A Sundae Sunday Brunch

All year I look forward to having the week off between Christmas and New Year’s -- can’t wait for it. But it seems like something happens every year to spoil that vacation. This year one of those things was the flu; I wasted one whole day sleeping! Otherwise the week flew by and I didn’t get nearly as much accomplished as I expected. So now it’s time to go back to work and I am not a happy camper. Oh well, there’s always next Christmas. ...Only 51 weeks away.

Among other things, today’s Sunday Brunch includes a list of the books I read in 2009, as well as a list of the children’s book creators we lost.


A SUNDAE FOR SUNDAY

Doing a round-up of library books to take home over the holidays, I came across A SUNDAE WITH JUDY by Frieda Friedman. It seems like I’ve heard of this book all my life, but had never bothered to pick it up before. I guess I was under the mistaken notion that it was a teenage romance -- probably about a girl named Judy who goes out for a sundae with her beau. However, this time I actually took the book off the shelf and discovered it’s a middle-grade novel about an eleven-year-old girl whose father owns a sweet shop. Judy spends a lot of the book standing behind the soda counter making sweet treats for customers and friends. This sounded kind of appealing to me -- the guy who likes to play the Candyland board game with little kids just because I get a kick out of landing on “Ice Cream Floats” -- so I took the book home and read it.


Published in 1949 and was named an Honor Book in the New York Herald Tribune’s Spring Children’s Book Festival, A SUNDAE WITH JUDY is probably most notably for its authentic Amsterdam Avenue setting, its multicultural cast of characters, and its depiction of warm neighborhood relationships. The prose is a bit sentimental and the author sometimes tells more than she shows -- even in dialogue (“She said she wanted a toy for her four-year-old niece. When Daddy suggested a toy carpet sweeper the customer said she would like to look at it”), but on the whole, the book holds up as a nostalgic portrait of New York City life in the mid-twentieth century. It’s easy to see why it remained in print for well over thirty years.

I was surprised to see how little information I could find on the internet about author Frieda Friedman. Born in 1905, she wrote several other middle-grade novels with NYC settings including another book I’ve heard of all my life but never picked up -- DOT FOR SHORT. Maybe I’ll read that one soon.


A SUNDAE ILLUSTRATOR

I was surprised to see that both A SUNDAE WITH JUDY and DOT FOR SHORT were illustrated by Carolyn Haywood. I was unaware that this popular creator illustrated many books other than her own stories about Betsy and Eddie. Doing a little research on Ms. Haywood today, I came across a few references to her having written “a number of adult books” including BOOK OF HONOR, a biography of famous women from Pennsylvania. I’ve never heard of this book or of ANY adult books by Carolyn Haywood.

I guess I’ve just found my first literary mystery to track down in 2010.


THE MISSING YEAR

Incidentally, when I was growing up on Carolyn Haywood’s books in the 1960s, I was always impressed that the front of each volume had a complete list of her titles (well, complete except for those adult books!) in chronological order. As I recall, the list began in 1939 and there was one book listed for every year. But in the early sixties (I want to say 1961), she skipped year -- and it always bugged me to see that missing year on the list.

Of course she was entitled to “skip” a year -- most authors don’t publish one title every year like clockwork -- but I always wondered what happened that year. Did she take a year off? Was she ill? Did she write a manuscript that wasn’t accepted for publication. I guess I’ll never know, but I guess it’s a measure of my own obsession with books and authors that -- forty years later -- I’m still wondering about that “missing year” and would still love to know the answer!


FOND FAREWELLS

Here is a list of the children’s book creators who departed in 2009. Although it’s nice to realize that, as long as their books remain on the library shelves, they will never really be gone.


Blair Lent died on January 27 at age 79

This illustrator and occasional writer (both under his own name and as “Ernest Small”) is best known for the picture books TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO and the Caldecott winning A FUNNY LITTLE WOMAN.

John Updike died January 27 at age 76

Though best known for his adult novels, poetry, and criticism, John Updike also wrote a few children’s books. His CHILD’S CALENDAR was illustrated by Nancy Burkert Ekholm in 1965; Trina Schart Hyman received a Caldecott Honor for illustrating the re-issue in 2000.

Karla Kuskin died on August 20 at age 77

Her first book, ROAR AND MORE (1956) began as a class project when she was attending Yale. Since then she wrote and illustrated more than fifty acclaimed books including the modern classic MOON, HAVE YOU MET MY MOTHER? : THE COLLECTED POEMS OF KARLA KUSKIN in 2003.

Milton Meltzer died September 19 at age 94

One of the most highly-regarded authors of juvenile nonfiction, Milton Meltzer was nominated five times for the National Book Award and received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his entire body of work. I think the American Library Association’s new nonfiction award, clumsily called the “ALA | YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults” should be renamed the Milton Meltzer Award in honor of this groundbreaking children’s book creator.

Norma Fox Mazer died October 16 at age 78

Beginning with I, TRISSY in 1971, Norma Fox Mazer published dozens of books, spanning the genres of realistic fiction (AFTER THE RAIN, a Newbery Honor), fantasy (SATURDAY, THE TWELFTH OF OCTOBER), short stories (DEAR BILL, REMEMBER ME?), mystery (TAKING TERRI MUELLER.) She was especially adept at writing about working class family life.

Esther Hautzig died November 1 at age 78

An author of both fiction and nonfiction, she is best known for her autobiographical work THE ENDLESS STEPPE : GROWING UP IN SIBERIA, which was a National Book Award finalist and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.

Margaret B. Young died on December 5 at age 88

THE FIRST BOOK OF AMERICAN NEGROES (1966) was one of several African-American-themed children’s books written by this Spelman College professor.

If you know of any other children’s books authors and illustrators I’ve missed, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.


WHAT I READ

During 2009 I tried to keep a running list of all the books I read. In many ways, this list is atypical for me. In earlier years, I’ve usually found myself reading children’s and young adult books 90% of the time. This year I challenged myself to read Pulitzer Prize novels (still have about half to go) and, in the past few months, I began reading a lot of plays. Still, there are a fair number of children’s and YA titles on the list and in 2010 I’m sure there will be many more. I ended up a total of 226 books, or an average of 4.3 books per week. Granted, a few of those were picture books, which helped bulk up the total number! Titles with an asterisk indicate books I had read before but read again this year for the second...third...or twentieth time.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN / Lionel Shriver / Adult novel
THE AFTER HOURS / Mark Kneece / Graphic novel
I’LL PASS FOR YOU COMRADE / Anita Silvey / Middle-grade nonfiction
GOTHIC LOLITA / Dakota Lane / YA novel
BLISS / Lauren Myracle / YA novel
THE GUERNSEY POTATO PEEL PIE AND LITERARY SOCIETY / Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows / Adult novel
NOTHING PINK / Mark Hardy / YA novel
THE GOOD GIRL / Kerry Cohen Hoffman / YA novel
ALVIN HO : ALLERGIC TO GIRLS, SCHOOL AND OTHER SCARY THINGS / Lenore Look / Early reader
AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER / Jacqueline Woodson / Newbery Honor
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK / Neal Gaiman / Newbery Medal
THE SURRENDER TREE / Margarita Engle / Newbery Honor
WINTERGIRLS / Laurie Halse Anderson / YA novel
THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT / Susan Marie Swanson / Caldecott winner
WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? / Barbara Kerley / Sibert Honor
HOW I LEARNED GEOGRAPHY / Uri Shulevitz / Caldecott Honor
A RIVER OF WORDS / Jen Bryant / Caldecott Honor
WHEN YOU REACH ME / Rebecca Stead / Middle-grade novel
MISS BIANCA IN THE SALT MINES / Margery Sharp / Middle-grade novel
ABRAHAM LINCOLN COMES HOME / Robert Burleigh / Picture book
A CHORUS LINE AND THE MUSICALS OF MICHAEL BENNETT / Ken Mandelbaum / Adult biography
TIME STEPS / Donna McKechnie / Adult autobiography
BERL’S BLUES / Anna Olswanger / Middle-grade fiction
LILIES OF THE FIELD / William Barrett / Adult novel
JELLICOE ROAD / Melina Marchetta / YA novel
A MAN LAY DEAD / Ngaio Marsh / Adult mystery
BLESS THE BEASTS AND THE CHILDREN / Glendon Swarthout / Adult novel
EXIT THE KING / Eugene Ionesco / Play
BEIGE / Cecil Castellucci / YA novel
CHANGE HAS COME / Kadir Nelson / Picture book
SWISS MIST / Randy Powell / YA novel
HEART OF A SHEPHERD / Rosanne Perry / Middle-grade novel
PEACE, LOCOMOTION / Jacqueline Woodson / Middle-grade novel
KEEPING SCORE / Linda Sue Park / Middle-grade novel
TODAY IS SATURDAY / Zilpha Keatley Snyder / Middle-grade poetry book *
RINGSIDE 1925 / Jen Bryant / Middle-grade novel
LOOKS / Madeline George / YA novel
M FOR MAGIC / Neal Gaiman / YA short stories
BOX OUT / John Coy / YA novel
PAPER TOWN / John Green / YA novel
IF I LOVE YOU, AM I TRAPPED FOREVER? / M.E. Kerr / YA novel *
WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE / Ellen Klages / Middle-grade novel
SCAT / Carl Hiasson / Middle-grade novel
COLUMBINE / Dave Cullen / Adult nonfiction
THE COMPOUND / S.A. Bodeen / YA novel
BLACK BOX / Julie Schumacher / YA novel
IF THE WITNESS LIED / Caroline B. Cooney / YA novel
1001 CRANES / Naomi Hirahara / YA novel
TORN TO PIECES / Margot McDonnell / YA novel
PERPETUAL CHECK / Rich Wallace / YA novel
CASTRATION CELEBRATION / Jake Wizner / YA novel
CRICKET MAN / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor / Middle-grade novel
LORETTA MASON POTTS / Mary Chase / Middle-grade novel
WICKED PIGEON LADIES... / Mary Chase / Middle-grade novel
A COUPLE OF BOYS HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER / Marla Frazee / Caldecott Honor
THE GREAT GATSBY / F. Scott Fitzgerald / Adult novel
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE / James Cain / Adult novel
GODLESS / Pete Hautman / YA novel
LUCKY ONES / Stephanie Greene / Middle-grade novel
FAMILY GRANDSTAND / Carol Ryrie Brink / Middle-grade novel
FAMILY SABBATICAL / Carol Ryrie Brink / Middle-grade novel
I’M EXPLODING NOW / Sid Hite / YA novel
DIARY OF A WITNESS / Catherine Hyde / YA novel
OLIVE KITTREDGE / Elizabeth Strout / Pulitzer winner
HICKORY / Palmer Brown / Early reader *
LAZY TOMMY PUMPKIN HEAD / William Pene DuBois / Middle-grade novel*
PRETTY PRETTY PEGGY MOFFITT / William Pene DuBois / Middle-grade novel*
PORKO VON POPBUTTON / William Pene DuBois / Middle-grade novel*
CALL ME BANDICOOT / William Pene DuBois / Middle-grade novel*
AUGUST : OSAGE COUNTY / Tracy Letts / Pulitzer winning play
CURIOUS GEORGE PLANTS A TREE / H.A. Rey / Picture book
SLIGHTLY IRREGULAR FIRE ENGINE / John Barthelme / Picture book *
DAISY MILLER / Henry James / Adult novel
ALL SOULS / Christine Schutt / Adult novel
ALVIN HO : ALLERGIC TO CAMPING, HIKING AND OTHER... / Lenore Look / Early reader
DISHES / Rich Wallace / YA novel
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE / Jacqueline Kelly / Middle-grade novel
VACATIONS FROM HELL / Libba Bray, et al / YA short story collection
CHASING LINCOLN’S KILLER / James Swanson / Middle-grade nonfiction
THE FROG SCIENTIST / Pamela S. Turner / Middle-grade nonfiction
THE SLEEPING GIANT AND OTHER STORIES / Eleanor Estes / Middle-grade *
GOOD LUCK HORSE / Plato Chan / Caldecott Honor
THE SUN AND THE WIND AND MR. TODD / Eleanor Estes / Early reader*
A SEASON OF GIFTS / Richard Peck / Middle-grade novel
IN THE YEAR OF THE BOAR AND JACKIE ROBINSON / Bette Bao Lord / Middle-grade novel *
THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS / Booth Tarkington / Pulitzer winner
ALICE ADAMS / Booth Tarkington / Pulitzer winner
STITCHES / David Small / Graphic novel
SURFACE TENSION / Brent Runyon / YA novel
MISSION CONTROL, THIS IS APOLLO / Andrew Chaiken / Middle-grade nonfiction
DRUMMER HOFF / Ed Emberly / Caldecott winner *
SEVENTEEN / Booth Tarkington / Adult novel
BEASLEY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY / Booth Tarkington / Adult novel
KING OF THE SCREW-UPS / K.L. Going / YA novel
THE CAT AND THE COFFEE DRINKERS / Max Steele / Middle-grade novel
SEA OF GRASS / Conrad Richter / Adult novel
THE HOURS / Michael Cunningham / Pulitzer winner
EMMA JEAN LAZARUS FELL IN LOVE / Lauren Tarshis / Middle-grade novel
ANOTHER THING TO FALL / Laura Lipmann / Adult novel
LAUGHING BOY / Oliver LaFarge / Pulitzer winner
THE STONE DIARIES / Carol Shields / Pulitzer winner
OWLS IN THE FAMILY / Farley Mowat / Middle-grade novel
WHEEL ON THE CHIMNEY / Margaret Wise Brown / Picture book
A SAVAGE THUNDER / Jim Murphy / Middle-grade nonfiction
LOSERVILLE / Peter Johnson / YA novel
THE BEAUTIFUL LADY / Booth Tarkington
NOTHING EVER HAPPENS AND HOW IT DOES / Dorothy Canfield Fisher / YA short story anthology
CATCHING FIRE / Suzanne Collins / YA novel
SOUNDER / William H. Armstrong / Newbery winner *
SOUR LAND / William H. Armstrong / Middle-grade novel *
BOOT CAMP / Todd Strasser / Young adult novel
MEMORIES OF AN AMNESIAC / Gabrielle Zevin / Young adult novel
ELBOW ROOM / James Alan McPherson / Pulitzer winner
A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS / Peter Taylor / Pulitzer winner
THE MILES BETWEEN / Mary Pearson / YA novel
THE HIGHER POWER OF LOVE / David Levithan / YA novel
HALF-MINUTE HORRORS / Susan Rich / Middle-grade short story collection
THE AVION MY UNCLE FLEW / Cyrus Fisher / Newbery Honor *
THE ROAD / Cormac McCarthy / Pulitzer winner
THE MAGICIAN’S ELEPHANT / Kate DiCamillio / Middle-grade novel
THE LATE GEORGE APLEY / John Marquand / Pulitzer winner
A BELL FOR ADANO / John Hersey / Pulitzer winner
ELEPHI / Jean Stafford / Middle-grade novel
THE STORM IN THE BARN / Matt Phelan / Graphic novel
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO MAVIS ROOSTER? / William Johnston / TV tie-in
THE TREES / Conrad Richter / Adult novel
IRONWEED / William Kennedy / Pulitzer winner
THE LION AND THE MOUSE / Jerry Pinkney / Picture book
THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS / Margaret Wilson / Pulitzer winner
CORDUROY / Don Freeman / Picture book *
CROSSING STONES / Helen Frost / YA novel
THE WONDERFUL HOUSE-BOAT-TRAIN / Ruth Gannett / Early reader
THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD / Pulitzer winner
A LITTLE GRASS ON THE SIDE / William Johnston / TV tie-in
FUNNY BUSINESS / Leonard Marcus / Adult nonfiction
THE FIXER / Bernard Malamud / Pulitzer winner
YEARS OF GRACE / Margaret Ayers Barnes / Pulitzer winner
THE SHIPPING NEWS / Annie Proulx / Pulitzer winner
FOREIGN AFFAIRS / Alison Lurie / Pulitzer winner
WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS / Fran Cannon Slayton / Middle-grade novel
EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A CHILDREN’S BOOK / Anita Silvey / Adult nonfiction
FLOWER DRUM SONG / David Henry Hwang / Play
IMPOSSIBLE / Nancy Werlin / YA novel
GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN / Robert Olen Butler / Pulitzer winner
COME WIND, COME WEATHER / Daphne DuMaurier / Adult short stories
IN THIS OUR LIFE / Ellen Glasgow / Pulitzer winner
LOVE IS THE REASON FOR IT ALL / Jim Manago / Adult biography
BOMB IN THE CLASSROOM / William Johnston / TV tie-in
A FAIR COUNTRY / Jon Robin Baitz / Play
WILD GIRL / Patricia Reilly Giff / Middle-grade novel
BECAUSE I AM FURNITURE / Thalia Chaltas / YA novel
WHAT’S MY LINE / Gil Fates / Adult nonfiction
THE FIELDS / Conrad Richter / Adult novel
THE BOOK THAT EATS PEOPLE / John Perry / Picture book
CREAMED TUNA FISH AND PEAS ON TOAST / Philip Christian Stead / Picture book
MIDNIGHT SUN / Mark Kneece / Graphic novel
DEATH’S HEAD REVISITED / Graphic novel
BYSTANDER / James Preller / Middle-grade novel
TOYS IN THE ATTIC / Lillian Hellman / Play
THE PARIS LETTER / Jon Robin Baitz / Play
I’M REALLY DRAGGED BUT NOTHING GETS ME DOWN / Nat Hentoff / YA novel
JUMPED / Rita Williams-Garcia / YA novel
CLAUDETTE COLVIN / Phillip Hoose / Middle-grade nonfiction
LIPS TOUCH : THREE TIMES / Laini Taylor / YA novel
CHARLES AND EMMA / Deborah Heligman / YA biography
THE VINEGAR TREE / Paul Osborn / Play
THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE / John Van Drutan / Play
THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER / Pulitzer-prize fiction
OLD ACQUAINTANCE / John Van Druten / Play
BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE / John Van Druten / Play
SELF-HELP / Lorrie Moore / Adult short story collection
CHRISTOPHER BLAKE / Moss Hart / Play
CLAUDIA / Rose Franken / Play
AT JASPER’S HOUSE AND OTHER STORIES / Alice Low / Young adult story collection
THE DEATH OF JAYSON PORTER / Jaimie Adoff / Young adult novel
NEIL ARMSTRONG IS MY UNCLE AND OTHER LIES MUSCLE MAN MCGINTY TOLD ME / Nan Marino / Middle-grade novel
FREAKY MONDAY / Mary Rodgers and Heather Hach / Middle-grade novel
PLAIN JANES / Cecil Castellucci / Graphic novel
PSYCHE IN A DRESS / Francesca Lia Block / Young adult novel
JANE / S.N. Behrman / Play
THE TALLEY METHOD / S.N. Behrman / Play
KALEIDSCOPE EYES / Jen Bryant / Midde-grade novel
ANGELS AND DEMONS / Dan Brown / Adult novel
MIDDLEMARCH / George Elliot / Classic
THE DAY THEY CAME TO ARREST THE BOOK / Nat Hentoff / YA novel
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT KELLY? / William Johnston / TV tie-in
BEACH BLONDES / Katherine Applegate / YA novel
THE LIGHT AT TERN ROCK / Julia L. Sauer / Middle-grade novel *
THE CHICKEN CHASING QUEEN OF LAMAR COUNTY / Janice N. Harrington / Picture book
WOOLVS IN THE SITEE / Margaret Wild / Picture book
MARCHERS OF THE DREAM / Natalie Savage Carlson / Middle-grade novel
DESPERATE HOURS / Joseph Hayes / Play
LIAR / Justine Larbalestier / YA novel
MANHATTAN LOVE STORY / Kathleen Norris / Adult novel
ONE THOUSAND TRACINGS / Lita Judge / Picture book
METEOR / S.N. Behrman / Play
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM / Larry Gelbert / Play
CARNIVAL / Michael Stewart / Play
COMPANY / George Furth / Play
THE FATAL WEAKNESS / George Kelly / Play
THE MALE ANIMAL / James Thurber and Elliot Nugent / Play
THE PINK DRESS / Anne Alexander / YA novel
RIOT / Walter Dean Myers / YA novel
NO TIME FOR SARGENTS / Ira Levin / Play
ENTER LAUGHING / Carl Reiner / Play
HIS FAMILY / Ernest Poole / Pulitzer-prize fiction
THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA / Edward Albee / Play
THREE TALL WOMEN / Edward Albee / Pulitzer-prize play
THOMAS SCARECROW / Otfried Preussler / Middle-grade novel
ANOTHER LANGUAGE / Rose Franken / Play
WHEN LADIES MEET / Rachel Crothers / Play
JUMPING FROM SWINGS / Jo Knowles / YA novel
EARLY AUTUMN / Louis Bromfield / Pulitzer prize fiction
MRS. MINIVER / Jan Struther / Adult short story anthology
AS IF A DRY WIND / Helen Frost / Adult poetry collection
ALMOST ASTRONAUTS / Tanya Lee Stone / Middle-grade nonfiction
SUSAN AND GOD / Rachel Crothers / Play
LET US BE GAY / Rachel Crothers / Play
PLAIN AND FANCY / Joseph Stein and Will Glickman / Play
INVITATION TO A MARCH / Arthur Laurents / Play
THE LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN / Sidney Howard / Play
LEVIATHAN / Scott Westerfeld / YA novel
MOCKINGBIRD / Kathryne Erskine / Middle-grade novel
THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN / Susan Beth Pfeffer / YA novel
BLADE : PLAYING DEAD / Tim Bowler / YA novel
THE MOON IS BLUE / F. Hugh Herbert / Play

And yes, I deliberately read that last book on December 31, as the year really did end with a blue moon in the sky.

I DIDN’T BUY THEM

AbeBooks, the online seller of used and collectable books, has listed their three highest-priced sales of children’s and young adult books for 2009. They are:


1. ALICE’S ADVENURES IN WONDERLAND, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE by Lewis Carroll.

First London editions in two volumes (1866 & 1872). Illustrated by John Tenniel and bound in red morocco with a slipcase.

The books sold for $14,377.


2. ALICE ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll.

First edition copy from 1866, published by D. Appleton and Co.

Sold for $9500.

3. A WRINKLE IN TIME, A WIND IN THE DOOR, A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET by Madeleine L’Engle
“The first British editions of the first three books in L’Engle’s Time Quartet sci-fi/fantasy series, including her Newbery Award winning novel, A Wrinkle in Time. The first two in the series are inscribed and the third flatsigned.”

The trio sold for $7,500.


CHRISTIE FOR KIDS

Did you know that Agatha Christie published a book for young readers?

Well, I guess she didn’t WRITE a book for kids...but in 1961 Dodd, Mead released 13 FOR LUCK!, a collection of previously-published mystery tales, with the subtitle “A SELECTION OF MYSTERY STORIES FOR YOUNG READERS.”


I happened upon the book last week at the library and checked it out. It contains stories about Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, and Christie’s lesser-known detectives Harley Quinn and Mr. Parker Pine. I wonder if the book helped introduce many young readers to Christie’s adult books?

Incidentally, I took the book with me out to lunch this week and the young waitress asked what I was reading. When I said “Agatha Christie,” she was not familiar with the name.

No wonder I’m depressed.

Oh well, life will get better. The Newbery and Caldecott winners will be announced two weeks from tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. Hope you’ll be back.