First up is from John Scrudder and his family.
Take it away John:
Meghan, age 7 with her Christmas copy of "Here There!"
Meghan (7) opened up her 3 Beanworld books and went through the roof!
"I Got Beanworld, I got Beanworld, Oh my gosh, I got Beanworld!"
She has, since Christmas morning, read book 3 (which she calls book 5,because she had the 4 TPB before the hard covers editions) several times.
My son Ben (8) Has now also become a fan of Beanworld, as has the oldest boy, Luke (12). Meghan was Ecstatic to see the signed books - she completely flipped out! Both Ben and Meghan have composed letters to you. I thought I would share them with you.
Meghan's Letter:
"Dear Larry Marder,
I have some ideas for the Pod'l Pool Cuties. First they grow in a few months and they can look like this (A picture of her version is included from the original letter). And a few months later they can get bigger. And after a year they could be beans! Thank you for the books! I also made a Pod'l Pool cutie in it's pool for you out of clay.
Your Pal,
Meghan.
Benjamin's letter:
"I'm a very big fan of yours, please respond back when you can.
I think that Mr. Spook and the Hoi poi are related. What do you think? Look at their hair.
Plus they are the same color and sort of look like they are made from similar shapes.
The mystery pods are eggs. But I don't think they've hatched because it is not warm enough.
An Airship could be built out of the four realities and could be powered by static electricity.
Anti-Bean.
Beanish gets mistaken for one!
Please put these ideas in your book.
Your good fan,
Benjamin Winters
--------
Larry,
Needless to say, this was the Beanworld Christmas. The kids were ecstatic and wrote their letters to you right away!
I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to have finally met you, and I know for Meghan, at least I hope, it has given her an inspiration that neither you nor or I had when we were growing up, the chance to meet the writers and artists of books that inspire us to be writers and artists.
It's really all she talks about now. Thanks again Larry for making this one awesome Christmas none of will ever forget!
Your Friend,
John M. Scrudder
My pleasure, John.
Georgia, age 5
Mr. Marder,
I have adored Beanworld for more than twenty years, and I'm delighted that the collected editions have given me the chance to introduce it to my daughter, Georgia Roberson. She's five years old now, just having started kindergarten, and for the last month or so we've been making our way through the Beanworld collections a bit at a time at bedtime. We just started A Gift Comes, and are on track to be ready for the third volume as soon as it's out!
The other day I showed her the fan art that you'd posted to your blog, and she *insisted* that she draw her favorite characters and send them to you. And so, with Georgia's compliments, here are her interpretations of a Pod'l'pool Cutie, a Goofy Service Jerk, and a couple of Mystery Pods.
(I've also posted these to
my blog,
as I usually do with the drawings Georgia is proudest of.)
From a couple of devout fans, our sincerest thanks for Beanworld, and please keep up the great work!
Best,
Chris Roberson
These are great, Chris!
Argh, I regret it took me so long to get these posted but better late than never.
Nothing makes me happier than hearing about families that enjoy Beanworld together.
Conor, age 10
And last, but not least, Conor, son of ZenMondo.
Conor loves to draw Beanworld. I am including 2 images of his. One is Mr. Spook saying "Fear Me!" and the other is of a Cutie and a Bean. He is age 10 now. I must thank you Larry, for giving us something we can share together. Just this past weekend, as I was in my room reading, Conor passed by me on the way to the bathroom and just said "Hoo Hoo Ha" to which I replied "Hoka Hoka Hey" He smiled and said "that's right". Conor being Autistic, finds his own way to relate to those around him that may seem a bit odd to those that don't understand him, but in Beanworld, we have an entire VOCABULARY with which to communicate and explore not only your world, but his world together.
Very insightful stuff.
Even today, after all these years, the industry keeps trying to pigeon hole Beanw0rld as a book for grown-up when anyone who has ever actually seen a kid crack the cover of a Beanworld book has witnessed those kids tumbling directly into the Beanworld as surely as Alice tumbled down the rabbit hole.
If your comic book store doesn't rack Beanworld along with Bone, Owly, Sonic, and Muppets--it should give it a whack there and see what happens!
