Stuart Gibbs's Blog, page 25

I get a lot of emails and letters from my readers.  And I've visited a good amount of schools.  And through it all, there is one question that everyone asks:
Is there going to be a sequel to Belly Up?
The answer, I'm pleased to announce, is…
YES!
Teddy Fitzroy will be back with another crime to solve at [...]

Belly Up may not have sold a million copies (yet).  But it has inspired schoolchildren in Vermont to make FunJungle brochures, write a song — and run around in the snow reenacting the 'escaped tiger' sequence from the book. Click here to check it all out.
The escaped tiger sequence is at the beginning of the [...]

As a writer, one of the greatest joys in life is seeing your book finally get published.
Only slightly less exciting is seeing it published in other languages.
Especially Swedish.



I mean no offense to my numerous Swedish fans, but I don't think I'm alone in finding Swedish funny.  After all, the Swedish chef on 'The Muppet Show' [...]

It's less than a month until Spy School comes out.  I have received the first official review of it.  (I actually got this two weeks ago, but I've been busy on Spy School 2 and haven't had time to post.)
This is from the School Library Journal.  I have actually edited it a tiny bit, because [...]

Quick quiz:  What is the largest animal you can encounter on land in the United States?
No, it's not a grizzly bear.
No, not a moose, either.
It's the northern elephant seal.
If you've never seen an elephant seal before, I highly recommend it.  It's one of the most bizarre, improbable creatures on earth.  Just check this guy out:

Honestly, [...]

Sad news from the LA Zoo today.  Jabba the Hippo was euthanized yesterday at the age of 28.
Although I go on about how dangerous hippos can be in 'Belly Up,' they're not all as awful as Henry.  Jabba was, from what I can tell, rather mild-mannered as hippos go.  I never heard of him attacking [...]

I have just been informed that Belly Up is a final nominee for the Mark Twain Readers Award.
My competition to actually win this is pretty stiff, but that's praise in itself.  It's nice to be included with such a great bunch of books.
Frankly, it's nice to have my book associated with anything with the words [...]

For the legions of you who follow this blog (6.5 million at last count), you know that I'm a little obsessed with tracking my sales.  Well, this year, for the first time, I was able to pay particularly close attention to the trending of my books over the holidays, and I noticed something that was [...]

First off, there's a new trailer for Belly Up on YouTube.  I believe that makes 1,473 overall, though I may have overestimated this a bit.  Keep them coming!
I've been meeting the kids at a lot of elementary schools lately, but my most recent had a little twist.  I'd been asked to come meet the kids [...]

If you've read Belly Up (or even seen the cover) you know I have a soft spot for hippos.  Yes, they're dangerous and can be quite unsanitary, but they're absolutely fascinating.  Until recently, however, I'd never had the chance to see a baby hippo up close.  I'd only seen them in the wild through binoculars, [...]