Marc Simont

Marc Simont died in July.  He was 97 years old.  He was the illustrator of one of Emma's favorite picture books (mine too!).

This is a wonderful book.  The orchestra players are getting ready for a Friday evening performance and the story takes the reader through the dressing routine.  The illustrations are just fabulous.

A lovely video!

When I read the news that Simont had died, I ran upstairs to the bookcase in my room, the one where I moved all the picture books because I just can not get rid of them, and started to find other books illustrated by him.

Caldecott Medal winner, 1957

I ordered through the library the Happy Day, by Ruth Krauss.  She also wrote The Carrot Seed among many other stories but Simont illustrated Happy Day.  He was a runner-up for the Caldecott in 1950 for this book.  I didn't know this book and did not know until the last page what was going to happen!

This title we read one year for our mother daughter book group

I've enjoyed going back into the book shelves and pulling out everything.  I miss acquiring picture books for the kids!

More Children's books

(Garden project update:  Sean said last night "you made me sound like I was building an irrigation system in your garden"  Irrigation system?!  Now you're talking.  That's one project I would give him the green light on)

Have I said how much I love working in a library?  Access to so many books.  Right now, I am working my way through all the books I have checked out and vow to not order anymore until I clean out what I have - so I am staking the Washington Post book reviews next to my desk, ready to go.

I've really been enjoying looking at books by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire.  Everyone is familiar with the their mythology books .  Between our collection and Catholic University's collection, we have many of their books.  Ola

is the story of a Norwegian boy, Ola, and his many experiences exploring the people and countryside near his home. Some of his adventures included getting caught in a tree, visiting a traditional Norwegian wedding, and an encounter with a dragon.  The illustrations are wonderful - for some reason, I have a fascination with Scandinavian culture which usually manifests itself by reading Swedish psychological mysteries (I have branched out to Norwegian and Icelandic mysteries!  See Jo Nesbo and Yrsa Sigurdardottir).  Maybe it stems from my roommate Chris when I was a senior in college.  He was Norwegian and his grandfather, Jackrabbit Johannsen introduced Cross-Country Skiing to Canada.

The next d'Aulaire book I have read is Children of the Northlights.  This chronicles the life of the Sami people.  It was written in 1935 and I wonder how much life has changed.

Here is a site that has lovely pictures .   The d'Aulaires (presumably relatives) have a Facebook page that also posts

The next Caldecott Medal winners are 1945: Prayer For a Child by Rachel Field and illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones.

This is a prayer that Ford wrote for her own daughter and published posthumously because Ford died in 1942.  I think this book is definitely one of its time.  Right at the end of World War II and people need a little sentimentality in their life.  I don't think this is the type of book that would even be considered today for the medal which is not criticizing the book but just a comment on how picture books have changed so much over the years.

In 1946 the winner was The Rooster Crows by Maud and Miska Petersham.

This is a book of Rhymes and Jingles that we all grew up saying.  A part of a clapping game I did in grade school is in here - who remembers Miss Mary Mack?  Included in here is Ring around a Rosies; One Potato Two Potatoes; Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple; Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear.  I thought everyone was born knowing these rhymes!  I certainly don't remember reading them anywhere.  Do kids these days even know these?

In 1947 the winner was The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard.  

yes, the author of the beloved Good Night Moon.    When I first read this, I assumed this little island was somewhere in Maine (seals and kingfishers abound) and reading a little about her life, she did have a house on Vinalhaven Maine.    The illustrations remind me of Robert McCloskey's.  Leonard Weisgard also had an Honor book that year, Rain Drop Splash.  I'll have to take a look at that one. I know we have all the Caldecott winners in our collection but not sure about the Honor Winners.

Favorite Caldecott books this week

My friend and colleague, Alex, tells me that our library does indeed have every Caldecott winner.   Good news as I continue the goal of reading all of them.

Turns out, the next two winners are in our collection at home.  When the kids ran out of room in their bookshelves (Emma has 3 bookcases in her room - along with piles and piles of books all over the place.  Brian has one bookcase - he is ruthless in weeding his books - no attachment to them at all), I bought a bookcase for my room and moved all the picture books there.

There is a system to this madness.  The first two shelves are alphabetical by author.  The third shelf is full of random non-picture adult books.  The 4th shelf is all the signed books or books given and inscribed by friends and family.  The first 1/3 of the 4th shelf has all books that have a character named "Emma".  Every Christmas, my Emma gets a book about an Emma.

 That 4th shelf represents 16 years of attending ALA and getting books signed by authors to Emma and Brian - often there is an illustration with the signature.  Some authors represented on that shelf are Judy Sierra, Simms Taback, Peter Sis, David Shannon, Paul Zelinsky, Richard Peck, Jon Scieszka and Tomie DePaola.  I don't think my kids realize what a collection of signed books they have.

The last shelf are again random books with some of my old favorites thrown in.  In that first row are a series of books called "Companion Library".  Two stories in one book - you finish the first story, then turn the book over and upside down and read the next story.  Over several years, my grandmother gave these to me as presents.  They were published in the early 60's by Grosset and Dunlop.  I loved these books and read them over and over.

 Behind these books, on that shelf are my Nancy Drews.  I LOVED Nancy Drew.  I wanted to be Nancy Drew. I devoured these books.  I wanted best friends like Bess and George.

Another favorite book I read over and over and over is on this shelf.  It was given to me by my 2nd grade teacher (whose name I can't remember at the moment).  I lived in Bristol, CT and attended Mary Callen Elementary School.  That school is no longer but the book remains.  From Sea to Sea.  It's a collection of stories about children.  It was published in 1945 by the Silver Burdett Company.  

Anyhoo, back to the Caldecott books.  In 1942, Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey won.  Who doesn't love this book?  This is one I have in our home collection and it was given to Emma by Auntie No No and Uncle John in 1998.  It must have been a gift for her first birthday.   Auntie No No is really Auntie Finola but Emma wasn't able to pronounce Finola when she was little.

I was living in Boston when the first set of ducklings were installed in the Public Garden and I have brought my kids to see them and crawl all over them.

In 1943, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton won the medal.  I did not read this book when I was young but I did read and love Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by the same author.  I loved a TV show called Captain Kangaroo when I was young and he always read a book with Mr. Greenjeans on his show.  Mike Mulligan was a favorite of Captain Kangaroo.  As an aside, I always thought it would be fun to put together a bibliography of all the books that were read on that show - I would have to track down where the episodes are.  Back to Virginia - the Little House is also in our home collection and I adore this book.  The story, the illustrations, everything.

In 1944, Many Moons won the award.  Its story is by James Thurber and its illustrated by Louis Slobodkin.  This book I never heard of and checked it out of the library.  Like the d'Aulaires,  something in my brain tickled about the illustrator.    He illustrated A Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes which we read in my mother/daughter book group many years ago.  I also thought of the book Caps for Sale by  Esphyr Slobodkina.  No relation but weird they were working at the same time and had such similar names.

This is really a lovely book about a princess, her father the king, his wise men and a jester.  The princess wants to hold the moon in her hand and no one but the jester is able to help her attain this wish.

It's been fun reading all these books.  Only 7 more decades of books to go!

Caldecott Medal winners

The nice thing about working in a library is you can have new journals routed to you to read first.  Even though I don't really choose books for the kids anymore, I still like to read Horn Book.  It's a magazine for those who collect Children's literature but it's more than just book reviews.  There are wonderful articles to read.  The last issue had an article about the book Mei Li by Thomas Handforth.  This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1939 and the article goes on to explain how it was the first book that featured illustrations on their own - not just incidental to the text.  (The 1938 winner was Animals of the Bible by Dorothy P Lathrop).  My library owned the book so I took a look and then decided I wanted to see all the Caldecott medal winners.   (I need to ask Alex, the overlord of the children's collection if we own all the medal books - if so, how convenient for me).

In 1940, Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire won the medal.  I am horrible with remembering authors and book titles but when I saw these authors, something clicked in my head.

The illustrations were familiar and then it hit me.  Greek Myths!  Norse Mythology!

My kids devoured D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths

This was back when Rick Riordan's series about Percy Jackson was first coming out.  Emma and Brian read those series and then wanted more.  They are experts on Greek Mythology.

Next up was D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Mythology

These are wonderful books.  I need to pull them out of the shelves and re-read them.

Turns out, there is a Facebook page called d'Aulaire's Children's Books.  I don't know who maintains this page but it's full of illustrations of books and pictures of the couple in their studio.  Wonderful.

The next Caldecott Medal book (1941)  is They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson, who also illustrated  Ferdinand the Bull.  It's a story about Lawson's parents and grandparents - being used to the colorful picture books of today, this is a bit of a let down but I am no judge.  I am certainly having fun looking at these book.

Books read: 2012

I've been keeping a notebook by my bed where I write down the Title, Author and Month Read, for all my books.  The notebook was started in 2005 when I returned a book to the library and then immediately could not remember the author or title!

Here is what I read last year.  The * books are for mother/daughter book group.  I tend towards mysteries and Swedish mysteries - the Swedes are such a dark, depressing people! I jest.  The perks of working in an academic library is Inter Library Loan!   For some of these books, when I say read, I mean skim.  These are only the books that made the trip upstairs, it does not count the books that remain downstairs that I read.  Doesn't everyone have books all over the house that they are reading at once?

January 2012

The Blood Spilt, Asa Larsson
Do One Green Thing, Mindy Pennybacker
The Locavore Way, Amy Cotler
*Purple Heart, Patricia McCormick
It's All About the Bike, Robert Penn

February 

Grow the Good Life, Michelle Owens
The Feast Nearby, Robin Mather
Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick
The Boy in the Suitcase, Lene Kaaberbol
Treasure Island, Sara Levine
Would it Kill You to Stop Doing That,  Henry Alford
French Dirt, Richard Goodman

March

Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart Nan
*Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Foer (this is the only mother/daughter book in 7 years that I did not read.  I skimmed.  I did not enjoy it)
Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton
Rethinking Aging, Nortin M. Hadler
1000 Mitzvahs, Linda Cohen

April

Lost Washington, DC, John DeFerraro
Random Acts of Kindness, Conari Press
50 Popular Beliefs That People Think are True, Guy Harrison
The Memory of Blood, Christopher Fowler
Grow Your Food for Free, David Hamilton
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection, Alexander McCall Smith
Gardening for a Lifetime, Sydney Eddison
*Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Shiguro

May

Death and the Penguin, Andrey Kurkov
The Knitter's Life List, Gwen W Steege
*How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, Julia Alvarez
Ashes to Dust, Yrsa Sigurdardottir

June
 
The Stonecutter, Camilla Lackberg
Penguin Lost, Andrey Kurkov
Onward and Upward in the Garden, Katharine White
How to be Richer, Smarter, and Better Looking Than Your Parents, Zac Bissonnette

July

*The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, Kristen Levine
When We Were the Kennedys, Monica Wood (this book is a memoir of growing up in Mexico, ME - which is next to Peru, ME where my mother lives)

August

The Hare With Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waal
Birdseye, Mark Kurlansky
The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken, Tarquin Hall
Rue Fabre, Jean Claude Germain

September

Overtime,  Frank Deford
The Beautiful Mystery, Louise Penny (one of my favorite mystery writers)
The Gallows Bird, Camilla Lackberg
Space Chronicles, Neil deGrasse Tyson
We Took to the Woods,  Louise Dickinson Rich (about moving her family to Maine, in 1940's, not far from where my mother lives)

October

*The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Aimee Bender
Murder in the Rue Dumas, M.L. Longworth
Phantom, Jo Nesbo - I really like this author but just could not finish this book - too violent.

November

Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey
*Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

December

Heads in Beds, Jacob Tomsky 

 

2010 Book Reads

2010 was filled with my usual themes:  mysteries, baseball, young adult.  Throw in lots of gardening, financial, getting into college, teen psychology and food related books that I didn't write down.  That about sums it up.  Here is what I read in chronological order for 2010. At least, this is what I wrote down in my little notebook.  Checking my inter-library loan history shows I read many more books.   (The * books were read for the mother/daughter book club)

January

Heat, Bill Buford
Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle *
The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson

February

The Whatchamacallit, Danny Danziger
Chefs on the Farm, Shannon Borg
Dogtown, Elyssa East
Adventures and the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle
The Rider, Tim Krabbe
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson

March


Less is more, embracing simplicity for a healthy planet, Wanda Urbanska

April

The Dead Beat, Marilyn Johnson
Emma, Jane Austen *
The Devil's Star, Jo Nesbo
Anatomy of Baseball, Lee Gutkind

May

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie *
Rapunzel's Revenge, Shannon Hale
The Redeemer, Jo Nesbo

June


The Monster of Florence, Magdalen Nabb
The Snowman, Jo Nesbo
Bury My Heart at Cooperstown: Salacious, Sad and Surreal Deaths in the History of Baseball, Frank Russo

July

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing, Tarquin Hall
The Double Comfort Safari Club, Alexander McCall Smith
Maus, Art Spiegelman *
Calamity Jack, Dean Hale

August


A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith *
Cherry Cheesecake Murder, Joanne Fluke

September

Some Danger Involved, Will Thomas
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon
Hunger Games, Suzanne Colllins *

October

The Corpse in the Koryo, James Church
Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman, Eleanor Updale
Montmorency on the Rocks, Eleanor Updale

November

The Princess Bride, William Goldman
A Northern Light, Jennfer Donnelly *
Montmorency and the Assassins, Eleanor Updale
Montmorency's Revenge, Eleanor Updale
Bryant and May off the Rails, Christopher Fowler

December

Mini-farming on a 1/4 acre, Brett Markham
Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev *
In the Woods, Tana French
Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End, Leig GW Persson

How do you find your books to read?

Being a librarian, I read a few book review magazines but most of them are geared towards academic topics and don't always cover the Swedish mysteries (Booklist an exception).

My library gets the bulk of our books on what is called an approval plan.  We contract with a middle man to send us books every week, based on criteria that has been developed.  Before the books are processed, they are put on carts and left out for people to review.  A few weeks ago, as I was browsing a new cart, I came across this book:


This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
by Marilyn Johnson.

Hmm, a book about librarians, how interesting.  (As an aside, I don't like the title Cybrarian).  I stuck in a flag saying that I wanted the book once it was processed.  This is one of the biggest perks of working in a library (besides inter-library loan which is THE biggest perk),  we have first crack at the new books.

As I was browsing the book,  I saw that the author had written another book titled:

Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries.

A book about obituaries?  To be more specific, a book about obituary writers.  This is fantastic, how come I never heard about this book?

I have to confession to make.  I read obituaries.  I don't usually read the whole entry but I start to see how old the person was, what was the cause of death and how long were they married.  It tears me up to read that Edna leaves her husband of 63 years.

So we did not have the Dead Beat book in our library so I ordered it.

I loved this book.  The author gives an overview of obituaries but focuses on how the British papers (Guardian, Independent and Daily Telegraph) revolutionized obituary writing in the 1980s.  The author goes to writer conferences (There is still time for me to register for the Society of Professional Obituary Conference ), interviews writers, reproduces favorite obits, travels to London and other fun things like lurking on the obit newsgroup.

I learned that there is a certain format to the writing - that phrase, followed by the tombstone, then the bad news, song and dance, the reverse shift, the desperate chronology, ending with the telegraph. There are friars (quotes) sprinkled throughout.

Amazing.

I will never read the obituaries in the same way.

2009 Book Reads

Here are the books I read in 2009 - from my notebook
* Mother Daughter Book Club reads

January

Voices, Arnaldu Indridason
The Redbreast, Jo Nesbo
Dope Menace: the Sensational World of Drug Paperbacks, Stepehn Gertz
Wild and Outside, Stefan Fatsis


February

Everything you never wanted your kids to know about sex, Justin Richardson
Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester
Property of Blood, Magdalen Nabb

March


The Victoria Vanishes, Christopher Fowler
The White Giraffe, Lauren St John*
Some Bitter Taste, Magdalen Nabb
Nemesis, Jo Nesbo
It Never Was About the Babe, Jerry M Gutton

April

An Armchair Birder, John Yow
Still life, Louise Penny
Last Rituals, Yrsa Sigurdardottir
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

May

Prairie Spring, Pete Dunne
The Glory of Their Times, Lawrence Ritter

June

The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Satterfield
Splitters, Squeezes and Steals, Derek Gentile
Singin in the Rain, Earl J Hess
For Freedom, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley*

July

Cooperstown Confidential, Zev Chafets
The Skin I'm in, Sharon G Flake
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

August

The London Eye Mystery, Siobhan Dowd*

September


The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu, Michael Stanley

October

Heartbreak and Hard Times in Stand Up Comedy, William Knoedelseder
La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience, Jerry Mangione
Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress

November

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead*

December

The Case of the Missing Servant, Tarquin Hall
Bryant and May on the Loose, Christopher Fowler
A Mango-Shaped Place, Wendy Mass*
Heat, Bill Buford

2008 Book Reads

Here is what I read in 2008 - from my notebook
* Mother/Daughter Book Group read

January

Journey to Topaz, Yoshiko Ulchida*
Sisters Grimm: Magic and Other Misdemeanors, Michael Buckley

Febuary

The Fifth Woman, Henning Mankell
Cabal, Michael Dibdin
Don't Point that Thing at Me, Kyril Bonfiglioli

March

Eat This, Ian Jackman
One Step Behind, Henning Mankell
Cosi Fan Tutti, Michael Dibdin

April

The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
Death of an Englishman, Magdalen Nabb
Firewall, Henning Mankell
A Long Finish, Michael Dibdin
Death of a Dutchman, Magdalen Nabb

May

Criss Cross, Lynne Rae Perkins*
Death in Springtime, Magdalen Nabb
Blood Rain, Michael Dibdin

June

First Light, Rebecca Stead*
Sound Bites, Alex Kapranos
The Queen Jade, Yxta Maya Murray
The Falconer's Knot, Mary Hoffman

July

Animal Vegetable Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver
Battle of the Labrynth, Rick Riordan
The Year of the Goat, Margaret Hathaway

August

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee*
And Then You Die, Michael Dibdin
Death in Autumn, Magdalen Nabb
The Outermost House, Henry Beston
Medusa, Michael Dibdin
The Marshal and the Murderer, Magdalen Nabb

September

Four Letter Words and Other Secrets of a Crossword Insider, Michelle Arnot
Back to Bologna, Michael Dibdin
The Marshall and the Madwoman, Magdalen Nabb
End Games, Michael Dibdin

October

Donuts: An American Passion John T Edge
The Marshall's Own Case, Magdalen Nabb
The Alchemyst, Michael Scott*
The Secret Language of Knitters, Mary Beth Temple
A Girl Named Zippy, Haven Kimmel


November

The Marshal Makes His Report, Magdalen Nabb
Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan*
Apple Pie, John T Edge
Fried Chicken, John T Edge
The Marshal at the Villa Torrini, Magdalen Nabb

December

Beyond the Big Talk, Debra Haffner
From Diapers to Dting, Debra Haffner
The Thinking Parent's Guide to Talking Sense, Deborah Roffman
The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett*
Goose Girl, Shannon Hale
Dark Banquet: blood and the curious lives of blood-feeding creature, Bill Schutt
The Ghost in Love, Jonathan Carroll 
Organic gardening : the natural no-dig way, Charles Dowding

2007 Book Reads

My friend at the mommy porch made a comment about all the children's books on my list.  A few years ago, my daughter wanted me to read everything she was reading, so during those earlier years, the bulk of books I read were for kids.

*Mother Daughter Book Club

January

Escaping the Giant Wave, Peg Kehret*






Sisters Grimm, Michael Buckley
The Fairy Tale Detectives,  Michael Buckley
The Unusual Suspects, Michael Buckley
The Problem Child, Michael Buckley

February

Seeking Whom He May Devour, Fred Vargas
Faceless Killers, Henning Mankell

Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare*





March

The Case of the Missing Books, Ian Sansom

The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart

April

Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech*

A Round-Heeled Woman, Jane Juska





Vendetta, Micahel Dibdin

May

Invincible, Sally Rosenbarg Romansky*
Death and Judgement, Donna Leon

Ten Second Staircase, Christopher Fowler




June

The White Lioness, Henning Manfell
Long Way to Chicago, Richard Peck*
Sun and Shadow, Ake Edwardson

The Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan





July

White Corridor, Christopher Fowler

The Apprentice, Jacques Pepin








Uniform Justice, Donna Leon

August

Suffer the Little Children, Donna Leon
The Man Who Smiled, Henning Mankell

September

Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich

Enchantment, Donald Spoto






October

The Laughing Policeman, Per Wahloo
Some Kind of Pride, Maria Testa*

November

The Book of Air and Shadows, Michael Gruber





December

Sidetracked, Henning Mankell
How to Pick a Peach, Russ Parsons

Lois Lenz: Lesbian Secretary, Monica Nolan