Spend More Time With Rubbish Books!

You heard me right. You owe it to yourself to take a good long look at (more precisely) RubbishBooks. It’s the one-year-old brain-child of Matt Ryan, self-described writer/illustrator/animator/developer/and “whatever else.” RubbishBooks is a series of short stories for children featuring his monster characters Patrick, Kevin, and Arty, as well as a host of supporting characters like Dr. Toast (a slice of toast with a medical degree, naturally).

Arty (left) and Patrick

The illustrations are simple, bold, graphic, and colorful. They’re loaded with personality, obviously due to the witty, charming writing. New Yorker Matt Ryan’s originally from England and he’s got that wry English sense of humor wrapped in an appealing group of characters that hits the sweet spot between silly and downright daft. In his story, The Box, Kevin leaves for vacation, leaving behind a box for Arty and Patrick. They have a great time with the box, never knowing until Kevin returns that their gift was inside the box.

As the parent of a boy who just turned five, Ryan was disappointed at the way children’s publishing has become increasingly dominated by product-sponsored throwaway books. As Ryan told me, “I’m not foolish enough to say RubbishBooks has solved this problem, but I would love to go some way to provide better options for parents.” I’ll say he does. And you’ll love the price point: how does FREE grab you? Yeah, I like free, too.

You’ll find it all at his site, RubbishBooks.com including his first book, The Case of the Missing Banana (also at iTunes). Other stories like A Visit to the Doctor have been configured for the iPhone or iPad with reader interaction points (shake the phone, swipe the screen, etc.) and blur the line between traditional flat storybooks and the ever-evolving world of applications. Others, like Patrick Builds a Birdhouse let the reader choose how the story develops. All look great on mobile and tablets.

I’ll just say “you’re welcome” right now, because you’re going to thank me when you decide to take a look at RubbishBooks. I want Matt Ryan to keep going and become the next Walt Disney. It could happen!

Also available on iTunes: A Very Hairy Little Monster, and my favorite, The Box. Find many more titles at RubbishBooks.com.