Another Childhood Mystery Solved
Kids don't pay close attention to every book they come across. When I was young my grandmother had a couple children's picture books here and there, but they were always odd little easy readers. Sam and the Firefly and other P.D. Eastman-inspired fits of lunacy. And one book I remember with crystal clarity involved feeding a fish too much food with over-the-top results. Hold a gun to my head and I couldn't tell you the name of it, but I remembered so many of the crazy details here and there.
Well consider the mystery solved. My head no longer has to be blown off its hinges. The Children's Picturebook Price Guide recently published a piece where they compared A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer (illustrated by P.D. Eastman, the sneaky bastard) to the little seen Dr. Seuss tale published ONLY in the June 1950 Redbook magazine, Gustav the Goldfish.
Anywho, check out the very cool before and after comparisons between the two. It really is worth looking at.
Thanks to Children's Illustration for the link.
Labels: Before and After, Dr. Seuss, P.D. Eastman
posted by fusenumber8 @ 12:29 AM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
I'm learning so much from reading this blog I can hardly stand it. Helen Palmer was Dr. Seuss's wife?! I had (still own, in fact) a French/English version of A Fish Out of Water and loved it dearly, but I never knew that salient biographical fact.
I *loved* Sam and the Firefly when I was a kid!
That other book was 'A Fish Out of Water.' Man, I loved that book. I remember him having to put the goldfish in a swimming pool and eventually the ocean. Then at the end he has some way of shrinking it back down again.
Yeah, wait a minute. How DOES he shrink it down again? I remember them riding a wave and the fish being small later, but how did he shrink it? Anyone remember?
Betsy, I'm shocked (!!!) that your library doesn't own Fish Out of Water. It's one of the all-time favorites in my library and I have to keep replacing it every few years. (Green eggs and Ham is the other Easy Reader that keeps wearing out or disappearing.)
-librarian, writer, and mom
I love A Fish Out of Water.
Had nooooooo idea about it's origin!
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