My son turns three this October. My wife and I read to him every night, starting back before he was even born, and it’s a tradition that has continued to this very day. He prefers his books over any other media, (which is something we are admittedly very proud of), even if that means we can recite most of them from memory having read the same thing time and time again.
One of my favorites, and often the book I pull first, is The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Suess. We have the pocket version, known formally as the Bright and Early Board Book. It doesn’t quite have all the words, but loses none of the story for smaller attention spans. I have always had a soft spot for Dr. Suess, both as a child and adult, and while that love hasn’t completely translated to my son, he does quite enjoy this quick trip to Seussville.
Sidebar: Seuss Secret Lair when?
In the several hundred times I’ve read this to him, I’ve found my mind wandering as one does when they read Seuss, and naturally it goes straight to Magic. What would this look like if it was full of Magic art? Does the story hold up? Is that just as nonsensical as the original story?
Let’s find out. On this rainiest of Thursdays, I invite you to sit back and enjoy a small piece of childhood, with just a little Magic.
The Shape of You
The Shape of Me
The Shape of Everything I See
A bug, a balloon, a bed, a bike
(No shapes are ever quite alike)
Just think about the shape of beans
And flowers
And mice
And big machines!
Just think about the shape of strings
And elephants
And other things
The shape of lips
The shape of ships
The shape of water when it drips
And the shape of camels
The shape of bees
And the wonderful shapes of back door keys
And the shapes of spider webs
And clothes
And speaking of shapes, no just suppose!
Suppose you were shaped like these…
Or those!
Or shaped like a Blogg
Or a garden hose!
Of all the shapes we MIGHT have been
I say HOORAY for the shapes we’re in
Wrapping Up
That was officially one of the silliest things I’ve ever put together for my column here, but was an itch I’ve needed to scratch for far too long. The fact that this even kind of works speaks to Magic’s ability to be a universal language, through card names, artwork, and the dialogue they create together. There are infinite artworks to have been chosen for each line, and I’d love to hear what some of your choices might have been. Give me a shout anywhere @DonnyCaltrider and I can’t wait to see your version too! As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all next month (with something slightly more serious, perhaps).
Donny Caltrider (he/him) has been writing about Magic: The Gathering art since 2018. He has an M.A. in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and works in varying capacities as an agent with nearly 50 Magic artists.
He likes baseball, Magic, good cards, great art, whiskey, and you.