In this week’s Wednesday Cute: a rainbow pony made of paper, adorable kids reading in an adorable underground library, and the gift of literacy from a sweet dad to his high school grad. Happy Wednesday!

If you like books (duh!), you’ll love the Underground New York Public Library, a charming blog by a photographer who snaps pictures of people reading on the NYC subway. Below, two young bibliophiles devour Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney and Warriors by Erin Hunter while their parents look on. (Here’s another of my favorites. And look, someone reading Water for Elephants!)

• Speaking of parents and books, awesome dad Bryan Martin gave his daughter Brenna the sweetest high school graduation gift of all time: a copy of the fairly typical Oh, the Places You’ll Go!—inscribed with messages from every one of her teachers, principals, and sports coaches since kindergarten. Awww.

We love all things paper-crafty (exhibit A: Paper Made!), and these animals are no exception. Artist Diana Herrera has made a veritable menagerie of adorable paper craft creatures; you can see them on her Flickr site divided into birds and other animals. Here, a rainbow horse! (via The Mary Sue)

• These papertoy monster robots are kind of intimidating…and also CUTE.
• Ever wonder what life looks like from a dog’s point of view? Check out this video of pups at play, captured by a camera attached to a dog’s collar. They are clearly having so. Much. FUN.
• You’re more of a cat person, you say? Here’s a live stream of seven kittens in a box. You’re welcome.

In honor of the “My Dog Needs Glasses!” Pinterest contest, enjoy this collection of bespectacled dogs (and cats).

• AND AN ENORMOUS PINK KNITTED RABBIT. Ahem.

—Avery, who wants to open a papercraft zoo

Monster lovers, it’s officially the best and creepiest Tuesday of the year. It’s Papertoy Monster Day! Last year, there were all sorts of invasions as the papertoy monsters clawed their way into our tortured hearts and our libraries full of the macabre. How are the monsters celebrating this year?

Pharaoh Thoth Amon selects a giant cake as his unsuspecting party snack....er, date.

Scorpion Robot prefers to party in a too-large, seasonally-inappropriate hat.

And Wingy Wingy takes a joy ride on a private jet with her new fiend.

............

……What? Why the intense stares, little monsters? Oh! Presents? Fine.

How about two Valentine’s Day Papertoy Monsters: “Be Mine” Cupid and Monster Mutant Cupid?

Or the Super Bowl Papertoy Monsters, the SuperBowl Ghouls?

Maybe a creepy little bloodsucker, Li’l Vamp?

Or one of three Papertoy Monsters masks?

Want to join in on the Papertoy Monsters conversation? Check us out on twitter (@PapertoyMonster) or Facebook.

Until next year, my fiendish friends, keep on partying like true party monsters.

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.

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.

How cool is this?! The awesome librarians at Ida Rupp Public Library in Port Clinton, Ohio threw a “Create Your Own Papertoy Monsters” event in June that brought in a total of about 30 local,  glue-stick-wielding kids. According to Jennifer Buch (Ida Rupp’s Youth Services Librarian and monster mastermind of the event) many, many new friends fiends were made that day and everyone had loads of fun.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny...Monster!

Just punch out the templates and glue the tabs together!

Fasten your seatbelts, folks, The Blob is about to come to life!

We at Workman couldn’t be happier to welcome these new little monsters into the world! Rawr! The monsters will be displayed at the library until the end of July, when their skillful creators can collect them and take them to their new monster homes.

Cover Monster Icy Huggy is flanked by OctoPup, Hoorgue, and The Gloomy Pack.

The event was so much fun and such a success that Ida Rupp Public Library will have another Papertoy Monsters event this August – which means Port Clinton, OH will be overrun with cute little monsters! Watch out, Ohio, you’ll have to start installing “Monster Crossing” roadsigns!

Halloweeny leads the Papertoy Monster parade (along with a very literary giraffe!).

For more information on Ida Rupp Public Library’s upcoming events, including the August Papertoy Monsters event, visit Ida Rupp’s website and/or visit the Ida Rupp Public Library Facebook page. And for more news and the always-entertaining monster pics, visit the Papertoy Monsters tumblr page and “like” the Papertoy Monsters Facebook page.

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.”

Geared up for a Steelers vs. Packers Super Bowl?!

How about a Papertoy Monster vs. Papertoy Monster Super Bowl?

Download Castleforte’s Super Bowl Ghouls right here.

ALERT: PAPERTOY MONSTERS HAVE BREACHED THE WORKMAN BLOG FIREWALL!!! This post may not reflect the opinions of Workman Publishing Company. (But then again, maybe it does…)

<monsterhack> [Begin transmission] </monsterhack>

Nom Nom very excited about Papertoy Monster Day, so excited that Nom Nom hacked himself into the Workman blog to make this post for you. HEE HEE HEE. Nom Nom loves red wine and long walks on the beach, and Nom Nom is the biggest, greenest sewer rat monster you’ll ever meet. Nom Nom also loves dancing (modern and interpretive). Oh, and Nom Nom LOVES TO EAT CITIES! Mmmmm, asbestos. NOM NOM NOM.

Nom Nom heard that the biggest and tastiest city in the world is called the Big Apple, so of course Nom Nom had to visit. Nom Nom was hoping to snack upon a variety of bridges, trains, and, of course, some of the tallest, most scrumptious skyscrapers in the world. The pointy bits of the Empire State Building–they are a delicacy to Nom Nom.

But the city was very cold for this Nom Nom. Nom Nom does not like to eat popsicles of architecture. Frozen trees are not delicious. They do not taste like broccolis. (Nom Nom love broccolis.) So Nom Nom set out in search of tastier things…

Nom Nom traveled to Brooklyn to nibble on some brownstones…  even though it was cold there, too, they were still tasty. MMM BROWNIES!

Nom Nom visits Brooklyn to snack on the brownstones. The snow made for a tasty frosting.

On the way there, Nom Nom saw a pretty view of the river. Nom Nom also spied a long, long highway, which probably tastes like licorice.

Nom Nom poses in front of a tasty-looking highway.

Nom Nom heard that bagels are a popular thing to nom in the city, so he tried one. Nom Nom likes cream cheese. Nom Nom plans to schmear some on the buildings in Philadelphia when he visits there.

Nom Nom likes to eat bagels, but not as much as he likes to eat Guggenheims.

Nom Nom is a bit of a celebrity in his part of the world (Nom Nom’s mommy says it’s not bragging if it’s true.), so he had to stop for a glamorous photo shoot with a top New York photographer…

Nom Nom refrained from eating the photographer and (most of) the photo equipment.

Nom Nom was inspired by the art and graffiti all over New York, so he stopped to doodle a self-portrait…

NomNom manages a portrait before chowing down on his piece of chalk.

Then, Nom Nom was hungry again, so he went to get some hot sauce for his next snack: the Statue of Liberty. Nom Nom could not pose for a photo with Lady Liberty, because he ate her too fast. Oops.

Nom Nom sneaks some hot sauce; he loves to eat buildings when they are wrapped up in a tortilla.

Nom Nom rode the subway to feast upon many more New York landmarks.

Nom Nom is not sure he likes to be underground.

Now Nom Nom is very tired from all his travels, but also very full. BLURP. So Nom Nom is going to settle in for the night and watch some TV.

Nom Nom's favorite show is Iron Chef.

Nom Nom loves New York!

–NomNom, who would like to give a shout out to the Workman editors and assistants who gave him a tour of their fine city (and who helped him learn to read and write for this post)–Megan, Krestyna, Avery, and Liz.

The in-house studio here at Workman never ceases to totally blow my mind. These guys and gals made close to 1,000 mock-up Papertoy Monsters so that our publicity and sales teams could introduce them to the world well before the book’s publication.

We showed you a glimpse of the studio’s monster-making efforts back when the book was first launched, and you got a personal introduction to monster Heidi. Now the studio has made a sweet stop-motion video showing the start-to-finish process of making a Papertoy Monster.

A huge “YOU ROCK” to Phil and the gang in the studio for putting this video together, and for devoting hundreds of precious hours of your lives to making these little guys. They’ve invaded the Workman office, bookstores and bloggers’ desks across the country, and of course, our hearts. And judging by the buzz we’re hearing, this is only the beginning!

Today is Papertoy Monster Day!

An invasion is underway. Papertoy Monsters are creeping and crawling into bookstores and homes everywhere.

This “fun cardboard creature making book,” according to Boing Boing, is ready to enter your life.

Want to know more?
Watch the video!

Find out which monster you are!
Take the quiz

Download some monsters to make at home.
Two Valentine’s Day Papertoy Monsters:
“Be Mine” Cupid and Monster Mutant Cupid
The Super Bowl Papertoy Monsters: SuperBowl Ghouls
Plus, a creepy little bloodsucker: Lil Vamp

Follow the monsters on Tumblr. On Twitter. On Facebook.

Share your monsters with the world: submit your pictures

And of course, buy the book!

Happy Papertoy Monster Day. Let the invasion begin!