When ‘If I Told You, I’d Have to Kill You’ Is the Most Honest Thing We’ve Said In Years
We stand in circles, blocking with our backs and elbows anyone who wants to breach the perimeter and look up at us, especially those with big eyes. We laugh heartily, wear our advancing-flag hats, stick out our bellies, and make enough noise that others wish they were us. Only they can’t be. And if we told them why, we’d have to kill them. No joke. No lie.
Curious George: Telling the Story of Male Childhood Abuse through Children’s Books
What is it about George that makes him so endearing? The illustrations almost always depict him smiling. When he isn’t, things are not right at all. Of course, he’s so cute and effervescent. So much so that we tend to overlook what is arguably hiding in plain sight. This is a children’s tale, but the message is, if not outright bleak, at least grim. It reveals a world that is hard and cold, wrapped in an outward veneer of warmth and care.
Teeth Sharpening: Telling the Stories of Grown Men Through Children’s Books
Can a 5-year-old with sharpened teeth tell the story of grown men? If you give him a talented author and illustrator, 30 pages and 60 words, why, yes. Yes, he can. David Shannon wrote “No, David!” nearly three decades ago. He based it on a book he made and illustrated as a child. The only words in it were “no” and “David.” Who can’t relate?