Crockett Johnson Homepage > Characters created or illustrated by Crockett Johnson > Collaborations
|
Running with a box of pins for his mother, Mickey trips and spills them all over the floor. Picking them up is slow-going until his father gives him a magnet. After finishing, he experiments on other household items, discovering what his magnet will and will not attract. |
|
Willie is a young boy of perhaps 4 -- he seems older than Harold but younger than Barnaby -- who regards his world thoughtfully and with a willingness to experiment. When deciding what to put in his pockets, he tries many items (including his pet and a mosquito) before deciding on the right ones; when told to follow his nose to get himself to his grandmother's, he does, always comparing his experience with what he expects. He spends a lot of time on his own, without adults around: no one is home when his pet arrives, and he journeys to his Grandmama's all by himself. |
|
Although shown seated here, Grandmama is an active presence in the stories. When she sends the pet in "Willie's Animal," Johnson illustrates her hammering the wooden box together. And her invitation to Willie prompts his walk in "Willie's Walk." Her confidence in Willie's ability to find his way to her house seems matched by -- and may help inspire -- the youngster's independent spirit. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ann would rather "have stayed at the cottage, and read a story," but Ben says, "It's more fun to do something yourself, instead of reading about it." As boundaries between fiction and the real world blur, both of their initial claims dissolve and they enjoy a "real" adventure as exciting as any fairy tale. |
|
Although his whole family says that the carrot seed he's planted "won't come up," the little boy knows it will. His father, incidentally, looks exactly like Barnaby's father. |
|
|
|
Shown here just after hatching, the bird (who spends much of the book "a happy egg") soon finds that he can walk, sing, and fly. |
|
"Is this where you go to school?" asks the caption to this illustration. This little girl is one of many children in improbable situations. The implicit answer to this and the other questions in the book is that, no, this is not the reader. Indeed, all the children in the book refer to the child reading it and quite clearly are doing things that the child-reader probably does not do (or, at least, things that he or she isn't supposed to do). |
|
"Page five -- draw where you go to school." The recurring stick-figure child tells the reader how to assemble his or her book. He appears after each series of repeated questions, giving you a chance to answer in your own book. |
|
More about Ruth Krauss*: Books | "The Carrot Seed": the Song | Link | In Translation | Teaching Suggestions
|
|
|
Please read the FAQ before emailing. |
|
