The Ice-Cream Cone Coot

One of my favorite children's books from when I was a kid, and one I still love now is "The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds" by Arnold Lobel. This book describes in verse and artwork that has a mysterious quality to it, a variety of birds which are made up of common household items, such as umbrellas, cameras, brooms, and money such as the dollar bill dodo.




Beneath Arnold Lobel's original Dollar Bill Dodo is my own recent reinterpretation.

This book clearly had a major effect on me as my comics are often populated by scissor-headed birds and assassins, as well as beings with wasps nests and flower pots for heads, factory smokestacks for spines, etc., often with atrocious puns for names.



Last Fall, I came across "Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant" by Jack Prelutsky and with gorgeous collage art by Carin Berger. This book immediately reminded me of "The Ice-Cream Cone Coot." It's filled with fanciful creatures made out of common household items, often with terrible puns for names.

"The Ice-Cream Cone Coot" is sadly out of print, though shouldn't be too hard to track down, if you are so inclined. I recommend both books.