While this is an American 'celebration' it did make me think of just how many couples there are in the world of children's literature, some who work together, others that work separately but both 'make' books. I always think that the discussions they have about books must be amazing and the combined knowledge so useful.
The children I teach are young and 'spouse' is not a word they use in everyday speech. They don't use 'sibling' either although many of them have siblings. They just refer to them as sisters and brothers.
I remember using the word when we talked about 'husband' and 'wife' prior to a visit to the school by Kate and Jol Temple, the students telling me that 'it's a funny word that rhymes with house'.
Often we might display spouses books together in the one display and ask the students to say why these books are together? They are quick to answer when they have the same surname, such as Ken and Ruth Brown, Philip and Laura Bunting, Erin and Philip Stead but it is harder when they have different names, such as John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury, Jacky Davis and David Soman, Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, Robin Page and Steve Jenkins, Sarah Stewart and David Small, Anna King and Christopher Weyant, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick and Michael Emberley. This is a sample, but there are so many to study the work of and read.
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