Ah, January: that month touted as the time to refresh everything from one’s diet and wellness to home decor. Why not apply the same mentality to your daily Insta scroll with some new bibliocentric feeds.
Special collections libraries, rare booksellers and collectors have embraced Instagram as an ideal platform to virtually share their treasures with the world. Fellow FB&C writer Nate Pedersen wrote the inaugural “rare Books on Instagram” post back in 2016, profiling institutional accounts like those of the British Library (@britishlibrary), the American Antiquarian Society (@americanantiquarian), and others. Follow-up posts looked at librarian accounts and collector feeds. Keeping with that theme, below, in no particular order, are ten noteworthy institutional Instagram accounts that excel at showcasing rare books, manuscripts, and other works on paper.
Don’t have an Instagram account? No problem: All of these accounts are freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Worlds collide in this trio of exciting new children’s books that explore realms near and far and that are sure to entertain any intrepid adventurers.
A Story Like the Wind, by Gill Lewis, illustrated by Jo Weaver; Eerdmans, $16.00, 80 pages, ages 9 and up.
Anyone who can get through this book without tearing up must have a heart of stone. Award-winning author Gill Lewis’s tale of channeling hope despite facing an uncertain future starts in a rudderless boat bobbing about in a vast ocean carrying refugees away from war. As the situation seems to take a turn for the worse, the passengers begin to talk about the lives they left behind. Young Rami only had time to grab his violin before fleeing and shares a musical story about a white stallion unwilling to bend to an evil overlord. The creature pays a heavy price for its actions, but in turn inspires hope that the struggle is worth the pain. Kate Greenaway award finalist Jo Weaver’s inky-toned illustrations are an evocative and powerful match for the stirring prose. A beautiful and heart-wrenching celebration of love, kindness, and freedom for all.
A Story of the Wind.Text copyright 2018 Gill Lewis. Illustrations copyright 2018 Jill Weaver. Reproduced with permission from EBYR.
The King of Nothing, by Guridi, translated from Spanish by Saul Endor; The New York Review of Children’s Books; $16.95, 32 pages, ages 2-6.
Originally published in 2013 in Spanish, the English translation of Guridi’s book offers a wry look at different ways of welding power. Here, we meet Mimo the First as he rules over his domain of nothingness–perfectly outlined by dash marks throughout the book–and maintains law and order with unprecedented tenacity. All is right until one day when Mimo is confronted by something and goes on the offensive to eradicate this unwelcome interloper. But this intruder is stubborn, too, and the little king is faced with some unpleasant choices. Will there be war or compromise?
A caveat, please: parents will make this book immensely more enjoyable if they can refrain from political commentary while reading with their children. To be sure, for some adults, the temptation to editorialize does exist here. Instead, delight in this absurd and whimsical examination of the power of the human imagination and leave politics out of it.
Image reproduced with permission of NYRCB. copyright 2013 Guridi. Image reproduced with permission of NYRCB. copyright 2013 Guridi.
The Boy Who Went to Mars, by Simon James; Candlewick Press, $17.99, 32 pages, ages 2-6.
Award-winning children’s book creator Simon James is back with a story reveling in the joys of active imaginations. Young Stanley is taken by surprise when his mother leaves on an overnight work trip and decides that he, too, must take a trip. Except that Stanley flies off to Mars, and his spaceship returns to Earth carrying a slightly petulant little martian. And this extra-terrestrial doesn’t like to play by earthling rules: no hand washing, no vegetables, and certainly no tooth brushing. An altercation between the martian and a playmate leads to an emotional internal reckoning, leaving the boy/martian to figure out how to make things right. James’s pen and watercolor illustrations capture both the boundless pleasures of imaginative play and the unequivocal love of strong family bonds.
The antiquarian book world lost a giant in June when longtime bookseller Bill Reese passed away at the age of 62 after a battle with prostate cancer. His hope was to see the Reese Company continue to build on his forty years in the business, and now, the New Haven-based business is ready to do just that: last week the William Reese Company announced the imminent return of bookseller Nick Aretakis to run its Americana department. Aretakis spent fourteen years as a Reese associate before heading to his native California to set up his own shop.
“I am eternally grateful that in the summer of 2000 Bill Reese offered me the opportunity to become an associate at the William Reese Company,” Aretakis said recently. “Over the next fourteen years, I learned from Bill every day. I am proud of the business I built over the past four and a half years [in California], and during that time I learned new skills as I developed a business on my own. I bring these skills, as well as all that I learned from Bill Reese, with me as I return to the Reese Company.”
Aretakis’s official start date was November 1, and he will be manning the Reese booth at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair November 16-18.
“I am excited to be part of the team that will guide the William Reese Company into the future,” Aretakis said, “and continuing on in Bill’s tradition and adapting to the ever-changing environment of antiquarian bookselling.”
Meanwhile, longtime Reese associates Teri Osborn (a FB&C “Bright Young Bookseller” in 2011) and James McBride (a 2017 BYB) recently launched McBride Rare Books, also in New Haven.
“This certainly is an interesting and exciting time for us,” said McBride and Osborn. “Together, we have a combined experience of nearly two decades in rare books, including academia, librarianship, and the trade. With McBride Rare Books, we look forward to continuing our roles as trusted and valuable members of the antiquarian book trade, working closely with our clients and colleagues.” As they did at Reese, the pair plan to continue focusing on Americana and are making their inaugural appearance as freshly minted bookstore owners at the Boston Book, Print, and Ephemera show on November 17. “It’s a consistently great fair, and we’re very much looking forward to exhibiting.” And though McBride and Osborn have chosen to hang their shingle in New Haven for now, they plan to move to New York City in spring 2019.
As for thoughts concerning Aretakis’s move to Reese: “Nick will be a much-needed steady hand at the tiller,” team McBride said, “and we have no doubt that he will carry the business forward in the finest traditions of the firm.”
Many heartfelt congratulations to all in what appears to be a bright new chapter in the field of antiquarian bookselling.
Abigail speaks with children’s book author Artie Knapp about his latest book featuring a reluctant baby river otter.
Children’s picture-book author Artie Knapp has a knack for writing charming children’s books, and with the publication of The Wasp and the Canary in 2006, Knapp found his life’s calling and now claims five children’s books and over forty published stories to his credit.
Last month, Ohio University Press published the Green Earth Book Award shortlist finalist’s latest book, LittleOtter Learns to Swim ($15.95, 32 pages), a tale that follows a baby river otter as she learns how to navigate her environment. Unlike a baby otter at the Columbus Zoo where a baby otter was plunged into the water by its mother–sink or swim, as the saying goes–Knapp’s creature is guided by a far more understanding mama. Accompanied by sweet and charismatic illustrations by wildlife artist Guy Hobbs, the rhyming picture book is a lovely introduction to water habitats, conservation, and the importance of trying new things.
Abigail spoke recently with Knapp about LittleOtter Learns to Swim and asked about his writing process, his favorite books, and how he overcomes the dreaded writer’s block.
1. What inspired you to write this book? While watching my daughter learn to swim one afternoon, I wondered what animals have to be taught as well. So when we arrived back home, I began doing some research. I would have guessed that river otters know how to swim the moment they’re born, like some other animals do. But I was surprised to learn that river otters are taught to swim by their mothers when they’re one to three months old. That intrigued me and got me started with writing my story.
2. Do you always write about nature? I don’t always write about nature specifically, but nature is something that I am passionate about. I did write the picture book Living Green: A Turtle’s Quest for a Cleaner Planet. Animals are usually the main characters in my stories. I care about the well-being of animals, so I suppose that’s why I use them in my writing so frequently.
3. Are all of your books written in rhyme? Little Otter Learns to Swim is my first book written in rhyme. I have however had children’s poems published in publications such as Humpy Dumpty’s Magazine, and in Oxford University Press course-books.
4. Do you always work with the same illustrator? If not, do you have a choice in who illustrates your book? I don’t always work with the same illustrator, and it’s ultimately the publisher who decides who will illustrate the book. I have been very fortunate with the illustrators who have illustrated my stories.
5. Is your favorite animal an otter? If not, what is? I like river otters a lot, but if I had to pick a favorite animal, it would be my cat, Bella. Her nickname is Bell-Girl. She is often sitting on my desk as I write my stories.
6. How do you know when the story is just right? Do you read it out loud? I do read my stories aloud. As I have progressed in my career, I’ve learned to set my work aside when I think it’s done. Then after a couple of weeks, I’ll reread my story to see if I still like it. A fresh set of eyes after some time has passed has helped to make my work better. If it still reads the same to me after coming back to it, then I usually feel that the story is right. Other times I’ll come back to a story after a break and make changes. Then I’ll set it aside again and come back to it until I feel that it’s where I want it to be.
7. Do you visit schools or libraries? I have visited both schools and libraries, but mostly schools. It’s a lot of fun doing author visits. I enjoy speaking with students, and they inspire me to keep writing.
8. When did you know you wanted to be a children’s book author? I originally started out writing science-fiction stories. Randomly, I wrote a children’s story titled The Wasp and the Canary. That story along with another one I wrote titled The Hummingbird Who Chewed Bubblegum were published simultaneously on a popular site called Candlelightstories.com. Getting published is a great feeling for an author. Those two stories getting published encouraged me to write another children’s story. After writing my third children’s story Sprinting Spencer Still Wants to Run, I felt that I was onto something. From there, I began to write children’s stories frequently and now cannot imagine not writing stories for kids.
9. What kind of books did you read growing up? I didn’t read as much as I should have growing up. I was always outside playing and watched a lot of T.V. I did enjoy comic books and read a lot of classic picture books stories. The Hardy Boys series are the first books that I remember finding hard to put down.
10. What are your favorite children’s books? I enjoy stories that don’t necessarily have a defined ending, but make you the reader left to ponder what happened. My favorite picture book creators are Peter Brown, Don Freeman, Kevin Henkes, Robert McCloskey, Chris Van Allsburg, and Maurice Sendak. Where the Wild Things Are by the late Maurice Sendak is my all-time favorite picture book.
11. What do you do when you’re having a hard time writing or coming up with an idea? I like to take walks. I enjoy the exercise and the fresh air helps too. I also enjoy listening to music. Music often helps me to get back into the zone of being creative.
A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh has never suffered for lack of exposure–far from it. Since the publication of Milne’s first children’s book starring a loveable, honey-hungry bear in 1926, Winnie-the-Pooh has been translated into fifty languages and been the subject of numerous films and exhibitions. Here’s one more to add to the list: on September 22nd, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will present nearly 200 drawings, letters, photographs, and ephemera in a show entitled, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic.”
The exhibition originated in 2017 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London where most of the items on display are part of that institution’s permanent collections. The show then made its way to the High Museum in Atlanta before setting up in Boston.
The goal of the show is to explore various relationships between a bear and a boy, the interplay between Milne’s text and the art of E.H. Shepard, and how classic children’s literature remains relevant in the 21st century.
Highlights include Shephard’s first character portraits of Winnie, Eeyore, Kanga, and other creatures of the Hundred Acre Wood, a 1926 handwritten letter from Milne to Shephard, and photos of Milne’s family.
The show is definitely geared towards children, and the MFA curators have installed various interactive elements, such as recreations of Pooh’s home and the childhood bedroom of Christopher Milne, the inspiration for Christopher Robin. Cuddle-worthy corners throughout the gallery invite children to read, draw, and even listen to a 1929 recording of Milne reading Winnie-the-Pooh aloud. Co-sponsored by Hood Milk, visitors who attend on opening day can enjoy games like a round of ring toss on the MFA’s Huntington Avenue lawn along with generous servings of cookies, milk, and Hoodsie cups.
To paraphrase Pooh himself, you can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for this show. Check it out before it heads back to London.
“Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic,” runs from September 22nd through January 6th, 2019 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. More information at www.mfa.org.
Images, from top: Winnie-the-Pooh first edition, 1924, published in London by Methuen & Co. Ltd; printed by Jarrold & Sons Ltd.
“Pooh sitting on his branch … beside him, ten pots of honey,” 1970, Ernest Howard Shepard.
Spring announces itself in many ways. In the book world, vernal book fairs and auctions tempts the frozen bibliophile our from hibernation with new treasures waiting to be explored. Bonhams welcomes the new season with a May 30 auction entitled, Wassenaar Zoo: a Dutch Private Library.
Comprised of 2,400 mostly ornithological volumes, the collection was assembled in the 1950s to accompany exhibitions at Holland’s now-defunct Wassenaar Zoo. The auction will include a near-complete run of folios by naturalist John Gould, works by French ornithologist François Levaillant and by Daniel Elliot, co-founder of the American Museum of Natural History. Their beautiful illustrations of pheasants, finches, and falcons fuse a delicate balance between art and scientific inquiry and remain highly coveted by collectors.
Representing the biggest names in 19th century natural history documentation, highlights from this collection went on display in New York earlier this month and are currently on view in Hong Kong. Another viewing will be held in London from May 23 through the 29th.
Interested parties may flock to the Bonhams book department at books@bonhams.com.
Image: Superb Fairywren The Birds of Australia. London, Printed by R. and J. E. Taylor; pub. by the author,[1840]-48. Plate 18 by John Gould. Courtesy of Biodiversity Library and Smithsonian.
Europe is in the throes of a massive refugee crisis with millions of asylum-seekers fleeing war-torn lands like Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Among those forced from their homeland include writers, artists, singers, and other creatives who now can find refuge and a place to practice their craft in Paris.
Europe is in the throes of a massive refugee crisis with millions of asylum-seekers fleeing war-torn lands like Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Among those forced from their homeland include writers, artists, singers, and other creatives who now can find refuge and a place to practice their craft in Paris.
Since November 2017, the Atelier des Artistes en Exil(AA-E), or atelier for exiled artists, has welcomed painters, poets, writers, and musicians to its 10,000 square foot space on rue des Poissonniers in the densely populated 18th arrondissement, where immigrants, blue-collar workers and artists live and work side-by-side. The organization is the brainchild of Judith Depaule and Ariel Cypel, a pair known for piloting engaged communal artistic spaces throughout Paris.
The AA-E provides WiFi-enabled workspace and fully-equipped workshops and sound studios where displaced artists have the opportunity to return to their professions and to also regain a sense of stability during a most difficult and stressful time in their lives.
Additionally, the AA-E organizes French language courses, meetings with other artists, assists with resumé writing, facilitates contacts with fellow professionals in France and throughout Europe, and guides asylum seekers through lengthy and confusing French bureaucracy processes.
COURTESY AA-E, PHOTO BY MEDHAT SOODY
An artist in their AA-E studio
As a nonprofit, the AA-E is constantly looking for assistance from educators, artists, curators, teachers, psychiatrists, and librarians, as well as financial support and donations. The AA-E’s current wish list includes tables, chairs, notebooks, drawing supplies, and even food and temporary housing for its displaced patrons. To raise funds, the organization will be launching a crowdfunding campaign in January.
The AA-E lists over two hundred current members. Some work or practice in the studios every day, while others visit when they’re completing projects. Others stop by for meetings, workshops, or to receive legal advice. New visitors are always welcome. Learn more at http://aa-e.org/fr/category/atelier/ and check out some of the artists’ work on the AA-E instagram at https://www.instagram.com/atelierartistesexil/.
This story appeared on January 20th at Art & Object.
