I recently discovered that Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen were running a collaborative Substack where they do deep dives into classic picture books.
Exhibit 1: This existential conversation sparked by Goodnight Moon … specifically this page which Mac describes as a “trap door opening”:
The entire archive is worth getting lost in, but their most recent post, guest written/curated by Michael Dumontier that features images of endpapers is a real stunner.
That said, what kind of bummed me out about the whole thing was that Mac and Jon are smart enough and kind enough to share links to Michael’s blog and Instagram (both titled “Stopping Off Place”)… which is awesome except that Michael hasn’t posted anything to his blog since 2015.
The last 11 years he’s been publishing exclusively on Instagram (where, hey, he’s amassed 75k followers and most likely is where Mac and Jon first encountered the wonderful stuff he curates and shares).
I realize that I’m maybe still too stuck in the old internet (RSS all day), but seeing someone with so much good taste stop investing in their own asset (i.e. website/blog) … man, it just bummed me out.
Also, there’s something about abandoned Blogspot sites that makes me nostalgic as hell.
Don’t build your community on rented property.