The Playful Antiquarian » Calendar

The Wind in the Willows and World Book Day 2007

vernica — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 12:30:43 +0000

Today (March 1) is World Book Day. In celebration of this day, the Bodleian Library is holding a one-day exhibition featuring Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. If you are lucky enough to be in Oxford today, you can view Grahame’s letters to his son Alastair, the original manuscript of the book, and much more.

If, like me, you cannot visit the Bodleian in person, you can visit the exhibit virtually.

Although I have said very little about the Google Books Library Project (or, for that matter, much about anything lately) on this blog, I must give credit to the Inside Google Book Search blog for the content of this post. Not only did I learn about World Book Day and the Bodleian exhibit from a post on their blog yesterday, I also discovered that it is possible to view the full-text of the New York Public Library’s copy of the 1908 edition of The Wind in the Willows.* Joy!

* As a cataloger-in-waiting, I must note that the text about the Library of Congress, Pforzheimer, and the Bruce Rogers Collection on the book summary page does not apply to the digitized copy. It is copy-specific information for the copy at the Library of Congress.

** Apr. 30, 2007 — Now, the Google Books record links to the WorldCat record for a more recent edition instead of the 1908 edition. This solves the problem of LC copy-specific information being pulled into the Google Books summary description; however, from a bibliographic viewpoint, this solution is somewhat disappointing.

Children’s Literature: Lost in Translation (The Child and the Book Conference 2007)

vernica — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 22:31:14 +0000

The Fourth Annual National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature (NCRCL) “The Child and the Book” conference will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, March 30-April 1, 2007. Bogaziçi University’s Department of Western Languages and Literature is hosting the conference, and the conference theme is “Children’s Literature: Lost in Translation”.

The theme encompasses both the literal translation of children’s literature from one language to another and the broader idea of children’s literature crossing cultural, historical and social boundaries.
Conference organizers are currently seeking paper proposals which address the many ways in which children’s literature is translated. They are also inviting general papers on the following topics:

Literary theory and children’s literature
Gender studies, including masculinist, feminist or queer theory approaches
The politics of children’s literature
Ideology and/or reader response
The voice of the child
Popular culture and children’s literature
Education and children’s literature
Publishing and children’s literature
New voices: new trends

Paper proposals are due October 15, 2006.

Visit the 2007 conference website for more information.*

*The conference website seems to be under construction at the moment, but I am including the link anyhow.

10,000 Ways of Looking at Joan of Arc

vernica — Wed, 31 May 2006 11:56:11 +0000

This summer I am in the mood for unplanned excursions and spontaneous adventures, so yesterday morning, when I read the May 30th entry on Joan of Arc in Helen Dean Fish’s Children’s Almanac of Books and Holidays (1934), I knew that I had to explore that theme. Since I have a backlog of reading material at the moment, I could not follow Fish’s advice to read E.M. Wilmot-Buxton’s The Story of Jeanne d’Arc. Instead, I decided to see the Jean of Arc exhibit at the Boston Public Library.

“10,000 Joans: Treasures from the Joan of Arc Collection of the Boston Public Library” is not about children’s literature, but children’s literature enthusiasts and anyone fascinated by collectors and collecting will delight in this exhibit. The exhibit is in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the donation of the collection to the BPL by Cardinal John Joseph Wright in 1976, and it shows the many ways the legendary saint has been depicted in print and popular culture over the centuries. A wide range of objects are on display, from posters and early printed books to decorative plates to cigarette cards and prayer cards. Children’s books and prints are scattered throughout the exhibit, but there is one freestanding case devoted to depictions of the saint for children.

The exhibit also reveals the growth and development of a topic collection. For Cardinal Wright, his collection was a lifelong passion. He became fascinated with Joan of Arc as a child when his curiosity was sparked by hearing soldiers returned from France after WWI singing the popular song “Joan of Arc, They Are Calling You”. This interest was further fueled by the gift of a book about Joan of Arc from a teacher. Now, the 6,000 items from his collection form the heart of one the largest and most comprehensive collections on Joan of Arc.

The exhibit runs until June 15, 2006, so if you are in the Boston-area, there are still a few weeks to catch it. Guided tours are available on Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. There will also be a guided gallery tour with the exhibition curators on Wednesday, June 7 at 6 p.m. Admission is free and the exhibit is open the same hours as the library.

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Summer 2006

vernica — Thu, 18 May 2006 22:21:41 +0000

In yesterday’s mail, along with the usual bills and credit card offers, I received the summer 2006 program calendar for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Event highlights include a Saturday storytime with Barbara Lehman (August 19), author of The Red Book, and the annual Eric Carle book signing (Sunday, August 6).

For visitors who cannot make it to the special events, there is plenty to see in the exhibit galleries. In the East Gallery, “Dutch Treats: Contemporary Illustration from the Netherlands” will be on display until June 25, after which “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” will open on July 11. In the West Gallery, “Creative Connections: The Art of Eric Carle and Leo Lionni” runs until September 3. And, the recently opened “PROCESS: From Person to Pencil to Published” runs until December 10.

Of course, there is too much to list in a blog post, so visit the museum’s website for a complete listing. The PDF version of the calendar is not up yet, but I am sure it will be posted soon.

Spectral Literacy: The Child in the Margin, Apr. 28 (AAS)

vernica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Friday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m., Patricia Crane, professor of English at New York University, will give a lecture titled “Spectral Literacy: The Child in the Margin” at the American Antiquarian Society. Crane is the author of The Story of A: The Alphabetization of America from The New England Primer to The Scarlet Letter–a book that I was drooling over recently at a local bookstore–and her talk will discuss children’s marginalia in 19th-century books.

The lecture is sponsored by AAS, Clark University, and the University of Connecticut and is open to the public. Reservations are recommended for the lecture and required for the dinner afterwards. See the AAS website for seminar location, registration, and further information.

As a side note, now that children’s marginalia is a recognized research topic, perhaps, I can stop feeling so guilty about my own early marginalia.

Greetings from San Antonio!

vernica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hello, all! I am in San Antonio at the moment, enjoying my last day at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. I needed my laptop today to take minutes for the committee for which I am interning, so I decided that it was a good time to take advantage of brief wifi access.

This meeting has been mostly work and very little play for me. However, yesterday, I was able to visit the exhibits where I scored a free copy of the Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature and managed to get all of my textbooks for next semester for half price. And, after this meeting, I will finally get a chance to do touristy things like eat on the Riverwalk and tour the Alamo.

I hope to post more soon–if not from San Antonio, then from Boston.

Children’s Book Stamps Dedication Ceremony

Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tuesday, January 10, at 11 a.m. the first-day-of-issue ceremony for the children’s book animal stamps will be held at the University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books. I wrote about the stamps earlier, but I noticed that there is now a press release from the University of Findlay.

If you live in or near Findlay, OH, you can purchase the new stamps January 10. The rest of us will have to wait until January 11.

Annual Children’s Book Illustration Exhibit, R. Michelson Galleries

vernica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The 16th Annual Children’s Book Illustration Exhibit opened yesterday, December 3, at the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, MA. This year’s exhibit features illustrations from the new book Happy Feet by Richard Michelson and E.B. Lewis–a book about Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom and inspired by the swing dancer Frankie Manning. Works by Alice Provensen and Jane and Brooke Dyer also are on exhibit.

Unfortunately, the Lindy Hop demonstrations were only at last night’s opening party. The exhibit, however, runs from December 3 through January 30, 2006. For more information, see the gallery’s website, which includes a reprint of the November 27, 2005 Boston Globe article about the exhibit.

NYT Review of Beatrix Potter in America

vernica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I wondered why this weblog was receiving so many hits for the search terms “Beatrix Potter in America”, and now I know the answer. Earlier this week Grace Glueck reviewed the exhibit for the New York Times Arts section.

In celebration of the end of Banned Books Week and the beginning of my third (eek!) decade as a children’s literature connoisseur, j (of j’s scratchpad fame) and I journeyed to Amherst on October 1 to visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and view the exhibit. J, who is much more on top of things blog-wise, posted her impressions of the exhibit and the museum shortly after our trip.

Exhibition catalogue buff that I am, I purchased Lolly Robinson’s delightful catalogue, Beatrix Potter in America: An Exhibition at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I also purchased the Ashley Bryan exhibit catalogue, Painter and Poet: The Wonderful World of Ashley Bryan, which is a colorful and vibrant contrast to the subdued, watercolor hues of the Potter catalogue.

The exhibit closes this Sunday, December 4. If you have never been to the Eric Carle Museum, it is worth the trip. And if you are going to see the exhibit, take j’s advice and bring a magnifying glass with you.

Hmmm . . . I wonder if I can convince j to drive to Amherst for one (or more) of the exhibits planned for 2006?

Imagine: Children’s Book Week 2005

vernica — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Today marks the beginning of the 86th annual Children’s Book Week, a celebration of children’s books and the joys of reading. This year’s theme is “Imagine”, and this year’s poster was designed by illustrator Mark Teague.

The Children’s Book Council (CBC) website has ideas for celebrating Children’s Book Week and photos from last year’s celebration, including a delightful one of CBC staff in Children’s Book Week-inspired costumes.