Laura Gehl | The Children’s Book Review | November 23, 2014
It’s all about the underwear.
Little did I know 10 years ago, when the phrase “One big pair of underwear” popped into my foggy, sleep-deprived, graduate-student-and-mom-of-a-newborn head how much of a selling point the word underwear would be for my book.
What if the phrase that popped into my head had been “A Pair of Pants that Loves to Dance” or “Flocks of hawks in socks and smocks?” The book would have been completely different, and I might never have learned about the magical powers of underwear.
The fact is…underwear comes in handy for an author. Really. Underwear makes everything easier.
- Easy Way to Get Kids (and Adults) to Pick up Your Book: Put a picture of underwear on the cover.
ADMIT IT…You want to pick this book up right now. You know you do.
- Easy Way to Make Kids Laugh While Reading Your Book: Use the word underwear multiple times in the text.
- Easy Way to Get Kids Excited About Your School Visit: Pull out a giant pair of underwear.
- Easy Way to Get People to Your Table During a Book Fair: Decorate your table with underwear.
- Easy Way to Make Memorable Business Cards, Stickers, or Bookmarks: Underwear
Are you sensing a pattern here?
There are a number of underwear books for kids…
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Underwear! by Mary Elise Monsell
Goodnight Underwear by Todd Doodler
Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
What Color is your Underwear? by Sam Lloyd
The Underwear Book by Todd Parr
And a few more.
But I don’t think the children’s book market is saturated with underwear books yet.
So…go out and write your own underwear book. If you need inspiration, there’s always the option of retelling a classic tale. Goldilocks and the Three Underwears, anyone? Or maybe a rhyming title. Underwear Scare? Underwear Lair? Underwear at the Fair? I can’t wait to read your underwear masterpiece in a few years!
About the Author
Laura Gehl is the author of One Big Pair of Underwear, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, which released in September. Laura is also the author of several upcoming picture books: Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel; And Then Another Sheep Turned Up; Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching; and Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating. Although these other books do not feature underwear, Laura hopes you will read them anyway. You can visit Laura online at www.lauragehl.com and www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraGehl.
One Big Pair of Underwear
By Laura Gehl; Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Count and share with…underwear! Come along on a zany adventure with hilarious pictures from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.
What’s one thing that two bears, three yaks, four goats, and six cats have in common?
They hate to share.
But look out—here comes a pack of twenty pigs ready to prove that sharing makes everything twice as fun!
This seriously silly picture book with artwork by the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site irresistibly combines the concepts of counting and sharing.
Ages 4-8 | Publisher: Beach Lane Books | September 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-1442453364
Discover more books like One Big Pair of Underwear, by Laura Gehl and Tom Lichtenheld, by following along with our picture book category.
We may receive a small commission from purchases made via the links on this page. If you discover a book or product of interest on this page and use the links provided to make a purchase, you will help support our mission to 'Grow Readers.' Your support means we can keep delivering quality content that's available to all. Thank you!
1 Comment
I can attest to “underwear” making kid laugh. I must give an honorable mention to Cynthia Rylant’s MR. PUTTER AND TABBY PICK THE PEARS. He makes a DIY slingshot, hoping to shoot the pears from the tree (his legs are too cranky). He makes the slingshot from a sturdy Y-shaped stick, a piece of worn-out glove, and the ELASTIC from a pair of UNDERWEAR his brother had given him as a gag gift, pink with poodles. His brother thought it was funny, Mr. Putter did NOT.