Artist Slade Morrison & son of Toni Morrison, 45, in Dec. 2010

[Lenona]

He lived in Rockland County, New York.

He was a painter and musician - and co-wrote books with his mother.

http://theoriginalgreenwichdiva.com/pulitzer-prize-winning-novelist-toni-morrisons-son-slade-dies-at-45/15707/
(brief death notice - no explanation, sadly)

http://slademorrison.com/

http://slademorrison.com/AboutArtist.html
(photo)

http://slademorrison.com/Publications.html
(book covers)

WORKS:

The Big Box by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, 2002
("Patty, Mickey, and Liza Sue live in a big brown box (locked from the
inside) with all the amenities a modern child dreams of: TV, Barbie,
pizza, Spice Girls T-shirts, beanbag chairs, and Pepsi. All this, but
no liberty. They've been placed in this box because the adults in
their lives believe "those kids can't handle their freedom." They have
too much fun in school, sing when they should be studying, feed honey
to the bees, and play handball where they shouldn't. Parents,
neighbors, and teachers are uncomfortable with these irrepressible
children, and hope to control them with strict boundaries. Meanwhile,
the younger-yet-wiser children just want the freedom to become
themselves: 'Even sparrows scream/ And rabbits hop/ And beavers chew
trees when they need 'em./ I don't mean to be rude: I want to be
nice,/ But I'd like to hang on to my freedom.' ")

http://wetoowerechildren.blogspot.com/2010/09/toni-morrison-big-box.html
(more about the above book)

The Book of Mean People
by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, 2002
(Unfortunately, this one gets a lot of negative reviews. Here's one:
".......My six-year-old saw it as vindication of her calling me mean
when I get her out of bed in the morning to go to school. I kept
waiting for a page to come up saying that just because someone asks us
to do something we don't want to do, that doesn't make them mean. That
page never came." Other reviewers say, in effect: "So stop expecting
the authors to do all the work for you!")


Who's Got Game?: The Ant or the Grasshopper?
by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison, and Pascal Lemaitre, 2003
("Did the ant do the right thing by withholding charity from one who
gave him aesthetic pleasure?")

The Lion or the Mouse? (Who's Got Game?)
by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison, and Pascal Lemaitre, 2003
("The Morrisons extend Aesop's "Lion and the Mouse" into a hip-hop-
cadenced meditation on bullying, with some role reversal. "LISTEN UP!
LISTEN UP! NO IFS, MAYBES, ANDS, OR BUTS. CAN!" So roars Lion, until
felled by a thorn, and Mouse squeaks a similar line, after putting
Lion back on his feet. Outraged when all of the other animals only
laugh, Mouse proceeds to pester Lion with complaints, until the larger
animal quietly departs, leaving his house and throne to his erstwhile
rescuer. Lemaitre decks Lion out in a robe, places him in natural
settings-except when the scene moves indoors-and supplies hand-
lettered text and dialogue to go with the cartoon panels.")

Poppy or the Snake? (Who's Got Game?)
by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, 2004
("The series of Aesop's fable adaptations undertaken by this trio
continues as Poppy, a bearded Bayou-dwelling African American
grandfather, regales a small boy with a tale that illuminates the
issues arising when two creatures who are predisposed by culture to
distrust one another act antithetically to that inclination. After
Poppy accidentally runs over Snake, Snake talks Poppy into making
amends by taking him home and then pretends to become Poppy's friend.
However, a snake is, after all, a snake, and eventually he acts on his
nature and bites Poppy. For his part, Poppy is prepared, as any
experienced swamp-dwelling human would be, for this likely
possibility. ")

The Mirror or the Glass? (Who's Got Game?)
by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison, and Pascal Lemaitre, 2005

Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison and Joe Cepeda,
2009
("When Mom leaves her three children with their exuberant Nana, they
play games, hop about in potato sacks, and dance under the chandelier.
They also have lunch: "Yummy, lummy. Yummy, lummy./So much happy in
the tummy./Look at what our nana made us:/biscuits, ham, and lemonade-
us." Their messy fun is apparent as Mom returns while they are making
peanut butter fudge.")

Little Cloud and Lady Wind by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison and Sean
Qualls, 2010
("When the biggest cloud calls all of the others together in order to
'terrify the earth with storm and thunder,' Little Cloud wanders away
to a quiet place in the sky. She enjoys her freedom and longs to
engage with such earthly delights as flowers and ocean waves. Lady
Wind observes her dreams and carries her off, past the pursuing
thunderclouds, the lightning, and the dark mountains. In the morning,
they arrive at a place where Little Cloud can see a rainbow, dew
falling from her garments, and mist, and she happily declares, 'Now I
see. I can be me and part of something too.' ")

The Tortoise or the Hare, 2010
("The mother-son team here delivers another Aesop update, grappling
with the loaded subjects of winning, losing, and getting good press
coverage. Jimi the Hare is introduced as the fastest creature around
and Jamey the Tortoise as the smartest. Everyone avoids them, calling
them “show-off,” “stuck-up,” and “stupid know-it-all,” but Cepeda’s
exuberant, unfussy paintings feature the two animals as content
loners. When a race is announced in the newspaper, though, they both
sign up, get ready, and contact the paper, offering to give
interviews. On race day, Jimi entertains the crowd with acrobatic
stunts, while Jamey gets on a bus, a train, a boat, and a plane. Even
with that help, Jimi Hare still wins. The paper’s next-day headline
reads “Winner Loses! Loser Wins!” because the reporter was expecting
the outcome of the original Aesop fable.")


Lenona.