Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
While I often prefer to hand Kate children’s picture books to consider that are chock full of details, at a certain point I am forced to come up with books that contain none of that. And you cannot get much more basic than Little Blue and Little Yellow here. Your heroes are essentially paint swatches, after all. In the course of our conversation, though, Kate surprises me by coming up with a discussion of everything from the origins and accuracy of certain nursery rhymes to whether or not Lionni’s Italian background affected which gender each color receives in this book.
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Show Notes:
As I mention on the show, one of my favorite websites to turn to is The Prindle Institute for Ethics, particularly their Teaching Children Philosophy posts. Here is what they had to say about Little Blue and Little Yellow.
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We’ve seen dedications but rarely do they make their way into the actual title of the book.
There’s more than one blue in this story? I mean that’s just confusing, that is.
Kate comes up with an entire system of who is and who isn’t popular in this book. After all, these are the kids who play together…
But these are the kids in school. Apparently white and a different yellow are out of the clique.
When mama blue goes out shopping, she leaves her kid at home. Someone wrote a post-it note and put it in the library book I lent to Kate to remind the parent reading this book to their child to ask how the kid would feel about that. I guess this book is another example of a parent just wandering off and leaving their kid unsupervised at home.
Only at this point does the background become an active participant, perhaps replicating blue’s state of mind.
Be sure to check out the site Call Me Booklouse if you’re into older children’s books. It’s run by the irrepressible Christina Hoover Moorehead and well worth your time (as is her TikTok).
And again, if you’re in Burr Oak, Michigan on Saturday, July 27th (2024), come and watch me on a float and then signing books with David Small as part of the Burr Oak Heritage Fest. It’ll be a fun time!
Kate Recommends: The reality show Ren Faire
Betsy Recommends: The Why Would You Tell Me That? podcast
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 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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Aside from judging the book on its quality, which is subjective, I need to comment about two points. Leo Lionni was Italian on his mother’s side; his father was a Sephardic Jew from the Netherlands. Lionni discusses his background in his wonderful memoir, the aptly titled “Between Worlds.” I recommend it to all your readers. Had Lionni remained in Europe, it is possible, even likely, that he would not have survived, and we would not have any of his beautiful books, of which “Little Blue and Little Yellow” is one of my favorites. As for gender and color, as in other Romance languages, Italian adjectives’ gender is determined by the noun they are modifying. If used as a noun alone, the color would have a default masculine gender.
Thank you! I’ll be reading this on our next recording. And I had no idea about his memoir. This is something I’ll need to see firsthand.
Thank you, Betsy, for covering the classics on your blog.
Hello, Betsy! I am a longtime listener and fellow picture book enthusiast. I hope this article might be of some interest to you and others.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/74918-leo-lionni-s-unfinished-business.html
Warmest Regards,
heather
Faith and begorrah! What a fantastic piece! I feel guilty I didn’t know about it myself. Thank you so much! This will ALSO get a big mention on our next recording. Thank you!!
A little more information to add: I recently purchased LEO LIONNI STORYTELLER, ARTIST, DESIGNER (2023) published in conjunction with the exhibition Between Worlds: The Art and Design of Leo Lionni held at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts November 18, 2023 through May 17, 2024. Editors include Leonard S. Marcus and granddaughter Annie Lionni,.
I didn’t know about that one either. Thanks!