Stacey Loscalzo

Oct 12

Can You Love Frazee and Klassen?

by Stacey

Yesterday I wrote about two of my favorite new picture books and questioned how one person could love Jon Klassen and Marla Frazee in equal measure.

I think the answer lies in their strengths. Both talented authors and illustrators. Both with excellent senses of humor. One who appeals to the rainbow and smily faces in us all and the other who awakens the part of us that really does just want to laugh when someone walks out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their shoe. We all have these two parts in us and sometimes we need books that talk to one side or the other.

Frazee’s latest, Boot and Shoe, tells an amazingly sweet and funny story of two dogs, devoted to each other even during one very long day. Even non-dogs lovers will want to snuggle up with these two.

And then there’s Klassen’s much anticipated follow up to I Want My Hat Back, This is Not My Hat. Again, we are left to wonder the fate of the main character as we consider whether to giggle uproariously or to question if the ending is too dark to read to little ones before bedtime.

So, a little bit for each of us and for each part of us. Enjoy…

 

2 Comments

  1. Darshana says:

    Thanks Stacey. Loved your analogy of the stuck toliet tissue. Will have to check-out both books.

  2. It’s a fun contrast you’ve created here. I suppose we need sweet books for our sweet days and dark books for our dark days. Or maybe we need the reverse so that our days are kept in balance!

    I mostly know Frazee as an illustrator only, but I am eagerly awaiting Boot & Shoe. I loved Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back and I am picking up his latest from the library holdshelf today! Thanks for linking up to The Children’s Bookshelf.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *