tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47568587660968820132024-03-16T11:53:14.481-07:00Through the Looking Glass Book ReviewsMarya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.comBlogger1748125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-89513450169096654412022-05-25T07:22:00.003-07:002022-05-25T07:45:11.257-07:00An (accidental) Book Expotition in Kansas City - Part Two<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNYRmnc2R4i9o5jHoOq5CCqJBBgscG4TOE55wixx2ogouq46pdgY5eo9KjNp5B6iijHgE41QVk3BOXP5IhRfXzcc-F5T_qLPsDi5gBpfCUiziwPCJds71coj3I35aWRKHDz2dpfU84a1vobysC697kF37I8Y5mvi-AnpYRB3shYLQsrFho8mZNw/s942/Market%20sights.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="942" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNYRmnc2R4i9o5jHoOq5CCqJBBgscG4TOE55wixx2ogouq46pdgY5eo9KjNp5B6iijHgE41QVk3BOXP5IhRfXzcc-F5T_qLPsDi5gBpfCUiziwPCJds71coj3I35aWRKHDz2dpfU84a1vobysC697kF37I8Y5mvi-AnpYRB3shYLQsrFho8mZNw/w545-h169/Market%20sights.JPG" width="545" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dear Friends:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">On Saturday we went to the farmer's market in the city, which takes place in the center of a plaza. Specialty food groceries, restaurants, and other shops enclose the plaza in a frame of delicious smells, bright colors, and interesting sights. In the open space in the plaza there were rows of vendors selling flowers, plants, fruit and vegetables, baked goods, soap bars, and other handmade items. What a treat it was so see many beautiful and delicious looking items. If I could have I would have bought a large selection of succulent plants; a vendor there had varieties I had never seen before. Alas, traveling on a plane with a flat of plants is more of a challenge than I am willing to take on. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> We began by buying the ingredients that we would need to make our pasta primavera dinner: baby carrots, thin asparagus, blue oyster mushrooms, and baby peas. Then we walked around the shops where we bought artisanal pasta and pecorino romano cheese. I also got a selection of sweet delicacies from a Middle Eastern grocery. I had to be firmly removed from a spice shop before I bought a container of every spice and herb in the place.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> We then came to a shop called Dutch Flowers which did indeed sell plants and garden related items, but it also sold a wide variety of other things including bags, scented candles, tea towels, toys, clothes, and an eclectic selection of other goods. And books. Such wonderful books. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> I managed to restrain myself and only bought two books for young readers. One is a nonfiction book about trees; you will soon learn that I have a deep fondness for trees and so I have a lot of books about them. The other is a picture book called <i>Florette,</i> which was written and illustrated by <a href="https://www.annawalker.com.au/" target="_blank">Anna Walker</a>. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> This book reminds me of how lucky I am to live and work in a place where I am surrounded by natural spaces. We live on a ten acre farm that is surrounded by other farms, and just a short drive away there are hiking trails that twist and turn up into the mountains. My town has a beautiful park in its heart, complete with a creek, beautiful trees, and hundreds of flowering shrubs and plants. I could never trade what I have here for a life in a city, though I enjoy visiting cities to go to museums, restaurants, and theatre shows. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">Florette</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Anna Walker</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Picture Book</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 5 and up</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Clarion Books, 2018, 978-0-544-87683-5</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Mae and her family are moving to the city, and Mae is deeply disappointed that she cannot bring her garden with her. Her mother tells her that Mae can create a new garden when she gets to the city, but it turns out that there is “no room among the crowded buildings for apple trees and daffodils.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Outside, instead of green grass to lie on and trees to climb, there are cement paths, and in the apartment all there is is a forest of cardboard moving boxes. Mae misses her garden so much that she uses her colored chalks to draw a garden on the cement in the countyard below her apartment. Large, colorful drawings of grass, plants, flowers, caterpillars, beetles, and butterflies fill the space, but the rain soon washes them all away.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Next Mae draws a garden on the sides of the boxes in the apartment, and she sets up a picnic next to boxes that have an apple tree drawn on them. Unfortunately the apple tree boxes fall over and the picnic is ruined. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Needing a break from boxes, Mae and her mother go to visit a park; instead of grass and plants, the ground is covered with gravel. Mae sits on a swing, which is when she sees a bird, a bird that is just like the ones that used to sit the apple tree in her garden at her old home. Mae follows the flying bird and it leads her to a ….forest! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> The forest is inside a garden shop that is called Florette. The bird is able to fly through an open window, but Mae cannot get into the wonderful shop with its huge tropical plants, its succulents, and its trailing vines because the shop is closed. Mae waits and waits for the shop to open but no one appears to flip the closed sign. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> For many of us, having access to green spaces is essential for our well-being. This is certainly the case for Mae, the main character in this indelible picture book. A spare text is paired with artwork that beautifully captures how empty Mae’s life is when she leaves her home to move to the city. Green is singularly absent in the illustrations until the moment when Mae discovers Florette with its precious ‘forest’ of growing things. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Through her story in this provocative book, Anna Walker reminds us that having growing things around us enriches our lives in many ways. We all need plants, trees, flowers, and birds and butterflies to ground us and connect us with the natural world. Such things calm our mind and give us a reprieve from the noise and bustle of our school, work, and domestic lives. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivc-Mm0GqYG6b7pd1zRYt8yVZlBb9MGslAwN35as4V80VIg2JuoYK4R_9ApExGNnx9kEwZJryEXRlhYY-iI1zDzpoh8fztPOP914DM-NuH9LSTUtBuAbv4bZwiwfgGj1SFizmZOMMDiOguijFMVmIpKCt_WAoIUf1H9du_tEM8EzkA-yxv4gVAGw/s777/Florette%20juxtaposition.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="777" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivc-Mm0GqYG6b7pd1zRYt8yVZlBb9MGslAwN35as4V80VIg2JuoYK4R_9ApExGNnx9kEwZJryEXRlhYY-iI1zDzpoh8fztPOP914DM-NuH9LSTUtBuAbv4bZwiwfgGj1SFizmZOMMDiOguijFMVmIpKCt_WAoIUf1H9du_tEM8EzkA-yxv4gVAGw/w532-h256/Florette%20juxtaposition.JPG" width="532" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: times;">An author called <a href="https://www.carterhiggins.com/" target="_blank">Carter Higgins,</a> whose books I have reviewed in the past, interviewed the author of Florette to ask her about her creative process. You can 'view' this interview online on Carter's blog, which is called <i><a href="https://www.designofthepicturebook.com/florette-an-interview-with-anna-walker/" target="_blank">Design of a Picture Book </a></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;">What I love about this story is the way in which Florette figures out how to bring growing things into her life despite the fact that she is living in a place that grows more cement than grass and trees. A little creativity can go a long way. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> After we got married, my husband and I lived in a small second floor apartment in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia. We had no veranda, and so we grew our 'garden' in window boxes, and the apartment was full of houseplants. Little pots of geraniums and herbs sprouted on the windowsills in the summer, and I used miniature evergreens potted out in blue glazed pots to brighten up our home in the winter. </span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuHe7a7NwXs3fOCKoSFFHTmPUSy2Cv5lYigfTZbHRc87YSYoV84MdQS5KJIWo_V1VMzl0QXZORUAu56wgIc4tXMHicgUzt3GN1OlfJWOvyLtYljbAjqKLc_qRmrhMCkLTljERdUN9BucnYyjcZA9mMXWECK3mbPashA327vowLdQVveS01Enwaw/s829/red-geraniums-linda-jacobus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="829" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuHe7a7NwXs3fOCKoSFFHTmPUSy2Cv5lYigfTZbHRc87YSYoV84MdQS5KJIWo_V1VMzl0QXZORUAu56wgIc4tXMHicgUzt3GN1OlfJWOvyLtYljbAjqKLc_qRmrhMCkLTljERdUN9BucnYyjcZA9mMXWECK3mbPashA327vowLdQVveS01Enwaw/w404-h186/red-geraniums-linda-jacobus.jpg" width="404" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div><p> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-62855420473898676292022-05-23T11:12:00.002-07:002022-05-25T07:42:39.580-07:00A Book Expotition in Kansas City - Part One<div style="text-align: left;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgS126G8EqlG5TtNIqFoamUp-nzbsEnlQQGr0wgilhMfP6xyPWMETW7PNygXpbgDOqX7pae9FXJOPLuSd-zM0QbrbSwA4fEMjAfiwwqbGKxpuIJbQJZmIcmUne7bmmMzMdz3hgs68jGx2N1yEKJA0zQiCZja882xJhVBeGAaUmv6V3SSx8BNwIw/s344/Jo's%20boys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="236" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgS126G8EqlG5TtNIqFoamUp-nzbsEnlQQGr0wgilhMfP6xyPWMETW7PNygXpbgDOqX7pae9FXJOPLuSd-zM0QbrbSwA4fEMjAfiwwqbGKxpuIJbQJZmIcmUne7bmmMzMdz3hgs68jGx2N1yEKJA0zQiCZja882xJhVBeGAaUmv6V3SSx8BNwIw/s320/Jo's%20boys.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Artwork from <i>Little Men </i>created by Ruth Ives</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dear Friends:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">This week I was in Kansas City for four days to see my daughter and to celebrate her twenty-second birthday with her. My husband and I had never visited her in her space before, so this was something of a milestone for us; being our daughter's 'guest!' </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> On Wednesday morning we set of on out first expotition, (1) and the first thing that I noticed as we drove into the city was that the topography was flat. Really flat. I live in a narrow valley that is surrounded by mountains, so this was a little bit of a shock to the system. One thing that I did like very much is that is wonderfully green. Here in the Pacific Northwest the summer "toasted" season is already starting, so seeing green trees and grass is a treat for us.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4v_iv-jfz71-P3dcs-Cp-3XbAazC31_FxraCAaxmxiA5F7eIswo6mNeLWTM-kmX10NKFZy7MoQhPFCBUkJoA5HWdCmEsBacHylc6IDCNcN48s0uT9-cwubVAoz1VlMlGTO0YmFnM3dmuiIwDGetmPMXe1XKaJezexDMWhMWU6fy8HIp52ReAyWg/s960/ProsperoBookstore.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="960" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4v_iv-jfz71-P3dcs-Cp-3XbAazC31_FxraCAaxmxiA5F7eIswo6mNeLWTM-kmX10NKFZy7MoQhPFCBUkJoA5HWdCmEsBacHylc6IDCNcN48s0uT9-cwubVAoz1VlMlGTO0YmFnM3dmuiIwDGetmPMXe1XKaJezexDMWhMWU6fy8HIp52ReAyWg/w186-h184/ProsperoBookstore.jpg" width="186" /></a></div> After stopping at Ibis, a marvelous bakery, for a pastry and some coffee, we headed to <a href="https://prosperosbookstore.com/" target="_blank">Prospero's</a>, a three storey building packed with used books and other media. It has been a quite a while since I set foot in a large bookshop of this kind, and the moment I stepped in the aroma of used books wafted over me like a well-loved old quilt; I gave a sigh of deep pleasure and started exploring the shelves. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> I found some wonderful copies of <i>Little Men</i> and <i>Jo's Boys</i> written by Louisa May Alcott and illustrated by Ruth Ives. They were published in 1955 and are in excellent condition. These books continue the story of the characters that readers got to meet in the classic books <i>Little Women </i>and<i> Good Wives</i> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaXRKa4tvEYRsjSssOFCJBsnCqpt0jM1oYwdfywIRRFOCT_d-jr1w_aNYKXK2Fhk1nzAQ34LOpNsoXA1HPDbXTu_1XFbWhK6Y4Fa0o9B8KDUUVNqh1zaVefG07uWWTusRf2SqBxFzUUzIcOCSzZnJkn9_b0MnfLKcSAPzx8I_Em_EDCiRZt41Ww/s350/75%20years%20of%20children's%20book%20week%20posters.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaXRKa4tvEYRsjSssOFCJBsnCqpt0jM1oYwdfywIRRFOCT_d-jr1w_aNYKXK2Fhk1nzAQ34LOpNsoXA1HPDbXTu_1XFbWhK6Y4Fa0o9B8KDUUVNqh1zaVefG07uWWTusRf2SqBxFzUUzIcOCSzZnJkn9_b0MnfLKcSAPzx8I_Em_EDCiRZt41Ww/w239-h239/75%20years%20of%20children's%20book%20week%20posters.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"> I also got <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Years-Childrens-Book-Week-Posters/dp/0679851062">75 Years of Children's Book Week Posters: Celebrating Great Illustrations of American Children's Books.</a></i> In 1915 Franklin K. Mathiews (who founded <i>Boy's Life Magazine</i>) decided that he would bring together parents, teachers, librarians and others so that they could, together, create an annual week-long celebration of books and reading. Mathiews teamed up with two very powerful allies, Frederic G. Melcher and Anne Carrol.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Frederic G. Melcher was the editor of Publisher's Weekly for many years and a huge supporter of children's books. In fact he was the one who proposed the Newbery Medal in 1922, an annual award for "the most distinguished book for children." In 1937 Melcher proposed the Caldecott Medal to honor children's picture books. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Anne Carrol was an American educator, writer and advocate for children's libraries. In 1896 Carrol accepted an offer to organize a children's room at the Pratt Institute Library in Brooklyn. Up to this point children had usually been considered a nuisance in library settings, and were often excluded from libraries until they were at least 14 years of age. Carrol set about changing this. She created a welcoming space for children with child-sized furniture, open stacks, cozy reading nooks, story times, puppet shows, summer programming, quality juvenile literature, and perhaps most importantly, librarians committed to working with children. In 1906 she became the the superintendent of children's work at the New York Public Library. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Together, with the help of the publishers' and bookseller's associations,' Mathiews, Melcher, and </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDx0g1mdND5FUaPBRwTJGQNnqbUxBfh7K4vH6M1UkE6oSwQ9x5SzMaqiSrT1IwGAWgSl0ytCJ0KoqCZMESYE2rV7ckA2j8hHWGsnxgc4nWff6qM5vxh4aaRA5xQcKFH5VRCS5u_RWabp9NRxxVbqpusS8gFMmK-bNI6fBC0ThQm_0_eh9UxnO6CQ/s450/jessie-willcox-smith-children-s-book-week-november-15th-to-20th-1920-more-books-in-the-home_u-L-Q1I471C0.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDx0g1mdND5FUaPBRwTJGQNnqbUxBfh7K4vH6M1UkE6oSwQ9x5SzMaqiSrT1IwGAWgSl0ytCJ0KoqCZMESYE2rV7ckA2j8hHWGsnxgc4nWff6qM5vxh4aaRA5xQcKFH5VRCS5u_RWabp9NRxxVbqpusS8gFMmK-bNI6fBC0ThQm_0_eh9UxnO6CQ/s320/jessie-willcox-smith-children-s-book-week-november-15th-to-20th-1920-more-books-in-the-home_u-L-Q1I471C0.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Carrol formed a Book Week Committee, and in 1919 the illustrator Jessie Wilcox created the first Children's Book Week poster. The poster was reused for the next four years. Over the years recommended book lists, school and public library events, parades, and other grassroots events have popular around the country, and every year an illustrator is asked to create a poster for the occasion. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> In 1944 the Association of Children's Book Editors created the <a href="https://www.cbcbooks.org/readers/" target="_blank">Children's Book Council </a>(CBC) to take over the running of Children's Book Week. Then in 2008 the administration of Children’s Book Week, including planning official events and creating original materials, was transferred to <a href="https://everychildareader.net/" target="_blank">Every Child a Reader</a>, CBC’s charitable arm. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, young people across the country participate by attending events at schools, libraries, bookstores, celebrating at home, and engaging with book creators both online and in person. The 2022 Children’s Book Week will take place during two dedicated weeks of celebration, May 2-8 and November 7-13.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="741" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA400a7hvpgSLSCK31qMmOplqMnc_ZYy64QGLWFFLZGC9H5E4Hu1rc5nXLrUJPM_IlJQXcVItRMalx-BdY70Fcav--XsejOvjS2_SqgTdP7G0nQb3w4k95M4_hFf6Rrl-4q6Btev4g1qFaGAWukti2lB0IO2CPQMNHhn_DfWlKcyt7QBwZ86tBDA/w502-h452/Book%20Week%20Covers%20Sample.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="502" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">A Sample of Children's Book Week Posters<br />From left to right - Jessie Wilcox 1924, Kate Seredy 1962, Lane Smith 1995<br />From Left to Right - Jan Brett 1996, Kevin Henkes 2002, Jon J. Muth 2010</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA400a7hvpgSLSCK31qMmOplqMnc_ZYy64QGLWFFLZGC9H5E4Hu1rc5nXLrUJPM_IlJQXcVItRMalx-BdY70Fcav--XsejOvjS2_SqgTdP7G0nQb3w4k95M4_hFf6Rrl-4q6Btev4g1qFaGAWukti2lB0IO2CPQMNHhn_DfWlKcyt7QBwZ86tBDA/s741/Book%20Week%20Covers%20Sample.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">(1) The word expotition refers to “voyages of discovery in which, it is hoped by all concerned, nothing Fierce is discovered.” A.R. Melrose, The Pooh Dictionary: The Complete Guide to the Words of Pooh and All the Animals in the Forest, 1995. </span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-32999738807444442752022-05-14T07:46:00.003-07:002022-05-14T07:46:21.153-07:00A Collector of Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27VknOBvxS3j-jC2r1Zhlv4BuGduSUvf1wAUx0yeDw_CxFtIYjBzNm6mV3AhO3zMjaHPd6-ngweWgzj_RpssI0BsRiMMePdrr6N-wpdfRCgrKNUlQlU_AdZIy5C2AxAuHyuLuNd6euJ8LKc0MDZyFhPoe14jWXZWBZ8temE3b_6ZTGQRPnLImaQ/s900/magical%20library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="900" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27VknOBvxS3j-jC2r1Zhlv4BuGduSUvf1wAUx0yeDw_CxFtIYjBzNm6mV3AhO3zMjaHPd6-ngweWgzj_RpssI0BsRiMMePdrr6N-wpdfRCgrKNUlQlU_AdZIy5C2AxAuHyuLuNd6euJ8LKc0MDZyFhPoe14jWXZWBZ8temE3b_6ZTGQRPnLImaQ/w454-h270/magical%20library.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What if people we consider collectors today were actually just dragons in disguise, building their hoards?</div><p>“I am a dragon. And this is my hoard.”</p><p>“You… don’t look like a dragon.”</p><p>“Well, hardly anyone does, these days. Times have changed, we have too. The scales and tails thing worked with the dinosaurs, but we learned quite quickly that… that wasn’t going to fly with you people.”</p><p>“You were around all the way back to the dinosaurs?”</p><p>“Well, not like… me personally. How old do you think I am?”</p><p>“… There’s no safe answer to that.”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“So… when you say this is your hoard…?”</p><p>“All dragons have them. Some stick to the old gold and jewels thing, but that’s so cliché these days. Most of us like our hoards to be a little bit more sophisticated than ‘shiny.’“</p><p>“Like what?”</p><p>“I have known dragons to collect snowflakes from the first fall of the year over dozens of centuries. I know dragons that collect petals of flowers left on the graves of loved ones. Dragons that keep and care for soft toys and comfort items, left behind as children grow up. Dragons that guard happy memories and shards of sunlight, kept safe for rainy days. And me, I keep a sanctuary of words. A bastion of language, of poetry. Of written music and achingly beautiful prose. I am the Guardian of this monument to linguistic majesty. I collect stories of love and life and death and mourning and joy. There is nothing more beautiful in all the world, no coin or gem or sliver of starlight more fantastic than a well-told tale. A story is this world’s truest treasure, and what better chest for it than a book?”</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLecnhCVJ1gPT9HuwPGTkXN9uolguD8B8I1K-uxZK8-172Sk3AkP6TmyxT2hWFPqILNZ31rvnSWVmZ_ZUmbRwxEX-Hqrle8R-LBruPTgK-hS_CEvYlV76btSazHoQ6T5jVhrg9UfZangVJ9OtN6wtlSCybvBG8bfw5uEYEJ5_IfH9CVBObD1dBDA/s1434/book%20shelf%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="1434" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLecnhCVJ1gPT9HuwPGTkXN9uolguD8B8I1K-uxZK8-172Sk3AkP6TmyxT2hWFPqILNZ31rvnSWVmZ_ZUmbRwxEX-Hqrle8R-LBruPTgK-hS_CEvYlV76btSazHoQ6T5jVhrg9UfZangVJ9OtN6wtlSCybvBG8bfw5uEYEJ5_IfH9CVBObD1dBDA/w540-h84/book%20shelf%203.JPG" width="540" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I grew up in a house full of books, most of which had been collected over the years by my father. He loved the written word, and he shared that love with me. Most of the books that I read came from the British Council library, but I also had quite a good little library of my own. When I was older I read a lot of my father's Penguin classics. which is how I discovered books written by Hemingway, Colette, Austen, Fitzgerald, Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Steinbeck, Orwell, and others.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> When I moved to the United States in 1991 I came with two suitcases that contained very few books, but it wasn't long before books started to fill the little basement flat that I shared with a co-worker. Then I married by husband and the book collecting started in earnest. We lived in Virginia where there are many wonderful book and antique shops, many of which we explored. We even took a long weekend to go to a town in Pennsylvania where they have a huge antique market every year. I still remember that we bought a whole set of books about the American Civil War there, which I read with great interest. We had visited many of the battlefields in Virginia and it was grand to read about the war, and thus to better understand what had happened. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> In 1993 my interest in children's literature started to bloom and I began collecting books that I had once owned, books that I had loved when I was growing up. Then I discovered authors and illustrators that were new to me and I started to collect their books. Of course, when I started reviewing books written for young readers the trickle of books coming into our house turned into a flood. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Like many children and adults I have collected things - stamps, decorative boxes, and the like - over the years, but my book collection is my real pride and joy. I have enough non-fiction books to keep my brain busy and engaged for many lifetimes, and access to thousands of novels that will take me on wonderful adventures to places real and imagined. Knowing this makes my heart happy. </div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-20893475900871808782022-05-12T10:31:00.002-07:002022-05-13T06:30:44.165-07:00Rediscovering treasured books <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4Y-voYPHqHLioQqzto0DRjN1gftXk2MPGYtVD8VEUJdtfefLiqYUYSNNHh7vAfhe54PTltooQLYuAdaH1RakTxL11rYoJxh4U4YEFABRll0DKHhAIE3dVhlG7_QnwZGCOFbScr9RCMFQrvtUakPMcJanF7uuV8Wr27mt-WnmQYPx_Hd9B64lSg/s800/adeleandsimonillustration.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="800" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4Y-voYPHqHLioQqzto0DRjN1gftXk2MPGYtVD8VEUJdtfefLiqYUYSNNHh7vAfhe54PTltooQLYuAdaH1RakTxL11rYoJxh4U4YEFABRll0DKHhAIE3dVhlG7_QnwZGCOFbScr9RCMFQrvtUakPMcJanF7uuV8Wr27mt-WnmQYPx_Hd9B64lSg/w547-h260/adeleandsimonillustration.jpg" width="547" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dear Bookish Friends,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Oh how I have missed you all. It has been a very a very trying few weeks health wise, and I am daring to hope that I <i>might</i> be on the upslope at long last. I had to spend quite a few days in bed and the only things that made it bearable were audiobooks, books, my three dogs, and my honorary dog (who is a cat). I had a nerve block procedure done to see if that would help with my Long Covid symptoms, but alas it has not worked and I am back to square one. To say that this is tedious is an understatement.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> One of the few enjoyable things I have been able to do a few times is to unbox some book boxes. From 1998 until 2007 we lived on a farm in the countryside near Richmond, Virginia. The house was quite large and it had very tall ceilings. My dear husband built floor to ceiling bookshelves in every single room except the bathrooms, including the top hallway landing. Both of us love books and somehow we never seem to be able to go anywhere without buying books, so we have a lot of them; and I do mean lot. The nonfiction titles lived in the library and sitting room, fiction novels were in our bedroom, classics were in the dining room, and cookbooks were in the kitchen. All the shelves in the guestroom, halls, and my office were full of children's books that I had either purchased or had been sent to review. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Long before I became a full-time reviewer I started collecting children's books, some of which I had had as a child and wanted to own again, and some of which were new. Obviously, I cannot keep all the books I review and most have been donated to public or school libraries along the way. So, the collection I had in the house were the books that I particularly treasured. When we left Virginia to come to Oregon these books were put into one hundred and seventy-five or so file boxes, and we drove them across the country in a big truck. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9tbtScrapFK4Uoe0CEEpY9Ue8lzU2kFELF0AT8wSW0G0dHWa6tMb14EvpitSMB-UDnN0XIZxxntdtzhkcMbtp_nOZRjbUnsVM0wQGDX0bgahNisMbD4-Ce0NvALExMU2HV35lSRqxjzsP0G2zXm28jQri5iwNyyxS7BCURZuBlHh5IflZnsqdig/s789/9780374380441.IN06.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9tbtScrapFK4Uoe0CEEpY9Ue8lzU2kFELF0AT8wSW0G0dHWa6tMb14EvpitSMB-UDnN0XIZxxntdtzhkcMbtp_nOZRjbUnsVM0wQGDX0bgahNisMbD4-Ce0NvALExMU2HV35lSRqxjzsP0G2zXm28jQri5iwNyyxS7BCURZuBlHh5IflZnsqdig/s320/9780374380441.IN06.jpg" width="296" /></a></div> Up until now we have not had a place to put these books, and so they have lived in the garage, and of course more books have been added to their number; now there are two hundred and fifty boxes! On the days when I could get up for a little while my husband brought some boxes into the house for me to open up. I cannot tell you how wonderful it has been to see my old friends again. I don't know what is in the boxes and so every time I lift a lid it feels like a big unveiling moment. All that is needed is a musical fanfare of some kind. I will not be keeping them all (as I cannot afford to build a second house) and so the local school library system is going to get a lot of them. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> As I go through the boxes I'm going to introduce you to some of my treasures. Today I bring you <i>Adele and Simon</i>, a book written and illustrated by my friend <a href="http://barbaramcclintockbooks.com/index.html" target="_blank">Barbara McClintock</a>. Though I really like the sweet story, what I particularly love about this book is the artwork. Barbara's illustrations are always, always magnificent. She uses a color pallet that has an old-world feel to it, and they are gorgeously detailed. It is hard to convey how remarkable her artwork is. I happily spend many minutes looking at all the details in her illustrations, finding little stories in the artwork that tease my imagination. To create her artwork Barbara "did all the artwork by hand, using a dip pen with a flexible steel nib and waterproof ink, and watercolor. It took at least three weeks to a month to complete each full color double page spread (not counting the time spent with all the research and creating the sketch)." I'm thinking that I might like to get a few prints of the artwork to put in my office. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">Adele and Simon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOVzOpwt8qThlvUlofQ7MJk0itkJfYfl17deRPN5hMY1X40OCOIqMHgjwzrKqllNRrrQeImBT1VXJ2zw3rlkPsyI8q89CeCROmTce3_Qk6Wue9i2xI5TFGZBn3Y_NSHibf67Xdb2tYtqEUD7-2ZtPa39O9qPzH-MHXe5OkKMDZJ-jPZwI4jWD2w/s500/Adele%20and%20Simon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="389" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOVzOpwt8qThlvUlofQ7MJk0itkJfYfl17deRPN5hMY1X40OCOIqMHgjwzrKqllNRrrQeImBT1VXJ2zw3rlkPsyI8q89CeCROmTce3_Qk6Wue9i2xI5TFGZBn3Y_NSHibf67Xdb2tYtqEUD7-2ZtPa39O9qPzH-MHXe5OkKMDZJ-jPZwI4jWD2w/w156-h200/Adele%20and%20Simon.jpg" width="156" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Barbara McClintock</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 4 to 8</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006, 978-0374380441</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Today, as is usual on every school day, Adele is picking up her little brother Simon from his school. One of the first things Adele does is to ask her brother to "please try not to lose anything today." From her words it sounds as if Simon is in the habit of losing things. Unfortunately, today is no exception. The children are not far from the school when Simon realizes that he has lost the cat drawing that he did in class that day. The children are in the middle of a street market and they look and look everywhere for the picture but they cannot find it. On they walk through the Jardin de Plantes. Here Simon climbs a tree, much to Adele's annoyance. Somehow he manages to lose his books.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> The children go from place to place through the colorful and vibrant city of Paris. They visit Pont-Neuf, the Louvre art museum, a patisserie where they have a snack, and many other places, and in each one Simon loses something. Why, by the time they get home Simon has lost his coat, hat, gloves, scarf, sweater, knapsack, books, and crayons. Luckily the items he has lost find their way back to him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Children will love this simple and amusing story, sympathizing with Simon, and understanding how hard it is not to lose things every so often. Better still, young readers will have a wonderful time trying to find Simon's lost possessions in the detailed, meticulously executed drawings that fill the double page spreads. The soft colors in the beautiful artwork give the pictures a delicious vintage feel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> At the back of the book the author includes information about each of the places that the two children visit, and inside the covers readers will find a map of Paris which shows them where each of the places are.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-7080542919668672042022-04-17T08:11:00.001-07:002022-04-17T08:11:42.421-07:00Happy (Dachshund) Easter!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgFbXUGADerJJ2hjiy6keEcqH5yIUVYW8LTWAayk463ymavPY06vhXJ5K6-YqJB35EyZKPwZvUsU4k5VQwPwdYDC7HFqe8Qon_Ii-EiVVlptlsyyKzofAVSpKGJ4L3Y9LECvKfo32_av_C5V9wWfhdn5pFl4d4we8Gpu2WJvmQKPSJCWxbqCBpw/s320/Dachshund%20Easter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="237" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgFbXUGADerJJ2hjiy6keEcqH5yIUVYW8LTWAayk463ymavPY06vhXJ5K6-YqJB35EyZKPwZvUsU4k5VQwPwdYDC7HFqe8Qon_Ii-EiVVlptlsyyKzofAVSpKGJ4L3Y9LECvKfo32_av_C5V9wWfhdn5pFl4d4we8Gpu2WJvmQKPSJCWxbqCBpw/w296-h400/Dachshund%20Easter.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Typically Easter cards have images of bunnies and chicks and flowers on them. I could have chosen a typical card for my Easter greetings, but I'm proud to say that I tend to lean towards the quirky. Therefore, Happy (Dachshund) Easter!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> The reason I chose this card is that I am a dachshund fan. I have three of them and they are such wonderful little dogs. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> I grew up with a medium sized dog, and we tended to have medium to big dogs until I rescued a little white Westie cross from a puppy mill. He was small and I came to appreciate that having a dog that likes to sit on ones lap, and does not squash you in the process, is rather a wonderful thing. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> When he died I decided to get a dachshund. It turned out that the puppy, Hugo, was deaf, but he was clever and a quick learner, so he had no trouble at all learning sign language. Then I rescued a second deaf dachshund, Toby. Finally I got Milo from a breeder and he serves as Hugo and Toby's Hearing Ear dog. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> These three little dogs have been a lifesaver for me during these last few years. I don't know how I would have managed with their companionship as I battled covid. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Left to right: Hugo (Love Muffin), Toby (Woobie), Milo (Monkey, Pest, Little Devil....)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoOZ42-GUbYZLakFJIGJ6hIybjKoDSPMBWONPH3A1y_jAFI_0QpeGHuT_s1_nRrjicePpnc8j79P1Gq3oA97yn8X7-wJMvqiCfe9HLuOPwqrQPLO1Ws4hWMS8mDaDMfZ-nkRUxNaBCIfV_ZidUI5mHMRpDElI-8lLiyCeqdA4ygyFBZhMzDeB0A/s934/Boys.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="934" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoOZ42-GUbYZLakFJIGJ6hIybjKoDSPMBWONPH3A1y_jAFI_0QpeGHuT_s1_nRrjicePpnc8j79P1Gq3oA97yn8X7-wJMvqiCfe9HLuOPwqrQPLO1Ws4hWMS8mDaDMfZ-nkRUxNaBCIfV_ZidUI5mHMRpDElI-8lLiyCeqdA4ygyFBZhMzDeB0A/w549-h173/Boys.JPG" width="549" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-43492044253647394272022-04-15T08:16:00.105-07:002022-04-15T10:28:03.257-07:00Egg decorating in different cultures, with a review of Beautiful Eggs.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40YdhZ4cjz3xFd0esviSs2zpsqx3wjXhWcTMJbWMPLg1XIf4SGT6UTI-zSFujssSrYmegdX9FtAJiGG7xhJYyvbpqX7cqwVIB535gLYtJpva2tXbdmxpbCFiISvyh3H3Oo2pmXRfxb0-lv-OnGDf-LOimDt6NlWunSXHqEz5YNlWgNSyk2354Jg/s1307/beautiful-eggs-spreads-2%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1307" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40YdhZ4cjz3xFd0esviSs2zpsqx3wjXhWcTMJbWMPLg1XIf4SGT6UTI-zSFujssSrYmegdX9FtAJiGG7xhJYyvbpqX7cqwVIB535gLYtJpva2tXbdmxpbCFiISvyh3H3Oo2pmXRfxb0-lv-OnGDf-LOimDt6NlWunSXHqEz5YNlWgNSyk2354Jg/w527-h340/beautiful-eggs-spreads-2%20(1).jpg" width="527" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I used to think that egg decorating was a tradition that was only found in countries where Easter is celebrated. It turns out that I am wrong! For example, in Mexico they decorate eggs for Cinco de Mayo and other celebrations, in addition to Easter. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> I mostly grew up on the island of Cyprus, which is a Greek Orthodox country. Easter is the biggest</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6lVy3KdOMydMohB8faod8TaoQIlTphwdN0RzELCEQFk0LJBg61ivYTdCzxQDnla58d5vcaXEz8n6N5R2LacI7Aa_SeczOOqmVEzGOhz1a9UlYIW5qE-uTYFHsP78zH1Oq3uTC_fpJqrs8BalRKokYFAfUi3lgC0SyK89gztNrxV2MYB559m4sA/s800/Flaounes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6lVy3KdOMydMohB8faod8TaoQIlTphwdN0RzELCEQFk0LJBg61ivYTdCzxQDnla58d5vcaXEz8n6N5R2LacI7Aa_SeczOOqmVEzGOhz1a9UlYIW5qE-uTYFHsP78zH1Oq3uTC_fpJqrs8BalRKokYFAfUi3lgC0SyK89gztNrxV2MYB559m4sA/w200-h134/Flaounes.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">religious holiday of the year on the island, and they have many wonderful traditions that you only get to experience at that time. Special foods are prepared, including a sweet and savory bread called Falounes, which I am particularly partial to. The bread contains halloumi cheese (which is only made in Cyprus but is exported to other countries), raisins, mint, sesame seeds and other interesting ingredients. Here is <a href="https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/traditional-cypriot-flaouna-recipe-flaounes/" target="_blank">a recipe</a> for this delicious festive bread. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Decorating eggs is part of the celebration, and in Cyprus (and other </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnC8l4KViU2cNIw_zBEO94s1xntBAprlQl0qLNb64mOYrSTPiAzdMnqR3qJrx-JaQn1UByZUNZBQXdvzAGYdAYoU8pMMjyYAG7KFDuABKHZBRQZOPGcNUe4NwKmai-f_gsZyAC6EGQp9MFLEiWLD4FbMNis6cNvaA8fsgfcr-ULpyO52YUTDULg/s600/Easter-Eggs-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnC8l4KViU2cNIw_zBEO94s1xntBAprlQl0qLNb64mOYrSTPiAzdMnqR3qJrx-JaQn1UByZUNZBQXdvzAGYdAYoU8pMMjyYAG7KFDuABKHZBRQZOPGcNUe4NwKmai-f_gsZyAC6EGQp9MFLEiWLD4FbMNis6cNvaA8fsgfcr-ULpyO52YUTDULg/w283-h212/Easter-Eggs-1.jpg" width="283" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">countries) traditionalists dye the eggs in boiled onion peel water. This gives the eggs a beautiful reddish brown color. People often use leaves and flowers in the dying process. Here is <a href="https://ciaoflorentina.com/homemade-easter-eggs-naturally-dyed-with-onion-skins/">a how-to</a> for those of you who would like try this decorating form. I used to do this with the yiayia (grandmother) who lived in the apartment below ours, and she and I had a wonderful time together. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> People in Cyprus also dye their eggs a bright red, a tradition that is common in Eastern Orthodox countries including Greece. Of course these days people often buy colored dyes to create multicolored masterpieces. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/beautiful-eggs/9781950354436" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">Beautiful Eggs: A journey through decorative traditions from around the world </span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLuWaDCtSYKqPv7mSKbIrnhdOP1ztoyfRRpfms5KkqzKlDONEzsfUoUUlldxum-bwgJ_oFiEguJOECLfI09c_S_vATc-AXK3PNRwmhSfJzTLh2l0__P0rd10E2sAxuQpbNU4V71SyvvBKM9HD0ID6x-NTRZ82PCzlHJg9ACOEQlnRVcGHFdQJYA/s499/Beautiful%20Eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="399" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLuWaDCtSYKqPv7mSKbIrnhdOP1ztoyfRRpfms5KkqzKlDONEzsfUoUUlldxum-bwgJ_oFiEguJOECLfI09c_S_vATc-AXK3PNRwmhSfJzTLh2l0__P0rd10E2sAxuQpbNU4V71SyvvBKM9HD0ID6x-NTRZ82PCzlHJg9ACOEQlnRVcGHFdQJYA/w201-h251/Beautiful%20Eggs.jpg" width="201" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Illustrated by Alice Lindstrom <br />Board Book<br />For ages 4 to 6<br />Scribble, 2021, 978-1950354436<br />When we think of egg decorating, we usually think of Easter festivities. Many people in countries around the world decorate boiled or blown eggs for this spring celebration. However, in some cultures they decorate eggs for other celebrations. In Mexico pretty eggs also appear on Cinco de Mayo and other festive days.<br /> People have been decorating eggs for centuries, and they have developed all kinds of ways of making eggs beautiful. A great deal of time and effort can be spent on decorating eggs, and some of these creations are so prized that they are put in museums or art galleries.<br /> In the Ukraine they have been creating extremely colorful eggs that are covered with fine and delicate designs for a long time. Red and green dyes are commonly used, and the designs are drawn on using beeswax.<br /> In the Czech Republic Easter eggs are decorated using many dye colors, and straw. When the eggs are complete, there are “Shiny kaleidoscope patterns” all over them.<br /> In Japan they use washi paper to decorate their eggs. The colorful printed papers, that are also use to make origami, are used to cover the eggs.<br /> With gorgeous collage illustrations and informative pieces of text, the illustrator of this board book introduces children and their grownups to seven different eggs decorating traditions. At the back of the book young readers will find a fold out page that children can use as a stencil to make their own drawing of a decorated egg.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-91158214680216081102022-04-12T08:17:00.000-07:002022-04-12T08:17:14.244-07:00An omage to Patricia MacLachlan and her book, Sarah Plain and Tall<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Egc7x0QBAZvbBeZEw8qnfkTyCmovkwyiiah2FNIdDw9aq-YLUsUWr2xWi37XARnpijtYioW5lcttWz7SBt8hcbAbW3NJBAto7V6PTOPNGf9VJye-8Yt5sR4c3rTe7Vp4JEZmEcm5-7-LJUGs9at4PG1jOzvd2vXto057lqXVEdojGbGTNo2BPA/s400/Sarah,%20Plain%20and%20Tall%20lo%20res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="400" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Egc7x0QBAZvbBeZEw8qnfkTyCmovkwyiiah2FNIdDw9aq-YLUsUWr2xWi37XARnpijtYioW5lcttWz7SBt8hcbAbW3NJBAto7V6PTOPNGf9VJye-8Yt5sR4c3rTe7Vp4JEZmEcm5-7-LJUGs9at4PG1jOzvd2vXto057lqXVEdojGbGTNo2BPA/s320/Sarah,%20Plain%20and%20Tall%20lo%20res.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sarah Plain and Tall by<a href="http://www.pjlynchgallery.com/"> P.J. Lynch</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>"I shook my head, turning the white stone over and over in my hand. I wished everything was as perfect as the stone. I wished that Papa and Caleb and I were perfect for Sarah. I wished we had a sea of our own."</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">In 2009 I set out to read and review as many American award winning books as I could. A few of these titles had made it across 'the pond,' and all the way to the island of Cyprus, which is where I grew up. However, there were so many books that I had never even heard of. One of these books was a slender little volume, a chapter book with an unassuming cover, which had won the Newbery Award. I confess that I didn't have high expectations as I started to read <i>Sarah Plain and Tall </i>on December 9th, 2009. After reading only a few pages I realized that I had found an extraordinary story, a story that I would never forget. That day I learned that books with around a hundred pages can be just as powerful as ones with three hundred pages. I discovered that in the hands of a master, even the simplest of phrases and sentences can have the power to deeply move a reader. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">The author of this story, Patricia MacLachlan, went on to write four more books about Sarah and her family, and I read them all with great pleasure and no small amount of awe. <i>Sarah Plain and Tall</i> was adapted into a television film starring Glenn Close, and one-act children's musical.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Patricia MacLachlan left us on March 31st. She will be greatly missed by the people who knew and loved her, and by the many authors whom she encouraged and supported. She gifted us dozens of books, many of which I have read and reviewed over the years. On the <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/authors-illustrators/profile/?profileID=6297" target="_blank">Through the Looking Glass Patricia MacLachlan Page</a> you will find a biography of this amazing women, and a links to those of her books that I have reviewed. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/sarah-plain-and-tall/9780062399526" target="_blank">Sarah Plain and Tall</a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wMmrFthkuuPzISTYjqhv4VbPVMVrwKXckpM3ZaxX4awguKfSKMTCGySlLs91vzOuQFbU37IIFPMMRSAoDj4BvO7INOp9VkxRiVpT48f2nkKXiAfYmuPDFvTaBHH-G78eQJqZ-CRoYxbazFbs7sWyfjX0KAzX2K5XtsVbbqlqX0Rd97LZzr1dEw/s499/Sarah%20plain%20and%20tall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="343" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wMmrFthkuuPzISTYjqhv4VbPVMVrwKXckpM3ZaxX4awguKfSKMTCGySlLs91vzOuQFbU37IIFPMMRSAoDj4BvO7INOp9VkxRiVpT48f2nkKXiAfYmuPDFvTaBHH-G78eQJqZ-CRoYxbazFbs7sWyfjX0KAzX2K5XtsVbbqlqX0Rd97LZzr1dEw/w138-h200/Sarah%20plain%20and%20tall.jpg" width="138" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Patricia MacLachlan</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Fiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 7 and up</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">HarperCollins, 1985, 0064402053</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Anna and Caleb’s Mama died the day after Caleb was born. It has been hard being without a Mama for so long, but now Papa has advertised in the paper for a wife and Sarah from Maine has answered.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Letters go between the family on the prairie and the young woman living by the sea. The children worry that Sarah won’t like them, won’t like their simple little house, won’t like Papa, won’t like the prairie where there is no sea and little water – just grass and sky. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Sarah agrees to come and visit the family for a month “to see” and she arrives in the spring. Anna hopes desperately that they can all be “perfect” for Sarah so that she will stay. She wishes that they had “a sea of our own,” which would make Sarah miss Maine less.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Sarah MacLachlan superbly captures the anxiety and tension that the children experience - the fear that they will loose their chance to have a mother at long last. With just the right words she brings the spirit of the prairie and the personalities of the characters to life so that we can see the grass, smell the dust, and experience the worry that flows through Anna and Caleb’s hearts. Full of poignancy, hope and love, this is a story that is timeless, and it will resonate with both children and adults. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-80385513071709418152022-04-08T09:22:00.001-07:002022-04-08T09:22:18.465-07:00Celebrating Library Week, and Poetry Month, with a book that gave me hope<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimk1hbUAsr19wzmbre7-Rbq5wT-18kxu0HYP9FfQw_dqL9L8t6po59qTR3pUmDeJ077OpWpqTdDaE1UrESjUHWLpsG_Vn3z4uYwt9tRUBzDlk2HqrXCQx0Wm7ozpV_YtQObevGcY7YybXMlj-yyuak-jt3IMxQ_t_OJ_jRm7cTsSZ3KOIvN9OzLQ/s1024/The%20Library%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="758" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimk1hbUAsr19wzmbre7-Rbq5wT-18kxu0HYP9FfQw_dqL9L8t6po59qTR3pUmDeJ077OpWpqTdDaE1UrESjUHWLpsG_Vn3z4uYwt9tRUBzDlk2HqrXCQx0Wm7ozpV_YtQObevGcY7YybXMlj-yyuak-jt3IMxQ_t_OJ_jRm7cTsSZ3KOIvN9OzLQ/s320/The%20Library%203.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180;"><b>" <span style="text-align: left;">I discovered that one could write one's own story, </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180;"><b><span style="text-align: left;">which is </span></b></span><b style="color: #800180;"><span style="text-align: left;">something that very few people even consider</span></b><b style="color: #800180;"><span style="text-align: left;">."</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">In 1998 I built the first rendition of T<a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/" target="_blank">hrough the Looking Glass Book Reviews</a>, and I did it myself, so you can imagine what it looked like! Back then I had no idea what TTLG would become in the years ahead. By 1999 I had got to know quite a few publicists in the publishing houses, and was getting review copies on a regular basis. One of the books I received was <i>The Library,</i> which was created by a husband and wife team. I fell in love with <a href="http://www.davidsmallbooks.com/picture-books" target="_blank">David Small's</a> art and I sought out every book he had worked on. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">This Caldecott Honor book had a profound effect on me; I discovered that I was not the only book-mad person in the world. Here was a story about a real person who filled her house with books. <span style="color: #800180;">I was not alone in my madness! </span>I also saw how someone turned their passion into something that gave them, and so many other people, joy. I discovered that one could write one's own story, which is something that very few people even consider. If the lady in the story could do what she did with her life, why, I could do something that was untraditional too. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The story is written in verse, so it is perfect title for Poetry Month. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The Library</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Sarah Stewart</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Illustrated David Small </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Picture Book</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 5 to 8</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999, 978-0374443948</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">From the time when she was a very little girl indeed Elizabeth Brown loved books. She had no interest in dolls or in playing games. All she wanted to do was to read, and read, and read. This state of affairs did not change as she grew up. As more and more books came into her home, her collection of books got bigger and bigger and bigger until it was so enormous that the front door of her house was blocked by piles of books. Even worse was the fact that Elizabeth no longer had room for "one more" book.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Then Elizabeth Brown found a solution to her problem, a solution that would make it possible for her to go on buying books, a solution that would also benefit the entire community.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> This wonderful story with its spare rhyming text and its emotive watercolor washed paintings, is a joy to read. The dedication in the front of the book tells us that the Elizabeth Brown in the story was in fact a real person who loved books and who was a good friend of the author and illustrator.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-37476589082532000362022-04-07T09:06:00.000-07:002022-04-07T09:06:02.685-07:00Celebrating Library week with Lee Bennett Hopkins<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2DTxTLHnANOmemKe5zc45KRvdLheTygL31y8s7iU057MahaGIarDHCiQk-ajfLl4bNWo-1vm-uCshVgzRAZ9zPXLOeGRquLIGh_XksOBE-z066MjK2LNyGkd58zeQthX2oNOJ3uyTnCERDsfjKlW16_EwTFexHA5i1fwPhKaY26hnjFytU7AFw/s703/5a3bcc136aaa5b57da6a2fff95458604.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2DTxTLHnANOmemKe5zc45KRvdLheTygL31y8s7iU057MahaGIarDHCiQk-ajfLl4bNWo-1vm-uCshVgzRAZ9zPXLOeGRquLIGh_XksOBE-z066MjK2LNyGkd58zeQthX2oNOJ3uyTnCERDsfjKlW16_EwTFexHA5i1fwPhKaY26hnjFytU7AFw/s320/5a3bcc136aaa5b57da6a2fff95458604.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KqrwFq7YK96hhKtSI4Ln0GKlddMQ5l48GgQND9PVgpXiMdiHI0eVJo3_iILaXK4zUVZVtjXg-u9l_j7m_xNCIjiHghFCau-29esb2ke8vuy_sd-EZtYuB74FxuDh3Yh8OBO3Ut8tXdKU2D0aT_ELaNKqN4apd4hXTMTZvUK7agES3Y1-a-Udaw/s764/Librarian%20poem.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="292" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KqrwFq7YK96hhKtSI4Ln0GKlddMQ5l48GgQND9PVgpXiMdiHI0eVJo3_iILaXK4zUVZVtjXg-u9l_j7m_xNCIjiHghFCau-29esb2ke8vuy_sd-EZtYuB74FxuDh3Yh8OBO3Ut8tXdKU2D0aT_ELaNKqN4apd4hXTMTZvUK7agES3Y1-a-Udaw/w240-h630/Librarian%20poem.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From <i>School People </i>edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: times;">This week we are celebrating libraries and the wonderful people who work in them. April is also poetry month, so today I am bringing you a book of poetry that just happens to be all about libraries, librarians, and the people who discover that libraries truly are magical places. </span><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The late and much loved children’s writer and educator Lee Bennett Hopkins was a devoted promoter of poetry for children. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and lived with his mother and siblings in a low-income housing project in Newark, New Jersey, after his parents divorced. Lee attended Kean University and earned an MS from Bank Street College of Education. His interest in poetry as an educational tool in the classroom led to his work as a classroom resource coordinator; he also worked as an editor at Scholastic before becoming a full-time writer and editor of anthologies. Leecompiled more than 100 anthologies of poetry for children.</span><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Lee established the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and the Lee Bennett Hopkins/International Reading Association Promising Poetry Award to recognize outstanding writing for children.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/jumping-off-library-shelves/9781590789247" target="_blank">Jumping Off Library Shelves</a> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReC87fVuN7dL1iaeHuisj53hfBYbfme8zbMD4MGwsWZM8XD0CZ4DjFBLHp9vOyYLHpeohyoiFxIYXQo2ZoJFyvrGRCNvdx6A3_drdJTbiDaShtWoRq9aNxIbxKtw7EBX6KCkgUwbx3XKmbbfVCQtw2Rx7j4WF5mZYojEwDucRs50xC26eec-ySw/s499/Jumping%20of%20Library%20Shelves.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="377" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReC87fVuN7dL1iaeHuisj53hfBYbfme8zbMD4MGwsWZM8XD0CZ4DjFBLHp9vOyYLHpeohyoiFxIYXQo2ZoJFyvrGRCNvdx6A3_drdJTbiDaShtWoRq9aNxIbxKtw7EBX6KCkgUwbx3XKmbbfVCQtw2Rx7j4WF5mZYojEwDucRs50xC26eec-ySw/w183-h242/Jumping%20of%20Library%20Shelves.jpg" width="183" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Illustrated by Janet Manning </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Poetry Picture Book</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 5 to 7</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Boyds Mills Press, 2015, 978-1590789247</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">A library is a special place. Some people think it is ‘just’ a repository for books, a storage place perhaps, but they are wrong. Thanks to the books in a library, people can find information, they can travel to distant lands, and have grand adventures. They can take a break from the world, and spend some quiet time immersed in wonderful words.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> For this marvelous salute to libraries, Lee Bennet Hopkins has brought together poems written by a wonderful selection of poets. On the pages of this book we will meet children for whom their library is a special place. With their library cards in hand - the card that is “more powerful” than a cell phone, a TV remote, or a hundred apps - children find treasures that invite them “to explore” and “to dream.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> To help young readers in their search for a good read, there is the librarian who, by some magical ability, is always able to help a child find “the perfect book.” Somehow the librarian is able to read a child, like words on a page, and know what he or she needs.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> The library is also a place where you will find storytellers who are able to make “words / leap from pages,” as they read out loud. With the storyteller for company, children make friends with a frog and toad, and they can “walk / down a / yellow brick road.” During their storytimes they are able to believe in “once-upon-a-time” and “happily ever after.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> There is something for everyone in a library. On the shelves there are dictionaries, books of poetry, fairy tales and so much more. And when night falls, and all the people have left the library, other little beings come out to partake of the library’s treasures.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> This wonderful collection of poems take us into the world of libraries. We enter the library as “Morning pours spoons of sun” onto the shelves, and then leave when “night falls / outside / a / window.” As we close the book we are left with a comfortable feeling, and a yearning to visit our local library where book wonders await us.</span></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-50555702458747293502022-04-05T09:12:00.001-07:002022-04-05T09:12:22.318-07:00Happy Birthday, Richard Peck, author extraordinaire. <div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifDXkYsRWO6paFk12kppdHaiQYhg838rBzT3S5d2zVz21645VpUUa5o5tCzqkmHwbkz_9JlpABM0H63VlsVRMDMG6IUZq4-MLLweWoW09oj0N2T2A8NUoh-MIXPGBxf4EVbEPBjI99U3O14XgRhDw3qrPeBJDuc47hwlWrT-866idwpxbbqqNddg/s672/richard-peck-writer-quote-lbp7v0x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="672" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifDXkYsRWO6paFk12kppdHaiQYhg838rBzT3S5d2zVz21645VpUUa5o5tCzqkmHwbkz_9JlpABM0H63VlsVRMDMG6IUZq4-MLLweWoW09oj0N2T2A8NUoh-MIXPGBxf4EVbEPBjI99U3O14XgRhDw3qrPeBJDuc47hwlWrT-866idwpxbbqqNddg/w200-h185/richard-peck-writer-quote-lbp7v0x.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I read my first Richard Peck novel, the one reviewed below, in 2000, and I have been a fan of his work ever since. This novel <i>A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories </i>is the first book in a trilogy featuring, among others, the unstoppable Mrs. Dowel. It is the kind of story both young readers and adults will enjoy. Indeed, many of Richard Peck's mid-grade and young adult novels will appeal to adults because their themes are so universal and so pertinent for people of all ages and backgrounds. I <b>strongly </b>urge to get a copy of this book. You will love it. Richard Peck </span><span style="font-family: times;">was an incredibly gifted author whose writings made me both laugh out loud and weep a little weep. He wrote books in several genres for young readers, and he also wrote adult fiction and nonfiction. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Richard Peck wrote his first line of fiction the day he quit his junior high school teaching job. The year was 1971 and Peck was thirty-seven years old. Teaching had reacquainted him with the challenges of being young: “As adults, we want young people to start looking for themselves, but they only want to look for leaders.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> He remembers when life was different. “When I was young, we were never more than five minutes from the nearest adult, and that solved most of the problems I write about for a later generation living nearer the edge.” In fact, he remembers the year when everything changed. “I was teaching. It was the second semester of the 1967-68 school year. The change was due to many things: the collapse of family structure, the politicization of schools. . . . But, the authority of the peer group began to replace adult authority, and children quickly learned that they dare not be better achievers than their leaders in the peer group,” he explains. “You only grow up when you’ve walked away from those people. In all my novels, you have to declare your independence from your peers before you can take that first real step toward yourself.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Peck calls the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. “the only historic event that had ever happened” in the lives of his current readers. While the event briefly registered with them, he doesn’t see much difference in their lives or attitudes six months later. “This was not an attack on their peer group. When it didn’t impact them directly, then that was all. For these reasons--and so history does not repeat itself--there’s a real need for a greater sense of history in our schools.” Speaking and visiting in schools has inspired him to write historical fiction. “I am nudged by the ignorance of the young about the past,” he says. “I think the origin of history begins with your own roots,” he adds. With extended families often living miles apart, he makes sure to provide grandparent figures for his readers: “I try to include an elderly person in each of my books. These characters are tough, they’re fun, they’re outrageous, and they have survived. They’re what we wish for in our grandparents.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Peck was born in Decatur, Illinois, attended the University of Exeter in England, graduated from DePauw University, and served in the U.S. Army before becoming a teacher. The acclaimed author of 35 novels for children and young adults, he won the Newbery Medal for <i>A Year Down Yonder</i>, a Newbery Honor for <i>A Long Way from Chicago</i>, the Scott O’Dell Award for <i>The River Between Us</i>, the Edgar Allen Poe Award for <i>Are You in the House Alone</i>?, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor for <i>The Best Man</i>, and the Christopher Medal for <i>The Teacher’s Funeral</i>. He was the first children’s author ever to have been awarded a National Humanities Medal, and was twice a National Book Award Finalist.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> The world lost a truly great writer when Richard Peck left us in 2018 at the age of 84</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><a href="https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=A+Long+Way+from+Chicago%3A+A+Novel+in+Stories+" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories </span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtIPJxFMtSPluNYShvtlCahWv5ZGojLppkBdvp_2rrh8Z4WES7zAPQnXEluUM0rOQhRBAoLGnh6lydqAMf_tps5G-llp4HMWGNFyI9P4CAIHBOyUsIp1_wuwofVBGrmN6SHO_xbqyZaTTiMTCfn7j_qW1jQCEvqe8rjggyISSPhaY2tJLE-h_mg/s499/51U4LaMtibL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="329" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtIPJxFMtSPluNYShvtlCahWv5ZGojLppkBdvp_2rrh8Z4WES7zAPQnXEluUM0rOQhRBAoLGnh6lydqAMf_tps5G-llp4HMWGNFyI9P4CAIHBOyUsIp1_wuwofVBGrmN6SHO_xbqyZaTTiMTCfn7j_qW1jQCEvqe8rjggyISSPhaY2tJLE-h_mg/w132-h200/51U4LaMtibL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Richard Peck</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Fiction</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 12 and up</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Penguin, 2000, 978-0141303529</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Joey and his sister Alice have always known that their Grandma Dowdel is a tough old lady, but it is only when they start spending time with her in the summers that they get a real sense of how tough she is. The country is in the grip of the Great Depression and times are hard. Grandma Dowdel, like so many other people, has to adapt to the changing circumstances. Some things don’t change though; Grandma Dowel pretty much always gets what she wants – in the end. Joey and Alice are shocked to discover that there is very little that Grandma Dowdel won’t do to get her own way. She will intimidate, blackmail, bully, lie, and steal, among other things, and she will do it all with great aplomb and not the slightest bit of regret.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> They also discover that their large overall-wearing grandmother has soft spots. She will not tolerate bullies, she does her best to help those in trouble, and in her own crusty way she takes care of the people she cares about.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> In the nine summers that Joey and Alice go to visit their grandmother, they see their first dead body, they watch their grandma fire a shotgun, they see the sheriff in his underwear, they impersonate a ghost, they feed hungry hobos, and they 'borrow' a boat so that they can poach fish.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Laugh out loud scenes and larger-than-life characters make this book a joy to read. At the same time, it is thought-provoking, and it paints a portrait of a very hard time in America’s history. Grandma Dowdel is a force of nature whom the reader will be compelled to admire. Surely we would all be better off if we had a Grandma Dowdel in our lives.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-897515407201025232022-04-04T10:43:00.003-07:002022-04-04T12:07:30.465-07:00Jane Goodall - Scientist, Environmentalist, Writer, and Reader <div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzd1UNW4g8QpoBJtF-4R1SSdRSFAvbIeGC3qXPP9CPxaFAa1qwyBHuJ0e7qjY4liu4yG3QSND9PL0auRaivge-MkXoKiImKTR7WpdxCb5xlL8jUvton-llbIGPENLhTTApUb2a_km9wE52EhyC8SAKpLF89DG6CUCrbRyvbPrkPPeKeLrg4ZOVQ/s596/Jane%20Goodall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzd1UNW4g8QpoBJtF-4R1SSdRSFAvbIeGC3qXPP9CPxaFAa1qwyBHuJ0e7qjY4liu4yG3QSND9PL0auRaivge-MkXoKiImKTR7WpdxCb5xlL8jUvton-llbIGPENLhTTApUb2a_km9wE52EhyC8SAKpLF89DG6CUCrbRyvbPrkPPeKeLrg4ZOVQ/s320/Jane%20Goodall.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Illustration by <a href="https://www.petra-braun.com/">Petra Braun</a> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: times;">When I was a student at the University of Oxford studying zoology, Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist, came to town to sign her latest book at Blackwells, Oxford's most marvelous bookshop. Naturally I went to the signing, and as the line was not too long I was able to have a short talk with Dr. Goodall. She was a very slender, almost fragile, looking lady with a soft voice. She looked at me with her penetrating eyes as I stumbled over my words, blushing furiously "Take a breath," she said smiling and tilting her head slightly to one side. Her words made me laugh, and after that I was able to tell her how the books she, Gerald Durrell, and David Attenborough had written had set me on my current path. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Later that evening I was invited to attend a gathering that was being held in her honor. Dr. Goodall has difficulty remembering faces and yet for some reason she remembered mine. "Ah, the reader," she said looking at me. She asked if I had ever visit Gerald Durrell's zoo on the island of Jersey, and I told her about how I had worked there for a whole summer. We chatted about my experiences there briefly and then she moved on. Dr. Goodall gave a talk about her new book and I remember feeling deeply moved by the words of this unassuming woman, who was so determined to do all she could to protect the chimpanzees that she had studied for so many years. I could see that Dr. Goodall was the kind of woman who would fight, tooth and nail, in her own quiet way, to protect the animals of this world. She was, and is, an inspiration. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Not surprisingly, it turns out that Jane Goodall is also a great reader. In 2020 Enchanted Lion published a book called <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/a-velocity-of-being-letters-to-a-young-reader/9781592702282" target="_blank">A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader</a></i>. In it, artists, writers, scientists, philosophers, philanthropists, musicians, and businesspeople who have been lifelong readers offer letters to children in which they talk about their love of reading. Jane Goodall wrote one of these letters. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">Dear Children,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I want to share something with you — and that is how much I loved books when I was your age. Of </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">course, back then there was no Internet, no television — we learned everything from printed books. We didn’t have much money when I was a child and I couldn’t afford new books, so most of what I read came from our library. But I also used to spend hours in a very small second hand book shop. The owner was an old man who never had time to arrange his books properly. They were piled everywhere and I would sit there, surrounded by all that information about everything imaginable. I would save up any money I got for my birthday or doing odd jobs so that I could buy one of those books. Of course, you can look up everything on the Internet now. But there is something very special about a book — the feel of it in your hands and the way it looks on the table by your bed, or nestled in with others in the bookcase.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I loved to read in bed, and after I had to put the lights out I would read under the bedclothes with a torch, always hoping my mother would not come in and find out! I used to read curled up in front of the fire on a cold winter evening. And in the summer I would take my special books up my favorite tree in the garden. My Beech Tree. Up there I read stories of faraway places and I imagined I was there. I especially loved reading about Doctor Doolittle and how he learned to talk to animals. And I read about Tarzan of the Apes. And the more I read, the more I wanted to read.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I was ten years old when I decided I would go to Africa when I grew up to live with animals and write books about them. And that is what I did, eventually. I lived with chimpanzees in Africa and I am still writing books about them and other animals. In fact, I love writing books as much as reading them — I hope you will enjoy reading some of the ones that I have written for you.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><i>Jane Goodall</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><u>More about Jane Goodall's Work</u></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">You can find out more about Dr. Goodall and her work on the <a href="https://www.janegoodall.org/" target="_blank">Jane Goodall Institute website</a>. </span><span style="font-family: times;">In addition she has created a special global organization called </span><a href="https://www.rootsandshoots.org/" style="font-family: times;" target="_blank">Roots and Shoots </a><span style="font-family: times;">who mission is to "empower young people to affect positive change in their communities."</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">You can hear her read some of her children's books on her </span><a href="https://storytime.janegoodall.org/" style="font-family: times;" target="_blank">story time page </a><span style="font-family: times;">. Here is </span><a href="https://astrapublishinghouse.com/2022/04/03/7-touching-picture-books-by-jane-goodall/" style="font-family: times;">more information about her books</a><span style="font-family: times;"> on the Astra Publishing House website. </span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-45044977877498310542022-04-01T12:23:00.002-07:002022-04-01T12:24:30.805-07:00Happy Poetry Month - A review of Classic Poetry<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-IO4HzYvLYIIDrcuuvq81iFaak4E8vesJtJJQCH1GYZ--bWZDMfVlNWfS5KzbshJzskpI6tC4_A02kgVhizoP-8rOfRLciRjLaA3dtLz_342o_l1Wocjcy-MbAy96qS-9g2ERTdJG_vGqsWhTY50i2LD4rxtkLVJtRPNvoGo4ArL8slP69pTsQ/s3395/IMG_3288%20(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3395" data-original-width="2138" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-IO4HzYvLYIIDrcuuvq81iFaak4E8vesJtJJQCH1GYZ--bWZDMfVlNWfS5KzbshJzskpI6tC4_A02kgVhizoP-8rOfRLciRjLaA3dtLz_342o_l1Wocjcy-MbAy96qS-9g2ERTdJG_vGqsWhTY50i2LD4rxtkLVJtRPNvoGo4ArL8slP69pTsQ/w253-h400/IMG_3288%20(3).jpg" width="253" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dear Friends, </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Happy April and happy Poetry Month.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> When I was little, my father used to read to me. He had such a beautiful reading-aloud voice that I would sit and listen, taking in every syllable. One of the things that he liked to read to me was poetry. I had a collection of classic poetry, and we had such a marvelous time exploring the language in the poems of Robert Louis Stevenson, Walter de la Mare, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, and others. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> When my daughter was little I bought her the book that I have reviewed below, and she and I shared the same wonderful experiences. I reconnected with old friends, and made new ones, and to this day we will quote lines from some of the poems to each other, even though she is now an adult, living far away. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/classic-poetry-candlewick-illustrated-classic/9780763642105" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/classic-poetry-candlewick-illustrated-classic/9780763642105" target="_blank">Classic Poetry</a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvA-EfAQKge_B-BhdvHOFzX0md1l7QaUKRmkEtDAm6mMjWTFemmU4JUZBWN5fVAZpOxfM2MKdArse0FdaCHvEaQgyH7rCgz7tUnEqbb54ejFDkXQS6bgyyQIqsyIte4zrlxwftNVRDi7UQWuPHJqpp2D750fv-on9SaGrDNLDnR812E3ZCpS-U2w/s500/Classic%20Poetry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="421" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvA-EfAQKge_B-BhdvHOFzX0md1l7QaUKRmkEtDAm6mMjWTFemmU4JUZBWN5fVAZpOxfM2MKdArse0FdaCHvEaQgyH7rCgz7tUnEqbb54ejFDkXQS6bgyyQIqsyIte4zrlxwftNVRDi7UQWuPHJqpp2D750fv-on9SaGrDNLDnR812E3ZCpS-U2w/w168-h200/Classic%20Poetry.jpg" width="168" /></a></div></div><div>Selected by <a href="https://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/" target="_blank">Michael Rosen</a></div><div>Illustrated by Paul Howard </div><div>Poetry</div><div>For ages 8 and up</div><div>Candlewick, 2009, 978-0763642105</div><div>In this day and age so many of us expect to be constantly entertained when we read. We like titles that have a fast-paced plot, ones that will keep us engaged all the way through the book. We are less willing to explore words and the images and emotions that they describe or conjure up. Because of this tendency, we often miss out on some wonderful stories, and we completely bypass poetry. Reading poetry can take a little more work; it is a little more demanding than a simple narrative. At the same time, poetry can give us a wonderfully rich literary experience.</div><div> For this book Michael Rosen, one of Britain’s Children’s Laureates, has selected classic poetry written by some of the world’s most wonderful English language poets. Some of the poets will be known to the reader, like William Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll, while others will become new friends.</div><div> For each poet Rosen has written a short biography, and so this book is “not only a book of classic poetry; it is also a book of classic poets.” For some of the poets Rosen has chosen more than one poem, and this will help the reader get a richer picture of what the poet cared about.</div><div> In addition to reading poems about Ozymandius, the Mock Turtle, Paul Revere’s Ride, The Jumblies, and much more, readers can read the poet’s biographies, looks at portraits of them, and admire the art that Paul Howard has created to accompany the poems.</div><div> This is a title that young and nor-so-young readers will dip into again and again, and it is a book that they will surely enjoy for many years to come.</div></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-50044453202436608272022-03-29T09:10:00.001-07:002022-03-29T09:16:33.842-07:00Please look after this bear. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEAXOmOOK9opVhcAZdgTUD6mB7rWbtYY-o2nT8kdWjRw439eO2ZFK343F42ACyT79HtjaaU2ozFm3piV9qc9CBWPHtGX7SHGn7CxDDO8M1ZbaJyD12w1DRAMZLE1zQs5ORtly1vEIvtt2lUEjZ6Arby6CnL75Pmmo-c8tvaa_eCQNil_aUge0GQ/s828/747FA5B7-3D44-44A4-989A-F6BAA09824D7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="828" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEAXOmOOK9opVhcAZdgTUD6mB7rWbtYY-o2nT8kdWjRw439eO2ZFK343F42ACyT79HtjaaU2ozFm3piV9qc9CBWPHtGX7SHGn7CxDDO8M1ZbaJyD12w1DRAMZLE1zQs5ORtly1vEIvtt2lUEjZ6Arby6CnL75Pmmo-c8tvaa_eCQNil_aUge0GQ/s320/747FA5B7-3D44-44A4-989A-F6BAA09824D7.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px;">In the late 1930s-1940s, Michael Bond, author of <i>Paddington Bear</i>, saw Jewish refugee children (Kindertransport children) walking through London's Reading Station, arriving in Britain escaping from the Nazi horrors of Europe.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">Mr. Bond, touched by what he saw, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>recalled those memories 20 years later when he began his story of Paddington Bear. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One morning in 1958, he was searching for writing inspiration and simply wrote the words: “Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform…” </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">“They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions,” Bond said in an interview with The Telegraph before his death in 2017. “So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee, and I do think that there’s no sadder sight than refugees.”</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">Paddington Bear - known for his blue overcoat, bright red hat, and wearing a simple hand-written tag that says “Please look after this bear. Thank you,” Paddington embodies the appearance of many refugee children. His suitcase is an emblem of his own refugee status. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">“We took in some Jewish children who often sat in front of the fire every evening, quietly crying because they had no idea what had happened to their parents, and neither did we at the time. It’s the reason why Paddington arrived with the label around his neck”. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">Michael Bond died in 2017 aged 91. The epitaph on his gravestone reads "Please look after this bear. Thank you."</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">Please look after all the young Bears from all around the world who are having to flee conflict and war. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: times;">Shared from @DavidLundin</span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-29789260602963296432022-03-25T10:29:00.000-07:002022-03-25T10:29:05.684-07:00Books for Refugee Children<div style="text-align: left;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8SmeNrXgPUmxV_sDdyZtL0lDfK0e54W29fc7RHkfx_vXYVF09D8vaizpPcQ6EoxqhmH5UCPZYOThIZsj6-laTqrMUOi0x0Tx1GiY1u1VtCuub3Z4LvQCTx0wWjxLlI5i98MGU8smwFs5-Y3W7EeOZZOdYe5cdT6IMGj1AK4qLqJdYxI_EG-rsw/s318/88393-v1-250x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="250" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8SmeNrXgPUmxV_sDdyZtL0lDfK0e54W29fc7RHkfx_vXYVF09D8vaizpPcQ6EoxqhmH5UCPZYOThIZsj6-laTqrMUOi0x0Tx1GiY1u1VtCuub3Z4LvQCTx0wWjxLlI5i98MGU8smwFs5-Y3W7EeOZZOdYe5cdT6IMGj1AK4qLqJdYxI_EG-rsw/s1600/88393-v1-250x.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Art by Sophie Blackall</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Long ago, but what sometimes feels like yesterday, my family and I fled a war-torn country as refugees. We were lucky in that we were able to take a few trunks full of our possessions with us. Most refugees can only take what they can carry. My mother packed a few of my books, but most of them were left behind and this broke my six-year-old heart. I loved my books. They were my friends, and on their pages I could forget about my problems for at least a little while. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">When your world has been turned upside down, books can offer a child a great deal of comfort. I know this from personal experience.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Here is an article from <span style="color: #cc0000;">Publisher's Weekly </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Polish Literacy Foundation Leads Relief Efforts for Ukrainian Kids</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">By Joanne O’Sullivan </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">A child alone, afraid, far from home. With a mother, maybe. Maybe without a father. In a time like this, research shows, a book can offer “a moment of peace, a way to forget,” said Maria Deskur, CEO of Poland’s Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania (<a href="https://fpc.org.pl/">Universal Reading Foundation</a>). The Foundation—a collective of more than 20 Polish publishers and distributors—is leading an effort to supply books to Ukrainian refugee children in Poland and funds to Ukrainian publishers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">In the days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s estimated that more than half a million refugees have poured into Poland. About 100,000 are believed to be children. In addition to families, Ukrainian orphanages have been evacuated, and children have been newly orphaned by the war. Deskur—also managing director of children’s publisher Wydawnictwo Słowne—says that virtually everyone in Poland has sprung into action to help—taking refugees into their homes, volunteering at the border or in shelters, supplying material and financial support. Within the publishing industry, the response was almost immediate.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Initial efforts centered on collecting donations of picture books and coloring books from Polish publishers—“books you don’t have to read,” Deskur said. The Foundation is uniquely positioned to help. Formed in 2018 to promote early childhood literacy in Poland, its members are at the heart of the Polish publishing industry, and include Dwie Siostry, publisher of the international bestseller Maps by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinski. With its established distributor connections and warehouse and transportation resources, member organizations were able to quickly deliver books to relief groups.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Within days, though, the effort had expanded. Foundation members collected contact information for close to 40 Ukrainian publishers of children’s and adult books. Ukrainian publishers began to email book files to Polish printers who volunteered to print them for free. Eight books—with print runs of 1,000 each—are expected to be delivered on March 8. The books are “warm stories,” Deskur said, a mix of picture books and story books for the youngest children. Foundation member Nowa Era—Poland’s largest educational publisher—offered its network of representatives (connected to virtually every Polish preschool) as well as its distribution channels to get books to schools where Ukrainian refugee students are expected to enroll. To reach kids who won’t yet be in schools, Deskur has relied on her contacts with Poland’s union of municipalities, whose member organizations are in charge of local shelters. The Foundation is also responding to direct requests for books from individuals. Deskur said she heard from a man who had taken in 12 refugee children and wanted a book for each. ”We will try to answer all requests,” she added.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Deskur expects the Foundation’s efforts to be ongoing, emphasizing that in addition to supplying books to kids, financial support for Ukrainian publishers is critical. During World War II, the destruction of Polish books and libraries was widespread and the country’s publishing industry was decimated, she said. After the war, publishing had to begin again from scratch. That rebuilding had effects on the country’s literacy rates that are still felt today. According to the Foundation’s research, Poland lags behind its European neighbors in childhood literacy. Financial support for Ukrainian publishers now can help reduce harm to the sector so that kind of intergenerational impact can be avoided. But there’s an even bigger picture issue at play, Deskur said, since books are essential to democracy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Depending on the success of fundraising efforts, the Foundation hopes to be able to pay Ukrainian publishers between one and three euros per book for each printed. All printing, distribution, and coordination efforts by Polish companies have been donated, meaning there’s no overhead and 100% of donated funds can go to Ukrainian publishers, Deskur said. While the Foundation aims to prioritize children’s books, its efforts include all publishers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For the people of Poland, Deskur said, the war is “very near.” While urgent needs for food, shelter, and medical attention are being addressed by aid organizations, Deskur said the Foundation can offer children emotional support through books. As Foundation member publishers have reached out to their international partners, support is beginning to come in from outside Poland. Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall has donated an illustration to help the effort. “I heard about the Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania from Christopher Franceschelli, a pillar of the children’s book community,” Blackall said. “I think there were many of us who wanted to help but didn’t know how. Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania are doing all the hard work on the ground, and those of us who make books and work with children, who know how comforting a book can be, are eager to help them reach their goals.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Publishing has always been about making connections and reaching out beyond the bounds of language and nationality. “Action is the antidote to despair,” Joan Baez once famously said, and it’s a philosophy that Deskur and her colleagues endorse. In these distressing times, “We have to take care of each other,” Deskur said.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">To donate to help supply books to Ukrainian refugee children and funds to Ukrainian publishers, click <a href="https://fpc.org.pl/">here</a>. For more information or to partner with the Foundation, email ukraine-funds@fpc.org.pl.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-34281750641609516512022-03-25T09:19:00.001-07:002022-03-25T09:19:25.545-07:00Winter is melting into spring - With a beautiful picture book by Kazuo Iwamura<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFZxJIMwodCASq6CT9oyIzNP32Zxri4kdjIRhxG2o0m9kT6huYVWwLj70iQxLnZpzVlW9XAGdToDzA6SkCoxnokHiLR18MhDHred0kRNOYXGFEWkSIge8PYieAxD_wwFfcf-_fdEON7MJyMwVeReCXogsckAEM977kkJX0lnIhaVE4ztoMof_KA/s2560/Goodbye%20winter%20hello%20spring%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="2560" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFZxJIMwodCASq6CT9oyIzNP32Zxri4kdjIRhxG2o0m9kT6huYVWwLj70iQxLnZpzVlW9XAGdToDzA6SkCoxnokHiLR18MhDHred0kRNOYXGFEWkSIge8PYieAxD_wwFfcf-_fdEON7MJyMwVeReCXogsckAEM977kkJX0lnIhaVE4ztoMof_KA/w400-h199/Goodbye%20winter%20hello%20spring%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">While I was on vacation in Hawaii, spring arrived in my valley in southern Oregon. During my absence we had some much needed rain, and so the countryside is finally turning a beautiful soft green. Though fall and winter are my favorite seasons, I always love watching and feeling the changes that take place as we transition from one season to another. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Today I bring you a picture book that I found quite charming. The main characters in the narrative are sweet, the artwork is a delight, and the text is touched with beautiful imagery, as you can see from the quote below.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: times;"><b>"Tap, tip, tap, trrr . . .</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: times;"><b>Came the snow-melted water</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: times;"><b>It sang as it joined into one stream</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: times;"><b>A nightingale's voice trembled like a dream."</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/good-bye-winter-hello-spring/9780735843455" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">Good-bye Winter! Hello Spring </span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60ptSOhQ0MB78l7IaWXcSsgx39cdYMqNbBFtbjLbrn-MO2pdageM3kU3kYqA-MCBgxHedpCZl9xtzBrGcLWHV_I4Qvwx5qtOhdf22KgINfYcuNIVdWTrofPrls1zXGP2l7EUSlPQBO5xlrb-z3TjqdeoxUWpeK1k6TWTGKisLqvPxKBTqm761Yw/s500/Goodbye%20winter%20hello%20spring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="500" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60ptSOhQ0MB78l7IaWXcSsgx39cdYMqNbBFtbjLbrn-MO2pdageM3kU3kYqA-MCBgxHedpCZl9xtzBrGcLWHV_I4Qvwx5qtOhdf22KgINfYcuNIVdWTrofPrls1zXGP2l7EUSlPQBO5xlrb-z3TjqdeoxUWpeK1k6TWTGKisLqvPxKBTqm761Yw/w200-h198/Goodbye%20winter%20hello%20spring.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Kazuo Iwamura</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Picture Book</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 5 and up</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">NorthSouth, 2019, 9780735843455</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">One morning the squirrel children wake up to discover that the snow of winter has gone. Their father explains that every year “The snow returns to the sky.” Sure enough, in the sky, the children see white puffy clouds. They also notice something else; they hear water dripping and little streams running. As they watch, the little snow that is left on the ground is turning into “a babbling brook.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Eager to find out where the water goes, the squirrel children follow its path until they come to stream. A log is floating in the stream and the children climb onto it. The snow melt “sang as it joined into one stream,” and a nightingale added its voice to the music of the wakening forest. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> The log, with its three little passengers, floated down the stream, which then emptied into a large lake. There the children were, tiny little creatures sitting on their log in the middle of a lake, seemingly all alone.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> In this special picture book Kazuo Iwamura pairs his wonderful illustrations with a rhyming text that captures the magic of the changing seasons. The little squirrel children discover that they are witnessing something that, though it happens every year, is still awe inspiring and beautiful. Some of the lines in the narrative truly lift the spirit with their imagery. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: times;">*</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Kazuo Iwamura was born in Tokyo in 1939. He studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and started his career as an illustrator for children’s television programs. He is the author and/or illustrator of dozens of popular books. Mr. Iwamura is one of the most famous picture book artists in Japan and his work has won many awards. He lives in Tochigi, where he founded the Museum for Picture Book Illustrations. It stands on a hill named Ehon-no-Oka, which means Picture Book Hill.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-38478617944207828782022-03-22T07:00:00.001-07:002022-03-22T07:00:00.170-07:00Women's History Month - Emma Lazarus, an activist and author of poetry and prose.<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjIKhiNPmtJ1NmObuNEiUkAj7Ka_q0rRToN6CaZQTqtNPLQ1g9bCU0Yu0tx_jU1c5zhkzHlkWGssWaPsSgWtewecORUr_rNk6Nfi136YSypNxj6oiWiMToG136Kif-7UyK_rVMkJO66vSwQgAMpqyoy4V94VDgJWaTr8lzs6kTTpbetC6nkc-Raw=s600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjIKhiNPmtJ1NmObuNEiUkAj7Ka_q0rRToN6CaZQTqtNPLQ1g9bCU0Yu0tx_jU1c5zhkzHlkWGssWaPsSgWtewecORUr_rNk6Nfi136YSypNxj6oiWiMToG136Kif-7UyK_rVMkJO66vSwQgAMpqyoy4V94VDgJWaTr8lzs6kTTpbetC6nkc-Raw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: times;">In 1883 and American poet called Emma Lazarus wrote a sonnet called <i>The New Colossus</i>. She wrote the poem to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World). In 1903, the poem was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal's lower level.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><u>The New Colossus</u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">With conquering limbs astride from land to land;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Below is a a review of a marvelous award wining book that tells the story of Emma Lazarus and her famous poem.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/emma-s-poem-the-voice-of-the-statue-of-liberty/9780544105089" target="_blank">Emma’s Poem: The voice of the Statue of Liberty</a> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGefd1_XAkJCfRbWBp4tWO54r--OuFW3NEjXVDoRj0PaYc7EcLhVC8q-iuYxBzcjeDcF5tYTZIqoviiv8LY3Xz27riQ42Z0_uD-KyafncUpybLpiQx31Yr_y0cjKNCqDpC4jqj76wWgWCWNrdWZ_tCkmKWC0f4I1PQs0BlnBhpmARS67uszGjXtQ=s1600" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1236" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGefd1_XAkJCfRbWBp4tWO54r--OuFW3NEjXVDoRj0PaYc7EcLhVC8q-iuYxBzcjeDcF5tYTZIqoviiv8LY3Xz27riQ42Z0_uD-KyafncUpybLpiQx31Yr_y0cjKNCqDpC4jqj76wWgWCWNrdWZ_tCkmKWC0f4I1PQs0BlnBhpmARS67uszGjXtQ=s320" width="247" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">Linda Glaser<br />Illustrated by Clair A. Nivola <br />Nonfiction Poetry Picture Book<br />For ages 5 to 7<br />Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 978-0544105089<br />When Emma was little she had a very comfortable life living in a lovely, large home with her mother, father, and siblings. She lacked for nothing, and was able to indulge in her love of books. She had the time to read, and spent many hours writing stories and poems. The people she spent time with came from similarly comfortable backgrounds, and the world of New York’s well-to- do people was the only one she knew.<br /> Then one day Emma visited Ward’s Island in New York Harbor and there she met immigrants who had travelled across the Atlantic as steerage passengers. They were poor and hungry, and many of them were sick. They had so little and had suffered so much. Like Emma, they were Jews, but unlike her they had been persecuted and driven from their homes. Friends and family members had died, and now here they were in a strange land with no one to assist them.<br /> Emma was so moved by the plight of the immigrants that she did her best to help them. She taught them English, helped them to get training so that they could get jobs, and she wrote about the problems that such immigrants faced. Women from her background were not supposed to spend time with the poor, and they certainly did not write about them in newspapers, but Emma did.<br /> Then Emma was invited to write a poem that would be part of a poetry collection. The hope was that the sale of the collection would pay for the pedestal that would one day serve as the base for a new statue that France was giving to America as a gift. The statue was going to be placed in New York Harbor and Emma knew that immigrants, thousands of them, would see the statue of the lady when their ships sailed into the harbor. What would the statue say to the immigrants if she was a real woman? What would she feel if she could see them “arriving hungry and in rags?” In her poem, Emma gave the statue a voice, a voice that welcomed all immigrants to America’s shores.<br /> In this wonderfully written nonfiction picture book the author uses free verse to tell the story of Emma Lazarus and the poem that she wrote. The poem was inscribed on a bronze plaque that is on the wall in the entryway to the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. It has been memorized by thousands of people over the years, and has come to represent something that many Americans hold dear.<br /> At the back of the book readers will find further information about Emma Lazarus and her work. A copy of her famous poem can also be found there.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg66PbRJsZ3n3DMcyL9r-DZ3qe13D33HLrQLxQpVlAikgplFWJOzaQrmJTY9Iq_qBp5XpoajTRuGJG2hC3lwWvgqr97FlgvrksQPI1PNPtaWzXCC5dumNb51XEhwwGcPFNz99oGCvulKYt4EuB3SwCGf9_lWBR2gIuvYVYM66CD-vvcGrm82d3MuQ=s280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="270" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg66PbRJsZ3n3DMcyL9r-DZ3qe13D33HLrQLxQpVlAikgplFWJOzaQrmJTY9Iq_qBp5XpoajTRuGJG2hC3lwWvgqr97FlgvrksQPI1PNPtaWzXCC5dumNb51XEhwwGcPFNz99oGCvulKYt4EuB3SwCGf9_lWBR2gIuvYVYM66CD-vvcGrm82d3MuQ" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The plaque inside the statue of liberty</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-74371866156074706232022-03-20T07:00:00.002-07:002022-03-20T07:00:00.179-07:00Happy Spring! With a review of Crinkle, Crackle, Crack It's Spring.<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG1LbOTjaYQ_UY1CG6Fd30uIDBtMfldJs9kmuF1Kp-3qZODrb_ZtaGDFXqmVQnoUtZwEKWpXdmGpuk_YjWBFuCraWa3pByssAi36bATfvQOoi3NnHdM0DCAa9QP1CYnJUtHxFPD0aixW85GENmCNOBe4f7XN6NupkSrcPeJIQmY1Y1EDinwCKomQ=s1968" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1968" data-original-width="1766" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG1LbOTjaYQ_UY1CG6Fd30uIDBtMfldJs9kmuF1Kp-3qZODrb_ZtaGDFXqmVQnoUtZwEKWpXdmGpuk_YjWBFuCraWa3pByssAi36bATfvQOoi3NnHdM0DCAa9QP1CYnJUtHxFPD0aixW85GENmCNOBe4f7XN6NupkSrcPeJIQmY1Y1EDinwCKomQ=s320" width="287" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: times;">"In the spring all the little flowers came out obediently in the meads, and the dew sparkled, and the birds sang; in the summer it was beautifully hot for no less than four months, and, if it did rain just enough for agricultural purposes, they managed to arrange it so that it rained while you were in bed."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">-T.H. White from <i>The Sword in the Stone.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Here is a springish book that perfectly captures the magic that the season brings. Even though I reviewed this book some years ago, I remember it very fondly and think that you will enjoy it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/crinkle-crackle-crack-it-s-spring/9780823441778" target="_blank">Crinkle, Crackle, Crack It’s Spring!</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis4nxTY7lQIGAcC7MP-sITYXX0_5EE1zOSRITxFmgkO3xS6TSnZiB_ubIIHO88_lBHD66sWhPNgoR0VnQLDTU6p-ke7ZzoH_OR8G1p4x5acUoCZoSW78rvWnYt8IAhoA0pr_62BED2r_EcXwmoXggUkCV7ZbnI03Q0ZbCNc1LixeaPw2slhyDb_Q=s2560" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="2044" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis4nxTY7lQIGAcC7MP-sITYXX0_5EE1zOSRITxFmgkO3xS6TSnZiB_ubIIHO88_lBHD66sWhPNgoR0VnQLDTU6p-ke7ZzoH_OR8G1p4x5acUoCZoSW78rvWnYt8IAhoA0pr_62BED2r_EcXwmoXggUkCV7ZbnI03Q0ZbCNc1LixeaPw2slhyDb_Q=w160-h200" width="160" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Marion Dane Bauer</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Illustrated by John Shelley </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Picture Book</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 4 to 6</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Holiday House, 2015, 978-0823429523</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">If you are lucky, one cold winter’s night you will be woken up by some strange sounds. You will hear a “rap, bap, tap” followed by a “crunch, scrunch,” and a “crinkle, crackle, crack.” You will get out of bed to investigate and look out the front door, where you will see mud, melting snow, and a bear. The bear will tell you that “It is time,” and will ask you to “Come with me.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> As everyone knows, it is not possible to say no to a bear when it invites you to join him, so you will take his paw and go with him. You will hear the noises again and again as you journey through the woods with the bear, and the words “It is time” will drift around you on the air. You will be joined by a rabbit who also knows that “It is time,” and then by other woodland creatures. Something is happening, something marvelous, but you will have no idea what awaits you in the woods ahead.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> In this magical picture book children will get to take a journey with a bear, and some other animals, to witness a special moment. With beautifully expressive art and a lyrical text, the author and illustrator give their readers a singular story experience. It is one that they will enjoy again and again as they read and reread the book. </span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-5327225387555944442022-03-19T11:44:00.003-07:002022-03-19T11:52:58.525-07:00Getting to know Freya Blackwood, author and illustrator <div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZTX-6o8mNdXRQBXK5Xu09MpqJnnJvOOWSduCA3gZcnRcWq-H_2DDYwr9YnxtoWbjwCa_JOcTZ4xIDhzNgjpRARlTU6RWZs6m6IVXjN_JsaB-P81ciQUulWEX03Z8u4GZVpTVDR_lWHjKj4g-KLryqo4mdG4ezZ5qlRrPY_0RSoj55woC3aTlhZA=s1010" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1010" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZTX-6o8mNdXRQBXK5Xu09MpqJnnJvOOWSduCA3gZcnRcWq-H_2DDYwr9YnxtoWbjwCa_JOcTZ4xIDhzNgjpRARlTU6RWZs6m6IVXjN_JsaB-P81ciQUulWEX03Z8u4GZVpTVDR_lWHjKj4g-KLryqo4mdG4ezZ5qlRrPY_0RSoj55woC3aTlhZA=w400-h250" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.freyablackwood.com.au/">Freya Blackwood</a> has been illustrating children’s book for some years now, and I have always been charmed by the characters that she creates, and by the way in which she lays out the pages. The panel above, for example , tells the story in such a creative and unique way. I have studied her work myself to learn more about picture book art direction.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"> Here is an <a href="https://www.artofthepicturebook.com/-check-in-with/2020/11/18/an-interview-with-freya-blackwood" target="_blank">interview</a> that</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: times;"> Freya recently gave in which she describes her creative process. Below is a review of one of her books. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-bike-ride/9781760128982" target="_blank">The Bike Ride</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1SASH6KTEVopk2SEEu3_mKtLjM70HyW6_8V_Py3EebxDQhu348DSo0V3vDRtqq97lFEV1GuURmybPw1kUbNSa3UQMtfnoXPHCotaR1cCONYFWybqmXWX9UA-AG_EYu-JKTSOcEK-FzCooNDthwx81HR-457UmUdLItJvW9jqgMRMf7-A2DBKTVA=s927" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="682" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1SASH6KTEVopk2SEEu3_mKtLjM70HyW6_8V_Py3EebxDQhu348DSo0V3vDRtqq97lFEV1GuURmybPw1kUbNSa3UQMtfnoXPHCotaR1cCONYFWybqmXWX9UA-AG_EYu-JKTSOcEK-FzCooNDthwx81HR-457UmUdLItJvW9jqgMRMf7-A2DBKTVA=s320" width="235" /></a></div></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: times;">Jan Ormerod<br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s2">Illustrated by Freya Blackwood <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s2">Board Book</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s2">For ages 3 to 5<br /></span><span class="s2">Little Hare Books, 2017, 978-1760128982<br /></span><span class="s2">One day Maudie decides that she needs some exercise and Bear agrees that some fresh air “would be nice.” Maudie then suggests that they go for a bike ride and Bear readily agrees.<br /></span><span class="s2"> Before they can leave the house Maudie is going to need to find her sunglasses. Then she needs their hats, which takes time to sort out because there are lots of hats to choose from. Next, Maudie gets a scarf.<br /></span><span class="s2">Each time Maudie goes off to get something Bear patiently waits for her. He understands how it is when a little girl needs to prepare for an outing. Bear is clearly a very good friend.<br /></span><span class="s2"> Children and their grownups alike will be charmed by this delightful little book. With its whimsical illustrations, its charming characters, its clever story, and its funny ending, this book shows to great effect how a simple story can be a rich one.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s2"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span class="s2"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbQ8peH8ZxhagrMv5qO-gyApf3WdW38y2Jy0-k1PVPpj0rwF41zVbThMJvhYzm6SAKTuc07pXZr7ncSDfHCxFW25LG3Jy_AGopg1PeWTsmkLI8gsOVqgfZzMdvyDSsNttpDuxv-FeYLP0d08vK76cev3CUq-emiakCpZ3suzVUgXi93pcvjMAL6Q=s533" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="533" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbQ8peH8ZxhagrMv5qO-gyApf3WdW38y2Jy0-k1PVPpj0rwF41zVbThMJvhYzm6SAKTuc07pXZr7ncSDfHCxFW25LG3Jy_AGopg1PeWTsmkLI8gsOVqgfZzMdvyDSsNttpDuxv-FeYLP0d08vK76cev3CUq-emiakCpZ3suzVUgXi93pcvjMAL6Q=w400-h129" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork from Freya’s book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Hopper-Margaret-Wild/dp/031264261X" target="_blank">Harry and Hopper,</a> </i>which won <br />the Kate Greenaway award in 2010. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span class="s2"><br /></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-77078139598662598182022-03-17T07:00:00.003-07:002022-03-17T07:00:00.184-07:00Happy Birthday, Kate Greenaway<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0vzWNliLlGYJ8sKIY-Q_VIl4JtY8l6iX45mOaF-McAugzebX7u8608TkwV3bE37RoMy1Y32dph8YN9j7bR1fDwAlm9GJqTH8aM6FUn--AvpFtZXwJmkHCS9LPIlOPLlPgmYvHeotge4XNvW3LL0L7RQQblk-E7lDsPi1KKxOcy7-S7xQQeAOi7w=s1044" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="900" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0vzWNliLlGYJ8sKIY-Q_VIl4JtY8l6iX45mOaF-McAugzebX7u8608TkwV3bE37RoMy1Y32dph8YN9j7bR1fDwAlm9GJqTH8aM6FUn--AvpFtZXwJmkHCS9LPIlOPLlPgmYvHeotge4XNvW3LL0L7RQQblk-E7lDsPi1KKxOcy7-S7xQQeAOi7w=w236-h273" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Art from the Pied Piper of Hamelin</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">For many years I saw Kate Greenaway's artwork without knowing who the artist was. Her style is very distinctive and so charming to the eye. Then I was given a copy of her nook <i>The</i> <i>Language of Flowers</i> and I looked her up. I confess that I felt rather embarrassed that I, a person working in the children's literature field, did not know about this woman, a woman who had such a big impact on the world of children's literature. As you will read below, she was a real trailblazer who refused to be dictated to with regards to her art. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgNQHcnaDLXYvquOGgE3kXpkYlUAC2bAr3TJw4xgCqM2SMUdbxR37BDBreD5ttqKmRrD9tALzlzS8oyXnD1xC9Oern724FxSO0DEBee8MUM2qj7kTvojlItmaXwdY3w1m3rvr1Oz1QWAZ8l6anQW_udteflf_j-ytsA_0_B7Fy0lCwz9NT_aWj1Q=s1050" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="1050" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgNQHcnaDLXYvquOGgE3kXpkYlUAC2bAr3TJw4xgCqM2SMUdbxR37BDBreD5ttqKmRrD9tALzlzS8oyXnD1xC9Oern724FxSO0DEBee8MUM2qj7kTvojlItmaXwdY3w1m3rvr1Oz1QWAZ8l6anQW_udteflf_j-ytsA_0_B7Fy0lCwz9NT_aWj1Q=w400-h184" width="400" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br />Kate Greenaway was the most popular children’s book illustrator of her generation. During the last two decades of the 19th century, her idyllic illustrations presented an aspirational view of childhood that charmed readers in her native Britain, Europe, and as far away as America. Like her peers Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott, she collaborated with London’s best color-printer to produce a new, innovative product—high-quality books for the juvenile market. What set Greenaway apart in this triumvirate of excellence was her unique vision. While Crane and Caldecott illustrated stories written for children, Greenaway’s work featured the children themselves—quaintly dressed in ruffles and bonnets and set against picturesque, bucolic landscapes. </span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyeqc-SSpU7abkXj02VRcjuuxGeNJwaXBH8-OuwxXnU6xRA604zjxeGlJ0WFGFPS8fXJifLI0OFJeJRvLAVNQgf1GH7WCnJvzNFSGa9DX5AVKI4-Ax6q9U_1tuFETAi8krtc0R5CSHNvrKZrxC_F4VUb3UGrzXD5vGGCgdqmhA2mDonchVL9j6Xg=s542" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="542" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyeqc-SSpU7abkXj02VRcjuuxGeNJwaXBH8-OuwxXnU6xRA604zjxeGlJ0WFGFPS8fXJifLI0OFJeJRvLAVNQgf1GH7WCnJvzNFSGa9DX5AVKI4-Ax6q9U_1tuFETAi8krtc0R5CSHNvrKZrxC_F4VUb3UGrzXD5vGGCgdqmhA2mDonchVL9j6Xg=s320" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Kate Greenaway in her studio in 1895</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"> Greenaway’s illustrations were appealing and relevant. Victorians celebrated childhood innocence despite the fact that child labor played an essential role in Britain’s economic prosperity. The contrast between popular sentiment and painful reality eventually inspired change, and the start of Greenaway’s career coincided with measures aimed at stopping the worst exploitation of children. The 1867 Factory and Workshop Acts were among the first directives to put meaningful limitations on child labor. Foster’s Education Act, which followed in 1870, advocated compulsory elementary education for English and Welsh children and paved the way for additional improvements throughout the decade. In this climate of social change, Greenaway’s illustrations resonated. Much to her chagrin, her fame spawned a host of imitators who copied her work on everything from handkerchiefs to caskets.<br />The enchanted quality of Greenaway’s illustrations reflected her own memorable childhood. She was born in London into a lively, creative family. Her father was a skilled engraver and her mother an inventive milliner. Kate was an imaginative child who absorbed the beauty of the countryside and the intrigue of city life with equal admiration. “Living in that childish wonder is a most beautiful feeling,” she once confided to a friend. “I can so well remember it. There was always something more—behind and above everything—to me; the golden spectacles were very, very big.” Through those golden lenses, Greenaway observed her father’s engaging business. John Greenaway kept a scrapbook of engraving examples, and Kate remembered how a Cruikshank illustration of an execution fascinated and horrified her. Providing an antidote were the half penny fairytales in the family library. Bluebeard and Beauty and the Beast were among her favorites—mysterious, terrifying tales that nonetheless, ended well.<br /> Both parents encouraged Greenaway’s interest in art, and by the time she was twelve, she was winning prizes at a local academy. As her skill increased, she attended London’s South Kensington School and then Heatherley’s, the first British art school to admit women to life-drawing classes. By the age of 21 she was enrolled in London’s newly formed Slade School, an institution dedicated to equal education for women. While still attending classes, Greenaway developed her distinctive style, creating watercolors of children dressed in clothing she designed, assembled and fitted on models or lay figures. Although her costumes resembled the styles of the Regency era, a half-century earlier, they owed as much to invention as to authenticity. When Greenaway finished her education, her drawings found a modest market in the lesser-known periodicals.<br /> A turning point in Kate Greenaway’s career came when a Valentine she designed sold more than 25,000 copies. Her share of the profits was less than three pounds, but the card’s popularity yielded years of work designing birthday and holiday greetings. Although the enterprise provided a modest income, Greenaway’s cards were either unsigned or initialed. Her biographer, M. H. Spielmann, noted that at the age of 33 she was still “the hidden mainspring of a clock with the maker’s name upon the dial.” Greenaway’s fortunes changed in 1878 when she presented a portfolio of 50 drawings with accompanying verses to printer, Edmund Evans. Years later, Evans recalled that first meeting, “I was fascinated with the originality of the drawings and the ideas of the verse, so I at once purchased them and determined to reproduce them in a little volume.” </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKJ0bm_lmLLYMogPVk5xm6ttDJJ26UAitPJqtkbJkMGf7UyvgNFfRdPRw1-x4a9cxok0iLeR6iJW7t0i4h6CQ92DPjshFX8WRzfkF1tifNWvFdmkgeQBuked1j-i_2EwBDc4jHrHLIlniakMDaIJGMshoTsPXepN0TozwlPTS8nYXqhK4K5L8MpA=s879" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="655" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKJ0bm_lmLLYMogPVk5xm6ttDJJ26UAitPJqtkbJkMGf7UyvgNFfRdPRw1-x4a9cxok0iLeR6iJW7t0i4h6CQ92DPjshFX8WRzfkF1tifNWvFdmkgeQBuked1j-i_2EwBDc4jHrHLIlniakMDaIJGMshoTsPXepN0TozwlPTS8nYXqhK4K5L8MpA=w149-h200" width="149" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"> Edmund Evans engraved and printed Greenaway’s “little volume” in 1879. Although the publisher questioned the wisdom of investing in an unknown artist, Evans was in the position to take a risk. By this time, he was operating three thriving establishments built on a decade-long dominance of the juvenile market and an eye for extraordinary talent. Evans issued 20,000 copies of <i>Under the Window</i>, and the initial run sold out before he could release the next 50,000. This triumph began their long, profitable association. Between 1879 and 1898, Evans printed 932,100 works illustrated by Greenaway.<br />Despite the acclaim accompanying the release of each new Kate Greenaway book, her friends were free with advice on how she could improve her work—mistaking the simplicity of her carefully crafted world for a failure to grasp the principles of academic art. When artist Henry Stacy Marks told her to remove the dark shadows under the heels of her characters, she obeyed. When poet Frederick Locker-Lampson suggested she vary their stoic expressions, she responded politely but changed nothing. When Britain’s leading art critic, John Ruskin, advised her to strip her “girlies” entirely, she did not. “Will you—” Ruskin cajoled. “(It’s all for your own good!)… draw her for me without her hat—and, without her shoes,—(because of the heels) and without her mittens, and without her—frock and its frill?”<br />Greenaway’s style was the result of a sophisticated, intentional effort to capture the illusive magic of childhood. She was neither naïve nor uninformed. Literature, and contemporary art provided continuing inspiration, and Greenaway was a frequent visitor to London’s museums and galleries. She regularly participated in the city’s cultural life exhibiting her work at the Dudley Gallery, the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolor, and the 1889 International Exhibition in Paris. Her first solo exhibition yielded sales of more than £1,000 and some distinguished patrons—among them painter Sir Frederic Leighton who purchased two of her watercolors.<br /> Refined manners and a cautious reserve disguised Greenaway’s thorough understanding of the worth</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizbLLcN4JWRiqP_xX0MVpbXr0dVwZekQwD6tSEHxhsVbor4q_OIBM0QIaLqKa043LQ3jb_p03IuxcN46_ny-ChtFTCmQceE7V0pEhsr_42WkhUYqmQjkIdH5NSnLneYf5w-KVMFIiORni_U_jKNzG2gtV2BDnxM-yGyL_35IUsmtT76gRshVNe-Q=s260" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="258" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizbLLcN4JWRiqP_xX0MVpbXr0dVwZekQwD6tSEHxhsVbor4q_OIBM0QIaLqKa043LQ3jb_p03IuxcN46_ny-ChtFTCmQceE7V0pEhsr_42WkhUYqmQjkIdH5NSnLneYf5w-KVMFIiORni_U_jKNzG2gtV2BDnxM-yGyL_35IUsmtT76gRshVNe-Q" width="258" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Art from Kate's last book<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> of her work. Long before it was common practice, she demanded the return of all her original illustrations. Although her contract with Edmund Evans for Under the Window gave her one-third of the returns from sales, she requested 50 percent of the profits from all subsequent work and refused to sell the copyright on any of her designs. Greenaway’s competitor, Walter Crane, acknowledged that her earnings exceeded his own, noting that behind her unobtrusive personality he detected “a certain shrewdness.” Indeed, throughout her career, Greenaway’s business insight yielded a handsome income for both herself and her family. Greenaway’s last book, <i>The April Baby’s Book of Tunes,</i> was published in 1900. She died of cancer on November 6, 1901, at the age of 55. Her sensitive work, purposefully created to honor childhood’s innocence and charm, was her gift to posterity. Greenaway never married and had no children of her own. What little we know about her personal life is gleaned from letters saved by friends and colleagues. Greenaway was resolute about her priorities, and she valued peace and seclusion over celebrity. “You must wait till I am dead,” she once wrote in response to an interview request. “Till then I wish to live my life privately—like an English gentlewoman.”<br /> The Kate Greenaway Medal was established by The Library Association of the United Kingdom in 1955 for distinguished illustration in a book for children. The award is given annually in the United Kingdom by CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. You can look at a list of the winners of this prestigious award <a href="https://carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/archive/kate-greenaway-medal-winners/" target="_blank">here</a>. Titles that I have loved that won the award include <i>The Lost Words </i>by Jack Morris, <i>This Is Not My Hat </i>by Jon Klassen, <i>Ella's Big Chance </i>by Shirley Hughes, and <i>Mrs. Cockle’s Cat</i> by Antony Maitland. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-82759619953122030912022-03-16T11:43:00.003-07:002022-03-16T11:43:35.460-07:00Aloha from Hawai’i with a book about sea turtles.<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEim_ezAovWE2sD8pXSivnFoCG7Sn6hDxTIsBczFc-bPxnZBUjYhQ389uCvK-Pa1z6grW1XzbftxOYSCBj4Bl1d64DkSZbsuA-v595kaFavIhaKHl0ZaGeNCKta0BsG2cMTQBXB2pnrlSQLS6e5vrJI5KzS_MLJWHxRrMtEsH1nPoK4QrbDRvUSDjg=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="500" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEim_ezAovWE2sD8pXSivnFoCG7Sn6hDxTIsBczFc-bPxnZBUjYhQ389uCvK-Pa1z6grW1XzbftxOYSCBj4Bl1d64DkSZbsuA-v595kaFavIhaKHl0ZaGeNCKta0BsG2cMTQBXB2pnrlSQLS6e5vrJI5KzS_MLJWHxRrMtEsH1nPoK4QrbDRvUSDjg=w400-h236" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Aloha dear friends,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I am vacationing on the island of Kaua’i with my family, and I wish I could send you the sound of the ocean and the beautiful views.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> This morning I went for a walk along the coast, </span><span style="font-family: times;">and on the way back I stopped at our favorite beach to see if any animals visitors were on the sands. Yesterday a young female Hawaiian Monk seal spent the day on the beach, resting. This morning a young female green turtle was there, fast asleep. If you are a relatively small air-breathing animal, staying at sea for days, weeks, or months is tiring, </span><span style="font-family: times;">and every so often a snooze on a beach is very appealing. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> The minute sea turtles hatch, they face a multitude of dangers. Below you will find a review of a book that tells the story of a young sea turtle.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Turtle, Turtle, Watch out! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFmbO6qOYU5gwMy0tN2nrQG-x3kd0W3IgbjribGv1SewkC14p2TNxuRSs_pVYvKT09hIhLhXWAzJ7eFY2j5MEdM-YzsrPH0DRkHD7jR0DpWjC74QesruB2Wo7lB-2AQgrLvc64v0ao9DwWhlpAKRUEiLx0mZcib_6ZPSWyO9MAVGkx9yXPHmPy7Q=s385" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="377" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFmbO6qOYU5gwMy0tN2nrQG-x3kd0W3IgbjribGv1SewkC14p2TNxuRSs_pVYvKT09hIhLhXWAzJ7eFY2j5MEdM-YzsrPH0DRkHD7jR0DpWjC74QesruB2Wo7lB-2AQgrLvc64v0ao9DwWhlpAKRUEiLx0mZcib_6ZPSWyO9MAVGkx9yXPHmPy7Q=w196-h200" width="196" /></a></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: times;">April Pulley Sayre</span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span><span class="s2">Illustrated by Annie Patterson <br /></span><span class="s2">Picture Book<br /></span><span class="s2">For ages 5 to 7<br /></span><span class="s2">Charlesbridge, 2010, 978-1580891493<br /></span><span class="s2">One night, on a beach in Florida, Mother Turtle lays her eggs, carefully covering the clutch with sand before she goes back into the water. Thankfully for one of the baby turtles, there are people who protect her and her siblings. The people watch over the eggs so that they have a chance to hatch, and one moonlit night in August Turtle and her brothers and sisters dig their way out of the sand and head for the ocean.<br /></span><span class="s2"> The world is a dangerous place when you are a tiny baby turtle. Turtle has to avoid the snapping jaws of hungry fish. She almost eats a plastic bag, which so much resembles the jellyfish that she likes to eat.<br /></span><span class="s2">When she is grown and out in the deep ocean, she needs to avoid hungry sharks, and she almost gets caught in a net. Luckily, the net has an escape hatch built into it that was put there just so that turtles like her would not drown in the nets.<br /></span><span class="s2"> In this beautiful picture book Annie Patterson tells a gripping story about the life of a female turtle, following her over the years from the moment she is laid in an egg, to the moment when she lays her own clutch of eggs on a beach. Patterson focuses on the many dangers the turtle faces, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">and shows her reads how people can help turtles by guarding their nests, cleaning the beaches, and installing Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in their fishing nets.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="s2"><span style="font-family: times;"> A section at the back of the book provides more information about sea turtle conservation, and the author shows children how they can help turtles even if they don’t live on or near a beach.</span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-3893976255505647082022-03-15T07:40:00.003-07:002022-03-15T07:40:00.203-07:00Happy Birthday Ruth Bader Ginsburg<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4hONh5x3DdF5yCtwOs20EJT254JFKgo1ldsB4dnz_b9UYneLWpKiiPqqj3ryBh26Yt5lrCP85LdCNLLz2GxA8SVE6MyU8Pw6UH0d53tISODv3gfGhaDZuXCDVH_yDmLHAlsWINa5GnxNQ_flX4T2VCU7c1bcZ-sih6LMPxmBs7Mn_n6lmpr3giw=s1228" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4hONh5x3DdF5yCtwOs20EJT254JFKgo1ldsB4dnz_b9UYneLWpKiiPqqj3ryBh26Yt5lrCP85LdCNLLz2GxA8SVE6MyU8Pw6UH0d53tISODv3gfGhaDZuXCDVH_yDmLHAlsWINa5GnxNQ_flX4T2VCU7c1bcZ-sih6LMPxmBs7Mn_n6lmpr3giw=w176-h200" width="176" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>“It’s an unconscious bias. It’s the expectation. You have a lowered expectation when you hear a woman speaking; I think that still goes on. That instinctively when a man speaks, he will be listened to, where people will not expect the woman to say anything of value. But all of the women in my generation have had, time and again, that experience where you say something at a meeting, and nobody makes anything of it. And maybe half an hour later, a man makes the identical point, and people react to it and say, ‘Good idea.’ That, I think, is a problem that persists.” </i>- Ruth Bader Ginsburg.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I was talking to a friend the other day and we were talking about this very thing, about the way in which women have to work so much harder to be 'heard and seen in this world. I honestly believe that Ruth did a great deal to fight against this bias, and it is important that we all learn about her and the work that she did. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/i-dissent-ruth-bader-ginsburg-makes-her-mark/9781481465595" target="_blank">I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark</a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQgZRsI-DUKH2l7ilEdHZ6zCVkYlV5YjB1S4Y1u3AO2NbuwBEvJn3tNUTuj_3LqKo5r0x-tkIq92x32SEc6DtZfR7TOmY-YLVwagxlv2EjQ_Ug5ogEAPnxVc-Yr1WO_mRWSALpvBYyssc-YPdVo81zixTG2cIbPrrLArmLefDIo2lOOqQ3pR1sfg=s1814" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQgZRsI-DUKH2l7ilEdHZ6zCVkYlV5YjB1S4Y1u3AO2NbuwBEvJn3tNUTuj_3LqKo5r0x-tkIq92x32SEc6DtZfR7TOmY-YLVwagxlv2EjQ_Ug5ogEAPnxVc-Yr1WO_mRWSALpvBYyssc-YPdVo81zixTG2cIbPrrLArmLefDIo2lOOqQ3pR1sfg=w154-h200" width="154" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Debbie Levy</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Nonfiction</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 5 to 7</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Simon and Schuster, 2016, 978-1481465595</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">It is 1940 and Ruth Bader lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. Ruth’s neighbors are mostly immigrants, and though they speak different languages, celebrate different holidays, and eat different foods, there is one important thing that they all have in common: In these families the boys get to “go out into the world, and do big things,” and the girls stay a home and get married.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Thankfully for Ruth, her mother Celia thinks that girls should be allowed to “make their mark on the world” too, and so she takes Ruth to the library. Through books Ruth finds out about many women who have done interesting and meaningful things with their lives. Ruth discovers that contrary to what society seems to believe, girls and women can do anything. They can even take charge if they want to.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> As she grew up, Ruth saw for herself how women, people of color, and Jews like her, were discriminated against. As a child there wasn’t much Ruth could do about these injustices, but she did not forget them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Nor surprisingly, clever, hardworking, and hard headed Ruth went to college. There she met Martin Ginsburg, a young man who made her laugh and with whom she fell in love. The couple decided that they would both go to law school because as lawyers they could “fight unfairness and prejudice in courts.” People approved of Martin’s choice of career, but they did not think that Ruth should try to be a lawyer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Ruth did not listen to those who disapproved of her career choice. She went to law school and did brilliantly. Surely now Ruth would get the opportunity to bring about the changes that she had dreamed of. Unfortunately, the fact that Ruth was a woman, that she was a mother, and that she was Jewish meant that no one wanted to hire her.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> This wonderful picture book biography tells the story of one of America’s greatest woman, a woman who has fought for justice and equal rights, and who showed the world that a woman can be a lawyer, a judge, and a justice on the Supreme Court.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> At the back of the book readers will find further information about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and her work.</span></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-16225256050169489222022-03-13T07:00:00.001-07:002022-03-13T07:00:00.163-07:00Women's History Month - A reading of Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl's Baseball Dream<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC6RjYg8zgAAMv_30ug5w98xNN2CgQtydqkpbVBuVehdDdYOCrS1fWMrNxyq7CjoxJtM7ax1BXVyGA6RvxXnW1XxwlKZwJdYgO-7XeoRizacFTiIHqA6PDMd-zW84p5w0SWGa_B7S_S_okH_7fCo3zk23_Kvh9730bRUcBrYB1sU8f1Xu9jT59Lg=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC6RjYg8zgAAMv_30ug5w98xNN2CgQtydqkpbVBuVehdDdYOCrS1fWMrNxyq7CjoxJtM7ax1BXVyGA6RvxXnW1XxwlKZwJdYgO-7XeoRizacFTiIHqA6PDMd-zW84p5w0SWGa_B7S_S_okH_7fCo3zk23_Kvh9730bRUcBrYB1sU8f1Xu9jT59Lg=s320" width="254" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/catching-the-moon-the-story-of-a-young-girl-s-baseball-dream/9781600605727" target="_blank">Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream</a> </i>is an award winning story based on the childhood of Marcenia “Toni Stone” Lyle Alberga (1921–1995), an African American girl who grew up to become the first woman to play for an all-male professional baseball team. Despite her parents’ misgivings, young Marcenia cared only about playing baseball and was a regular on a team of local boys. Then Gabby Street, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, came to town looking for recruits for a summer baseball camp. Undeterred by the fact that the camp was only for boys, and that her family could not afford proper baseball shoes (cleats), Marcenia made up her mind to attend. She did everything in her power to change Street’s mind. Finally her determination and pluck won him over. Marcenia was accepted into the camp and on her way to making her dream of a baseball career come true.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Storyline Online has created a wonderful reading of this story for you to enjoy.</div><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9kTVtML08CE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-17745623585749255422022-03-11T12:28:00.000-08:002022-03-11T12:28:35.662-08:00The Bookish Calendar for April - Books and information for April birthdays, holidays, and special days<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgm9rA6JySSGN4G_7UoB4PmbNAxQY63BEAKhle-ZS7ShCXxVw_b9MTT-URIxc6zRhHB6jUKy33ATi_Yr9d8Ez0SlUQQwm-p1mYdI7PsUwnzPJpD20QW12_kZgWKF0zD3Q3kUJ-_7vrN8G6DppGbBNiaz_jlcFTz-fqazkCu3L5q3Dfd7fDGYP5cCg=s800" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="629" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgm9rA6JySSGN4G_7UoB4PmbNAxQY63BEAKhle-ZS7ShCXxVw_b9MTT-URIxc6zRhHB6jUKy33ATi_Yr9d8Ez0SlUQQwm-p1mYdI7PsUwnzPJpD20QW12_kZgWKF0zD3Q3kUJ-_7vrN8G6DppGbBNiaz_jlcFTz-fqazkCu3L5q3Dfd7fDGYP5cCg=s320" width="252" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dear Bookish Friends,</span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: times;">Here is the <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/home-bookish-calendar-april-2/" target="_blank">Bookish Calendar for April</a>. I'm bringing it to you today, several weeks early, so that you have plenty of time to plan for days that interest you and the children in your lives. I know that this is particularly useful for those of you who are teachers, librarians, and homeschoolers. Many of the birthdays and special days on the calendar link to review pages for books that are associated with those birthdays and special days. For example, the <i>Titanic</i> sank on her maiden voyage on April 15th 1912. If you click on this entry in the April Bookish Calendar you will be taken to the page where reviews about this event can be found. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April is <a href="https://poets.org/national-poetry-month" target="_blank">National Poetry Month </a>(USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Please check out the <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/library-of-reviews/poetry-reviews/" target="_blank">TTLG Poetry Library</a> to discover wonderful poetry titles. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April is <a href="https://ngb.org/2017/04/14/april-is-national-garden-month/" target="_blank">National Garden Month</a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I have reviewed numerous books about gardens and gardens on my I<a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/in-the-garden/" target="_blank">n The Garden feature</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 3rd to 9th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/national-library-week/" target="_blank">National Library Week</a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Do visit my <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/books-and-libraries/" target="_blank">Books and Libraries feature</a>. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 5th to 9th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/national-wildlife-week/" target="_blank">National Wildlife Week </a>(USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 2nd is <a href="https://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/international-childrens-book-day" target="_blank">International Children's Book Day </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Do visit my </span><a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/books-and-libraries/" style="font-family: times;" target="_blank">Books and Libraries feature</a><span style="font-family: times;">. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 6th is <a href="https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-bookmobile-day-wednesday-of-national-library-week/" target="_blank">National Bookmobile Day </a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 10th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/national-encourage-a-young-writer-day/" target="_blank">National Encourage a Young Writer Day</a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 14th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/national-gardening-day/" target="_blank">National Gardening Day</a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The </span><span style="font-family: times;">I</span><a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/in-the-garden/" style="font-family: times;" target="_blank">n The Garden feature</a> has many wonderful books about gardening.</div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 15th is <a href="https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldartday" target="_blank">World Art Day</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/art-and-artists/" target="_blank">Art and Artists Feature</a> is full of inspirational books that celebrate art.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 16th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/national-librarian-day/" target="_blank">National Librarian Day</a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 17th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/international-haiku-poetry-day/" target="_blank">International Haiku Poetry Day</a></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;">There are several books about Haiku poems in the <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/library-of-reviews/poetry-reviews/" target="_blank">TTLG Poetry Library</a> </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 22nd is <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day" target="_blank">International Mother Earth Day</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/saving-the-environment/" target="_blank">Saving the Environment Feature </a>contains many titles that will suit Earth Day</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 23rd is <a href="https://worldbooknight.org/" target="_blank">World Book Night</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 27 is <a href="https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tell-a-story-day/" target="_blank">Tell a Story Day</a> (USA, UK, and Scotland)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 28th is <a href="https://www.nationaldaystoday.com/national-great-poetry-reading-day/" target="_blank">National Great Poetry Reading Day</a> (USA)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 29th is <a href="https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/" target="_blank">National Arbor Day</a> (USA) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I have reviewed many books about trees. Please visit my <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/trees/">Books about Trees</a> feature.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 29th is <a href="https://nationaltoday.com/international-dance-day/" target="_blank">International Dance Day</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The <a href="https://lookingglassreview.com/books/lg/features/general/world-of-dance/" target="_blank">World of Dance feature </a>is full of books about dance and dancers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">*April 30th is <a href="https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/poem-your-pocket-day" target="_blank">National Poem in your pocket day </a>(USA)</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-73396151676758094662022-03-11T09:58:00.000-08:002022-03-11T09:58:10.500-08:00Women's History Month - The Story of Marianne North<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggmQBB5uxfSgJjcytmX0JsSjrPTOtUBL-JRuj-AxrFZXf-jmMlsSJqsoN73n0Av8rYPWYb-hD0u3dEhCm60-CFGpd8NkwH3Btp6s-djQ3kBvlgYsEF7p0iw6UwwfycDn6HgjwgQ5Q7-yCqTetcFGHuRW8QFZxuFbk5qMoGmVXqEfFeoPfEmK-QJw=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="2048" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggmQBB5uxfSgJjcytmX0JsSjrPTOtUBL-JRuj-AxrFZXf-jmMlsSJqsoN73n0Av8rYPWYb-hD0u3dEhCm60-CFGpd8NkwH3Btp6s-djQ3kBvlgYsEF7p0iw6UwwfycDn6HgjwgQ5Q7-yCqTetcFGHuRW8QFZxuFbk5qMoGmVXqEfFeoPfEmK-QJw=w400-h185" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oil painting of Mount Fujiyama framed by wisteria by Marianne North</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Marianne North was an extraordinary woman of means who taught herself how to paint, funded her own expeditions to the far corners of the world to find her subjects, and wrote a biography or two recounting her adventures.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> The eldest child of Frederick North, Member of Parliament for Hastings, Marianne had shown an interest in painting and writing, proper 'accomplishments' for a young Victorian lady, suitable hobbies for the daughter of an established family, but never a thought to making a career of such things.<br />For the sake of both business and recreation Frederick North travelled throughout Europe and the Middle East, and Marianne would often accompany him. During these happy years she learned to improve her skills as an artist, being taught first by a Dutch artist, Miss van Fowinkel, and later by Valentine Bartholomew, one of Queen Victoria's flower painters. She met Sir William Hooker who presented her with specimens to sketch while visiting Kew and refining her skills as an artist.<br />With the death of her father in 1870, Marianne found herself adrift and wanting focus. Having never married she had retained much of her father's modest fortune, and now sought to use it in her pursuit - painting flowers in their natural settings.<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj70fZR5KQTxFL-bao9tx_utsQB0vdDrMLsGjhLq726pkrJpbaWGQaPofwJX-dAXUO154PFyQ--Uk6O0hmv4oysIeeLaT1vas7K3AmtaX0xxx8KDYOjDVp_FbzxF5CrM49ykPyRiuWsDUC9XWzltEkFVxM05WlZzH9wKDOiFvHMd8DtkAHE9LzzWw=s360" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="360" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj70fZR5KQTxFL-bao9tx_utsQB0vdDrMLsGjhLq726pkrJpbaWGQaPofwJX-dAXUO154PFyQ--Uk6O0hmv4oysIeeLaT1vas7K3AmtaX0xxx8KDYOjDVp_FbzxF5CrM49ykPyRiuWsDUC9XWzltEkFVxM05WlZzH9wKDOiFvHMd8DtkAHE9LzzWw=w200-h167" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"> Her first journey alone was in 1871, she travelled via Jamaica to the United States and Canada. She carried with her suitable letters of introduction, so initially it would seem that her travels were properly accommodated, and this was indeed the case for the most part. Later, however, she found herself trudging through wilderness, scaling cliffs and enduring swarms of insects in the pursuit of her subjects. In the situation necessitated 'roughing it' in tents or sleeping on the ground, she did.<br /> Her second solo journey took her to the jungles of Brazil, where she stayed for 8 months and completed over 100 paintings. Then in 1875 she travelled across America on her way to Japan, Sarawak, Java, and Ceylon and then back to England briefly. With barely enough time to unpack she was on her way again, this time to India. She remained in India for 15 months and produced a remarkable 200 paintings of mostly plants, but also of the local buildings she liked. Upon her return to London she exhibited her work at Conduit Street, where the positive reception and popularity of her work</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiNlG13D5S2NYXIQ-byQXnqI3Gd2fU7kpMZSbYOuVPLXBMU4laqnEJj2XJmFOOvBEoC-mjPx9K0d2WPtN54UKhFubL1dvvE3Tppytig5FMiTOYRy5jzPKl3MnkEzOBCtVl-OfOVdI9z4KHILgjlmq9PYzRtcYBXNLGxS3G096aHe2o9Tq8qv9i9Q=s612" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="192" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiNlG13D5S2NYXIQ-byQXnqI3Gd2fU7kpMZSbYOuVPLXBMU4laqnEJj2XJmFOOvBEoC-mjPx9K0d2WPtN54UKhFubL1dvvE3Tppytig5FMiTOYRy5jzPKl3MnkEzOBCtVl-OfOVdI9z4KHILgjlmq9PYzRtcYBXNLGxS3G096aHe2o9Tq8qv9i9Q=w125-h400" width="125" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">encouraged her to display her collection at Kew Gardens, in London.<br /> In the summer of 1879 she wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker offering to donate her collected works, along with a building suitable to house them, to the garden, with the stipulation that the gallery serve as place for garden visitors rest. Her donation was graciously accepted and Kew gained one of it most enduring features - The Marianne North Gallery. Her friend, architectural historian James Fergusson, designed the building after the colonial structures she had admired in India, and when it was completed, she carefully arranged all her paintings in a dense mosaic on the walls, sorted according to geographical location of subject. She even embellished the gallery with a few of her own designs.<br /> But long before it was done, she was looking for another journey to undertake. It was at his suggestion of Charles Darwin , who had been a friend of her father's, that she chose her next great destination, Australia and New Zealand. While on an expedition through Australia she met with Marian Ellis Rowan, a talented young woman who would prove to be an accomplished natural history artist in her own right, and taught her how to paint with oils.<br /> She developed a rapid, vaguely impressionistic, style that allowed her to complete most of her paintings in a day or less. While some critics have seen this as a weakness in her work, others have found in it a vitality, an obvious joy in creation that is almost palpable when viewing her works. Her paintings are not typical of most botanical artists in that her colors are almost more vibrant than in life, and her images, although accurate and true to the subject, do not full illustrate all the plant's distinguishing features. However, she was no stranger to plant identification and taxonomy, being something of an amateur naturalist herself. She even found and painted a previously unknown genus of tree that would later be named in her honor - Northea seychellana. For other species would be named after her, including Nepenthes northiana - one of the giant pitcher plants from Borneo, Crinum northianum - an obscure Amarylis relative she discovered in Borneo, Areca northiana - a feather palm, and Kniphofia northiae - an aloe relative from South Africa, sometimes known as Red Hot Poker.<br /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg25dNkh-zVUOhKQX_SLq2HRSjPRyEqsvU417eMmU_LTt8GHUcNw60zZZJusehc4oTqZpipVUvth-Zz5P29ODAhyWIX_fSLXUxXRjvbXc2hXUHz67yb8SdAEVEPAk-saJixw86tlYKZHZyIwOddLJR2e1jdgU42q22d6WvnK7XftsIPkEpgwmEjoQ=s1652" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1652" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg25dNkh-zVUOhKQX_SLq2HRSjPRyEqsvU417eMmU_LTt8GHUcNw60zZZJusehc4oTqZpipVUvth-Zz5P29ODAhyWIX_fSLXUxXRjvbXc2hXUHz67yb8SdAEVEPAk-saJixw86tlYKZHZyIwOddLJR2e1jdgU42q22d6WvnK7XftsIPkEpgwmEjoQ=s320" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">Butterflies' Road through Gongo Forest, Brazil by Marianne North</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"> The one continent missing from her travels, and therefore her gallery, was Africa, so in August 1882 she packed her bags and continued her mission. She travelled down to the Cape, and then up to the Seychelles, before returning home in 1883. Her health had been failing for some time, and by the time she made her expedition to Chile in 1884, despite rheumatism and increasing deafness, it had become evident to her that this would be her last great journey. She retired to Alderley, Gloucestershire, where she died on August 30th 1890.<br /> Her extensive journals were edited by her sister, Catherine North Symonds, and published in two volumes in 1892 as <i>Recollections of a Happy Life: Being the Autobiography of Marianne North.</i> London and New York; Macmillan, 1892) and proved so popular that a further volume was released the next year - <i>Some Further Recollections of a Happy Life, Selected from the Journals of Marianne North, Chiefly Between the Years 1859 and 1869</i>. (Edited by Catherine North Symonds. London and New York: Macmillan, 1893).</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4756858766096882013.post-19274224056337959582022-03-09T11:33:00.000-08:002022-03-09T11:33:17.952-08:00Women's History Month - The story of Libba Cotten<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_ZLtdR655xYgTBl_CP1dheJQUiLt-UrUCVZydLiisAUSpqX5UKlt4T0nNqufLQBoLrho-ZDGPqx41Wuxsd9GeVZqAY1NF0x8T_95GFmBnx6qkHni7o80UzUdYfMzR2Og4TNL1ZOgDiYrvQJUE59vhu7OXrv9N1XqVPYALI3FdqR96Bo_YuqgrzA=s1595" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1595" data-original-width="1500" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_ZLtdR655xYgTBl_CP1dheJQUiLt-UrUCVZydLiisAUSpqX5UKlt4T0nNqufLQBoLrho-ZDGPqx41Wuxsd9GeVZqAY1NF0x8T_95GFmBnx6qkHni7o80UzUdYfMzR2Og4TNL1ZOgDiYrvQJUE59vhu7OXrv9N1XqVPYALI3FdqR96Bo_YuqgrzA=w291-h309" width="291" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: times;">More than twenty years after the death of folk guitar legend Elizabeth Cotten, her music is still heard everywhere. Cotten, who began her public career at the age of 68, became a key figure in the folk revival of the 60's and a National Heritage Fellow. In 1985, at the age of 93, Cotten won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for her album <i>Elizabeth Cotten — Live!</i> </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/libba-the-magnificent-musical-life-of-elizabeth-cotten-early-elementary-story-books-children-s-music-books-biography-book/9781452148571" target="_blank">Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten</a> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKyZXkRUKOrUxnkp5nQXHdgfZMnZyzf5YTO6Tq1HTy3ngMSchOAnMgB762RCvmsA1z-gaBfyBakMvwTr9AIBj-xfmx5d3OeDV-BGC6EqSD4vW9qLHiLgauaWNvlqVNDmT2lyACu10F9TyciTT27OyyFOi4iLHrNtJ0enxCpKeBx7ZjACBWA3xIAg=s400" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="322" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKyZXkRUKOrUxnkp5nQXHdgfZMnZyzf5YTO6Tq1HTy3ngMSchOAnMgB762RCvmsA1z-gaBfyBakMvwTr9AIBj-xfmx5d3OeDV-BGC6EqSD4vW9qLHiLgauaWNvlqVNDmT2lyACu10F9TyciTT27OyyFOi4iLHrNtJ0enxCpKeBx7ZjACBWA3xIAg=w216-h268" width="216" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">Laura Veirs</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Illustrated by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Nonfiction Picture Book</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">For ages 5 to 7</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Chronicle Books, 2018, 978-1452148571</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Libba Cotton has music running all the way through her. Everywhere she goes she hears music. Even the sound of the freight trains clattering down the tracks near her house is musical to her ears.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Libba’s brother has a guitar, which she is not allowed to play. However, when he goes to work Libba sneaks into his room and plays the guitar, even though she has to play it “upside down” and “backwards” because she is left-handed. This is certainly a strange way to play a guitar, but Libba does not care. Somehow this unusual way of playing works for her and she is able to create music.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> After Libba’s brother leaves home, taking his guitar with him, Libba starts to save up to buy a guitar of her own. Earning seventy-five cents a month Libba saves and saves until she has enough to buy a Stella guitar. How Libba plays that guitar! It becomes an extension of her arm and she still plays it backwards and upside down because she is left-handed and the guitar was built for a right handed player. When she is only thirteen Libba writes her first song. It is called <i>Freight Train</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> Then life gets busy and Libba stops playing the guitar because there are too many other things that need to be done. Libba never guesses that one day, when she is a grandmother, music will come back into her life and it will change her future in the most wonderful ways.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> In this beautifully written and very moving book, Laura Veirs, who is herself an accomplished guitar player, performer, and songwriter, tells the story of an extraordinary woman who was a self-taught and very gifted musician. Libba’s song <i>Freight Train</i> is known by musicians and music lovers all over the world, and it was a firm favorite in Laura’s childhood home.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> In addition to the main story, Laura provides her readers with further information about Libba at the back of the book in an author’s note. She also tells us how she became get interested in Libba’s remarkable story.</span></div></div><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.lookingglassreview.com</div>Marya Jansen-Gruberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06717609500166063659noreply@blogger.com0