A year ago today, a special online friend whom I met at my old LiveJournal blog passed away. Though Slatts and I never met in person, we bonded over our mutual love for the Beatles and Bob Dylan. For eight years, we chatted about lyrics, album covers, adolescent memories, and biographical tidbits. As an artist and musician himself, Slatts was the logical go-to guy for backstories and questions, and I greatly admired the many caricatures and portraits he created of my rock idols.
Since Ringo was Slatts’s favorite Beatle, it seemed like a good time to feature this Octopus’s Garden picture book published in 2014. It contains Ben Cort’s vibrant jewel-toned illustrations inspired by Ringo’s original lyrics, and comes with a CD of Ringo reading the story aloud + vocal and instrumental versions of the song.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 