I tend to post on my other socials then follow up here but today I’m going to mix it up. Here’s an exclusive look at a new drawing I made to promote my two launch events (for best effect, pair it with this music).

Oh, those little rascals! Come meet them (and me!) at Linden Tree on June 1 and/or at Books Inc. on June 7.

I’m not speaking about the easter eggs in JIM! No, I’m speaking about this!

I went on Cameo to get Tom Arnold, who played Stanley Q. Stupid in 1996’s THE STUPIDS movie to give me a congratulations.

And, boy, did he ever come through. The fact that he calls me “Jared”… perfectly stupid, I watched it five times in a row and laughed every time. It’s so good. I love his energy level in the video and I love the adlib at the end (the bio COULD have been written from the vantage point of Stanley Stupid, in fact… what a great idea for a Harry Allard bio).

If you’re wondering why Tom says the Cameo is from “Edward”… I lied on my Cameo intake form. I ordered this from one of my burner accounts so I could claim it was from someone else. Not because I was embarrassed to self-promote, but because James Marshall himself wrote a few books under the pseudonym “Edward Marshall” who he claimed was his brother. I felt it made sense. I apologize, Tom, for the deception.

THE STUPIDS movie is available on YouTube. It’s widely panned (rated 21% on RottenTomatoes.com) which I think is unfair. It does verge on the surreal (the alien scene is wild), and not everyone is going to like it. But it’s simple and silly and there’s some really Marshall appropriate CGI animation of the Stupid’s pet dog and cat.

Anyway, that Cameo is awesome. I’m off to go write a Harry Allard biography now.

UPDATE:

No, not really. But if you want to learn more about Harry’s collaborations with James Marshall, you should read this article I wrote for the University of Connecticut.

Harry Allard Is Missing! Collaborations of James Marshall and Harry Allard in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection

There are stories everywhere.

Originally posted on Instagram.

As far as James Marshall related puns go, that has to be up there. No wonder I saved it for the EVENT OF THE CENTURY!

Yes! I’m hosting a pre-order party on Zoom in just over a week’s time. What’s a pre-order party? It’s a carnival-themed Zoom event. Earn points for answering trivia questions, playing games, and even simply just attending. Take those points and trade them in for prizes! The grand prize of all prizes? This copy of HANSEL AND GRETEL which is inscribed with a doodle by James Marshall himself!

I only have one of these and I haven’t given it a point value yet (although I’m thinking of just making it the door prize). I’ll have plenty of other goodies on hand—pins, original drawings, copies of JIM!, and even services—enough that I expect it to feel a bit like turning in your Skee-ball tickets for a reward. Hopefully, it won’t feel as disappointing as when you’re forced to take a green plastic army man home.

Register for the party here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/W59F9JsiQTqjMfPwHepWdw !