The Last Dance of the Tiger King: Kidlit Connections For Quarantine Times
I’ve been stuck inside too long, people. It’s bad. I can feel something stirring deep inside of me. I thought I’d buried it for good, but it’s no use. It’s coming to the surface and I just . . . can’t . . . stop it . . . .
IT’S TIME TO GET SILLY!!!!!!
Specifically, it’s time to find children’s literary connections to the times in which we live. And the times in which we live are weird. Buckle up.
Did You Like the Documentary Series, Last Dance? Well, Remember When Our Current Caldecott Winner Did Art for Michael Jordan’s Mom?
Books We’re Looking at a Little Differently Now That We’ve Watched Tiger King
Stories That Sure Look Like They Feature Sourdough Starters
What Homeschooling Feels Like If You’re Doing It for the First Time
Books Unready for Our World Right Now
Full credit to Eric Carpenter for finding this one
Books That Know How to Social Distance
You Want Masks? I’ll Give You Masks!!
The Most Blatant Misuse of Precious Precious Toilet Paper I Could Think Of
I Always Knew Living Without Pants Was the Better Way to Go
And Somehow the World Started Playing the Game Animal Crossing, Which As I Understand It, Is Apparently This . . .
Plus This (Am I Wrong?)
Books in this post include, in order, the following:
- Salt In His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Deloris Jordan with Roslyn M. Jordan, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
- Michael’s Golden Rules by Deloris Jordan with Roslyn M. Jordan, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
- Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Excellence by Deloris Jordan, illustrated by Barry Root
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
- The Tiger Prince by Chen Jiang Hong
- It’s a Tiger! by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Jeremy Tankard
- “Sweet Porridge” by Bobby London, found in Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists, edited by Chris Duffy
- It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach
- Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
- The Amazing Bone by William Steig
- Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, ill. Sheila McGraw
- Bone: Out of Boneville by Jeff Smith
- Bandits by Joanna Wright
- Flight of the Dodo by Peter Brown
Filed under: Uncategorized
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.
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What about Leave Me Alone by Vera Brosgol? I feel it is the parenting book of our time. 🙂
I’m with you, Kari! LOL. Great list, Betsy; in that same Mo Willems vein, I nominate MY FRIEND IS SAD…but how can we cheer him up? LET’S GO FOR A DRIVE! 🙂
Oh man. Excellent point. It’s practically a rallying cry.
Yet another reason to dislike Love You Forever…blatant toilet paper wasting!
How about WAITING IS HARD by Mo Willems?
Ohhh…. so so perfect.
Your blog is a highlight of my day! Thank you!
It’s not a funny option, but I keep thinking about the title of Rebecca Stead’s newest novel – The List of Things That Will Not Change – and wondering what items will be on the list when all this is over.