SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

September 9, 2008 by Betsy Bird

With Apologies to Counting Crows

September 9, 2008 by Betsy Bird   6 comments


Have you ever had one of those days when you start to get a little slap happy?  When you’ve been sitting in front of a computer for long periods of time entering data, and then suddenly your brain (in a fit of what I assume is self-preservation) notes something normal and makes a ridiculous parallel.

Right.  So.  I’m working on stack of books and suddenly I see the book "Bea and Mr. Jones".  It’s an early Amy Schwartz title, picked up by Reading Rainbow back in the day and republished not too long ago with a nice red spine.  I’ve used it in storytimes.  I’ve read it on my own.  It is a title that is well and truly familiar to me.  And then it happened.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Bea and Mr. Jones?  What if you switched the names around?  What if it became "Mr. Jones and Bea"?  And what if you suddenly started to sing those words to the song "Mr. Jones and Me" by Counting Crows.  Naturally, you’d have something like this in your head all day (god help your soul):

I was down my Kindergarden staring at this big fat man
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this black-haired elementary teacher
He joins in as the the kids all play with colors
He’s suddenly a kid again
We all want to be a kid again
I wish I was a kid again
So come trade your job with him for one morning
Come on Bea! Show me some of your crumbly crackers
Pass me some glitter, Mr. Jones
Believe in him
Help him believe in anything
I want him to be someone who believes

Mr. Jones and Bea tell each other fairy tales
Stare at each other’s occupations
"I wanna be you. Oh yeah, yeah, you wanna be me."
Smiling in the morning light
Traveling in on train lines
When everybody loves you, you can never be unhappy

He will paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful
Green is his favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I had his gumption
I would join my own Kindergarten and play

Mr. Jones and Bea look into the future
Stare at their wonderful lives
"I’m gonna be you.
Uh, I don’t think so. You’re gonna be me."
Standing in the spotlight
Mr. Jones is now the class pet
Since everybody loves him, he will never be lonely

. . .

Mr. Jones and Bea, they’re gonna be big stars.


Not complete but now you have a sense of how my mind works.

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

U.S. Gov: ‘All Books Must Have Round Corners’

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Celebrating Asian Pacific American Stories | The Year in SLJ Covers

Best Books 2022 | The Year in SLJ Covers

Fuel Up for the Fight: Resources to Push Back on Censorship Efforts

Under Pressure: Survey Provides Insight into Librarians' Job Satisfaction

Between Friends: Books Help Tackle the Tough Emotions that Go with Friendship

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. chrisinNY says

    September 9, 2008 at 6:55 am

    And because I am older than you, I immediately leapt to anothr lyric, “Me and Mr. Jones, got a thing going on….”

  2. ChrisinNY says

    September 9, 2008 at 6:56 am

    And then I stopped- because when you are putting that in conjunction with kids, and kids books, it was just wrong.

  3. Cynjay says

    September 9, 2008 at 9:32 am

    I agree – I totally went with the “Me and Mrs., Mrs. Jones”…

  4. Fuse #8 says

    September 9, 2008 at 9:48 am

    Yeah, the advantage of the Counting Crows song is that it’s about two dudes just hanging out. Much as Bea and Mr. Jones just hang out. Groovy.

  5. v. thorne says

    September 10, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    love it, the song–both songs, actually…I also thought of ”

  6. v. thorne says

    September 10, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    “Me and Mrs. Jones” first, crows/jones, both great–anyhow, also love the way your mind worked. good stuff.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023