Photo by Richard Asch

Had a wonderful day with great friend (and former boss) Betsy Hearne at the Eric Carle on Saturday. Together we led a little lunchtime discussion–I started it by asking Betsy what she found to be most different about children’s books from when she became a librarian in the late sixties and now. She had a one-word answer: money. We went on to discuss the picture book boom that was going when we began working together in the late 1980s, and how it compared to the YA boom of recent years. (My thoughts about that can be found here.) After a break in which Richard discovered the joys of the Carle shop aka the Grandpa Trap, we went to the lecture hall, where Betsy linked her long-standing interest in “Beauty and the Beast” with a more global perspective on how the stories people learn–and make from their own lives–continue the creation of folklore even over the electronic pathways.

The sadness of saying goodbye to Betsy was mitigated by the fact that we will see each other this Friday at the Zena Sutherland Lecture (Neil Gaiman this year; I would have plugged it here but it sold out quickly) in Chicago, PLUS we stopped at the fabulous Atkins Farms before hitting the turnpike. (Fresh blueberry pie at home, and there’s a pound of fudge in the Horn Book kitchen.)

Saturday night we took the other pound of fudge and our friend Kirk to see the newly 3-D Titanic, the Twilight of its day. I still don’t get why Rose didn’t just move the hell over and let Jack on the raft.

The post Old friends appeared first on The Horn Book.

Shaddup, that's Betsy on the right.

This coming Saturday, I’ll be introducing my old friend Betsy Hearne at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, where she will be delivering the Barbara Elleman Research Library Lecture. 25 bucks for lunch with Betsy and me at noon; the BERL lecture (hey Barbara–how’s it feel to be an acronym?) is  at 2:00 PM and free with admission to the museum. Like Anne Carroll Moore, Bertha Mahony Miller, and Ellen Robillard O’Hara before her, Betsy Gould Hearne is a true three-named Great Lady Legend and you shouldn’t miss this chance to hear her speak.

The post Another Belle of Amherst appeared first on The Horn Book.

The Artist Who Painted 
a Blue Horse

The post Review of The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse appeared first on The Horn Book.

After, we went over to Rich Michelson’s gallery in Northampton, a fabulous showcase for paintings and original illustrative art. (Is there a difference? Discuss.) The gallery is housed in a retired old bank, beautifully lit and stuffed with pictures. The occasion was the opening of the gallery’s annual show of children’s book illustration and the room was filled with picture book people including Jules Feiffer (who currently has a show on at the Carle), my old pal Jane Yolen, and Mo Willems, whose work is displayed in what used to be the vault. I was very happy to receive from the Reader to Reader Foundation the Norton Juster Award for dedication to children’s literature and literacy.

See how happy I am?

In my little acceptance speech I talked about how none of us–writers, librarians, teachers, reviewers–do what we do “for the children.” Or, rather, that when we do find ourselves thinking “I’m doing this for the children,” we tend to screw it up. I’m simply glad that there are children, allowing us to do the work we love.

The post A trip to the country appeared first on The Horn Book.

To whet your appetites, read Patti’s essay, “What Makes a Good Newbery Novel,” from the July/August 2011 Magazine. It’s adapted from a speech she delivered at the Highlights Children’s Writers Workshop at Chautauqua in 2008.

The post Patricia Lee Gauch at the Carle Museum appeared first on The Horn Book.

The post >Field Trip! appeared first on The Horn Book.

The post >Don’t miss Lolly! appeared first on The Horn Book.

Lolly’s talk is on Saturday, February 28, at 1:00PM. Come on down!

The post >Framed appeared first on The Horn Book.

The post >Come See Lolly! appeared first on The Horn Book.

In my catalog essay, I got to hold forth on the problems of taking picture book art out of context, offering my PB101 mini-course about art and text working together, page design, sequence, pacing, and bookmaking. Of course, everyone won’t actually BUY the catalog, or even read the essay if they do… For myself, I have come around to believing that showing this kind of art in a museum is not a sacrilege against picture books but can in fact open people’s eyes to the quality and complexity of a seemingly-simple, well-crafted picture book. What do you think? Have I gone over to the dark side?

The post >Art on the wall appeared first on The Horn Book.