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!”

We love Mindy Kaling (writer for The Office, among other things) for many reasons, but one particular mention in her recent, revelatory essay on chick flicks in The New Yorker made her particularly endearing as of late. Here’s the relevant excerpt from her piece, but click here for the full scoop! The scene involves Mindy, cast as a TV writer who dreams of hitting the big time and writing for the movies, pitching ideas to a roomful of execs.

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After I finished pitching one of my ideas for a low-budget romantic comedy, I was met with silence. One of the execs sheepishly looked at the other execs. He finally said, “Yeah, but we’re really trying to focus on movies about board games. People really seem to respond to those.”

For the rest of the meeting, we talked about whether there was any potential in a movie called “Yahtzee!” I made some polite suggestions and left.

I am always surprised at what movie studios think people will want to see. I’m even more surprised at how often they are correct. Based on what I’ve learned from my time in Hollywood, the following titles are my best guess as to what may soon be coming to a theatre near you:

“Bananagrams 3D”

The evening that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was released in movie theaters, an editor here at Workman, along with three friends, sat in a line for two and half hours before being allowed into the theater. Aside from stocking up on snacks and stimulating topics of conversation, the most forward-thinking of them brought along Bananagrams (quite possibly the best word game out there). And though, like these guys, they didn’t play the game entirely correctly, allowing slang and Harry Potter-themed words, it was the perfect way to pass the time. Next time a long wait is inevitable, this editor will make sure to bring along copies of the books.

There was clearly a lack of rule-abiding in this game.

* Children’s books editor Krestyna would like you to know that this post is totally not about her. She could never be so nerdy.

Okay, okay, maybe you don’t have 10 minutes to spare exactly (I know you’re busy), but surely you have the inclination to steal 10 minutes here or there to do something good for you. Think of it this way: You deserve it.

I was flipping through our catalog recently and came to the conclusion that, boy, do we have you more than covered when it comes to ways to exercise your brain, body, and creativity…in 10 minutes.

1. If you’re feeling playful, 10-Minute Bananagrams will test your brain with a series of anagram puzzles that will drive you bananas! (Based on that cute, bestselling game that comes in a banana-shaped pouch. I think you know what I’m talking about.)

2. Whether your 10 minutes comes in the form of a airport flight delay, waiting in line at the grocery checkout, slow restaurant service, a chorus of are-we-there-yets on the family vacation, or your typical weekend rainy day, 10-Minute Puppets has 30 characters for you and your child to create and play with. In this instance, the initial 10-minute investment of making the puppet will pay out in hours of play!

3. Ready to nerd out on some 10-Minute Crosswords from our friends at Mensa? Peel off the calendar page and take it with you so you can stay sharp during your train commute or intermission at your kid’s dance performance–or solve a puzzle during the commercial breaks from that mind-wilting TV show that you just can’t turn off!

4. Feeling antsy? 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough is the solution to that age-old excuse for not going to the gym: I don’t have time! Oh, but it turns out you do. You can change your entire fitness outlook with a series of 10-minute mini-workouts once a day. And you can do them anytime and anywhere that you might find yourself: in a hotel room on a business trick, at home watching TV, slogging away at your desk at the office, or of course, at the local health club.

According to my calculations, you could also make at least 6 new friends or close at least 6 business deals in those same 10 minutes.  So, how would YOU like to spend the next 10 minutes?

My cousins Alexandra and Connor, 10 and 6, have been huge fans of the game Bananagrams since they first learned to read. For years they’ve played the tile spelling game at school and at the kitchen table, so imagine their joy upon discovering that their favorite word game is now portable! Bananagrams for Kids is perfect for car rides, restaurants, waiting rooms…anywhere they can take their brains and a pencil.

And you can bet that I broke out my own copies of Bananagrams! and More Bananagrams! for the five-hour bus ride from New York to Boston through Friday afternoon’s holiday rush hour traffic. I kid you not, working the puzzles made the trip not only bearable, but FUN (and my seatmate jealous)! Sure, burgers are more typical Independence Day fare, but around here we’re always in the mood for bananas.

In the above-and-beyond category, our own Kevin Davidson (art department) dons a banana suit to walk the halls at this week’s Book Expo America and give out free copies of Workman’s Bananagrams books. Kevin attracted tons of attention, including that of a roving correspondent with video crew in tow. Thanks, Kevin!

Since I work in our digital department, I haven’t gotten a chance to go to BEA (BookExpo America–a publishing convention) in years past. But with the addition of the “Digital Book Zone” and plenty of online and digital discussions to go with it, this year I got to spend a morning walking around the booths.

It’s just like any other convention…except it’s filled with books! And people talking about books! No wonder everyone around here gets so excited about it every year. (considering we’re all book nerds!) And the rumors of Workman’s amazing booth were definitely true–it’s clearly the most colorful one.

The only one that was nearly as vibrant was the American Girl books booth–which had some amazing shades of pastel going on–but even they couldn’t match the Workman booth’s unparalleled height. The Workman area is framed with tons of giant book covers piled high, and a tall Workman clock to boot!

Of course, we had our wonderful authors signing books with fans lining up around the corner, the best tote bags in the house (our legacy–photo to follow), and a co-worker dressed like a banana in honor of our Bananagrams series.

Insert your own Arrested Development Banana Stand joke here

Ok, so that last part was pretty unusual, but I think a banana mascot would be a wonderful addition to our daily office life, so I hope that suit isn’t a rental! (not that I’m volunteering for the job…)

The folks at Bananagrams just passed along this amazing true story from one of their fans!

A group of friends were on a recent vacation when it took a turn for the hilarious: The group was relaxing on Vietnam’s Monkey Island when two wild monkeys developed a “taste” for the Bananagrams game they had with them. As you can see, these two mischievous creatures snatched the banana-shaped game pouch, unzipped it… and got right to playing a game!

Though the travelers eventually got their pouch back, the monkeys held on to the tiles.

We knew Bananagrams was popular, but who knew it was a hit in the wild kingdom too? Now, any ideas on how we can get these rascals a review copy of our book?

It’s week 2 of the Bananagrams contest, and if you play the online version of the game Bananagrams on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, or as an iPhone app, you could win a copy of Bananagrams! The Official Book. Just get past the challenge of the week to be entered into a drawing for your own copy of the book.

This week’s challenge, running from January 18-22, is:
Beat 40 seconds in solo café mode

The contest runs through February 12. Each player can have up to 5 chances to win (one per day) so play every day to maximize your chances.

Feb 1st to Feb 5th – Win more than 12 live games per day
Feb 8th to Feb 12th – Beat 35 seconds in solo café mode

There are four different places to play. Enter the contest by playing on any of them:
Facebook
Myspace
Bebo
iPhone app

Do you have questions about the game? Visit the game FAQ for answers: http://www.largeanimal.com/faq/bananagrams

Play the addictive online version of the board game Bananagrams on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, or as an iPhone app and you could win a copy of Bananagrams! The Official Book. Just get past the challenge of the week to be entered into a drawing for your own copy of the book.

This week’s challenge, running from January 18-22, is:
Win more than 10 live games per day

The contest runs through February 12. Each player can have up to 5 chances to win (one per day) so play every day to maximize your chances.

Jan 25th to Jan 29th – Beat 40 seconds in solo café mode
Feb 1st to Feb 5th – Win more than 12 live games per day
Feb 8th to Feb 12th – Beat 35 seconds in solo café mode

There are four different places to play. Enter the contest by playing on any of them:
Facebook
Myspace
Bebo
iPhone app

Do you have questions about the game? Visit the game FAQ for answers: http://www.largeanimal.com/faq/bananagrams