William's Doll: Revenge of the Ascot!

The big news of the day is that Kate and Betsy have created a petition. It's the very first they've ever done and its purpose is simple. As you'll hear on today's podcast, they are big time fans of today's book, but they'd rather like it if Harper Collins could publish a re-illustrated edition. The reasons for this are, as you will hear, pretty clear. With different clothing, they think William's story could reach a whole new slew of kids, and really strike the message home. That said, in the podcast Betsy does make one key mistake. She says that this book was published by Greenwillow. In point of fact, it was published by Harper & Row. It is not a Greenwillow book. So ignore that part of the podcast but do NOT disregard the petition. They would love it if they could get you on board so that William can meet a whole new generation of fans:

https://www.change.org/p/harper-collins-reillustrate-william-s-doll-for-today-s-kids

Show Notes:

- William Pène du Bois was from (and we love this city name) Nutley, New Jersey. Interestingly, he did live in France for a time, and ultimately died in Nice, France.

- "Brown plaid brilliance!" Kate would like to clarify that she was trying to say that Diane von Furstenberg designed the grandmother's wrap dress. And Betsy takes back what she said about the woman's shoes. Those aren't "sensible" at all. They're gorgeous. By the way, we never ever see her face either, a fact Kate and Betsy both missed.

- Let us point out that even this animated sequence from Free to Be You and Me has William wearing more appropriate clothing than in the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lshobg1Wt2M

- For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/11/19/fuse-8-n-kate-williams-doll-by-charlotte-zolotow-ill-william-pene-du-bois/