Lion

Lion
by William Pène du Bois
The Viking Press, 1956

My son just received this last night as a gift, and even after only one read through this morning, he's hooked. It stars the all important animals, and on top of that is a really delightful and strange story. The friend who gifted it to us said she'd never heard of it, but then when she did research, she found out it is a book of some literary fame.

"I will make two LIONS, Foreman, and send them at once to Planet Earth. I wouldn't be surprised if LION were welcomed there as THE KING OF BEASTS. What sort of noise does LION make? Does LION roar like THUNDER?"

A tale of the Foreman of "The Animal Factory" -- a heavenly place where angels create all the creatures of the earth -- it follows the creative process involved in developing an animal as majestic and iconic as the lion.

A Caldecott Honor book in 1957, the French-born Pene du Bois has illustrated a number of famous children's books including one with Charlotte Zolotow about a boy who wants a doll. That is totally gonna be my next find!

Also by:
The Runaway Flying Horse
Bear Party

Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present

Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
Charlotte Zolotow
pictures by Maurice Sendak
published 1962 by I'm not sure who but my '77 edition is by HarperTrophy

I've always thought this book was a little weird. The "Mr. Rabbit" has always seemed a little too grownup and mysterious to be helping a little girl devise a gift for her mother's birthday. Maybe '62 was a less sinister time, but the way Sendak illustrates the rabbit is a bit jaunty. None-the-less, I like this book for its absurd repetitions and fruit/color collecting.

"She likes Red," said the little girl.
"Red," said Mr. Rabbit. "You can't give her red."
"Something red, maybe," said the little girl.
"Oh, something red," said Mr. Rabbit.
"What is red?" said the little girl.
"Well," said Mr. Rabbit, "there's red underwear."

"Little girl" as a two word combination is written approximately 40 times, and (not including the cover and title pages) "Mr. Rabbit" is written 38 times. There have always been some mysteries for me attached to this book (whenever I've gotten close to a title, I always have unanswered questions about things), but in this case, Ms. Zolotow and family have detailed on her Web site the why and how of how this book came to be.

On the site, Mr. Rabbit is described as.... "The rabbit, slightly louache in appearance but always respectful..." Though I am not sure what louache actually means, it sounds apropos.

Footnote: I think it is a form of this word -- louche \LOOSH\, adjective: Of questionable taste or morality; disreputable or indecent; dubious; shady...... Makes sense.

Also by:
I Have a Horse of My Own
The Hating Book
Flocks of Birds
A Very Special House
Moon Jumpers
What Do You Say, Dear?
Pierre: A Cautionary Tale
A Tree is Nice
Some Swell Pup
Let's Be Enemies
Do You Know What I'll Do?
The Sky Was Blue
Chicken Soup with Rice
Lullabies and Night Songs
Outside Over There
I'll Be You and You Be Me
The Juniper Tree
Where the Wild Things Are
Seven Little Monsters
The Giant Story

The Red Balloon

The Red Balloon
Albert Lamorisse ~ Delacourte Press, 1956

Again, if you were a child of a certain era, The Red Balloon was more than a movie and a book, it was a way of being. It was a stolen moment that encapsulated the fight against everything that seemed closed-in or monotonous about life. It was to "rebelle" against anything that was black and white and ordinary like school or dreams not coming true or the bully with an eye on you.

He climbed up the lamppost, untied the balloon and ran off with it to the bus station. But the conductor knew the rules, "No dogs," he said. "No large packages, no balloons."
People with dogs walk.
People with packages take taxis.
People with balloons leave them behind.

Gosh, I loved this book as a kid, which is basically just still shots from a 1956 short film by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse. My mother bought me and my sisters the book years before we saw the movie at a film festival when I was in elementary school.

It amazes me that at two years old my son was equally entranced by it, even never having watched the film. There is something about that big red balloon and the fact that it listens to the boy and at the end the entire world of balloons saves the day and whisks him away from all his pain and sorrow. I also remember being particularly fascinated that the story took place in Paris. How the streets looks so old and curvy and so different from the dirt road/ Spanish moss/ windblown/ ocean/ barefoot childhood of my youth.

Here in 2011, my son's seen the movie dozens of times, and always weeps openly at the end. I know how he feels. I can't even think about The Red Balloon without filling up with so much bitter sweet emotion.

A powerful story, beautifully told.

Animals Everywhere

Animals Everywhere
Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire ~ Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1940

The miracle workers at The New York Review have been handpicking important and wonderful out-of-print children's titles for reprint in their Children's Collection, and the results are remarkable.

I had never seen this book until I stumbled on it in a book store today. Like most people my age, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's book D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths was a staple, and my sisters and I spent hour upon hour pouring over its pages. The tale of the imprisoned man who has his ears licked clean by a snake and can then hear the voices of termites as they plot their next meal made a huge and fantastical impression on me. So seeing the words D'aulaire and animal together on one book cover today nearly made my head spin.

Far to the South live the animals that like very hot weather.
There is never cold and never winter, and the sun burns all through the year.

Originally published under the name Animals Everywhere, the new edition is called D'Aulaire's Book of Animals, and it's a fold-out tale told in lavish illustration tracking wildlife from the hottest of hot climates to the coldest of cold... from yawning hippo to floating narwhal. The original version, isn't fold-out but told in back-to-back color-B&W rotation. THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. Flipping through the pages I almost can't believe how awesome it it. This definitely bodes well for the rest of the books in the series, and as soon as I finish writing this post, I'm gonna be off in search!

Also by:
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths
The Terrible Troll-Bird
Benjamin Franklin
Don't Count Your Chicks
Ola
Nils

—————

Read along on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, tumblr, Twitter and Etsy.

1 is One

1 Is One
by Tasha Tudor/ published 1956 by (I think) some imprint of Macmillan

Tasha Tudor was one of my favorite children's book illustrators when I was a child, and my parents were somewhat obsessed with her. Anyone not familiar with who she is, Tasha Tudor lives her life as it appears in her books. She has to be 93 now, but still lives in in Vermont in a frozen time circa 1830. Making everything from scratch... her home, her furniture, her clothes, her coveted dolls... and raising her children this way, she's created a fantasy life to be admired by anyone who still appreciates the "way things used to be."

5 is five eggs in a pretty round nest
6 is six children all dressed in their best
7 is seven apples on a little apple tree
8 is eight daffodils you are picking for me

My sisters and I had all her books when we were little. This wonderful little counting ditty won a Caldecott honor medal, but my absolute favorite was A Time To Keep with its amazing illustrations of holidays of yore. She and her family still have a thriving home enterprise selling everything from books to prints to handmade grandfather clocks to doll house furniture. The fact that a woman like this ever existed at all is truly a nod to the human spirit.

Also by:
A Time to Keep
Pumpkin Moonshine
First Graces
Five Senses
A Tale for Easter

The Bear's Toothache

The Bear's Toothache
David McPhail
Little Brown & Company, 1972

Out the year of my birth, I've always liked the way this guy draws. I also like how most of his books are tied into the active imagination of a child. So many of his stories are real life situations that are taken to the extreme when something unbelievable happens. In this case, a small boy helps a bear out with his pain in the mouth.

And just as he hit the ground, the tooth popped out! The bear was so happy that he gave me the tooth to put under my pillow.

His animals always look so friendly and fun, and his children with their little faces are innocent and endearing. If we all had a talisman like a gifted bear's tooth, we'd be in good shape.

Also by:
The Bear's Bicycle
The Magical Drawings of Moony B. Finch

Indian Bunny

Indian Bunny
Ruth Bornstein
Children's Press, 1973

Renamed at some point Brave Bunny for obvious reasons, I purchased it right after my son was born when I first started casing used book shops for gems.

One day a bunny said, "Good-by, I'm going to be an Indian."

So good-natured and pure, Indian Bunny is a real testament to nature and the sky and the animals and the trees and the world. His little journey speaks wonderfully of living a simple life and finding awe in the magic of everyday things.

In the stream I'll find a tadpole and he'll tell me how he turns into a frog.