“Nazis destroyed books to ‘purify’ German culture. Bigots do it in the name of God, or Allah. What’s Bloomberg’s excuse? ‘Hygiene’?” – Salman Rushdie, via his Twitter account, 16 Nov. 2011 “If corporations are people, tents are definitely speech.” – Ben Chappell, prof. of American Studies, University of Kansas (via Eric Michael Johnson [@ericmjohnson on
Occupy Wall Street Library (before) Occupy Wall Street Library (after) “I cannot live without books; but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object.” — Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 10 June 1815 “Knowledge is power.” — Thomas Jefferson to to Joseph Cabell, 22 January 1820 “Let me conclude by
When I was a graduate student, I would have voted myself Least Likely to Succeed in Academe. I published nothing while in graduate school. I worked hard on my seminar papers, but none would work as an article – so, I didn’t send them out. I didn’t figure out how to write publishable literary criticism
My flash drive is missing, and I find myself unable to focus.  (I know some people call this device a “thumb drive” or a “memory stick.”  Please insert the term you prefer.  Thank you.)  In an effort to clear my head, I am writing this. I put everything on that drive — class notes, quizzes, exams, manuscripts
One of the great things about working on the biography of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (due out in the fall of 2012) is getting to talk to interesting people. One of the sad things is that many of them pass away. I just learned that Andy Rooney died last night, at the age of
If you’ll be in (or near) Nashville on Friday 11th, Karin Westman and I are giving a free lecture: “Accidental Experts: Strategy, Serendipity, and the Places You’ll Go.” Â We’ll talk about children’s literature (me on Dr. Seuss, Karin on Harry Potter), and about navigating academia. When: 2:10 pm, Friday, November 11, 2011 Where: Vanderbilt University’s
Inspired by BoingBoing’s notice of my post on Syd Hoff’s leftist cartoons, I’m sharing another letter from the late Mr. Hoff, along with a cartoon from 1939. As those who remember his first letter to me might recall, he and I corresponded – and spoke over the phone a few times – when I was
Last year, Nine Kinds of Pie presented seven Halloween mixes. Â This year, it’ll be just one new Halloween mix. Â (Feel free to check out the old ones, though. Â They’re still up on the blog!) Â The theme this year is all instrumental. Â Henry Mancini, Combustible Edison, Big Lazy, and others present some (mostly) spooky tunes without
In honor of what would have been Crockett Johnson‘s 105th birthday, I can exclusively reveal both the title of the book and the name of the winner of my Invent Title for My Book, win a Signed Copy of the Book contest. Â Yesterday (Wednesday), my editor emailed the title that he and his colleagues liked
The headline reads “Occupying children’s minds: ‘Radical children’s literature at Wall Street protests.’”  Featured prominently is Julia Mickenberg’s and my Tales for Little Rebels.  After reading the piece (though, not, I suspect, the book itself), one commenter, writing under the name of “forcerecon2,” worrries that Tales for Little Rebels represents “the indoctrination of our children.”  Coming from the left but