Not so funny when someone loses his eye

Last Friday, the New York Times crossword puzzle had "Like Polyphemos," or something similar, as one clue. "I just heard someone talking about Polyphemos at the house where I was visiting," I thought. "Yes, I remember: it was Justin. I could get on the phone and ask Justin what 'Like Polyphemos' might mean."

Justin is five.

I decided to save my pride and work out the answer for myself. (My recurring problem with remembering Polyphemos is that "famous" doesn't seem like the most appropriate name for that mythological figure. In fact, he doesn't seem like the sort to have a proper name at all.)

Even before I visited Justin and his family's house, I'd heard that he's now a (metaphorically) huge fan of the Greek myths, so one of my presents was It's All Greek to Me!, the Time Warp Trio's visit to Olympus. Since Justin already knows the straight stories, I figured he'd appeciate Jon Scieszka's silly take on those characters. His mother told me that on at least one night since she found him asleep with the book fallen from his limp hand, so it seems to have been a hit.

However, I kept mum about how there's now a Time Warp Trio TV show. The elaborate Time Warp Trio website promotes that PBS series. Curiously, it doesn't promote the books. You can find an occasional TWT title by looking under "Books and Links" for an episode based on one of those books, then scrolling down the long list of auxiliary reading--but there's still no easy link. The books aren't even listed under "Stuff to Buy"; instead, there's a hint that TV spin-off books might be coming, which usually isn't a good thing in terms of quality. And this from an author who founded Guys Read.