Grrrrr.....

Last week I was at a birthday party for my niece's one-year-old son, and I overheard two women having a conversation about their children, who I guessed were about 6 or 7. "All she wants for Christmas is books!" one said to the other, "So I told her that that's what the library is for... who needs to own books, when you can get them for free at the library?"

ZING! So I tried to put my two cents in, suggesting that although it's great to use the library, there are some books that you just have to HAVE... read, and re-read, and OWN, and they don't break, like most toys, and they're not expensive, or loud, like that Tickle Me Elmo thingy that the baby just opened, etc., etc... and then I heard the sound of crickets chirping, as these two young mothers looked at me blankly.

Oh, well. I'll just trust that her little girl will find a great children's librarian who will keep her reading, and in books, until she can get an allowance, or a job, and buy as many books as she wants!

Happy Winter Solstice!

The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper


So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, fest, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!

Inspirations, Part 2

In 1988, E.P.Dutton published this little gem by newcomer Lucy Cousins, well before Maisy and the success that followed. Portly was a rather tubby little penguin who always wore his striped hat, until the day Stuart the stinky seagull stole it. I remember taking to this book right away -- Lucy's line was so immediate and unrefined which had a refreshing, childlike quality to it, especially when compared to the lavish "Picture Book Studio" style of books that were hugely popular at the time in the late '80s. As I mentioned in a previous post, in those days, I'd write to anyone whose work I admired, and voila! Ms. Cousins responded with a very nice note and this little drawing of Portly eating his "squishy fishy dinner." Her second book to be published in the United States, "The Little Dog Laughed" (later renamed "The Lucy Cousins Book of Nursery Rhymes") with its black outlines and bold colors, remains one of my favorite nursery rhyme collections. Sadly, I think both of these books are out of print now!

Sheer Bliss

Being new to blogging, I don't know what the rules are in regard to posting other people's work, but I just had to share today's 'Bliss' from the comic section of The Boston Globe. Children's book illustrator/New Yorker cover artist/cartoonist Harry Bliss provides a nice antidote to the massive dose of cuteness that I posted yesterday. You can see more of Mr. Bliss's often dark but hilarious cartoons and illustrations at www.harrybliss.com.

It's Scarry again...

Okay, okay, so I'm into Richard Scarry right now in a big way. Here's a Little Golden Book I found recently called "Just For Fun" by Patricia Scarry published in 1960. I love that on the cover illustration, two of the animals are waving to us as we watch them go around on their ride! And those little piggy pirates are a far cry from Captain Jack Sparrow, but seem to have plenty of pirate spirit in their own way. "We like to dress up wickedly." -- What a great line!