Migratory Paths of Children's Books

It was a Saturday morning in early November. The sunlight was dim and watery, the trees were bare. Autumn was starting to change to winter. Then, from overhead, I heard what sounded like hundreds of gloved hands applauding -- softly at first, but getting louder and louder. I ran to the window just in time to see a skyful of beating wings fly over the roof and swoop past my window. Hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands, of grayish-brown birds were descending, touching down in trees, on the lawn, and all along the low brick wall that borders the street. I never heard such a chirping, cheeping, screeching, and whistling in my life. Nor had I ever seen so many birds in one place. Trees that been leafless skeletons two minutes earlier were now so crowded with life that they seemed to be in full summer growth. The ground had turned into undulating avian lake. It was like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie -- the only thing missing was Tippi Hedren.

Twenty minutes later there was another massive beating of wings as the trees emptied out and wave after wave of birds rose into the sky and then soared out of sight. It was the first time I'd ever seen a flock of birds taking a pit stop on their annual migration to the south. It was one of those amazing moments that make you want to become a professional birdwater or go check out every library book you can find on birds and migration. I think there must be something quite satisfying and orderly about studying birds. They travel south every winter and return every spring. They follow similar migratory paths. And the swallows always come back to Capistrano on March nineteenth.

The world of book collecting isn't nearly as precise. In fact, it's downright random. Books start off in one place, end up a world away, and nobody seem to know how they got there.

Right now I'm looking at this book by the English writer Vivien Alcock (1924-2003):



Known for writing novels of suspense and the supernatural, Ms. Alcock's honors include one book shortlisted for Great Britain's Carnegie Medal (1989's THE TRIAL OF ANNA COTMAN) and several titles selected as Notable Books by the American Library Association. She was married to Leon Garfield, who was considered one of the great twentieth-century writers of children's books.

Published by Methuen in 1991, A KIND OF THIEF concerns a girl whose father has been accused of embezzlement. It's a fine mystery, with intriguing moral dimensions. But there is an even bigger mystery attached to my copy of this book. The copy on my shelf was once owned by Sheila and Eric.

Who are they?

I don't know...but Vivien Alcock dedicated the book to them:



Vivien Alcock lived in North London.

I found A KIND OF THIEF at a bookstore in Gresham, Oregon.

From London to Gresham...from England to the United States. Talk about migratory paths! Actually, this book didn't just migrate...it immigrated! But how did it get here?

Were Eric and Sylvia British friends or relations who later moved to the U.S.?

Were they American friends of the author?

Or did the book make a more circuitous path from there to here -- a journey that none of us will ever know?

I enjoy musing about it and someday I'd love to figure out the solution to this mystery. But for now I'm just glad this migrating book somehow took off from England, made a pit stop in Oregon, and eventually came in for a landing on my bookshelves in Michigan.

What Every Book Collector Needs

I bet you thought I'd say MONEY.

Well, that helps.

But many collectors -- including me -- don't have a lot of it. I've built my entire book collection while making a very minimal salary. There really are ways to work around a lack of funds, such as only buying books at garage sales and thrift stores, or finding some kind of part-time work whose earnings go only toward supporting your collection. (I've already talked about the summer I picked up beer and pop cans in the park -- then used the deposit money for my "book fund.") Also, once you get into collecting books, you begin finding extra volumes you can trade or resell and that's another way collectors earn money.

If I had to make a list of the three things most needed by a book collector, I'd go with the three Ps:

PATIENCE
PERSISTENCE
PALS

Here's how the Three Ps played a part in my owning a personally inscribed first edition (AND a special second printing) of Jerry Spinelli's MANIAC MAGEE.

PATIENCE
MANIAC MAGEE was published in the first half of 1990. Up to that point, I'd regarded Jerry Spinelli as an amusing, but slight, writer. I mean, he'd written a book called WHO PUT THAT HAIR IN MY TOOTHBRUSH? -- not exactly the kind of title you expect to win the Newbery Medal. Little did I know that MANIAC MAGEE would be his breakthrough book -- and that darn near everything he'd write after that (well, except for EGGS) would be pretty amazing. Even though MANIAC won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, I didn't track down a copy to read. ...Then came January and the book won the Newbery. I rushed to the library and checked it out, fell in love with it, and was desperate to find a first edition for my collection. I looked everywhere, but the book was already in its third or fourth printing. I kicked myself for the rest of January...February...and all through the spring and summer and fall of 1991...as the book went into even later printings. Finally it was December and Borders began stocking up for the holiday season. Back in those days (before online Christmas shopping) Borders used to fill their children's section with mountains of classic picture books (GOODNIGHT MOON), famous novels (CHARLOTTE'S WEB; the "Little House" series), Christmas favorites (POLAR EXPRESS) and current bestsellers, all stacked on the floor in piles three and four feet high -- handy for adults to quickly grab on their way to the check out line. And that's where I encountered two tall stacks of MANIAC MAGEE one cold December night. Would my patience finally pay off? I opened the covers of the copies sitting on top and discovered they were fifth and sixth printings. I was disappointed, but I also had:

PERSISTENCE
Noticing the that the books at the bottom of the pile didn't look nearly as fresh as the top ones, it crossed my mind that these books had probably been sitting in a storage facility for many months. I wondered if it was possible that some earlier editions had been included in the shipment. So I got down on my hands and knees in the middle of the store and began checking every single one of those two hundred or so volumes (belated apologies to anyone who, circa December 1991, had to walk around me while I sat there sorting books.) Finally, at the very bottom of the stack I found a first edition. Patience and persistence had paid off!



That copy of MANIAC MAGEE has now sat on my shelf for over sixteen years. I've re-read it a couple times, and have bought, read, and loved all of Spinelli's books since then -- including his Newbery Honor WRINGER; LOSER; STARGIRL, and my personal favorites CRASH and KNOTS IN MY YO-YO STRING. I always wished that Mr. Spinelli would visit the midwest so I could get my books signed and tell him how much they meant to me. Unfortunately, he has never come to this area.

PALS
One of the nice things about collecting books is that you meet other likeminded individuals. Sometimes they're comepetitors, but often they become friends. We trade books with each other, sell books to each other, and sometimes, when an author is coming to town for a signing, we get each other's books signed. That's what happened to me last month when a friend on the east coast told me that Jerry Spinelli was going to be appearing in her area and offered to take my copies to the signing. I was so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to have my copies of MANIAC and WRINGER signed -- and to get a signed copy of the author's new novel, SMILES TO GO. Last Friday the books arrived in the mail. And now my copy of MANIAC MAGEE, which took eleven months to find (PATIENCE)...by sitting on the floor and checking two hundred books individually (PERSISTENCE)...has finally been signed due to the kindness of a fellow book collector and friend (PALS.)



Incidentally, I mentioned that I also have a second printing of this book in my collection. This one came to me as the result of the third P as well. A year or two ago, a bookselling friend who knows that I'm always seeking unusual volumes, called me and said she had a signed copy of MANIAC MAGEE. "It's a second printing--" she began and I snobbishly said, "I don't think I'm interested."

She said, "But it's a very special copy. It belonged to someone who served on the Newbery committee that selected MANIAC MAGEE and, glued to the front endpaper, is a photocopy of the letter Jerry Spinelli wrote to the chairperson of the committee after the book won.

Without even asking the price, I said, "I'll take it!" (Luckily, it only cost $45, which seemed quite fair for a one-of-a-kind volume like that.) Here is the letter that was glued into the book. You may need to click on the image to read it:



MANIAC MAGEE
by Jerry Spinelli
Little, Brown, 1990

Why the book is collectable:

Because it won the Newbery Award.

Because it was Spinelli's breakthrough book, announcing the author as a major voice in children's and young adult books.

Because the book is often studied in school, it is well-known and loved by many readers.

How to identify a first edition:

The front panel of the dustjacket says $13.95 at the top and has the numbers 04901345 at the bottom. If the words "Winner of the 1990 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction" appear at the bottom of the flap, it's a later printing. (That phrase was added from the second printing on.)

The copyright page states FIRST EDITION and includes the full line of descending numbers: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Make sure both points are present, because Little Brown did not remove the words "FIRST EDITION" even when the book went into later printings. So the number "1" must be included for it to be a true first.

Difficulty in finding first editions:

At present there is only one first edition listed for sale online and the price is $375.00. That sounds about right, considering how difficult the book is to find.

...Still, if you have patience, persistence and a book-collecting pal, you might get as lucky as I did!

A Sunday Brunch with No Cover Charge

Here’s another Sunday brunch featuring random thoughts and opinions on children’s books -- this time with a special focus on Caldecott sequels, “hesitating purchasers,” and cover illustrations.

ROLLER SKATING TO JUBILO

Last week I mentioned Ruth Sawyer’s Newbery winner ROLLER SKATES and its sequel THE YEAR OF JUBILO. I thought it might be interesting to compare the two original dustjackets side by side. Valenti Angelo’s ROLLER SKATES cover has all the warmth and movement of an etching chiseled into a gravestone; no wonder I thought Lucinda tossed herself into the reservoir at the end of the book! Conversely, with Edward Shenton’s colorful dustjacket you can practically hear the wind blowing, the seagulls keening, and the water lapping against the rocky Maine shore. Shenton’s portrait of Lucinda is bright and alive; Angelo’s is stiff and dead. Note: you can click on any of the following images to enlarge them.


THE AUSTINS, 1960 VS. 1997

Only four years (in both Lucinda’s life and the publication of the two books) separated SKATES and JUBILO, but the two dustjackets look as though they were rendered in different centuries. Here’s another pairing I discovered -- though in this case they represent the same book. Madeleine L’Engle published MEET THE AUSTINS in 1960 with a dustjacket created by an unattributed illustrator. The book was republished in 1997 with a dustjacket by Dennis Nolan.


The 1960 jacket features five pictures of family pets and the focus is on older siblings Vicki and John (though if you didn’t know the novel you might assume they represent a romantic couple.) Mom makes an appearance, hefting grocery bags as mothers were wont to do in the early sixties.) By the time the new dustjacket was issued in 1997, the number of pets was whittled down to two, Mom’s nowhere to be seen, and the emphasis seems to be on the novel’s setting, with the kids presented in soft-focus border illustrations. I can’t say one dustjacket is “better” than the other, but do think they represent the time periods in which they were published. Since I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, the first dustjacket appeals to me most -- either because I’m most familiar with it or just because the style is representative of that era. I suspect that if you grew up with the second dustjacket it will be your favorite.

If they ever decide to publish a new edition, the dustjacket probably won't be illustrated by an artist at all. Instead, it will feature a photograph culled from some free image bank.

HATE IT

THE GREEN GLASS SEA by Ellen Klages was one of my favorite books of 2006 and I was rooting for it to win the Newbery Medal. Now it’s out in paperback and has the opportunity to garner thousands of new readers. Or WOULD have...if it hadn’t been saddled with this bleak cover. When I first saw it in the bookstore I thought it was a new paperback for adults -- maybe some academic treatise on ecology. Then I saw the title and did a double-take. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cover with less child-appeal. I hope kids can get past that because it really is a great book that many would love if they’d give it a chance.


LOVE IT

The GREEN GLASS paperback may be a bust, but I was thrilled to see that its sequel, WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE, which is due out this fall, has a fantastic dustjacket illustration. Now HERE is a cover that draws readers in!



DUELING COVERS

John Green won the Printz Award for his first novel, WAITING FOR ALASKA. I liked his second book, AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES (which was named a Printz Honor) even better, finding it more original, funnier, and deeper than his first. I’m really looking forward to his new novel, out this fall, called PAPER TOWNS. This past week I heard the book is going to issued with two different dustjacket illustrations. Here they are. I call them “happy” and “sad”:


It will be interesting to see which jacket most teens embrace. I can’t decide which I prefer but have a sick feeling, from a collecting perspective, that I may have to get both. (When does a $17 book cost $34? When you need to get two copies so you can have each cover in your book collection.) I also have other concerns about this dustjacket. Last week I wrote about M.E. Kerr no longer using the word “love” in her titles because it seemed to scare off male readers. I’m wondering how many young male readers will want to carry around either of these jackets -- happy OR sad -- considering they both look like “girls’ books”.... And that’s too bad because, from what I’ve read, the story itself would appeal to teenage boys.

OTHER WAYS TO SCARE OFF POTENTIAL READERS

This past week I was working on a project involving TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson. I noticed that several -- though not all -- of the copies in our library had a preliminary page addressed “To the Hesitating Purchaser.” Here’s an example:


It reads:

TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER

If sailor tales to sailor tunes,
Storm and adventure, heat and cold,
If schooners, islands, and maroons,
And buccaneers, and buried gold,
And all the old romance, retold
Exactly in the ancient way,
Can please, as me they pleased of old,
The wiser youngsters of today:

--So be it, and fall on! If not,
If studious youth no longer crave,
His ancient appetites forgot,
Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,
Or Cooper of the wood and wave:
So be it, also! And may I
And all my pirates share the grave
Where these and their creations lie!

I know what he’s trying to say, but it sounds a little passive-aggressive to me: “Well, if you’re not ‘studious’ enough to care about my book, I’ll just toddle off and join Ballantyne and Cooper and all the other classic authors you’re not smart enough to understand. Oh, those authors are dead? Well, I guess I'll just have to join them....”

(Incidentally, in doing research on the book, I discovered the poem was used during the opening credits of the 1955 TV series LONG JOHN SILVER. Actor Robert Newton read the first stanza -- throwing in a piratey “Ar! Ha-ha!” -- but didn’t include the self-pitying second stanza.)

I’m just glad this “To the hesitating purchaser” fad didn’t catch on, forcing all authors to include pandering pleas in their books. Can you imagine E.B. White writing:

Enjoy this gentle tale of Charlotte
Unless spiders make you afraid.
If so, then simply close the cover
And spray the book with Raid.

Or Louis Sachar offering this introduction:

I hope that you will buy my book
If you don’t, I will be hurt.
In fact, I just might dig a hole
And cover myself with dirt.

A SEQUEL TO LAST WEEK’S BRUNCH

Last Sunday I made a list of sequels to Newbery-winning books. This week I thought I’d see what Caldecott titles had sequels too.

1954 : MADELINE’S RESCUE by Ludwig Bemelmans was itself a sequel to the author’s 1939 classic MADELINE. The Caldecott winner was followed by MADELINE AND THE BAD HAT (1956), MADELINE AND THE GYPSIS (1959), MADELINE IN LONDON (1961), and posthumous publications MADELINE’S CHRISTMAS (1985) and MADELINE IN AMERICA AND OTHER HOLIDAY TALES (1999.)

1963 : THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats featured an African-American protagonist named Peter who later appeared in PETER’S CHAIR (1967), A LETTER TO AMY (1968), and GOGGLES! (1969.)

1994 : GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY by Allen Say. Thanks to blog-reader Esperanza who pointed out that Say's 1999 volume, TEA WITH MILK, is a sequel.

Is that it? Only three? If I’m forgetting any, please let me know and I’ll add them in. I can’t help but think there MUST be more. No EIGHT DAYS TO CHRISTMAS? ALWAYS ROOM FOR TWO MORE? HEY AGAIN, AL? KITTEN’S FIRST QUARTER MOON?

HAUNTED BY A SUMMER STORY

As I write this, it’s ninety degrees outside.

Every summer when the weather gets hot and schools close for vacation, I get an urge to read one of my favorite books of the season, TAKERS AND RETURNERS:


Written by Carol Beach York and published in 1973, this spare novel -- which doesn’t contain an extraneous syllable or word -- tells of a group of friends and relatives who play a dangerous game in which one team must steal an object and the other must replace it without being caught. As the stacks are raised higher and higher, the tension becomes unbearable. And the conclusion is stunning in this read-it-in-one-sitting summertime story that I return to year after year.

Originally published by Thomas Nelson, most copies of this book must have gone to the library market because I have yet to find a first edition for my collection -- and I’ve been looking for decades.

Luckily a small publisher (possibly a “print-on-demand” company?) called “e-reads” re-issued the book a few years ago in paperback. Now I have a copy of my own that I can pull off the shelf whenever the temperatures get too high and I require a much-needed chill or two.