44 Comments

Ahh this is what I needed today!

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Sun Moon Star is actually in print! I recently picked up a new edition as a gift! Nice recommendations. Thanks for sharing.

https://www.sevenstories.com/books/3952-sun-moon-star

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Oh look at that! I was a little surprised that the only kids book by Kurt Vonnegut was out of print. Thanks, Erin. I’m editing now...

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I treated myself to the Provensen book. It’s just my sort of thing. Thank you.:-)

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You won't be sorry. It's so good.

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Oh wow! Thank you for this. I just had a flood of old memories of reading “Outside Over There” -- I love it!

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Thank you for sharing these beauties! I see so much of the Provensens influence in your illustrations! Could spend hours looking at every little detail in their drawings, shapes, forms and all.

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Same. They're my heroes.

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I NEED THE RUSSIAN FAIRYTALES ONE OMG!!

Ч ОЧЕНЬ ХОЧУ ЭТО!!

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Да, конечно!

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I’m an avid collector of picture books, so this is especially awesome. And, yes, to a possible picture book club! Thanks, Carson.

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Until now, I had no idea Vonnegut wrote a picture book.... what a gift. It reminds me of the time I discovered E.E. Cummings and John Eaton’s picture book, Fairy Tales..... another gem.

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I looooved Russian Folk Tales as a child. Some other gems here. Thank you!

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Ohmygoodness, I love hearing about new-to-me-gems--which nearly all of these are! 🤩 Thank you for sharing!

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Sure thing!

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This is fantastic! Thank you for your recommendations, Carson. I’ve ordered a few for Christmas gifts (including gifts for myself) but I was too slow and someone (you know who you are!) got the book of Russian Folk Tales you had linked here.

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There are lots of iterations of that Bilibin book. I think this may be the same one or similar in a different format: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/6503/russian-fairy-tales-by-gillian-avery-illustrated-by-ivan-bilibin. It has a lot, if not all, of the same stories and illustrations. It was also published in the original Russian as individual books for each story. You can find lots of those on ebay.

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Thank you for the assistance. I’ve ordered it and look forward to reading it. Happy holidays!

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Thank you for this wonderful list! I recently wrote a newsletter about Sendak & Outside Over There, it's my absolute favorite! A commenter on the post mentioned that she had seen you talk about it at an event and I've wondered your thoughts on it. Isn't it just so perfectly dark & weird?

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Oh cool. I'll check it out. Yes, perfectly dark and weird. If I read this book in a vacuum - didn't know it won a Caldecott Honor and has been in print for 40 years - I'd think it was a book that would alienate readers. But it's beloved! The mystery of it resonates in a deep way with kids and adults alike. It's like magic. Sendak sometimes said that he didn't write for kids - he said he wrote whatever he wanted and publishers just decided his books were kids books and sold them as such. (Which is kind of silly because it was the infamous children's book editor Ursula Nordstrom who published him from the get go, but I get the gist.) He also talked a lot about how seriously we should take child readers. The two sentiments seem kind of in opposition to each other (I don't write for children. I love and respect my child readers.) but I think they coexist in all his work, and in nothing more so than Outside Over There. He's so tapped into a child's consciousness but not necessarily because he's trying to engage children. I think he's just exploring his own deep childhood stuff and both kids, going through it, and parents, remembering, recognize it.

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Gosh, yes. It's amazing to watch children just get his work -- in a not-so-long-ago previous life I was an elementary school librarian, and it was like magic introducing Sendak to kids.

I read once that Nordstrom had intended to pair Sendak with Margaret Wise Brown, but Brown's unexpected death scuppered those plans. Can you imagine?! I mean, I adore his early work with Ruth Krauss -- where would he have gone without her writing influence -- but I can't help wondering what Brown & Sendak would have created.

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Wow. That is something to fantasize about.

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My daughter LOVES People. She can go back and forth those pages forever! Thank you for your list! There are true gems on it! 😊

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I had no idea Kurt Vonnegut wrote a children’s book. This is big news.

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What a great post, thank you! More great picture books to feed my addiction. I buy them “to read to my class” but everybody knows the truth.😂 I especially love Outside Over There. I find that kids enjoy books that make them wonder, “What is really going on here? Does it make sense, is it realistic or fantasy or some blend of the two? And can it really be for kids if it’s dark? Is that okay???” It is super engaging and empowering for kids when they are trusted to make their own meaning of a story and not be too freaked out by any dark, creepy, or ambiguous parts--or even enjoy it a bit!

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Oooh, we had that Russian Fairy Tales (and Outside Over There and every Provensen BUT Shaker Lane [but don’t worry I have it now]) when I was a kid. So lovely to see so many of my heart books in this list - plus the possibilities of future delights 😊

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