a blog is to read

After reading The Horn Book Magazine's September/October 2012 article, " Artists Are To Watch: Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss in the 1950s,"--Johnson and Krauss were married, in case you didn't know--an article about the the FBI's belief that Crockett Johnson was one of "400 concealed Communists," I felt compelled to read Ruth Krauss' A Hole is to Dig, because A. I'd never read it before and B. it was illustrated by one of my favs, Maurice Sendak. 

A Hole is to Dig (1952) is a child's first book of definitions, written from the point of view of children, which means it results in pages like,
"A party is to say how-do-you-do and shake hands"
"A party is to make little children happy"
From Ruth Krauss' A Hole is to Dig,
Mauric Sendak illustrator
The book is sweet and simple and will make adults smile and children laugh. Sendak's illustrations, drawings which no doubt helped kick off his career are lovely; emotions are potrayed by simple lines,  circle, "o" mouths for surprise, tilted lines for mirthful eyes. It's great! I love it! I can't wait to share it with my niece.

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