Still Life With Children: Tales of Family Life

by Richard Scrimger

Richard Scrimger is a harried dad. Between trying to dodge the Baba police (black-kerchiefed grannies who haunt his part of town looking for underdressed kids), agitating on the lost Barbie footwear phenomenon (in a million years core samples from all over North America are going to show a Barbie shoe layer just above the limestone and shale) and congratulating himself on a good day (no one died), Richard Scrimger's definition of sanity is sharply skewed by his four young children.In a collection of incredibly funny, family life musings written at a stream-of-consciousness-my-mind-is-racing-oh-my-god-the-baby's-eating-the-remote pace that any parent will instantly recognize, Richard Scrimger shares his life of stay-at-home dad-dom His children are Ed, two, has trouble distinguishing between pine cones and other unmentionable objects; Imogen, four, wants to be a boy when she grows up; and the twins, Sam and Thea, display that mystical twin bonding connection by sticking their tongues to the frozen food shelf in the grocery store -- both at the same time.

Richard Scrimger is a gifted new talent. Warmly, sometimes crankily funny, and always infused with an infectious joy, deep tenderness and respect for his tiny subjects, Richard Scrimger's writing is terrific. Still Life With Children is the perfect Father's Day gift -- guaranteeing laughs and hugs all around.

278 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 1997

About the author

I was born with very little hair and very little feet and hands. They all grew together and I still have them, together with all my organs except tonsils. I do not have four children -- they have me and we all know it. I write and teach and talk about writing and other things. Actually, I talk a lot. I’m right handed, my car has a dent in the passenger side door, and my blood type is A-. The motto of South Carolina is Dum spiro spero.— success comes by breathing. I like black licorice and rice pudding and ratatouille and coffee. Lots of coffee. My hair usually needs cutting. How much more do you need to know about anybody?

I have been writing since 1996. No, that's not true. I wrote for years before that, but no one cared. Since 1996 I've published fifteen books for adults and children. You can read more about them somewhere else on this site. A few of the books did very well. Some came close. A couple didn't do well at all. My most recent offering is Ink Me, a tragicomedy about a tattoo gone wrong, told in supercool phonetic speak by our learning-disabled hero. Zomboy – an undead story – is due out next year. (My editor and I are arguing about certain scenes right now.) And I am writing a semi-graphic novel about kids who fall into a comic book.
Do you want more details? Really? Okay, then.

In 1996 I published my first novel, Crosstown (Toronto: The Riverbank Press), which was short-listed for the City of Toronto Book Award.
Humorous short pieces about my life as an at-home dad with four small children used to appear regularly in the Globe & Mail and Chatelaine, and can still be found fairly regularly on the back page of Today's Parent. I reworked some of this material into a full-length chunk of not-quite-non-fiction, which was published by HarperCollins as Still Life With Children.

I started writing children's fiction in 1998. Two middle-school novels, The Nose From Jupiter and The Way To Schenectady did well enough to require sequels. There are four Norbert books so far, and two Peelers.

My work has received a lot of attention in Canada and The United States. The Nose From Jupiter is a Canadian bestseller. It won a Mr Christie Book Award, was on most of the top ten lists and has been translated into a Scottish dozen languages (that’s less than 12). Bun Bun’s Birthday, From Charlie’s Point of View, Mystical Rose, and Into the Ravine made a variety of short lists and books of the year – Quill and Quire, Canadian Library Association, Globe and Mail, Chicago Public Library, Time Out NY (kids), blah blah. Ink Me is part of the “7” series – linked novels featuring seven grandsons with quests from their common grandfather. Pretty cool, eh? As my most recent book, it is my current favorite. But watch out for Zomboy next year. It’s a killer!

Reviews

[Laura Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this as it was given to me as a birthday gift. The accessibility of the daily, average life and family exhibited in such a hilarious way - and yet such regular seeming tasks or events can take an unexpected hilarious direction! And that Imogen character...what a laugh! If I should ever meet such a creature, ha!

[Ida Mae West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical. Highly recommended for anyone who feels overwhelmed with parenting. Belly laughs.