Friday, February 24, 2012

Bee Book Buzz: POOPENDOUS! by Artie Bennett

Get ready. The Bee Book Buzz today is all about a fun, new picture book—POOPENDOUS! by Artie Bennett. His first book, THE BUTT BOOK is fall-on-your-backside, laugh-out-loud hilarious. I heard Artie read POOPENDOUS! at a indie bookstore to a stupendous group of kids and their parents. It's a close call as to who was laughing harder at his new book—those kids or their parents. Yes, Artie has a way with rhyme, especially when it comes to poop.

Enjoy the Bee Buzz with Artie Bennett. No need to hold your noses for this sweet interview. 


Bees pollinate most of the vegetables and fruits that we love to eat. Did you eat your vegetables when you were a kid?
I can't say that I did, for we didn't eat many vegetables when I was a kid. We were a meat-and-potatoes family, with the occasional can of creamed corn or green beans tossed in. But I made up for it when I went off to college in Georgia and discovered a world of fresh vegetables. Wonderful things like kale and collards and crowder peas were a revelation to me. Now I don't feel fulfilled unless I have several servings of vegetable per day.
What's your favorite fruit or vegetable?
I go bananas over bananas. I can eat one a day and never tire of them. Come to think of it, I rarely get sick, so perhaps "A banana a day keeps the doctor away."


I love all green veggies: broccoli, spinach, asparagus, Brussel sprouts. In fact, I never met a green vegetable I didn't like!


Bees pollinate plants and flowers, too. What's your favorite flower? 
Hmm. I think I love irises. They're delicate but showy, and come in such a lovely rainbow of colors.

Are flowers mentioned in your latest book?We don't mention any specific flowers in Poopendous!, but we do have a verse about "growing umpteen beans and greens galore." And we talk about how "critters who feast on fruits help those plants to put down roots." And interestingly, my first children's book, The Butt Book, has a bee butt right on the cover!
Wax on, wax off. Beeswax is useful for so many products, including skincare items and candles. On your most recent birthday, were you able to blow out all of your candles on the first try?
I didn't have a cake for my most recent birthday, but at my age, it would take the help of a swarm of bees to blow out all the candles in one whoosh!

Have you  ever been stung by a bee?
Yes, when I was a rambunctious youngster. But the swelling soon went down and I didn't blame the bee for being a bee. 

Were bees part of your childhood in other ways?
Yes, I was a great speller as a lad and participated in--and won--many local spelling bees. And these days I can even spell hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian. Didn't think I could do it, did you?

Books and bees make life sweeter every day. If you had to choose: Honey or sugar?

I love them both and could never pick one over the other. I like sugar in my coffee and honey in my tea. And there's nothing like a dollop of honey to ease a sore throat and put everything right!


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