The first promotional flyer for The Complete Barnaby is here.  And no, the strips you see on it are not of the resolution that you’ll experience in the book itself.  Fantagraphics is still working on cleaning up the scans.  But, at least, a hazy glimpse of what’s to come… in June 2012! Here’s a pdf: Complete…
The final appendix omitted from my forthcoming biography of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (2012) also chronicles their early opposition to the war in Vietnam and – unusually – has Ruth’s name on it as well. Why did she sign this one? I think because she particularly abhorred violence. One of her friends told me that even cartoon violence upset…
A month or so back, I posted the first and second omitted appendices from my forthcoming biography of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (2012).  At the risk of trying your patience, here is the third. Its importance is Johnson and Krauss’s early opposition to the war in Vietnam.  Krauss’s name is not on this petition, but…
Yesterday, songs.  Today, a poem.  There are many poets to whom we might turn (Whitman and Sandburg rush to mind) for Labor Day, but I’ve opted for the title poem from What Work Is (1991) by America’s new Poet Laureate Philip Levine (b. 1928).  When you hear him read, he often shares a story about the…
Today, the first of three Labor-Day-themed posts. Here’s a mix of songs about work. And, yes, I’m aware that many other songs that could be included here – I came up with enough additional songs to fill a second CD, and then some. Since much of this blog is devoted to children’s literature, I should also…
The manuscript is still going to be cut further, but – as it currently stands – here are the first and final sentences of the book. First sentence (from the Introduction): When a stranger knocked on Crockett Johnson’s front door one mild Friday in August 1950, he was not expecting was a visit from the…
The title is currently The Purple Crayon and a Hole to Dig: The Lives of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss. Today, my editor writes that he and his colleagues “find the main title problematic. It’s lengthy and isn’t evocative to anyone who isn’t already familiar with Johnson or Krauss, and so doesn’t draw the lay…
The capacity to surprise is a sign of a true artist. Though famous for his visual and verbal wit, Lane Smith has written a gentle, moving book about growing old. Grandpa Green has humor, but it relegates its sole joke to a footnote. (After reporting that in fourth grade, Grandpa Green “got chicken pox,” Smith…
I teach children’s literature, write books about children’s literature, and direct a graduate program in children’s literature. But I’ve never taken a single course in children’s literature, neither as a graduate student nor as an undergraduate student. I have no formal training in the field of my alleged expertise. So, in the words of David…
In North America, those of us who are teachers or students are thinking about school. In August and September, the summer holidays end, and a new term begins. To commemorate (or commiserate?) this season last year, I posted Dark Sarcasm in the Classroom: A Back-to-School Mix. This year, I’m posting a mix about language.  Enjoy!…
