Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Just for You & I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer
NOT our first Mercer Mayer! Previously we did his book There’s a Nightmare in My Closet but it’s hardly the man’s most famous book/series. Meet Little Critter! At last, he makes his debut on our podcast! The two books we’re discussing today originally came out in 1975 and 1983 and then went on to spawn the series we know so well. So once again we have to ask: How come they’re moderately well known but not household name known?
Interested in how we made these podcasts, by the way? Well, I would like to note that our podcast will be recording at 2:30 CST on Saturday, June 24th in the School Library Journal booth on the ALA Conference floor. If you’d like to hear us do a show, stop by and see us!
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
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:
I wasn’t able to find many interviews with Mercer Mayer about the creation of Little Critter, but I was able to find some gold in this piece with Hazlitt.net.
Both of us were very frightened by this shushing action on the part of the mom. What precisely is she afraid of here?
There is so much going on in this particular image that we are absolutely stumped. I mean, we get that “FSA” stands for “Frog Scouts of America” but what precisely is a 21 cent “little box of goodies”? Sounds ominous.
20 points for mom’s vest!
As I object to picture books where the knitting needles are pointed the wrong way, so too does Kate object to books where the underside of a kid’s bed is spotless. J’accuse!
Mom looks . . . um . . . I hesitate to say “evil” but we’re all thinking it, right? And something about the way she’s gripping the door handle and holding that particular book does NOT bode well.
I ADORE the 1975 performer on the television. Like the Critterfied version of Janis Joplin or something.
“Old Wheez”. Brilliant. More of this ilk, please.
On the one hand, he’s painting the house. But can we appreciate for a moment the fact that he clearly took the time to not only get the paints and fill a bottle with water, but also then find a friggin’ red beret. THAT took some intention!
Sorry, but I adore this facial expression paired with his mom’s. This expression screams, “This was not the plan.”
Kate Recommends: The Ultimatum (Queer Love)
Betsy Recommends: The New Yorker piece How Should We Think About Different Our Styles of Thinking
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
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
You’re A Superhero! | News
From Policy Ask to Public Voice: Five Layers of Writing to Advance School Library Policy
Not Just Greta: True stories of youth acting to fight the climate crisis, a guest post by Meera Subramanian
Elisha Cooper Visits The Yarn!
ADVERTISEMENT
I feel like there should have been a “Little Critter” television show at one point, a la Franklin or Berenstain Bears. Poor Mercer Mayer, all those merchandising opportunities lost.
In regards to Cooke& Oxenbury’s “So Much,” I found this in “Helen Oxenbury: a life in illustration”: “Helen’s strength as a portait artist helped her meet the greatest challenge posed by Cooke’s manuscript: the need to be right about everything to do with the story’s characters — their expressions, body language, hairstyles, dress — all the details that a cultural outsider, even one as observant as empathetic as Helen, might easily get wrong. Recognizing she had a lot to learn, Helen talked at length with Cooke and went to Brixton, the largely Afro-Caribbean section of south London, wandering the streets, stopping cafes, observing the people around her, and remembering what she saw.” (pp182, 185)
What a fascinating podcast–these books remind me of when you have a vague memory of your childhood, but when you bring it up with your family, they swear it never occurred. Weird, encoded dream reality. I have a feeling we owned these books, but I don’t know why we would have ever purchased them, and they are too young to be second generation hand-me-downs.
Of course, having a recent experience in the subconscious makes you notice things you never would have before, coincidences that feel too uncanny–such as when I was checking out the picture books at Walmart (not to buy, I am always curious what they decide to stock) and found a collection of Mercer Mayer stories for a surprisingly friendly price of $9.95. The collection featured “Just For You” as the first title, although no “I Am So Mad.”
I wonder what over-published series will live in our foggy subconscious 40 years from now?