I was introduced to Ishii’s work through a footnote in an otherwise unremarkable book on postwar Japanese children’s literature. That note led me to Ishii’s 1947 children’s book Non-chan kumo ni noru (Non-chan Rides on a Cloud), with which I fell instantly in love. Since then, I have been obsessively gathering everything I can find about Ishii–much to the puzzlement of both my American and Japanese friends and several (very helpful and patient) American and Japanese book dealers.

The news of her death makes me wish that I had been more diligent in my efforts to turn my personal research into a published article or a useful Wikipedia entry (or, more importantly, a completed MA thesis). Perhaps, if there are not permissions restrictions (and LibraryThing resolves some of its East Asian language support issues), I will enter the catalog of Katsura Bunko, Ishii’s children’s library, into the LT legacy library project.

Although, sadly, I never met Ishii, I feel this week as if I have lost a great friend, a wise mentor that I always thought would be around. In some ways, she will always be around–in her writings and in the work of her successors. Rest in peace, Ms. Ishii.

Further reading:

• Japanese obituaries from Asahi Shinbun, Mainichi Shinbun, and Yomiuri Shinbun
• Ishii’s Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominee biography

However, the owls were good to me. A UPS delivery owl dropped off my copy of Deathly Hallows in the entryway to my apartment building some time before 6:30 Saturday morning (and placed it appropriately enough in a large spider web!). While I felt foolish checking so early in the morning and even more foolish standing outside in Mickey Mouse pajamas, I ignored my embarrassment, hugging the box to my chest and breathing deeply to hold back unexpected tears.

It was strange, but I felt the way I felt as a small child on Christmas morning in the days when Santa still left presents for me. I could not decide whether I wanted to open the box or not. I worried. Were the contents exactly what I wished for or was it another undesired pair of socks disguised in a festive box?

Overcome by too much anticipation and too little sleep, I did not open the box that morning. Instead, I slept, beginning the book only when I felt rested enough to do so and finishing the last lines late Monday night. And, although I had a few complaints (mostly concerning the epilogue and the treatment of a favorite character), I felt satisfied with how the story ended.

Of course, as a girl with a never-ending reading queue, I did not dwell too long on the end of Harry’s adventures. By Tuesday evening, I was prowling the local bookstores and libraries again, returning home with two books from Curious George and a tote bag full of books from the Boston Public Library. I must confess, however, that I have not given up on Harry quite yet; the Japanese-language edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was among the library books.

Then, this Saturday, I found myself seated on the T next to a father and son on their way to see the Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix movie. The father was as excited about the movie as the son, it seemed. Although the father, as a non-native English speaker, was struggling with the characters’ names, he knew the plots of all of the books and movies and was happy to reenact favorite scenes with his son.

Ordinarily, I would be annoyed about people talking and laughing loudly on the subway. But, this time I smiled. When I looked around the subway car, my fellow passengers were smiling as well. For a moment, I wondered if I had discovered and boarded the train at Boston’s own Platform 9 3/4.

Before Harry Potter, I, like most adults, led a boring reading life. I never stayed up past my bedtime to read one more chapter or one more page, unless I was forced to do so. I skimmed and scanned and read in fits and starts. And, when I read deeply, I focused on analyzing and critiquing the words before me. I could never imagine being seen in public with a children’s book. Instead, I spent my commute and lunch hour poring over newspapers, work-related reports, magazines, current events books, and novels that needed to be read for book group.

But, the day I picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at my public library, everything changed. Suddenly, I remembered that there were other ways to read (and other reasons for reading). I rediscovered pleasure reading and the joy of shared reading experiences. I became reacquainted with my favorite childhood books, finding comfort in the fact that the library’s children’s room was not an Eden from which I was forever banished, but a place to which I could return to whenever needed.

In almost a week’s time, the Potter phenomenon will be over. However, adult Muggles should not despair. There are other books and other imaginary worlds to explore, and there are librarians, booksellers, and other readers’ advisers eager to guide you.

And, if you would rather savor the last days of Potter-mania, than think about the post-Harry Potter future, there are many opportunities to reminisce, rejoice, and create. For example, you can wile away the days until the final book release with Matthew Reidsma and other cartoonists as they draw a different Harry Potter character each day.

My new morning routine, for example, includes a quick glance at the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) Book of the Day. This gadget, which I recently added to my Google homepage, displays a different book from the ICDL’s collection each day. Although the selections are often contemporary books in languages other than English, on occasion, older books are featured.

This week I discovered Marianne L.B. Ker’s How the Fairy Violet Lost and Won Her Wings. Ker’s 1872 children’s book tells the story of a fairy named Violet who loses her wings in an accident and earns new wings through her service to a dying girl. In between losing and winning her gossamer wings, Violet meets the Fire-King, the Snow-King, and a magician, among others. Beneath the melodrama and Victorian sentimentality, there is historically interesting commentary on man’s relationship to the environment, urban living conditions, and the restorative power of nature.

Now that I have frolicked with the Fairy Violet among the flowers, I wonder what interesting characters ICDL’s Book of the Day will bring to my breakfast table next?

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.

• Asian North-American Children’s Literature About the Internment: Visualizing and Verbalizing the Traumatic Thing / Fu-jen Chen and Su-lin Yu
• Sense of Loss, Belonging, and Storytelling: An Anglo-Indian Narrator in The Borrowers / Ariko Kawabata
• The Pedagogy and Problems of Jane Andrews’s The Seven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball that Floats in the Air (1861) / Laureen Tedesco
• Serial Monogamy: Extended Fictions and the Television Revolution / Margaret Mackey
• National Identity in a Multicultural Society: Malaysian Children’s Literature in English / Christina M. Desai
• Leap of Faith: An Interview with Max Velthuijs / Victoria de Rijke and Howard Hollands

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.

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.

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.