In the country of fairies, one knows everything in one hour or one day.
"In the happy country of fairies, one leaves it only to find one’s way back. One suffers only to become happy, whereas pain is for us an enigma and life a struggle without end where the better people are the first to fall.
There, in the country of fairies, one does not get old, and one always loves. Here, no sooner does our heart barely recover from those foolish acts of our youth than it turns serious and begins to love an object worthy of our heart. Then, our face becomes wrinkled, and our hair turns white leaving us with the feeling of ridicule. There, in the country of fairies, one knows everything in one hour or one day. Here, we pursue truth at the cost of our lives as it evades us. It flees like the marvelous bird, and when, at last, after 30 years of pain, we feel it near us, when our hand lowers to seize it, another hand more powerful freezes us and carries us off to the country from which nobody has ever returned." -- –Édouard Laboulaye, Contes bleus, 1863
The top illustration from Kenneth Grahame's Wind In The Willows is by Inga Moore.
The illustration of Laboulaye's fairytale, The Castle of Life, is by Edward McCandlish.
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Growing, Expanding, and ProsperingThe USA, in the first part of the 20th century, was growing, expanding, and prospering. Ceaseless immigration. The industrial revolution, trains crossing the country, canals, steamships, and cars for the burgeoning middle class.
Progress was the byword, from Chicago to the coastlands, and cities kept growing.
Competition and big rewards. Hardship and corruption. Prosperity and poverty.
Mulberry Street, New York City 1900
Opportunities and Problems
"The Industrial Revolution began the transition of the United States from a rural to an urban society. Young people raised on farms saw greater opportunities in the cities and moved there, as did millions of immigrants from Europe. Providing housing for all the new residents of cities was a problem, and many workers found themselves living in urban slums. . ." Library of Congress
Life Got Faster and Grueling for Many
"Rapid advances in the creation of steel, chemicals and electricity helped fuel production, including mass-produced consumer goods and weapons. It became far easier to get around on trains, automobiles and bicycles. At the same time, ideas and news spread via newspapers, the radio and telegraph. Life got a whole lot faster.
Factory jobs were grueling. It was an era when industrial growth created a class of wealthy entrepreneurs and a comfortable middle class supported by workers who were made up by immigrants and arrivals from America’s farms and small towns." -- The History Channel
The photo is from Getty Images.
Meanwhile in Sandwich, Massachusetts
During these halcyon days in the crowded cities, Thornton Burgess (1874-1965), who would later become a writer of children's books set in the natural world, was growing up in Sandwich, a small Cape Cod town of 1,448. His father had died in the year he was born (1874). So it was that the boy worked at a variety of jobs to help earn money for the living needs of his widowed mother and himself. From his work in the fields, woodlands, and wetlands, he acquired an intimate knowledge of nature and wildlife.
According to Wikipedia, his boyhood jobs were many: "He worked tending cows, picking trailing arbutus (mayflowers) or berries, shipping water lilies from local ponds, selling candy, and trapping muskrats." During these formative years he came to know and love nature.
Later in life, as a father and a widower, he was raising his young son with the help of relatives and working as a reporter for the Springfield Homestead. He began making up stories for the little boy, stories about nature and animals inspired by his own boyhood experiences. He soon began writing them down. This was the beginning of an extraordinary career as a beloved children's book writer.
The vintage farm scene above is from Antique Maps.
Annals of Old Mother Westwind
In 1910, Old Mother Westwind, Burgess first book appeared and became nationally popular. As other books and stories followed, animals and places from Mother Westwind -- Peter Rabbit, Johnny Chuck, Grandfather Frog and many others -- reappeared. Sales grew into the millions and were translated into several overseas editions. Over the next 50 years, he wrote 170 books; 16,000 stories, a daily newspaper column (Bedtime Stories), and in 1924, a popular weekly radio show, the Radio Nature League. He also became an active, lifetime, conservationist.
A Beautiful World of Nature for Young Children.
To get a sense of Burgess' writing voice, here is the opening of Old Mother West Wind:
"Old Mother West Wind came down from the Purple Hills in the golden light of the early morning. Over her shoulders was slung a bag—a great big bag—and in the bag were all of Old Mother West Wind's children, the Merry Little Breezes. . . When she reached the Green Meadows Old Mother West Wind opened her bag, turned it upside down and shook it. Out tumbled all the Merry Little Breezes and began to spin round and round for very joy, for you see they were to lay in the Green Meadows all day long until Old Mother West Wind should come back at night and take them all to their home behind the Purple Hills. . .
When the Merry Little Breezes left Johnny Chuck they raced across the Green Meadows to the Smiling Pool to say good morning to Grandfather Frog who sat on a big lily pad watching for green flies for breakfast.
“Chug-arum,” said Grandfather Frog, which was his way of saying good morning.
Just then along came a fat green fly and up jumped Grandfather Frog. When he sat down again on the lily pad the fat green fly was nowhere to be seen, but Grandfather Frog looked very well satisfied indeed as he contentedly rubbed his white waistcoat with one hand. . ."
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The illustrations here, above, and all the illustrations for Burgess' books were by his friend, Harrison Cady.
Project Gutenberg's Old Mother West Wind.
Project Gutenberg's Mother West Wind's Animal Friends, by Thornton W. Burgess
The Thornton W. Burgess Society and Greenbriar Nature Center in Sandwich, MA.
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Could a Bear be a Prince ?
Creating stories with animals behaving like people with human traits, personalities, and behaviors has a long tradition going back to Aesop. Good stories, like Aesop's Fables, capture the imagination and teach. Children's literature is filled with wonderful anthropomorphic animals from Carroll's Mad Hatter and Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit to Milne's Pooh Bear and Grahame's Toad. From Kipling's jungle to powerful bears under a spell, the literature of the young has also become literature for YA and adults.
The illustration is by Alice and Martin Provensen.
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Richard Scarry's World
I know from experience that reading a book like Scarry's What Do People Do All Day to a young child is a special experience. Young children have strong responses to Scarry's books. They feel a connection and want to look at them -- and listen to them being read -- for years (and their parents like them, too). They explain things about the world around them. They are fun, for young and old.
In 1963, after thirteen years creating illustrations for other writers, he completed the first book that he both wrote and illustrated :The Best Word Book Ever. The book was brilliant, filled with words and illustrations of more than 1400 objects. Hundreds of animal characters were doing things that people do. The book was an immediate success, selling 7 million copies in twelve years. Scarry had the imagination and talent to make his books a fun way for children to learn. He said, "Everything has an educational value if you look for it. But it's the fun I want to get across."
Scarry married Praticia Murphy, a writer of children's textbooks. He had previously illustrated books for her. Over the years, she collaborated with her husband. He named his son, Huck, after Huckleberry Finn, a favorite book of Scarry's. He later named Huckle Cat -- a character who appears in many of his books, after his son. Scarry died in 1994. His son, Huck, has carried on the tradition and created more wonderful books under the name, Richard Scarry.
Book sales, in many languages, total over 100 million. Toys, puzzles, and animated TV series in abundance have been produced based on Scarry's books and characters.
Here is a link to the Busy World of Richard Scary TV series.
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Updating the Busy World
"His Best Word Book Ever, which first appeared in 1963, was issued in 1980 as a "new revised edition" which altered images and text to remove material which could be perceived as offensive due to gender, racial, or religious misconceptions. . .Moral and religious elements and depictions of gender roles were altered or removed (for instance, a menorah was added into a Christmas scene, and the words "he comes promptly when he is called to breakfast", referring to a father bear, were changed to "he goes to the kitchen to eat his breakfast"). Characters engaged in activities reflecting traditional gender roles were altered so as to make the scenes more gender-neutral (e.g., a male character was added into a kitchen scene, a cowboy was replaced with a female gardener and a female scientist. . ." Wikipedia
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A Busytown Update
There is a Busytown Update from Tom the Dancing Bug, a YA and satirical adult comic strip by Ruben Bolling.
Bolling has changed the image and description of several characters to Include: a swamp drainer; a fake news troll; and a millennial complainer. Here is the Link: Busytown Today.
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Children as Silent Witnesses
"Of all the recollections of childhood reading that I have encountered, my favorite comes from an essay by the novelist Penelope Lively entitled 'Essential and Eternal.' Lively makes the point that child readers obliterate the threshold between reality and fantasy as they enter other worlds, But rather than identifying with characters, they become silent witnesses -- observers who see the characters as role models and companions rather than second selves. They participate in the lives of others without liquidating their own identities." -- Excerpted from Enchanted Hunters by Maria Tatar.
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Movies and Animation
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Anthony Iannuci has directed a film adapted from Charles Dicken's book, David Copperfield.
"To a remarkable extent, the new movie is full of cheer. It feels boisterous, bustling, and, at times, perilously close to a romp. Of the young David’s deep and dawdling loneliness there is no sign; later . . .
Iannucci’s movie. 'Although it’s set in 1840, for the people in the film it’s the present day,' he said in an interview. 'And it’s an exciting present.' That is a compelling claim, and 'The Personal History of David Copperfield,' despite its shortcomings, is an enterprise full of hope. Like Mr. Micawber, it thrives on the ridiculous belief that something, somewhere, will turn up." ♦ -- Anthony Lane in the New Yorker
Extraordinary independent animation is being created around the world.
The techniques and subject matter vary with the talented creators, giving us many wonderful moments.
Below are three imaginative animated films.
The illustration is from Forget Me Not by the Animation Workshop.
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Awkward
Brilliant concept and animation
Totally original and very inventive
Created by Nata Metlukh
Music and sound by Daruma Audio
Link: Awkward: time 3.37
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The Turning Point
Darkly powerful and imaginative
Climate change as you have never seen it
Created by Steve Cutts
Music by the Wantaways
Link: The Turningpoint: time 3.21
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Earth Crisis
Remarkable, engaging, moving.
Magic of life, beauty of the natural world.
Produced by Encyclopedia Pictura Productions.
Written/Directed by Isaiah Saxon. Lead animator, Pavel Mishkin.
Music by Dirty Projectors, Dave Longstreth; vocals Kristin Slipp.
Link; Earth Crisis time 7 minutes
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Keedle the Great
In 1940, when Keedle the Great was first published, Europe was in turmoil. Civilization was being torn apart. Poland was defeated and occupied. Norway had surrendered. Relentless Nazi air attacks were destroying British cities. Hundreds of thousands of British children were evacuated from cites. Russia invaded Finland. The Balkan countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were overrun. Italy declared war, Fascists had conquered Spain and Hitler's Nazis had entered Paris. Jews were beaten, robbed, and forced into Ghettos.
In the USA, Deirdre Conselman and her father, writer William
Conselman Jr, were so concerned about the nightmare in Europe, that they wrote Keedle the Great, All You've Ever Wanted To Know About Fascism. It is a children's book, with resonate illustrations by Fred L. Fox, about a nasty kid who looks like Hitler, and grows up to be an evil ruler, before he is destroyed. Remarkably, it is effective today and entirely appropriate for kids.
Keedle is now republished by Jack Zipes' new publishing company, Little Mole And Honey Bear. Their Mission Statement: "History is doomed to repeat itself. We must preserve the things that make us human, and stand up to forces that would tear our society apart."
Here is a link to Zipes' informative new website.
The photo of British child refugees is courtesy of the Guardian.
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We Salute the United Nations World Food Program
"The World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. . . for its efforts to combat a surge in global hunger amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has swept around the world with devastating impact."
Photo of refugee children by Behouz Mehi, AFR Getty Images
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Paws for People .. Making the Human Canine Connection
Mission Statement
PAWS lovingly provides elders, children, and persons with disabilities individualized, therapeutic visits with a gentle and affectionate pet.
Programs
From hospitals and skilled care facilities to chemical dependency centers and elementary schools, thousands of people are experiencing the benefits of one-on-one therapeutic visits thanks to hundreds of dedicated volunteers and their loving therapy companions every year.
Here is a link to a video that documents the PAWS for People program with dogs and people in action.
Here is a link to Paws for People.
Photo courtesy of Paws for People.
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Circling the Waggins
"This book was recommended to me by a friend. Once I got into the book, I couldn't put it down. . . I highly recommend this book to animal lovers. You will definitely laugh and cry. You may even learn a few things about animal care and the treatment of various health issues pet owners often face. I enjoyed this book so much that I am now reading another of this author's pet tales."
This is an excerpt from a United Kingdom review by BrittdogPub on Amazon. (Link)
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Snow Valley Heroes -- A Christmas Tale
The third book in the Planet of the Dogs series
Santa Claus and the elves are faced with a disaster in Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale. Dasher and Dancer, two of Santa's reindeer, are missing, and without the reindeer to pull the sleigh, there can be no Christmas.
The King of the North has taken the reindeer and hidden them in the great Ice Castle.
The only source of hope, the only source of help, for rescuing the missing reindeer comes from the Planet of the Dogs.
This is the true story of how the the dogs saved Christmas.
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Reader copies are available for therapy dogs, librarians, teachers, bookstores and reviewers...Send your request with a postal address to barkingplanet@aol.com
The illustration from Snow Valley Heroes is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.
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“You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.” – Harry S Truman
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