Katz, Alan

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Katz, Alan

(I.B. Wrongo)

Personal

Married; wife's name Rose (a journalist); children: Simone, Andrew, Nathan, David.

Addresses

Home—CT.

Career

Children's writer and television writer. Has written for television programs including Rosie O'Donnell Show, Warner Brothers Animation's Taz-Mania, and Disney's Raw Toonage, as well as programs on Nickelodeon and ABC Television. XM Radio, host of Dr. I.B. Wrongo radio show.

Awards, Honors

Emmy Award nominations for work on Rosie O'Donnell Show and Raw Toonage; Cuffie Award, Publishers Weekly, for Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2001.

I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2003.

Where Did They Hide My Presents?: Silly Dilly Christmas Songs, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2005.

Stinky Thinking: The Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers, illustrated by Laurie Keller, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Caissie St. Onge) United Jokes of America, illustrated by Mike Lester, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2005.

Stinky Thinking Number Two: Another Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers, illustrated by Jennifer Kalis, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Pete Fornatale) Elfis: A Christmas Tale, illustrated by Dani Jones, Price Stern Sloan (New York, NY), 2006.

Are You Quite Polite?: Silly Dilly Manners Songs, illustrated by David Catrow, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2006.

The Flim-Flam Fairies, Running Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2007.

Oops!, illustrated by Edward Koren, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2007.

Don't Say That Word!, illustrated by David Catrow, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2007.

On Top of the Potty, and Other Get-up-and-Go Songs, illustrated by David Catrow, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2008.

Smelly Locker: Silly Dilly School Songs, illustrated by David Catrow, Margaret K. McElderry (New York, NY), 2008.

FOR ADULTS

(As told to Katz by Dr. Juice) The Cat Not in the Hat!, illustrated by Chris Wrinn, Dove (Beverly Hills, CA), 1996.

Wackronyms, Avon (New York, NY), 1996.

C'Mere, Kitty: A Cat Lover's Guide to Pestering Your Pet, Avon (New York, NY), 1998.

Maternity the Musical!: Funny Songs about Cravings, Sonograms, and Everything Else an Expectant Mom's Got or Gonna Get, Andrews McMeel (Kansas City, MO), 2004.

Contributor of humor essays to the New York Times.

Sidelights

Comedy writer Alan Katz has been successful at a career that draws on his ability to stay young at heart. "When a six-year old boy thinks like a grown man, they call him a child prodigy," Katz observed on his home page. "But what's the best way to describe a grown man who thinks like a six-year old boy? That's the problem my wife faces every time she has to introduce me." Whether writing his "Silly Dilly" song books or working on cartoons for Disney or Nickelodeon, Katz uses his ability to think like a child to make sure the silliness and jokes with which he fills his books appeal to young readers. Along with his books, Katz is also the creator of the trivia game "That's Right, That's Wrong!" which is hosted by his fictional alter ego Dr. I.B. Wrongo and airs regularly on XM Radio. He also visits schools and libraries to do readings, sing, and tell jokes.

Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs was Katz's first book for young readers. Featuring a collection of new lyrics that are paired with familiar traditional old tunes, Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs features lyrics "so clever that kids will want to burst into song immediately," according to Jane Marino in her review for School Library Journal. Ginny Gustin, also writing for School Library Journal, felt that in the collection, old songs "are given new life," and these new versions "will have kids giggling as they sing," predicted a Publishers Weekly contributor. The fun continues in I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs.

In Where Did They Hide My Presents?: Silly Dilly Christmas Songs Katz sets his humorous lyrics to familiar Christmas songs, focusing on holiday events ranging from shopping to decorating rooftops with lights. "The child's-perspective lyrics are often about the seemingly ridiculous lengths adults go to" during the holidays, noted Bridget T. McCaffrey in Horn Book. Although a Kirkus Reviews contributor found some of the rewrites "gross," the critic added that "most provide the sort of irreverent humor beloved by children."

Consistently silly, Katz's books frequently have an educational purpose as well. For example, the cunningly titled On Top of the Potty, and Other Get-up-and-Go Songs is geared toward helping young listeners with potty training. Stinky Thinking: The Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers and Stinky Thinking Number Two: Another Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers both use bathroom humor to ask real quiz questions, such as the number of Supreme Court justices in the United States. Are You Quite Polite?: Silly Dilly Manners Songs and Don't Say That Word!, both of which feature quirky illustrations by David Catrow, also double as off-beat guides to good manners. Noting the contrasting pairing of model behavior and bad habits in Are You Quite Polite? a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that Katz's examples "will induce hilarity." Hazel Rochman, writing in Booklist, concluded that "the gross humor" in Don't Say That Word! "is right-on for slapstick."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2003, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs, p. 1985; November 15, 2006, Julie Cummins, review of Are You Quite Polite?: Silly Dilly Manners Songs, p. 50; July 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Don't Say That Word!, p. 64.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December, 2006, review of Where Did They Hide My Presents?: Silly Dilly Christmas Songs, p. 188.

Horn Book, November-December, 2005, Bridget T. McCafferty, review of Where Did They Hide My Presents?, p. 695.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2003, review of I'm Still Here in the Bathtub, p. 389; November 1, 2005, review of Where Did They Hide My Presents?, p. 1194; September 15, 2006, review of Are You Quite Polite?, p. 957.

Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2001, review of Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs, p. 63; March 24, 2003, review of I'm Still Here in the Bathtub, p. 78; June 25, 2007, review of Don't Say That Word!, p. 59.

School Library Journal, April, 2001, Jane Marino, review of Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs, p. 132; July, 2003, Nina Lindsay, review of I'm Still Here in the Bathtub, p. 114; December, 2004, Ginny Gustin, review of Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs, p. 59; June, 2005, Steven Engelfried, review of Take Me out of the Bathtub, and Other Silly Dilly Songs, p. 56; October, 2006, Grace Oliff, review of Are You Quite Polite?, p. 136; July, 2007, Mary Hazelton, review of Don't Say That Word!, p. 78.