The Children’s Book Review | October 1, 2019
Kirk Scroggs is an author-illustrator best known for the Snoop Troop books, It Came From Beneath the Playground, and Attack of the Ninja Potato Clones, as well as the series Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet and Wiley & Grampa’s Creature Features.
I write because…
I’ve always imagined myself as a filmmaker. Writing and illustrating allows me to make my own movies that play out in my brain and I’m in charge of everything. Script, Production design. Casting. With an unlimited effects budget.
I read because…
I’m always looking for a story or idea that I haven’t experienced before.
My latest published book is…
The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid for DC.
I wrote this book because…
Every author and illustrator secretly wants to write a comic book. The chance to work with such an iconic and gothic character as Swamp Thing was a dream come true. It’s exactly the kind of gooey, tragic, grotesque hero that would have crawled right out of my brain circa seventh-grade.
Best moment…
When Swamp Kid realizes a tree frog has taken up residence in his giant log of an arm. It’s so sweet and yet, so disgusting.
My special place to write is …
I like to get out of the office and sit on the side patio whenever possible, however, I recently enjoyed two days of writing while sitting in a lawn chair next to the raging Kaweah River near Sequoia National Park. I think that needs to be my new office, pronto.
Necessary writing/creativity tool…
I like a good ol’ spiral notebook and ballpoint pen for brainstorming and doodling. I have dozens of them around here, filled with scribbles and monsters.
The person who has been my greatest writing teacher or inspiration is…
Mrs. Moran in high school English and the late great Mrs. Grumbles, who taught art. Two giants.
Currently reading…
Bottle of Lies, true crime about fake generic drugs in India. Yes, I’m reading old man books now.
Favorite bookshop…
All-time favorite children’s book I didn’t write…
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Favorite illustrator…
Shel wins again!
A literary character I would like to vacation with…
Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker’s Guide. Dude gets to see some amazing sights.
When I am not reading or writing I am…
Conjuring up what I’m going to write about next . . . or watching Broad City.
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The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid
Written and Illustrated by Kirk Scroggs
Publisher’s Synopsis: Warning! Anyone caught reading this notebook without my permission will be tossed in the bayou with a rabid snapping turtle! Seriously, I mean it!
My name is Russell Weinwright and if you think you’ve got problems in middle school, try being a half kid, half algae swamp creature who’s terrible at sports! It’s not easy. I eat sunlight for lunch, I’ve got duck weed for hair, and I think a frog might be living in my tree trunk arm. I’m literally pond scum! Some kids call me Swamp Kid, but my best friends Charlotte and Preston keep me sane.
I wish I could let you read this notebook to get the real scoop on being an eighth-grade outsider (please ignore the doodles and ketchup stains!), but things have gotten a little crazy lately. Men in black are spying on me, my science teacher might be an evil mastermind, and a hulking beast in the bayou may or may not be my super swamp mentor. Believe me, you don’t wanna know! Turn back now!
This is The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid by writer and illustrator Kirk Scroggs, and you’ll never look at middle school the same way again.
Ages 8-12 | Publisher: DC Zoom | October 1, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1401290689
Buy the Book
Discover more books like Maybe: A Story About the Endless Potential in All of Us, written by Kobi Yamada and illustrated by Gabriella Barouch, by checking out our reviews and articles tagged with Illustrated Chapter Books, Middle School, Monsters; plus, be sure to follow along with our Writing and Reading Life series.
