Animation history
Happy 626 Day from Stitch…and Me!
Today is “626 Day,” an annual fan-fueled holiday in honor of Disney’s Stitch, aka “Experiment 626.” And as you may know, over the past four years, I’ve written several Stitch children’s books for Scholastic.
Three of them are available now. They are:
1) The Book of Mischief, an activity book which you can learn more about HERE. And as you can see from the image I’ve posted here, the cover of this book even looks like Stitch! The cover has Stitch’s eyes, nose, mouth, and floppy ears, and it’s made of fuzzy blue plush fabric, so it even feels like Stitch. And yes, the cover of this book is very similar to the cover of ANOTHER Stitch activity book I wrote a few years ago, titled The Adventures of YOU and Stitch. You know what? That’s life sometimes: stuff resembles other stuff. Or in this case, new stuff resembles old stuff. Anyway, this is the official publisher description of The Book of Mischief:
For fans of Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, this new plush activity book features fun writing prompts, drawing prompts, activities, and games.
2) Out-of-This-World Numbers, which you can learn more about HERE. Now, you might assume that this book teaches kids about numbers from 1-10 or something like that. And that’s not actually true. This book teaches kids interesting science facts! But it does that in a very sneaky way: in the book, Stitch tells Lilo about some “interesting and awesome numbers,” each of which is tied to a specific science fact. Like the number 80,000, which is the number of miles the average person walks during their lifetime. Here’s the official 
publisher description of Out-of-This-World Numbers:
Stitch tells Lilo he really likes numbers. In fact, he thinks they are out of this world! Embrace a cosmic attitude and read along to find out which numbers leave Stitch starry eyed!
3) Friends Rock, which you can learn more about HERE. This is a board book which teaches young children about emotions. It also features a squishy replica of Stitch’s head on the final spread. Kids can squish and knead the squishy Stitch head! Which kids (especially very young ones) are wont to do! Here’s a publisher description of Friends Rock:
Lilo is disappointed when Stitch doesn’t want to dance. Stitch is nervous that his plan to cheer Lilo up won’t work. Follow along in this heartwarming friendship story to identify and explore feelings with Lilo and Stitch!
I should also mention that these three books are only available for distribution through the school market. In other words, they’re exclusively available through Scholastic Reading Events (aka Scholastic Book Clubs), so you won’t be able to find them on Amazon. But you CAN find them via the links I’ve provided above.
I’m Going To Be On A Panel At SDCC!
San Diego Comic Con is happening next week, and I’ll be appearing on a SDCC panel called “Writing Nonfiction About Fiction: Coffee Table Book Writers Roundtable.” It’s happening on Saturday July 26th, 2025 from 4:30-5:30pm, in Room 29CD.
The panel will be moderated by Andrew Farago, and aside from yours truly, the other panelists will be Jerry Beck, Matt Murray, and Russ Burlingame. All of us are pop culture historians, and all of us have a lot to say. During the panel, we’ll discuss what it’s like writing nonfiction books about movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, toys, and animation.
Here’s the official description of the event:
Reading comic books and watching cartoons all day is hard work! Honest! Animation legend Jerry Beck, official Smurfologist Matt Murray, pop culture writer Russ Burlingame (Best Movie Ever), writer/comedian Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books), and A Minecraft Movie chronicler Andrew Farago discuss the perils and pitfalls of writing nonfiction books about movies, comics, video games, toys, and cartoons.
For more info, click HERE.
The X-Men Little Golden Book Is Out NOW!
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I wrote a children’s book called The X-Men Little Golden Book, which came out TODAY from Penguin Random House. It’s an adaptation of X-Men: The Animated Series, the iconic TV series from the 1990s. I think the book really turned out well and I’m very proud of it. The X-Men LGB was illustrated by Shane Clester, who did an X-cellent job. (See what I did there?)
And as I type this, The X-Men Little Golden Book is already the #1 New Release in Children’s Superhero Fiction on Amazon!
Here’s the official publisher description of the book:
Inspired by the 1990’s animated series , Marvel’s mightiest mutants—the X-Men—arrive to save the day in their first ever Little Golden Book! Perfect for kids 2 to 5 as well as collectors and fans of all ages.
Born with amazing mutant abilities and trained by Dr. Charles Xavier, the X-men stand ready to defend the world even though that world doesn’t always trust them. These action-packed full-color pages will introduce Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Cyclops and the other mutants on their team as well as their friends and foes. Kids 2 to 5—along with Marvel fan and collectors—will love this Little Golden Book based on X-Men: The Animated Series.
You can order the book HERE and HERE.
And to see all of the other books I’ve written for Penguin Random House, click HERE.