, water is where mosquitoes and other biting insects live, which means that if you’re near water when the sun goes down—insect feeding time—you’ll be on the menu for dinner. Instead, pitch your tent away from water. Find a well-drained spot that is on high ground and avoid dips and depressions—if you pitch your tent on low ground or in a dip and it rains, you’ll be snoozing in a puddle.
• Made in the shade. It’s usually best to put your tent in a shady spot, if possible, especially if you’ll be staying for more than one night. If the sun bears down on your tent all day, it will feel like an oven when you get back from frolicking in the woods. (Plus, too much sun exposure can weaken the fabric, making it more susceptible to tears and leaks.) If there are no trees around, try finding a natural feature that can block the sun, like a boulder.
• Be grounded. Seek out a smooth, flat patch that will fit your tent comfortably. If the ground slopes everywhere you look, you can still pitch your tent, but make sure you arrange it so your head will be uphill. Move away any rocks, large pebbles, sticks, or debris so you won’t be lying on top of them. But remember that this stuff isn’t garbage, it’s part of the environment—leave it nearby so you can replace it after you’ve taken down your tent. You want to leave a campground nicer than you found it, so the next family that comes by can enjoy it too.
• Fresh air. If you’re going to a car camping site with bathrooms, check to see where the camp toilets are and which way the wind is blowing. You want to be close enough to use the bathroom easily, but not so close you can smell it—after all, you want fresh air! If you’re in a remote area where you have to dig your own pit toilet, make sure you set it up at least 200 feet away from water, trails, and camp, and downwind (the wind direction might change, of course, but at least you gave it a shot).
• Don’t get winded. Choose a place that will be protected from the wind should it kick up. You don’t want your rain flap to fly around too much or blow away.
• Flee from fire. Pitch your tent a good distance from your fire pit and kitchen area. Fire makes sparks, sparks can land on tents, and sparks on tents can equal fire—which equals bad news. You also want to steer clear of pitching a tent near your kitchen or dishwashing area, because animals are attracted to the scent of food.

Settling In
Once your tent is set up, go on in and make yourself at home. Roll out your sleeping pad and sleeping bag and let them sit while you explore your site. Next, air out your tent, which can get a bit stuffy and funky-smelling: Open the windows, keep the screens closed, and let the air (not the bugs) flow through. If weather permits, leave your backpack or duffel bag outside the tent to maximize space inside. Cover it with a garbage bag so it doesn’t get soaked with morning dew.

Don’t look now, but there’s a Papertoy Monster behind you.

Scarleah likes your flowers.

I said not to look! And I meant the other direction.

Wolfman Joe can see you.

Wait — there’s another! Right under your desk . . .

Papertoy monsters do not like being thrown in the trash. Next time, try the recycling bin.

They’re everywhere! The Papertoy Monsters book is back in stock with its second printing, and the power-hungry creatures inside are preparing for a serious invasion. Remember the last time?! Better watch your back. Things could get a bit . . . fiendish . . . around here. Not all of these monsters like pop music and the so-awesome-I-want-to-try-it hobby of sled-singing.

Nom Nom wants to eat your town.

Scorpion Robot thinks your world is puny.

See what I mean?

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For more news (and monster pics), visit the Papertoy Monsters tumblr and “like” the Papertoy Monsters Facebook page.