Who?
Scholar of children’s literature and comics. Best-known for work on radical and anti-racist children’s literature, Crockett Johnson, and Dr. Seuss – especially Was the Cat in the Hat Black?
Crockett Johnson
Learn about the creator of Barnaby and Harold and the Purple Crayon via my (archived) Crockett Johnson Homepage and other writings.
Nine Kinds of Pie
Recent Posts
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Panels!
It is always a slightly strange feeling to be a nominee. Sitting in the hotel ballroom, as your category approaches and then arrives, there is a rise in nervous energy. If your book wins, you will need to take the stage, deep-breath your nerves down, remember to thank all the people you want to thank. - Best Music of 2025
The moment you have been waiting for! Or possibly not. But here are my picks for the best music of 2025 — some of which may have changed by the time you are reading this. And my shifting list is one reason I’m only getting around to posting this on New Year’s Eve. Another reason for - Harold vs. AI
Crockett Johnson would turn 119 today, and Harold (of purple crayon fame) turns 70 this fall. What does it mean to celebrate Johnson or Harold today? As I argue in “Turn off AI. Pick up a crayon,” it means to celebrate human creativity. In this piece, I suggest that Harold and the Purple Crayon is