Do You Like My Bike? and Let's Have a Sleepover! by Norm Feuti

Image courtesy of Betsy Bird

Today's guest blogger is Betsy Bird, the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She writes for the Fuse #8 Production blog hosted by School Library Journal and reviews for Kirkus. Betsy has written several books and her latest, THE GREAT SANTA STAKEOUT, is out this year. She also runs two podcasts: Story Seeds and Fuse 8 n’ Kate. Find Betsy at betsybirdbooks.com or on Twitter @FuseEight.

What to do, what to do? When two easy books are released simultaneously in a season, how on earth do you judge them individually when considering them for major awards like the Geisel? Norm Feuti first came to prominent attention years ago with his thoroughly charming graphic novel The King of Kazoo (Scholastic, 2016). Now he’s returned with two characters straight out of the Frog & Toad playbook. Hedgehog is laid back, easy going, and a good friend to Harry, the guinea pig. Harry, in contrast, is anxiety prone, if sweet. The low stakes adventures are right there in the books’ titles. In Do You Like My Bike? Harry dreads the dangers that come with a bike ride, only to be helped through his fears by Hedgehog. In Let’s Have a Sleepover, Harry is gung-ho to stay the night at his friend’s . . . until he realizes the plans involve camping outside (gulp!).

Image courtesy of normfeuticartoons.com

Many times we discuss the rudimentary ramifications of a book’s word length and appropriateness of the text in conjunction with the Geisel Awards. Character development is often disregarded due to the succinctness of the writing. Yet in many ways, some of the best easy books for young learners go above and beyond the simplicity of the words and produce stories full of heartwarming, memorable characters. Art plays a large role in this as well. With just the slightest dip of a pen, Feuti can change a character’s entire attitude and stance. Consider Hedgehog. In Let’s Have a Sleepover there is a moment of dawning comprehension for him when he realizes that Harry is being weird because he fears the idea of sleeping outside. In this way, the connecting thread between the two books is empathy: understanding how others feel and modeling good behavior for young readers.

In my own library, the children’s librarians overwhelmingly preferred Sleepover to Bike. While technically Bike was released first, there’s a disjointed feel to the length of its chapters that can jar a casual read. Sleepover, in contrast, lacks this herky jerky feel, doubles down on emotional resonance, and contains equal parts humor and heart, all done with simple words and pictures.

Looking over this year’s crop of Geisel contenders, few would argue that there’s a clear cut winner anywhere in the batch. Feuti’s books, with their gentle animal duo, conjure up memories of classic buddies in easy books of the past and present (the aforementioned Frog & Toad, Elephant & Piggie, etc.). And for kids learning to read on their own for the very first time, there’s a strange comfort, not just in Harry’s alleviated fears, but in Feuti’s comic book-inspired artistic style. These titles feel like the best possible amalgamation of comic influences and easy book packaging. Bound to be beloved by so many for so long. Books to consider. Books to treasure. Some of the best of the year, bar none.