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Lobel at Ninety

I've written before about how James Marshall and Arnold Lobel "talked" to each other through their stories.


I think I have a new example.


In the late seventies, Lobel published "Shivers." In this saga, it's a dark, cold night, and Frog wants to "celebrate" with a frightening story. He has a perfect one at hand: Imagine an Old Dark Frog. He (ODF) longs to eat baby frogs. One night, he attacks our narrator in the forest. "Take this jump rope; help me work off my fat so I can get hungry and eat you." Our narrator buys some time; then he acts decisively. He restrains the Old Dark Frog with the jump rope .....and escapes. Victory! A satisfying tale.


In the late eighties, James Marshall looked at the same scenario. And he asked: Does life really work that way? On his own "dark, stormy night," he has George lead a terrifying expedition to the attic. But there's nothing there -- just a box of rubber bands. Disappointed, Martha offers to tell her own horror story -- her version of "The Old Dark Frog." The two hippos get worked up -- then pop their own balloon. There will be no actual tale. Just the thought of what the tale *might* contain....is too scary.


This is like "Waiting for Godot." The horrors never actually arrive.


Once again, I don't want to judge between Lobel and Marshall. I really love them both.





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