The book went to press earlier this month, and will be out in the spring. I can’t wait for you to see it. Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby Volume 1 is truly a thing of beauty. If you read any books published by Fantagraphics, this last sentence will not surprise you. But in case you are not
For those heading to the MLA in Boston (3-6 January 2013), here’s a handy list of panel sessions on either children’s literature or comics/graphic novels. Â I compiled the list below by searching the MLA’s program for children’s literature (so, I may have missed some), and by re-posting the comics/graphic novels sessions from the MLA Comics/Graphic
Here are the best covers of 2012! Â Well, they might be. Â I haven’t kept up with music as well as I’d like to this year, and so I’m sure I’ve missed some good ones. Â (I’m sure I can trust you to tell what I’ve missed, in the comments below.) Â Though I recognize that there is
Happy holidays!  A couple of years ago, I posted a mix of “Essential Holiday Tunes.” Here is the sequel to that mix – and, yes, of course these selections are also idiosyncratic. Unlike the previous mix, I’ve ventured a little further afield here: that is, I’ve deliberately veered towards some lesser-known songs. Like the previous
With thanks to the Children’s and Adolescent Literature Community (ChALC) for organizing the event and the Manhattan Public Library (especially Melendra Sanders) for hosting it, we held a Mock Caldecott at this afternoon. We weren’t able to get all of the books we wanted to look at, and we likely overlooked other Caldecott contenders. But, based on what we did get to review, here
When I started writing what was then a biography of Crockett Johnson (back in the late 1990s), I thought: When I finish this, I really will have achieved something. Even as I wrote other books, I continued to think of the biography – which became a double biography of Johnson and Krauss – as The
As one of the first people to teach Chris Ware’s Building Stories (which just came out last month), I thought I would share what I’m planning. Given the loud and enthusiastic acclaim that has greeted Building Stories, I expect that others will also teach the work.  (To the best of my knowledge, the only other person
After a failed stage adaptation and one failed radio version, Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby headed for the stage a second time. Adapted for children’s theatre by Robert and Lilian Masters, this Barnaby made its debut in Terre Haute, Indiana, in May 1948. Looking ahead to the publication (in February 2013, I am told) of The Complete
David Johnson Leisk was born 106 years ago in an apartment at 444 East 58th Street, New York City. If you’re in New York today, you might give yourself a walking tour (aided by the subway) of where the creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955) and Barnaby (1942-1952) grew up. Dave Leisk –
In America, children generally do not grow up with Tove Jansson’s Moomins as part of their childhood. Why is this? In other parts of the world, the Moomins are well-known and loved. There have been several animated television series made in countries as different as Japan, Sweden, and even the Soviet Union. There’s an amusement
