Happy Birthday: Celebrating Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, whose historical fiction book I, Juan de Pareja, won the Newbery Medal in 1966, was born on this date in 1904 in Bakersfield, California. She died at the age of 97 on December 2, 2001. Ms. Borton de Trevino was not Hispanic, but she married a Mexican man and moved with [...]
Happy Birthday: Celebrating Jim Arnosky
Jim Arnosky was the first writer of nature books for children that I fell in love with. Oh, I’ve gone on to enjoy others–Joanna Cole, Ruth Heller, Nic Bishop, Gail Gibbons, Anne Rockwell, Jerry Pallotta—but Mr. Arnosky was the first to catch my attention back in my elementary school librarian days. Such fine detailed pencil [...]
In Which I Am Born
In 1957, the year I was born, Ed Sullivan had Elvis on his show for the third time, showed him only from the waist up, and said: “This is a real decent, fine boy. We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you. You’re thoroughly all [...]
Sunday Salon: Books Read in June, 2010
Adult Fiction: The Laws of Harmony by Judith Hendricks. Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. So Much For That by Lionel Shriver. Ms. Shriver rants about health care, and tells a pretty good story. Semicolon review here. Mandala by Pearl S. Buck. Set in India, not China. Children’s and YA Fiction: Dolphin Song by Lauren [...]
52 Ways to Celebrate Independence Day
1. O Beautiful for spacious skies . . .
June 5th is Drawing Day
We’ll be drawing today, and I’ll try to scan and post some samples. What about you?
June 4th is Aesop’s Day
A farmer placed his nets on his newly sown plough lands, and caught a quantity of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a Stork also. The Stork, having his leg fractured by the net, earnestly besought the Farmer to spare his life. “Pray, save me, Master,” he said, “and [...]
A Walk With Jane Austen by Lori Smith
I’m a Jane Austen fan myself, maybe not quite so much as some others I could name including the author of this book, but I definitely get the attraction. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy coming out of the water after a swim, check. The whole chemistry between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, check. Marianne and [...]
Many Happy Returns: March 24th
William Morris, b.1834. The Defence of Guinevere by William Morris. Quoth Mr. Morris: “If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” “With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less [...]
Many Happy Returns: March 8th
Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, b. 1859. And isn’t it appropriate that Grahame’s birthday falls at the beginning of March? The Wind in the WIllows is definitely a spring sort of story, even though its scenes take the reader through the year from its beginning with spring-cleaning to a summer paddling [...]

