Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things...
Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs and Some Other Things That Aren't As Scary, Maybe, Depending On How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures From the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, A Man Named Lars Farf, And One Other Story We Couldn't Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out.
McSweeney's
I don't recall what originally drew me to this collection, other than the facts that I generally like short stories, the quirkier the better, and I have a general fondness for McSweeny's. Unfortunately that fondness tends to be more in theory than practice, as many of their very interesting endeavors have rendered me quite bored once I've tried reading them. It does seem that to be a good post-modernist intellectual and lover of literature in this day and age, periodic hat tipping must be done towards these guys. If nothing else, they keep things new. And the proceeds for this collection of odd short stories for kids also benefits McSweeny's relative 826, a non-profit tutoring center that encourages writing, so you have to give them props for that.
The collection itself features some of the most exciting and innovative writers of our time (including some of my favorites: Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, and Jonathan Safran Foer). The stories vary from truly creepy (Monster by Kelly Link) to frustrating (Grimble by Clement Freud) to just plain silly fun (Spoony-E & Spandy-3 vs. The Purple Hordes - a comic by James Kochalka). Overall I enjoyed the book, though not every story, though no were painful to read. What made the whole collection worthwhile for me was a gem of a short story by Jeanne DuPrau called The ACES Phone. This story contained so many of the things that make me happy in a story, that it all at once reminded me of other favorites, while at the same time feeling completely memorable as its own thing. In it a lonely boy find purpose in life and helps his family, all thanks to a magical object and a mysterious mentor. I don't want to say more and ruin any surprises...but if you read just one...this is it.
This collection is probably best for incredibly precocious fourth graders and up.