Socks: More Than Just Things for Your Feet

I confess, I love sock creatures. Sock Monkeys are the most common clothing creature, but if you are careful you will find sock gorillas, sock giraffes, sock lions, and many other varieties of sock fauna. Within the last few years sock creatures have been making their way into the world of the printed word with craft books, coffee table photo books, and children’s stories.

For those of you with a crafting bent you might want to check out Sock and Glove: creating charming softy friends from cast-off socks and gloves, by Miyako Kanamori. This book features lots of cute and cuddly little sock buddies to make for you or your friends. If you like making sock creatures with a slightly more counterculture look, I would recommend Stupid Sock Creatures, by John Murphy. This book features some difficult cuts and patterns, but once you master the techniques within, there should be no stopping you on your quest to create the most righteous sock creature you can possibly make. Pictured here are some of my creations using what I learned from books like these, sock squids Mira, Audrey, and Salma, and their puppy Robin’s Egg.

By far the most prominent of the sock creatures are sock monkeys. This is also represented in the number of books about sock monkeys, where the range is significant. Two of my personal favorites are Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter, by Shroyer, Walter, and Traister, and Sock Monkeys: 200 out of 1,863 by Svenson and Warren. These two books completely capture the whimsical character of sock monkeys, and show how no two are alike in looks or personality. The ACPL doesn’t yet have these two books, but I will be campaigning hard to purchase them in 2008. On a related note, the ACPL is your library, if there is a book that is not in our collection that you want to read, let us know!

Children’s literature has seen a boom in sock monkey books the last few years. My personal favorite of these is Sock Monkey: a children’s book, by Tony Millionaire. It is exactly what I look for in a good read: talking toys, irritable grandfathers, plush crows stuck in laundry chutes, and gorgeous pen and ink illustrations. This book is perfect if you are looking for something out of the ordinary. Millionaire has also written many sock monkey graphic novels for teens and adults, and picture books for kids.

Other sock monkey picture books include the Sock Monkey series by Cece Bell, Rocko and Spanky go to a Party by Kara LaReau, Sock Monkeys do the Monkey Monkey by William Winburn, and Oscar: the Big Adventures of a Little Sock Monkey by Amy Schwartz. Of these I like the Cece Bell books the best, partly because in Sock Monkey Goes to Hollywood, the unfortunately dirty Sock Monkey has to travel to the mystic simian springs to take a bath to get ready for his awards ceremony. It also has wonderful themes about being a gracious winner and loser, which are not that common in children’s literature. In Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie, the protagonist sews his own best friend, which is the first time I have seen that in a children’s book.

So if you haven’t considered your socks as something other than an item that keeps your feet warm, stop into the library to check out or put on hold a few of these gems.

~Bibliotron, Sock Enthusiast Librarian