Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Will Spring Be Early? Or Will Spring Be Late? by Crockett Johnson
Granted, today is the day the Newbery/Caldecott announcements appear. Still this blog goes on! And considering the fact that (A) Groundhog Day is this week and yet (B) We have never done a Groundhog Day episode, that gave us the impetus to tackle a groundhogian classic. But which one? With all the choices we decided to pluck out this title by the guy who brought us Harold and the Purple Crayon. Like that book it indulges in a limited color palette and Johnson’s characteristic drawing style. As such, prepare for long discussions on precisely what the Groundhog Day rule actually means, larger talks on the role of reality versus positivity in the real world, what makes a good holiday picture book, and why the moral of this story is, “Eat more bacon.”
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:
Briefly alluded to in the episode, Philip Nel is our resident American scholar and specialist on all things Crockett Johnson. Check him out at his website here.
In the course of my research I became fascinated by the 100 mathematical paintings inspired by geometrical principles and mathematical equations by Crockett Johnson. You can see a bunch of them here. Including this one, which is my favorite:
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Can you, gentle listeners, come up with your own artificial flower company name for this truck? Kate came up with Faux Flora. I bet you can do better.
Do groundhogs hop? Dunno. But they’re pretty cute running:
I dunno. Johnson was a great artist but pig snouts? Not his top speciality, I’d say.
All of us need a Pig in our lives. Otherwise we’d all freeze to death in the snow.
Betsy Recommends (sort of): Tar
Kate Recommends: Project L
Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate
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 Kirkus, 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 BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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That pig is speaking truth to power!
I see this book as a parable about misinformation and the harm it does to society. Very timely, I think. But it’s also a bunch of cute animals in the snow.
That groundhog video made me think of the marmots we have out here in Colorado and I wondered about the difference. Turns out all groundhogs are marmots but not all marmots are groundhogs. https://a-z-animals.com/blog/marmot-vs-groundhog-6-differences-explained/
The one in the book looks more like a gopher, honestly.
Thanks for using my recommendation. I always laugh listening to you two.
Lark
Yes! I think you put your finger on exactly what this book is about. It’s a misinformation book where the groundhog doubles down. No one likes the pig but you NEED that pig or you’re gonna freeze to death in the snow.