James Preller's Blog

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For the past week, the children’s book world has been in an uproar (it started off as a kerfuffle, and quickly escalated) in response to critical comments made by author Mac Barnett about the current state of children’s literature. If you don’t know, you can find out easily enough.

Besides being a gifted writer, Barnett is currently the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, appointed by the Library of Congress. For that reason, his dismissive comments stung all the more.

The response to Barnett’s (ill-advised, mean-spirited, condescending) comment has been extensive and passionately articulate, with many creators weighing in at length. There’s even been a widely circulated opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal to further fan the flames.

To me, a week later, it all feels overcooked. But I’ve been in this business for more than 40 years, I know it’s a bunny-eat-bunny world, and I can’t get too worked up about one guy’s opinion. And I am not at all interested in joining the dogpile. There’s far too much of that these days.

So here I sit, after finally figuring out how I want to respond to the notion that 94.7% of children’s books are crud.

I want to talk about books I love, people I admire.

Today I want you to know about a book that I’m really, really excited to see in the world. It’s a true original, with more than a touch of Daniel Pinkwater’s influence. I am talking about Matt McElligott’s exciting new foray into illustrated, middle-grade fiction. The book combines Matt’s offbeat sense of humor with the deep intelligence that has characterized his work through the decades. The debut book in the series is a wild, funny, inventive story; I’m thrilled that soon young readers will get the chance to check it out for themselves.  

Quietly, Matt McElligott is one of our best.

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The new series launches in October, 2026, and, yes, it absolutely comes out of left field — as if it were beamed down from another planet. Where did this come from? Matt’s not jumping on a trend or following the whims of the marketplace. In the age of Artificial Intelligence, here’s an artist creating from the wacky heart, the curious mind, the untethered soul.

Let’s see a robot try that.

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Here’s the description from Matt’s publisher, Bloombury.

Project WOOFF was top-secret . . . until now.

Alex Grebert has lived his whole life in the off-grid community of Underland with his nature-loving Aunt Zinnia ever since his parents died unexpectedly. Alex loves his aunt, but it’s not easy being a coder in a place where electricity and internet are practically nonexistent.

When Alex’s best friend Lily Day takes in a stray cat named Fuzzypants, Alex is pulled into an adventure straight out of one of his self-made video games. The cat, whose real name is Professor Fuzzypants, PhD., is a product of Project WOOFF (Weaponized Optimization of Flora/Fauna), a top-secret government project that developed intelligent, speaking animals.

Project WOOFF was supposed to have been shut down a long time ago, but someone is continuing the experiments. Alex and Lily are determined to find out why it all went wrong, especially when Alex discovers that there may be more to his parents’ story than he had ever been told.

Featuring black-and-white chapter opening artwork and full-page black-and-white illustrations throughout, this short series starter will appeal to the young middle-grade reluctant reader.

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NOTE: I hope other creators will take this opportunity to praise books, to talk up the good stuff — maybe the less hyped among us — and put a spotlight on all the wonderful work being done in children’s publishing today.