Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock retold by Eric A. Kimmel, ill. Janet Stevens

KPOM!

It was a storytime staple for me back when I was a children’s librarian. But how has this 1988 picture book stood up over the intervening years? Today it’s time to accompany our previous spider-filled picture book The Spider and the Fly with another eight-legged potential classic. We’ve done one other Eric A. Kimmel book on the podcast before (remember Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins?). In spite of the sheer number of times I’ve read this book, Kate finds PLENTY of details in Janet Stevens’s art that I missed entirely over the years. We talk spiky hippo elbows, the empowerment of clever female animals, cultural appropriation, Neil Gaiman, and more.

Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, PlayerFM, or your preferred method of podcast selection.

Show Notes:

Kate points out that the moss-covered rock appears to be giving Anansi some side-eye here.

Detail #1 that I never noticed before: The lion appears to have a lizard on a leash as a pet!

Kate points out that in fainting, these critters should fall forward onto the rock. Yet each time someone crouches forward, they end up on their back.

Detail #2 that I never noticed before: Mice running along the ceiling fan to get it to run? Totally new to me.

Kate was willing to suspend disbelief for much of this book. Magic rocks? Fine. Talking animals? Believable. But a deer managing to climb a tree and pick coconuts? That is where she must draw the line.

And that position Little Bush Deer is exemplifying right now, folks, is what I like to call “coquettish”. Kate declares this “sassy deer” her tattoo of the week.

Here’s the Wes Tank take on Bear Snores On, and I must admit, the man does this beautifully:

Please, if you get a chance, please check out the 100 Scope Notes piece Enter the World of Incredibly Specific Children’s Literature Accounts. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time.

Betsy Recommends: The episode of the podcast 99% Invisible on Balikbayan Boxes.

Kate Recommends: The Challenges app.

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate