Karen Hallion mashes Dr. Who with Crockett Johnson‘s Harold and the Purple Crayon! An apt comparison. Just as the crayon guides Harold through improbable distances, so does the Tardis – its ability to navigate the universe is as impressive as that purple crayon. Hat tip to Fashionably Geek and Gene Kanenberg Jr. (on Facebook). The t-shirt
Yes.  Spring is here, which means flowers blooming and (for academics, at least) the rapidly accelerating roller-coster that is the second half of the semester.  It is thus time for some jaunty music.  Enjoy! 1)   You Meet the Nicest People in Your Dreams    Fats Waller and His Rhythm (1939)   2:51
I don’t enjoy flying, but I do like traveling. There is pleasure in being somewhere else, in experiencing a different city or country. All that is taken for granted in daily life cannot be taken for granted – and this is especially true when in another country, when the food, language, and culture differs in
One wonders if David C. Levy came by his ignorance naturally, or whether it’s a state of mind that he has cultivated carefully over the years. Â His piece in the Washington Post is so poorly informed that I suspect ignorance may simply be something with which nature has endowed him. Â He claims that “Happily, senior
I’ve managed to schedule two invited talks within three days of one another. I believe both are open to the public. The Johnson-Krauss talk (Normal, IL, 26 Mar.) definitely is open to the public, and the Harry Potter talk (Pittsburgh, PA, 23 Mar.) offers no indication that public needs permission to attend. So, if you’re
Many children’s writers and illustrators have created covers for albums. Below, we’ll look at a dozen or so of these artists. As is ever the case with any art posted on this website, the artwork belongs to the artists. Visit their websites! Buy prints! Buy their books! (I’ve included websites for each artist.) Enjoy! Saul
The commercials for The Lorax film say: I am the Lorax. I speak for the tweens.1 The commercials for the many Lorax tie-ins say: I am the Lorax. I speak for the SUVs.2 I am the Lorax. I speak for the pancakes.3 I am the Lorax. I speak for the diapers.4 But what does the
Noting the rise in “adult” authors writing for children, Dr. Seuss in November 1960 published an article in which he argued that children’s books were more important than other types of books – because children’s books had the potential to be more influential than all other books. I’m reproducing it below exactly as it appeared
The index and (now proofread!) page proofs for Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children’s Literature (forthcoming this September) are in the mail, heading back to the publisher. To commemorate this occasion, here are yet more cuts and a few other changes – most of
Continuing my series on building the “perfect” children’s library (for criteria, see first post), here are some great alphabet books. The first post listed Dr. Seuss’s ABC (1963), Crockett Johnson’s Harold’s ABC (1963), and Bill Martin, John Archambault, & Lois Ehlert’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989). Here are ten more alphabet titles I’ve recently sent