Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say

Goofy is fun. Goofy is great. But seems to me that sometimes you just gotta slow everything down and do a picture book that’s a little more serious. We had to go meaningful this week and what could be more meaningful than a little drop of Allen Say?. That doesn’t mean we don’t have time to also talk about a yard full of 12-foot-skeletons, of course. We contain multitudes.

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Show Notes:

You can read my 100 Picture Books for Kids Poll write-up of this title (at #46) here.

A straightforward explanation of where this book came from.

Each of these illustrations is like a gorgeous portrait in and of itself. As Kate points out, “It’s clear why it won the gold.”

Peaky Blinders, sez Kate. I’ll take her word for it.

By the way, I know that Christina’s World is by Wyeth. Please do not kill me.

Love the shadows on his face here. What’s so interesting about this part is that looking at it you’d assume that the text would say something about the horrors of industrialization. What it actually says is, “Huge cities of factories and tall buildings bewildered and yet excited him.”

For the record, Allan Say as a child ran into Lois Lowry though they never exchanged a word. It was only years later that they discovered that they’d seen one another all those years ago.

Here’s Halfway Home by Christine Inzer. Love that book! If you need a comic about feeling torn between Japan and America, this is ideal. Bonus: Actually made by a teenager (and check out that well-deserved Jeff Smith blurb!).

Kate Recommends: The hard seltzer Press

Betsy Recommends: An episode of the podcast 99% Invisible about Octagon Houses.

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate