The world was all atwitter when Joe went shopping at Costco before the holidays. Workman was all atwitter because we spied a copy of Arlo Needs Glasses by Barney Saltzberg in his cart!

We also spied stacks of The Miracle Ball Method by Elaine Petrone and the 10 Button Book by William Accorsi on the table he shopped at (along with that copy of Arlo that’s headed for the cart!). Do you know someone who got to unwrap a copy of Arlo last month? (These kiddos certainly had fun with Arlo recently!)

Have you spied any Workman books in action? Tweet or Facebook a picture to us, and you could win a new book!

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!”

SHARE A PHOTO OF YOUR DOG IN GLASSES for a chance to win a signed copy of Arlo Needs Glasses by Barney Saltzberg. Whether or not your dog has fuzzy vision, we are positive he will look just as smart as Arlo in a pair of snazzy frames.

To enter the “My Dog Needs Glasses!” Pinterest contest, follow these steps:

1)      Follow Workman Publishing on Pinterest (so you can vote and enter the contest).

2)      Pin a photo of your dog wearing glasses on your personal Pinterest with the hashtag #ArloNeedsGlasses (to help us track entries). You can pin to win between June 25 and July 31!

3)      Vote on your favorite photos with repins and likes.

We’ll pin photos to the official “My Dog Needs Glasses!” board. The five photos with the most likes and re-pins by July 31st will win an autographed copy of Arlo Needs Glasses. Entrants must be U.S. residents.

Contest opens Monday, so start scheming now (copious treats recommended.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuDPB_fBW3c[/youtube]

Arlo Needs Glasses (Workman Publishing, July 1, 2012, Hardback, $15.95, Ages 3+, ISBN 9780761168799) is an interactive children’s title by bestselling author Barney Saltzberg, chock full of pop-up features and try-on glasses. Arlo Needs Glasses introduces a shaggy, free-spirited dog who loves to play catch – until one day, he can’t see the ball anymore. He needs glasses! Arlo Needs Glasses playfully demystifies the eye doctor experience, allaying anxiety in kids who are about to enter the world of glasses – which among other things, help them become better readers.

Barney is the author-illustrator of Beautiful Oops!, the successful Kisses series, Peekaboo, Crazy Hair Day, and Good Egg, as well as many other beloved children’s books. Also a singer-songwriter, he has written tunes for the PBS show “Arthur” and continues to perform music for children. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two dogs. You can follow him on Twitter @BSaltzberg.

ATTN bloggers! If you love dogs, glasses, and/or the combo of dogs & glasses, please feel free to share this contest: http://www.workman.com/blog/?p=16100

OFFICIAL MY DOG NEEDS GLASSES CONTEST RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID OUTSIDE THE FIFTY UNITED STATES AND WHERE PROHIBITED. ALL CONTEST ENTRIES ARE SUBJECT TO THE OFFICIAL RULES WHICH GOVERN ALL ASPECTS OF PARTICIPATION AND PRIZE AWARD.

ELIGIBILITY:

Entrants must be legal U.S. residents. Employees of Workman Publishing Co., Inc. and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, promotional partners, and the immediate families of each living in the same household are not eligible to enter.

By accepting a prize, winner (and parent or legal guardian, if applicable) agrees to release and hold harmless Workman Publishing Co., Inc. and each of their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and directors, officers, attorneys, employees and agents from any all damage, injury, death, loss or other liability of any kind that may arise from or in connection with his or her acceptance of a prize awarded.

HOW TO ENTER:
To enter, take a photo of your dog wearing glasses and pin your photo to your  Pinterest  board with the hashtag: #ArloNeedsGlasses  and follow Workman (www.pinterest.com/workmanpub) between June 25, 2012, 12:00:01 a.m. (Eastern Time) and July 31, 2012, 11:59:59 (Eastern  Time). Photos will be repinned onto the “My Dog Needs Glasses board.

We encourage you to be silly, but not put your dog through too much embarrassment.

For purposes of these rules, “receipt” of an electronic entry occurs when Sponsor’s servers record the entry information upon clicking the “submit” (or similar) button. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of the entrant, the entrant will be deemed to be the individual who is the registered holder of the email account. All entries must include your name and e-mail address. Incomplete entries will be voided.

PRIZES:Five Prize Winners will each receive an autographed copy of the book ARLO NEEDS GLASSES by Barney Saltzberg.

SELECTION:
The five photos with the most “likes” and re-pins” will be declared he winning entries.

NOTIFICATION:
Winners will be notified on their Pinterest posts by August 3, 2012. If potential winner cannot be reached or does not acknowledge notification within five (5) days of first notification attempt, the prize will be forfeited and the next photo with the most likes  and re-pins will be selected as a potential  Prize Winner.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION:
By entering or accepting a prize in this contest, the winners ( and parent or legal guardian, if applicable) agree to be bound by these Official Rules, and to conform to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  There are no prize substitutions, transfers, or cash equivalents permitted.

SPONSOR OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES:
All entries submitted will become the property of  Workman Publishing Co. Inc., and will not be returned to anyone. As such, they can be used on books and calendars published by Workman Publishing Co., Inc. or licensed to third parties by Workman Publishing Co., Inc. without specific permission or compensation. Efforts will be made to credit the contributor by name when possible. If you prefer to remain anonymous, please let us know when you make your submission.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS:
Sponsor is not responsible for (a) incorrect or inaccurate entry of information by entrants; late, lost, garbled, misdirected, incomplete, or damaged entries or transmissions caused by interrupted or unavailable network, server or other connections; scrambled transmissions or other errors or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human, or electronic, technical malfunctions of the computer hardware, software, or any combination thereof; or problems associated with any virus or any other damage caused to entrants’ systems; (b) any Contest disruptions, injuries, losses, or damages caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor; or c) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with this Contest.

Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify this Contest in the event that this Contest is not capable of being conducted or completed as planned for any reason including, without limitation, as a result or computer virus(es), bugs, tampering, or technical failures of any kind. If the Contest is cancelled or terminated, notification will be posted at www.barbecuebible.com. In the event that an individual attempts to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest Sponsor, in addition to disqualifying such person from in this Contest, reserves the right to seek damages and all other available remedies (whether at law or in equity) against him or her.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION:
By entering, participant waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages, attorneys’ fees or any damages other than actual out-of-pocket costs or losses that may arise in connection with participation in the Contest or acceptance, possession and use of any prize Except where prohibited, by participating, you agree that a) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, b) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with participating, but in no event attorney’s fees; and c) under no circumstances will any participant be permitted to obtain awards for and hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplies or otherwise increased.

WHO WON:
Any mailed requests to receive the list of prize winners must be sent to Workman Publishing, My Dog Needs Glasses Contest Winners, 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, no later than August 31, 2012 and must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

SPONSOR:

Workman Publishing Co., Inc., 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014

You might remember our friend Barney Saltzberg for his impromptu office crooning, or maybe just for his gorgeous and heartwarming books that inspire kids to make videos of their own.

Well, now he’s really done it. He’s put Arlo (the REAL Arlo) in a video for his (their!) new book. Talk about a Wonder Dog!

It’s too cute for words. We hope you’ll agree. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get my eyes checked…

Call us biased, but we think the best presents come in book form. Since we’ve recently welcomed the newest little Workman-ites into our extended office family, that got us thinking about our favorite gifts for new parents. Here are just a few of our picks for the new mom, new dad, and mama-to-be:

• Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton – What could be better than a great big hug in book form? It’s the perfect love letter from parent to child.

• Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg – A sweet book with a powerful message: When you make a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful!

• Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder – Every turn of the page brings a new animal to life: a horse in full gallop, a turtle swimming, an eagle soaring. It’s impossible not to flip the pages again and again!

• Indestructibles - Beautifully illustrated books that babies can really sink their teeth into! They’re waterproof, tear-proof–baby-proof!–and truly impossible to destroy. (Trust us, we’ve tried.)

• What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff – Why not get something for the new mama, too? This book has absolutely everything parents needs to know about their baby’s first year from one of the most trusted names in pregnancy.

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.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLADagnCfU[/youtube]

With Easter around the corner, who better to turn to for Easter basket ideas than the arbiter of good taste herself, Martha Stewart?

So, let’s turn to the expert. Says Martha, “Every Easter basket should have at least one book in it.”

We agree! While Martha’s book choices are excellent, indeed, may we also suggest the eggs-traordinary Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg?

It’s so much fun, you’ll crack up.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNCUDK17_yk[/youtube]

March is National Craft Month, and to celebrate, we here at Workman are featuring projects from some of our many fun crafting books. Today, we’re doing things a little differently and showing off a (Beautiful Oops) craft fail from Papertoy Monsters by Brian Castleforte.

Recently, I sat down with a friend and a copy of Papertoy Monsters. I hadn’t made a monster since the pre-publication folding party in our office a few months back, but needless to say, I have a couple hundred Papertoy Monsters under my belt and was feeling pretty confident. So I started with Scorpion Robot (labeled “advanced”).

And this is how he turned out:

Note the poor folding, wonky leg, and overall significant left lean.

As you can see, mine went slightly . . . awry. My friend, with no papertoy-making experience, had better luck with Wingy Wingy (labeled, it should be noted, “Intermediate”):

Thanks, friend, for showing me up.

But, I have decided to look at it this way: Scorpion Robot is much more fierce and intimidating with all of his quirks. Who’s ever thought to themselves, That monster is so perfect he’s scary!?

Scorpion Robot is now proudly displayed on my shelves next to a copy of the error-approving Beautiful Oops by Barney Salzberg. Because, okay, maybe he’s not beautiful, but he’s still pretty awesome, flaws and all.

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Check out the Papertoy Monsters blog to meet more of the monsters in the book, and Barney’s blog to see more of his gorgeous “oops art.”

Oops! He did it again. Barney Saltzberg’s error-approving Beautiful Oops! has inspired another perfectionist to embrace her mistakes. Here’s the heartwarming story from the young girl’s mother.

“Nora is a kid who sets high standards for herself.  She is creative and artistic, but she tends to get frustrated and disheartened when her pieces don’t turn out the way she had envisioned. The ‘Beautiful Oops’ concept was quite a revelation for her. I could see the weight come off her shoulders as it dawned on her that ‘mistakes’ are just a normal part of the creative process. I think seeing your ‘mistakes’ published in a real book was very powerful for her.”

Want more aww-inspiring adorableness? Check out this video from the mother-daughter team, featuring their own book of beautiful mistakes.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x5UwJGXq9A[/youtube]

Barney’s going on tour!  Head on over to the Beautiful Oops! Facebook page to see if he’ll be visiting a city near you.

Recently, Barney Saltzberg, author of Beautiful Oops, dropped by a local school to show kids how mistakes are okay, and can be made beautiful.

Watching him with the kids is remarkable—just watch their faces as the oops turns to art.

Watch below for his entire “concert” with the kids!