The Very Silly Mayor

By Tom Tomorrow

2009

First Published

3.95

Average Rating

Number of Pages

1H06M

Audio Length

“I have always admired Tom Tomorrow for his keen intelligence and penguin-based wit, but now he has unnerved me with a story of socio-political chaos that is at once completely ridiculous and sadly familiar.”— Lemony Snicket “This is a funny book with an important we need penguins in government.”— Dave Barry The mayor of the “medium-sized city” has some very strange ideas. Among them that firemen should put out fires using peanut butter instead of water and that policeman should chase robbers while wearing clown costumes. Needless to say, these decisions don’t work out too well. When Sparky the Penguin wonders why nobody thought to question these silly ideas, he finds out that people were afraid of being laughed at if they disagreed with the mayor. The first-ever children’s book from legendary cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, The Very Silly Mayor uses Tom’s unique combination of humor and social commentary to teach children to trust their own judgment, even if other people might disagree with their views or make fun of them. One of the most influential comic artists of the past twenty years, Tom Tomorrow 's weekly strip, This Modern World, appears regularly in many papers across the United States, as well as on Salon.com . He is the author of numerous cartoon collections, including The Great Big Book of Tomorrow, The Future’s So Bright I Can’t Bear to Look, and Penguin Soup for the Soul .

Avg Rating

3.95

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

33%

4 STARS

36%

3 STARS

26%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Tom Tomorrow

Author · 6 books

Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins, creator of the weekly political cartoon, This Modern World, which appears in approximately 80 newspapers across the U.S., and on websites such as Daily Kos, Truthout and Credo. His work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Spin, Mother Jones, Esquire, The Economist, The Nation, U.S. News and World Report, and The American Prospect, and has been featured on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. From 1999-2001, he worked on a series of animated web cartoons which can be viewed here. In 2009, he created the cover art for the Pearl Jam album Backspacer. In 2011 he ended a 16 year run at Salon to create and edit a new comics section at Daily Kos. He has published nine anthologies of his work: –Greetings From This Modern World (1992) –Tune in Tomorrow (1994) –The Wrath of Sparky (1996) –Penguin Soup for the Soul (1998) –When Penguins Attack (2000) (introduction by Dave Eggers) –The Great Big Book of Tomorrow (2003) –Hell in a Handbasket (2006) –The Future’s So Bright I Can’t Bear to Look (2008) Too Much Crazy (2010) He is also the author of a book for children, The Very Silly Mayor (2009). He received the first place Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1998 and in 2003. Other honors include: 1993: Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award 1995: Society of Professional Journalists James Madison Freedom of Information Award 2000: Association for Education in Journalism and Education, Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award 2001: James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism 2004: Altweekly Award, 2nd Place 2006: Altweekly Award, 3rd Place Tom Tomorrow is available for speaking engagements. For further information, contact tomtomorrow (at) gmail (dot) com. He is also currently in the market for a new publisher, if anyone’s interested.