“Girls always make passes at guys with mustaches.” (Unknown hairy person)

Good Morning!

I mustache you a question, but I’ll shave it for later. 🙂

Happy Movember (a tad late)! Time once again to help raise awareness of men’s health issues by sprouting a dapper cookie duster.

I, for one, have always been mad for staches.

You bet. Who was it that said “A man without a mustache is a man without a soul”? When I was growing up, I noticed the smartest, funniest, hottest men all had staches: Albert Einstein, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Selleck, David Crosby, Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, Kurt Vonnegut, Edgar Allan Poe, Santa Claus, The Monopoly Man, did I mention Tom Selleck?

And have you noticed the best lines from movies are all about staches?

Nobody puts Mustache in a corner.

and

You can’t handle the mustache!

and

Say hello to my leetle mustache.

Or what about that incredibly incisive TV question:

Where is your mustache, Jake from State Farm?

Positively hair raising! 😀

What’s that? You say you can’t grow your own? Your upper lip is as smooth, soft and hairless as a baby’s . . .

Not to worry, cause today we’re gonna help you get your mighty mo on by serving up four fanstashtic picture books and a delicious cache of chocolaty cookies. Read ’em and eat!

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A BABY, A BOY, A KING AND A MONSTER

Marvelous mustaches have found their way into a number of fabulous picture books. They’re a source of great fun, to be sure, but also a means to explore personality, individuality, and identity. It’s interesting to think about mustache connotations, too — good or bad?

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos and Joy Ang (Clarion Books, 2013).

When Baby Billy is born with a mustache, his family takes it in stride. They are reassured when he nobly saves the day in imaginary-play sessions as a cowboy or cop and his mustache looks good-guy great. But as time passes, their worst fears are confirmed when little Billy’s mustache starts to curl up at the ends in a suspiciously villainous fashion. Sure enough, “Billy’s disreputable mustache led him into a life of dreadful crime.” Plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor and cartoonish illustrations make this the perfect baby-shower gift for a mustachioed father-to-be.

Just the idea of a baby with a mustache will get kids giggling, and they’ll enjoy following Baby Billy’s imaginative play as he takes on different identities and disrupts the activities of his older siblings. Things get even more interesting when Billy turns into a “bad guy” and gets thrown into “jail” (his playpen). With time comes remorse and welcome reassurance from his parents that everyone has a bad-mustache day once in awhile. A fun, offbeat, emotionally resonant story that celebrates possibilities while examining relatable behavior issues.  A crackerjack surprise ending, too! (Coming in March 2015: Mustache Baby Meets His Match.)

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Big, Bushy Mustache by Gary Soto and Joe Cepeda (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998).

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo, and Ricky’s class is going to put on a play to celebrate the festive Mexican holiday. When asked to choose his costume, Ricky picks a big, bushy mustache, just like his dad’s. He’s tired of everyone telling him he looks like his mother. After all, he’s a boy—he wants to look like his Papi. Although he’s supposed to leave it in school, Ricky wears the mustache home, reveling all the way in how grown-up it makes him feel. But by the time he gets there, the mustache is gone, and Ricky dreads having to tell his teacher what happened.

Lucky for him, his Mama and Papi have a plan. Ricky is delighted the next morning when his Mama hands him a new big, bushy mustache—fresh from the smiling face of his clean-shaven Papi! With humor and tenderness, Soto evokes a warm celebration of both the beloved tradition of Cinco de Mayo and the strong bonds of love between father and son.

This heartwarming story is beautifully told and every boy who has ever wanted to be “just like Dad” will relate. Readers will also understand Ricky’s feelings of pride and empowerment when he’s wearing the fake mustache — the masculine, grown-up feeling it gives him. They will nod knowingly as Ricky panics over losing the mustache and feel relieved and happy when it’s “found.” A sprinkling of Spanish gives this satisfying story its distinctive flavor, but its truths are universal.

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Mustache! by Mac Barnett and Kevin Cornell (Disney-Hyperion, 2011).