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Gay Dad

 Even late in life, Arnold Lobel and James Marshall were still conversing through their work.


Lobel's Caldecott winner, "Fables," imagines a trip to sea. Lobster takes Crab, who is nervous about a storm. The waves are crashing; the gusts of salty wind sting your face. Crab has a panic attack, then he recalls that he is an aquatic animal. He is content to sink to the ocean floor, and he thinks, Even a small risk can add excitement to this life.

A standard Lobel message: We're neurotic, and we invent our own problems, most of the time.

As you can predict, Marshall does something bitchier. He has George the hippo insist on a sea voyage. George describes his "craft" as a great ship, but it's a cramped raft; he tells Martha, "Use your imagination." The irritating rain is a "fun squall": "Martha, use your imagination." Martha gets angry, and she shouts, "Look, a shark!" Having panicked, George states that he is not amused. And Martha smiles and says, "I'm just having fun. Use your imagination."

Marshall is always re-telling Lobel, but with just a drop of acid. I love both writers.





























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