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Picture Books

Jon Klassen, "The Rock":


A little turtle insists that he has found the best spot on Earth. But the camera pulls back and reveals that a large meteor is approaching; it could fall on the turtle's head.


An armadillo visits the turtle--but he perceives some kind of danger. He announces this, and he moves away, but, for fear of being rude, he doesn't simply say, "Turtle, drag your ass away from that spot."

The turtle has an additional chance to save himself, but he doubles down on his wrong idea: "MY SPOT IS BETTER."

We suspect that the armadillo might hear perfectly, but--because of passive aggression, or because of a desire to save the turtle--the armadillo screams, COME CLOSER. I CANNOT HEAR YOU...

This insane dialogue ends when the meteor slams into the Earth; the turtle has inched forward just enough to discover that he is "spared." 

What is remarkable to me is how quickly, how efficiently, Klassen gets two ridiculous souls onto the page. You feel you know this turtle and this armadillo. Also, Klassen seems to say something about the human condition: We're all bickering about someone as trivial as Hunter Biden, while the world implodes.

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