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Thursday, March 8th, 2007
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10:39 am - Happy Birthday, Little Bear!
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chevrefeuilles
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I am stunned. Last night at work at Borders I was looking at my "action list," and I believe now I probably misread "The Cat in the Hat" 50th anniversary edition and "Little Bear" as "Little Bear" 50th anniversary edition. But it's true. "Little Bear" is 50 years old!
An examination of the web sites of HarperCollins and of the Rosenbach Museum & Library yields nothing except a press release acknowledging this fact, and a small graphic.
Why isn't this a bigger deal? It was the first book of the golden standard of modern readers, the "I Can Read" series, and it's a timeless classic of simple story-telling and Sendak's illustration. Is it being overshadowed by "The Cat in the Hat"'s anniversary?
OTOH, some of my coworkers, some of whom were not young, showed no recognition of the title, or only remembered the television series based on the book. 'Were they raised by wolves?' I thought.
This entry describes some of my first memories of reading and of "Little Bear." (The book in question was "Little Bear's Visit." I often went to visit my paternal grandparents, so the story seemed relevant to me.) The first of the series that I remember being read to me was "Little Bear's Friend."
( Little Bear's FriendCollapse )
Perhaps I liked it best because of its involving a doll, a tree, a pen, and a human girl, Emily. Little Bear's saying goodbye to Emily at the end of their idyllic summer of friendship broke my heart, more than the death of Bambi's mother ever could. When my mother read the first, original book to me, I remember being slightly afraid of Mother Bear's sly facial expression over Little Bear's shoulder when she's playing along and pretending that he's a visitor from outer space. (I'll post some images when I have access to a scanner.)
Looking at Amazon.com, it seems that the books were redone by an illustrator other than Sendak, which seems like sacrelige to me. Ugh. They're certainly not popular just for the stories. I thought the animated tv series was pretty good. There was a tie-in toy, a talking Little Bear doll.  But then there was another tv tie-in stuffed bear. He had eyebrows which made him look kind of creepy.
Anyway, let's celebrate "Little Bear," please. Read the series to your children, and make the books part of your personal library if they aren't.
current mood: still stunned
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
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5:28 pm - Mail Time! and Children's Literature :o)
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| Tuesday, June 7th, 2005
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1:28 pm
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foxinthesnow
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hi! i used to be  foxinthesnow, and i didn't even really remember that this community was around. i am still very interested in children's books, and i think i will try to post in here at least weekly. i've been very busy these past couple years with work and life and whatnot. but i'm really happy to see that some of you still bother to post here! really, that's great.
recently, i've been collecting newer children's books with illustration styles from the 50's and 60's. i'm also really interested in comic book anthologies for children. here are two examples of books i have recently acquired:
hello, robots by bob staake
little lit collections edited by art spiegelman and francoise mouly
(featuring neil gaiman, j. otto siebold, lemony snicket,
maurice sekdak, crockett johnson, kaz, daniel clowes, chris ware, etc.)
i highly recommend both.
also, speaking of maurice sendak, he was recently on npr. audio from the show can be found here.
thanks for sticking around, guys!
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, May 15th, 2005
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7:49 am - anyone else running out of air?
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mama_de_mary
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since this community seems to be dying and the moderator has abandoned it instead of trying a little cpr, i offer up an alternative community with an involved moderator. check out  kiddie_lit.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, May 14th, 2005
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1:13 pm - bookworm BABY
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mama_de_mary
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My daughter's loved Pooh books since she was born [she's now 8 months]. And Goodnight Moon.
at one month
She loves Sesame Street and Elmo. I was wondering if anyone knew of any good Elmo/Sesame Street books?
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(12 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, May 13th, 2005
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9:57 am - Is the Moderator for this Community no longer around?
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carmapau
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I was curious. It appears the person who is to be moderating this Community is no longer around. At least according to the Community Journal Info it says that person no longer has that account on Live Journal.
Does anyone know if that's the case that there is no longer a moderator? Or how Live Journal handles that kind of thing?
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, May 12th, 2005
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9:46 pm - Just found this Community
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carmapau
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I just found this Community today when I was searching interests for a new Community I created today.
I didn't realize this Community existed. Though it looks like it used to get a lot more activity years ago when it was first created.
I am a 34 year old Mother of two children. I and my children love Children's Literature. My Children are 3 and 4 years old so they are mainly "reading" Picture Books at this time. Though they also enjoy having me read some of the Chapter Books to them.
Some of their Favorite books are:
Dim Sum for Everyone
By: Grace Lin
Once Upon a Golden Apple
By: Jean Little
Jamberry
By: Bruce Degen
A Treeful of Pigs
By: Arnold Lobel
Duck for President
By: Doreen Cronin
They actually love all the books by Grace Lin and Doreen Cronin. We actually own all the books by Doreen Cronin.
Doreen Cronin has written:
Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type
Giggle, Giggle, Quack
and Duck for President
for anyone that is not familiar with this author.
current mood:  cheerful
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, April 16th, 2005
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1:05 am - Love to live
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| Saturday, January 22nd, 2005
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8:37 pm
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dangerzooey
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Can someone here tell me the moral of The Giving Tree. I mean, I read it a lot as a child, and I think it was pretty influential. But after thinking about it, I don't really know what the point is supposed to be. Can you help me out?
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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10:29 am - New
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onekingdoun
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I am new to this community, and would just like to say hello. I would also like to say this book makes my heart smile.
current mood: Woooooo
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, November 26th, 2004
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1:43 pm - RIP Trina Schart Hyman (cross-posted)
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chevrefeuilles
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Trina Schart Hyman, Book Illustrator, Dies at 65
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Trina Schart Hyman, who illustrated an entire shelf of children's books and inspired many others who worked in the genre, died on Friday in Lebanon, N.H. She was 65 and lived in Lyme, N.H.
The cause was complications of breast cancer, said Jean Aull, her partner.
She won the Caldecott Medal, the highest award for authors and artists in her field, for Margaret Hodges's "St. George and the Dragon: A Golden Legend Adapted From Edmund Spenser's 'Faerie Queen' " (Little, Brown: 1984). She won Caldecott honors three times, for "Little Red Riding Hood"; "A Child's Calendar," with text by John Updike; and "Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins" by Eric A. Kimmel (Holiday House, 1989).
She joined the staff of Cricket magazine for children as an artist and illustrator in 1972 and became its art director. By the time she left, in 1979, she had established herself as a model for many others looking for a career in children's book publishing.
In all, Ms. Hyman illustrated more than 150 books. Her watercolors, oils and drawings enlivened everything from collected stories to novels to poetry, as well as oft-retold classics like "Sleeping Beauty," "Rapunzel" and the Arthurian legends.
She worked with readers as young as toddlers in mind, and she was widely known for opening their eyes to folklore and fairy tales. Her pictures gave form to the imagery conjured up by master storytellers like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Mark Twain, Dickens, Chaucer, Dylan Thomas and, not least, Margot Fonteyn's retelling of "Swan Lake."
She also wrote her own books, which she illustrated, including "How Six Found Christmas" (Holiday House, 1991); "A Little Alphabet" (William Morrow, 1993); her retelling of the Grimms' "Little Red Riding Hood" (Holiday House, 1983); and "Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman" (Addison-Wesley, 1981). Another more recent favorite was "A Child's Calendar" (Holiday House, 1999), in which she illustrated poems by Mr. Updike, one for each month.
John Briggs, publisher of Holiday House, estimated her output at millions of copies, with many of her books translated for publication in other countries.
She was born Trina Schart in Philadelphia and grew up in Doylestown, Pa. She studied at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art and the Boston Museum School of Art in the late 1950's and trained for one more year at the Konstfackskolan, the Swedish State Art School, in Stockholm in 1960 and 1961.
Her first work was published in Sweden in 1961, to accompany stories about "Toffe and the Little Car." By the end of the 1960's, she had done more than two dozen books from American publishers like Houghton, Scholastic, Bobbs-Merrill and Little, Brown.
Her marriage to Harris Hyman, of Portland, Ore., ended in divorce. Besides Ms. Aull, Ms. Hyman is survived by her daughter, Katrin Tchana of Fairlee, Vt., for whom she illustrated a retelling of "The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women" (Little, Brown; 1998); and two grandsons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/24/books/24hyman.html
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, September 1st, 2004
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11:38 pm
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mothqueen
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I love "THe Giving Tree". I can still remember my teacher reading it to our classs. I think that's a purchase I'll be making before the year is out, along with Princess Furball and Olivia.
current mood: happy
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, August 6th, 2004
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11:19 pm
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mandals
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Hiya. I'm new. Just thought I'd join because this book makes me smiiile. I love "childrens books". :)
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, August 4th, 2004
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11:38 pm - But Not the Hippopotamus...
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patrick_padraig
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Has anyone here ever taken a look at a short little cardboard kid's book by the name of But Not the Hippopotamus? It's not good in the same sense that many of the books discussed here are, because it's more of a book for very small children who don't quite know how to read yet. Very rhyme-oriented. However, it's still a pretty funny book. I've read it in the children's section of the bookstore, and... well, I won't ruin it. Just check it out; it'll take most folks about a minute to read, and I think it's well worth it!
EDIT: Oh, and while I'm at it, hello! Big Shel Silverstein fan here, and I generally like all these supposed "children's books" as much as any other books. This community certainly seems promising.
current mood: amused
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, June 4th, 2004
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6:02 pm - New
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vinyl86
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Hey all, I just joined this community. The Giving Tree is my favorite book of all time :o)
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, May 16th, 2004
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5:08 pm - @->--
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almamatters
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I have had a lot of kid book faves growing up... The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Horton Hears a Who, The Grinch, and The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Wltches by Roald Dahl, the Chicken Soup With Rice books and Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak<-- actually any great book by any of these mentioned authors, Etc (etc etc etc.... I was a little reading monster.) One book that I don't see acknowledged a lot though is "The Hungry Goat" by Alan Mills. I adored that book... A goat that ate EVERYTHING in sight? Come on now. =P.
current mood: calm
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, January 30th, 2004
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8:36 am
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dreamyorangepie
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Hi Everyone! I just found this community a few days ago and I'm so excited! Hmmm, memories about books from when I was a child... Parcifal Rides The Time Waves was one of my favorites. It had adventure and the love between a boy and his dog. Also, time travel and history are compelling themes in a children's book. It was pretty dated, from the fifties, though. Did anyone else read this one? Once again, I'm so glad to have found you, this is an awesome community.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, January 19th, 2004
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11:16 pm - new girl
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mimihoney
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wow!!! hi:) my names mimi. i only have children's books on my shelf, because, i guess i cant let them go. well i love silverstein, dr suess, i love love love the purple crayon. since i don't have more money to spend then the few coins in my piggy bank, i'm into illustration. hmm i havnt thought up of any stories yet tho! um whats that story of the boy going to this world of monsters instead of going to bed? i forget. does anyone write children's stories here?
love n peace mimi
current mood:  smiles wow
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, December 23rd, 2003
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4:41 pm - Holiday or gift books?
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eleme
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Anyone have any favorite holiday books? Or have any favorites that you like to give as gifts? I saw Whistle for Willie at Barnes and Noble last week. I loved reading Keats' books when I was younger and the book reminded me of the little boy I babysit. I wish I had the money to get it for him for Christmas!
current mood:  artistic
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Monday, November 24th, 2003
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11:22 pm - Sweet!
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excited