#childrens literature
We be fighting dragons today in the special collections, and we be loving the work of Walter Crane, this lithograph from his Princess Belle Etoile in our The Song of Sixpence Picture Book (1909). Since we admire his wonderful illustrations, you’ll be seeing more of his work soon…
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It’s been a mild winter and is that a butterfly flying around? Well, not likely outside in February, but it’s happening in our special collections in this sweet little hand-colored pamphlet of the classic 19th-century poem for children, The Butterfly’s Ball , and the Grasshopper’s Feast. This rare edition (only 3 libraries in the U.S. have it) was published in Baltimore sometime in the 1840s, and is authored by William Roscoe who became know for his work as an abolitionist…
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Portland had a rare dusting of snow this morning, almost as rare as this lovely Japanese edition of Ezra Jack Keats’sThe Snowy Day (Yuki no hi) which is in our special collections awaiting your visit (by appointment only)…
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Baba Yaga, illustrated at the top by Russian artist Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942) in our special collections copy of Василиса Прекрасная - Vasilisa Prekrasnai͡apublished in St. Petersburg in 1902, is one scary supernatural being. But at times, she’s also known to be helpful. Baba Yaga, who lives in a house described as having chicken legs (seen behind Vasilisa the Beautiful in the bottom image), is one of the most prevalent characters in eastern European folklore, going back at least until 1755…
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PREORDERS FOR THE PRINTED PIPPI COLLECTION UP ON STORENVY HERE: http://shivana.storenvy.com/products/19879679-pippi-an-inktober-collection
This will ship after TCAF (May 12-13th) if print costs are successfully met with preorder! This ISN’T the smaller collection, but a full month’s worth plus sketches signed and delivered to you!
If you’re looking to get the smaller pdf copy of Pippis, free for home printing, that’s here on Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/l/wHvVL
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pippis no. 9 and 10! one’s a new friend (and possibly a scientific miracle) and one’s, well. a heavy handed pun.
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Have a Foxy Friday!
(Kjelgaard, J. (1981). Haunt Fox. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Kellogg PZ 10.3 .K643 Hau 1981)
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Today’s submission is by Christopher A. Brown, Special Collections Curator for the Children’s Literature Research Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia. The image of Mrs. Field is courtesy of the Children’s Literature Research Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia.
It’s impossible to think of the field of children’s librarianship without thinking of Carolyn Wicker Field. Mrs. Field (as she is still known at the Free Library of Philadelphia) was a driving force across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well nationally. In her 30-plus year career, Mrs. Field headed the Office of Work with Children and oversaw the creation of the Children’s Literature Research Collection, the second largest repository of children’s literature, original artwork, manuscripts, and ephemera in the nation. Field’s passion for the promotion of children’s literature was unquenchable; she served as the president of the Children’s Division of the American Library Association (now known as the Association for Library Service to Children) and the Pennsylvania Library Association. From 1958-1960, Mrs. Field was a member of the Newbery-Caldecott Medal Selection Committee and chaired the committee in 1958.
Carolyn Field published several books on children’s literature, including Subject Collections in Children’s Literature,a catalogue of the special collections of children’s literature housed in the United States, and Values in Selected Children’s Books of Fiction and Fantasy,an exploration and bibliography of over 700 fiction and fantasy titles, co-authored with Jacqueline Shachter Weiss. Field was also an editorial advisor for, That’s Me! That’s You! That’s Us! A Bibliography of Multicultural Books for Children.
Mrs. Field was honored with numerous awards throughout her lifetime. In 1963, she was awarded the Scholastic Library Publishing Award. In 1974, she was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania, an award given to Pennsylvania women whose accomplishments have state or national importance. In 1994, Mrs. Field was the recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children’s Distinguished Service Award, and in 1996 she was the first recipient of the Catholic Library Association’s Mary A. Grant Award for outstanding volunteer service. She was honored by the Pennsylvania Library Association in 1984 when the Youth Services Division named an award in her honor. The Carolyn W. Field Award is presented annually to a Pennsylvania children’s author or illustrator.
Carolyn Wicker Field died from congestive heart failure in Philadelphia on July 24, 2010. A copy of her favorite quote by Walter de la Mare still hangs in the Children’s Literature Research Collection: “Only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young.” It is a philosophy that is still firmly embraced at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Serbian Fairy Tales
Artist : Sidney Stanley
1918
“Papalluga or the Golden Slipper”
Old French Fairy Tales by Sophie Ségur, Comtesse de Ségur
The Penn Publishing Company
Philadelphia
.c. 1920
Artist : Virginia Frances Sterrett
« The little grey mouse
The little house »
Every day is National Cat Day when you work in a library!
Ink illustration, The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill
Esther Averill Papers, Kerlan Collection, Children’s Literature Research Collections
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It’s nearly Halloween! Enjoy some ghostly original illustrations from “The Spooky Halloween Party” by Tomie dePaola!
Tomie dePaola Papers, Kerlan Collection
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Selection from a small cache of letters in our collection written by Laura Ingalls Wilder between 1949 and 1952 to Evelyn Wenzel, a graduate student who was writing a Master’s thesis on Wilder’s books.
“The old spirit of sturdy independence seems to be vanishing. We all depend too much on others. As modern life is lived we have to do so and more and more the individual alone is helpless. One is always at the mercy of others instead of being sufficient unto himself. A conflict with nature and the elements is a clean fight, but a struggle against man and his contrivances is something very different. At times I have a homesick longing for the old days and old ways. However, I know there is no turning back. We must go on.”
The Evelyn Wenzel Collection of Correspondence from Laura Ingalls Wilder, Children’s Literature Research Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries
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Opening boxes today and ran across this beautiful study by Stephen T. Johnson for Hoops!
Stephen T. Johnson Papers, Kerlan Collection, Children’s Literature Research Collections
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The handwritten first draft of My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Ruth Stiles Gannett Papers, Kerlan Collection
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Any code-breakers out there? Astrid Lindgren wrote her manuscripts in Swedish and shorthand!
Astrid Lindgren Papers, Kerlan Collection
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Original illustration from Barbara Knutson’s version of the Swahili folk tale How the Guinea Fowl Got Her Spots.
Barbara Knutson Papers, Kerlan Collection
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Tiny accordion-folded dummy of Charles Mikolaycak’s illustrated version of Alfred Noyes’s poem The Highwayman.
Charles Mikolaycak Papers, Kerlan Collection
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Lovely sketch from Marla Frazee’s illustration for Clementine and the Spring Trip, by Sara Pennypacker.
Marla Frazee Papers, The Kerlan Collection
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Happy Spring from the Children’s Literature Research Collections!
Cover illustration for Runaway Bunny. Clement Hurd Papers, The Kerlan Collection.
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This original illustration by Louis Darling from The Swimming Hole, written by Jerrold Beim, sure has us longing for summer!
Louis Darling Papers, The Kerlan Collection
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There’s no better time than January in Minnesota to curl up with some Scandinavian fairy tales! This original watercolor by Barry Moser was created for an adaptation of East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Nancy Willard.
Barry Moser papers, Kerlan Collection
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Pencil sketch and manuscript page for “Frog and Toad are Friends,” by Arnold Lobel.
Arnold Lobel papers, Kerlan Collection
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Gustaf Tenggren, illustrator of the original Golden Book “The Poky Little Puppy,” was apparently a little mystified by its resounding success. On this inscription inside an edition he signed for our founding donor, Irvin Kerlan, in 1948 Tenggren writes, “this has been the best seller, just why, I don’t know.”
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