Ari and Jackie O : The Madeline Connection

I have worked at my present job for nineteen years. Last week a co-worker and I were discussing all the changes that have occurred in our workplace over those nearly-two-decades.

She said, "I remember when we had a card catalog."

I said, "I remember when we had so few computer terminals that we had to take turns sharing them."

She said, "I remember when you used to be young."

Ouch.

I'm sure she meant no malice. She just meant that when I first came to this library I was young, and now...well, I'm not.

Of course this wasn't exactly news to me. I've noticed a couple gray hairs. I "play trombone" when reading the newspaper -- pulling it closer and then pushing it back till my eyes adjust to the size of the print. But most of all, I notice it when nobody understands my cultural references. Going into a music store and cheerfully asking, "Hi, have there been any new 5th Dimension records lately?" and getting the response, "What's the 5th Dimension? And what's a record?" Hearing someone mention Coldplay and thinking it's a new cough syrup. Realizing that there are people in their forties who don't remember the Kennedy assassination or the Apollo moon landing.

The other day I made a reference to "Jackie O" and someone asked if she was related to that actress on GREY'S ANATOMY, Sandra Oh.

Like I said: Ouch.

But surely most people still know her by her full name "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," even if they don't recall her husband Aristotle and his daughter, the tragic Christina. Growing up in the sixties and seventies, I remember a time when these names and faces were splashed across the newspapers nearly every day. Jackie was the widow of American president John F. Kennedy who, after his assassination in 1963, moved to New York with their two children, Caroline and John. Aristotle -- "Ari" -- Onassis was always referred to in the press as a "Greek shipping magnate." When Jackie and Ari got married in 1968, the world let out a collective gasp. It seemed an odd match. The former First Lady was known for her elegance and class while Ari, despite being one of the richest men in the world, was generally considered coarse and crude. Jackie was a style maven; Ari wore the same suit every day. Jackie was tall and glamorous, while Ari was short and, in the words of Jaqueline's mother, "He looks like a toad." (Afflicted with myasthenia gravis, he suffered from droopy eyes and occasionally even Scotch-taped his eyelids open!) People have always wondered what brought Ari and Jackie together. Some called it a marriage of convenience. Others thought it was a business deal motivated by money. Still others felt that Onassis provided a sense of security for Jackie, who worried about the safety of her children in the wake of her husband's and brother-in-law Robert's assassinations. It's true that Ari and Jackie seemed to have almost nothing in common. ...Except maybe Madeline. Yeah, that Madeline: the children's book character created by Ludwig Bemelmans.

Jackie was married to John F. Kennedy for ten years and, for the entirety of their marriage, the president owned a large suite on the 34th floor of New York's Hotel Carlyle. Some say that this was where the president spent the last night of his life in November 1963. After his assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy returned to New York and lived at the Hotel Carlyle for two years with her children. One of the most talked-about features of this hotel is the "Bemelman's Bar," an upscale art deco pub decorated with murals created by Ludwig Bemelmans, who did the work in exchange for a free year's stay at the hotel.


Titled "Central Park," the mural features whimsical scenes of elephants on skates and rabbits enjoying picnics -- and if you look closely, you might even recognize a familiar face from children's books:


After Jackie married Ari, she spent much of her time aboard his famous yacht, The Christina, which was named after Onassis's doted-upon daughter. Onassis considered the yacht his "floating home" and spared no expense in designing it. In 1953, the shipping magnate reportedly said "I shall ask Ludwig Bemelmans to decorate the nurseries!" and then commissioned the illutrator to paint murals for the yacht's "children's room." The artwork was based on illustrations that appeared in MADELINE, MADELINE'S RESCUE, and MADELINE AND THE BAD HAT.

By the time Jackie and Ari married, Christina was nearly grown -- and reportedly not a fan of her new stepmother. And it wasn't long before Jackie and Ari drifted apart. Ari liked wild parties full of globetrotting pals; Jackie preferred going to bed early with a book. I wonder how many times Jackie slipped away from one of those big yacht parties and sought refuge in the children's quarters, quietly admiring the work of Bemelmans and recalling happier days at the Hotel Carlyle. Surely she had an appreciation for illustrated children's books since she went on to edit several -- including Peter Sis's THE THREE GOLDEN KEYS -- when she later returned to New York and worked as a book editor. I wonder if she ever dropped into the Bemelman's Bar for a drink.

Everyone connected with this story is now deceased. Ari died in 1975. Christina -- depressed and insecure -- did not even live till forty. Jackie has been gone for almost fifteen years now. The murals from the Onassis yacht (which is now a luxury charter ship called the Christina O) were sold at Southeby's some years back. The only Bemelmans' murals still available for public viewing remain at the Hotel Carlyle. Though the names Ari, Christina, and even "Jackie O" may fade from memory and disappear as cultural references, Bemelmans' artwork lives on.

Chucky Who?

My great-grandmother was born a Jefferson in the state of Virginia and, yes, one of her (and my) many-times-removed cousins is pictured on the nickel. Although I never met her, she sounds like quite a character. Once, when she was a young girl, she was told to stay home and tend the farm animals while her family went off to visit friends. Instead, she skipped out on her assigned task and, by traveling a series of backroads, sat waiting on the friends' porch drinking a glass of buttermilk when her family's buggy pulled into their yard an hour later. But the worst thing she ever did involved a doll. I should start by saying that this part of the Jefferson family didn't live someplace grand like Monticello. They were the poor relations, barely eking by on a subsistence farm. Work was hard, luxuries were few. So when my great-grandmother's mother decided to give my great-grandmother and her sister each a doll for Christmas, it wasn't a matter of running down to Toys R Us and picking up a pair of Malibu Barbies. Instead, it meant setting aside a scrap of fabric that could have -- probably should have -- been used for a quilt or for patching pants; it meant sitting in front of a kerosene lamp late at night, bone tired, to stitch these dolls together. So imagine it's Christmas 1864...1865...I'm not sure of the exact year. Imagine two little girls receiving a ragdoll each for their only present. Then picture my great-grandmother throwing her doll directly into the roaring fireplace. Why? Because she thought her sister's doll was prettier than hers! Can you imagine? Hearing that story a hundred years after-the-fact I was horrified. Those who knew my great-grandmother in later years said she obviously felt bad about her actions. In fact, the incident must have haunted her, because she continued talking about it right up to the time she died in the early 1940s.

I have been thinking about dolls the last couple days -- ever since I came across a copy of the book DOUBLE SPELL by Janet Lunn on the library shelves. There was something familiar about the title, so I took it down and read the pull-quote on the back cover: "Ever since we've had this doll," Elizabeth said hesitantly, "we've had funny things happen -- the same dreams and stuff." The text below that described a story of twin sisters and an old doll that "brings the twins terrifyingly close to the world of the supernatural" and that's when I recalled that I'd read this book many years ago. Flipping through the pages, I remembered the rainy morning the sisters discover the doll in an antique store window...followed almost immediately by one of the girls falling down twenty-eight stairs and breaking her leg. I remember Amelia-the-doll mysteriously disappearing from where she was left...household objects being found in disarray...disturbing dreams and visions. And it all started with the arrival of Amelia. Yeah, this was one scary book! Yet I still had the persistent feeling that something was wrong. I did a little research and discovered the Puffin paperback I found at the library had a different title than the book I remembered. DOUBLE SPELL was, in fact, the original title of the book when it was initially published in Canada in 1968. But when Harper published the American version in 1969 it was titled TWIN SPELL -- and this was also the title on the Yearling paperback I read as a kid. Now it's apparently gone back to DOUBLE SPELL again. Okay, so that mystery was solved...but still...I continued to be haunted by the idea that something was missing from this book.

As I continued trying to identify the source of my discomfiture, I did a little more research and discovered that DOUBLE SPELL...TWIN SPELL...whatever-it's-called...isn't the only children's book featuring an evil doll. Many readers vividly remember Ruth M. Arthur's 1966 novel A CANDLE IN HER ROOM, which describes how three generations of a Welsh family are affected by an evil doll named Dido. Used copies of this book sell for a premium -- and is it any wonder after you read some of the amazing reader comments on Amazon.com? One person says, "Never, before or since have I read a book which affected me the way this one did. I remember it in almost uncanny detail. I have read thousands of books since I first got a copy of A CANDLE IN HER ROOM, and still I don't think I have come across one that came close to meeting the impact this one little Weekly Reader book had. Thirty years later...I don't know if I could even explain how it makes me feel." Another says she can still repeat the book's first and last lines. And how about this comment: "I remember throwing the book into a roaring fire in the fireplace the minute I finished it. I couldn't have the book around any longer, it was so haunting. I had many sleepless nights in which I would picture the doll burning in a fire, yet still able to use her evil powers. This book had more of an impact that any I have read before or since, and I have toyed with the idea of reading it again as an adult. I just don't know that I'm ready to bring the images back to life, based on the memories I have." (No, my great-grandmother didn't write that one...but what is it about dolls and roaring fires?) William Sleator published his own twisted doll story in 1975, a thin novel that places a young girl inside a dollhouse filled with nasty, taunting inhabitants who say things like, "Remember, you are small and helpless now" and, menacingly, "You're in our world now." As always, Sleator's prose provides maximum chills and could there have been a better artist to illustrate this type of book than Trina Schart Hyman? THE MEANEST DOLL IN THE WORLD, written by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin and published in 2003, shows that sometimes dolls even turn against their own. In this one, a princess doll, Mean Mimi, and her army terrorize nice-girl dolls Annabelle and Tiffany by doing things like launching toy race cars at them -- and worse.

Not all literary dolls are this bad. I mean, you couldn't find a nicer doll than Raggedy Ann; she wears her heart on her...well, chest. Hitty isn't hateful. Betsy-Wetsy isn't invidious (just incontinent.) And Miss Hickory may be a little hardheaded, but she certainly never tried to run someone down with a toy car or send them tumbling down twenty-eight steps.

Oh, and speaking of dolls who send people sprawling down the stairs...it took me two days, but I finally remembered what was missing from the Puffin copy of DOUBLE SPELL that I found in the library.

The table of contents.

I know, you're wondering why that matters -- especially since each chapter title of DOUBLE SPELL is correctly labeled throughout the book.

It matters because the Contents page of the original book contained an image that has haunted me ever since I first read this book:


Do you think Puffin didn't notice this? Or just didn't care?

Either way, I imagine Amelia-the-doll wasn't very happy that they removed her picture from the book.

And an unhappy doll can be a dangerous thing.

Maybe Great-Grandma had the right idea.

Brunching with Psychics

Here at Collecting Children’s Books, we usually focus on books of the past. However, today’s blog concerns the future. Because we are living in such uncertain times, I thought it might be instructive and/or entertaining to consider where the children’s book world may be going in the months and years ahead.

I originally intended to call up a few of the greatest living psychics on the telephone. But after learning how much Sylvia Browne and John Edwards charge per session, I decided to “call up” a few of the greatest dead psychics on the Ouija board instead. Jeane Dixon, Edgar Cayce, and Harry Houdini were all delighted to help out, so I invited them over for brunch today. They didn’t eat a bite of food, though I noticed they all certainly enjoyed their "spirits." Also on hand was Hen Wen, the oracular pig, who brought her letter sticks.

Keeping in mind that a) the future is not set in stone and change is always possible, b) even the best psychics are wrong some of the time, and c) the Amazing Randi says it’s all a crock of you-know-what, here are some of their thoughts about the future of children’s books.

EITHER WAY, THEY STILL WON’T HAVE FACES

I do not know how many people lost their heads to the guillotine during the French Revolution...but surely that figure pales when compared to the number of young people who have lost their heads in the service of children’s literature.

For the past decade the sheer quantity of dustjackets featuring headless kids has been staggering. (I almost said “mind-boggling,” but since the heads are missing, there are no minds to boggle.) You can see this for yourself by checking out the shelves of any bookstore or library. Or just click here.

Curious whether this trend would continue forever or eventually end up on the chopping block, I asked my prognosticating brunch guests for their opinions. They strongly felt that we will continue to face a faceless future. However, they do sense a new trend for silhouettes on dustjackets, as evidenced by these recent examples:


THE HERD GETS THINNED...

These are bad days for children’s book publishing. Editors are being laid-off, imprints are being shut down, and everyone is nervous. The saddest story I’ve heard about the situation involves the Bowen Press, which was set to open as a new imprint at HarperCollins this spring -- but was shut down for economic reasons before their first titles actually hit the bookstores! How crazy is that? Some of these books, such as THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY by Kathryn Fitzmaurice and THIS FULL HOUSE by Virginia Euwer Wolff, are getting good reviews too. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the latter title getting serious Printz or National Book Award consideration. I’d like to think that the closing of Bowen Press is an anomaly but, unfortunately, I’ve read articles that indicate other publishing houses and imprints may face similar blows in the future.

...YET THE PLOTS CONTINUE TO THICKEN

The publishing world is shrinking, but children’s and young adult books are getting bigger and bigger. Remember when teachers needed to mandate that book-report volumes had to be at least 100 pages long (followed by a stampede of students racing to the library trying to find books that were 101 pages long)? Those days are over. This year’s Printz slate provides some eye-opening numbers. The shortest book of the group, THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS by E. Lockhart is 352 pages. Next comes NATION by Terry Pratchett at 384. The winning book, JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta, is 432 pages, while the other Honor books, TENDER MORSELS by Margo Lanigan and THE KINGDOM OF THE WAVES by M.T. Anderson are respectively 448 and 592 pages. There actually seems to be a certain cachet associated with loooong books these days; I’ve noticed that many titles with rather skimpy texts are, through the use of tiny trim sizes, large fonts, and lots of blank space, being bloated past the 300 and 400 page mark. I’m currently reading -- and enjoying -- a forthcoming YA novel called TALES OF THE MADMAN UNDERGROUND by John Barnes -- which is over 500 pages, so I see no signs of this trend slowing down, and neither do my fellow brunchers. I asked them how kids with shorter attention spans...or reluctant readers...or those with weak arms who can’t hold a 14 lb. book are supposed to deal with this situation. Isn’t there anything for them to read? Yes, sayeth the soothsayers: graphic novels!

SPEAKING OF WHICH...

The trend of graphic novels hasn’t yet peaked. As the genre grows increasingly popular, more esteemed novelists are getting into the act. (Shannon Hale recently released RAPUNZEL’S REVENGE and Jane Yolen has a couple slated for publication.) We’re also seeing nonfiction graphic “novels” such as GETTYSBURG by C.M. Butzer, as well as adaptations of major works such as HAMLET and BEOWOLF (didn’t we use to call them “Classics Illustrated”?)

The graphic novel is definitely earning prestige these days. PEDRO AND ME by Judd Winick was a Sibert Honor Book and Gene Luen Yang won the Printz Award for AMERICAN BORN CHINESE.

Is it just a matter of time before a graphic novel wins the Newbery?

Edgar Cayce predicts it will happen in 2014. Jeane Dixon says that’s silly because the Mayan calendar has already forecast that the world will end in 2012. I don’t think the world will end that soon...though it will probably feel that way to me if a comic bo-- I mean, graphic novel ever wins the Newbery.

FORECASTING THE FUTURE WITH STARS

I actually thought the trend of celebrity-written books was dying down, but now I see that several are due out this spring. Someone I don’t know named Lauren Conrad from a TV show that I don’t watch has written a new book that I won't read. It's called L.A. CANDY -- and it’s the first in a series. Dolly Parton’s got one titled I AM A RAINBOW. And Julianne Moore has written a second book about a character called “Freckleface Strawberry” -- a name so grossly gooey that it almost serves as an emetic.

Jeane Dixon says we should all buy these books and reminds us that in troubled economic times, celebrities need money too! You can’t support a staff of six servants, plus two beach front properties, a private plane, and plastic surgery on what Hollywood pays these days.

I think all those appearances on the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas shows in the sixties made Jeane a little celebrity-crazy.

“SIX MONTHS LATER, I HEARD THAT KARP HAD DIED”

It’s not just children’s book publishing that’s facing a downturn. Newspapers such as Colorado’s ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS are folding. Magazines are shutting down. Recently PUBLISHERS WEEKLY lost its editor -- and, in my opinion, the magazine’s public face and voice -- when Sara Nelson was laid off. The Great Houdini thinks that at least one of our current children’s book review periodicals will go belly-up as well. There are many reasons for this -- starting with the bad economy! -- but including competition from the web and bloggers, plus the bad economy, editorial hubris and poor decision-making, plus the bad economy, diminished library funding, plus the bad economy, unreliable reviews, plus the bad economy, fewer subscribers, plus the bad economy! I suspect that before any children’s book periodical shuts down it will try going to an internet-only format to salvage the publication's name -- but how long can that last? How many magazine employees will lose their jobs? It’s enough to make one cry.

FAIRIES, VAMPS, AND DEAD PEOPLE

I guess it started with TWILIGHT -- that mega-bestselling vampire novel by Stephenie Meyer. Not that TWILIGHT was the first vampire novel ever, or even one of the best (anyone read THE SILVER KISS by Annette Curtis Klause?) but it seems to be the one title responsible for the latest gushing flow of bared-bodice fanged-teeth novels. So get ready for more variations on this theme, including ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith, KISS OF LIFE by Daniel Waters, and THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP by Catherine Jinks, among many others -- enough to supply a small blood bank. Then there are the books about dead people such as

BAD GIRLS DON’T DIE by Katie Alender, ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY by Kim Harrison, DEAD IS SO LAST YEAR by Marlene Perez -- enough to fill a crypt. And then...well, I don’t know what to call them...books about “fairies” or books about “faeries”? And what is the difference? (I think they are both the same, except faeries take themselves much more seriously than fairies.) Titles include FAIRY TALE by Cyn Balog, FAIRY SCHOOL DROP OUT by Meredith Badger, and WONDROUS STRANGE by Lesley Livingston -- enough flittering, fluttering creatures to deplete about two cans of Raid.

What can be said about these books except: yes, the trend will continue on for a while. This year, next year. Some of the books will be good, some of them will be bad. And a year or two from now another mega-bestseller about an entirely new subject will grab everyone’s attention and many of these titles will join FEAR STREET and SWEET VALLEY HIGH on the dustiest shelves of the used bookstore.

SPEAKING OF USED BOOKS...

Will the current recession/depression have any impact on used book sales? I expected it, but so far that doesn’t seem to be the case. I thought the economic crisis might cause people to try selling some of the old books they have at home for cash...and I thought that booksellers might lower the prices of their wares to increase sales...but I’m not seeing it. At least not yet.

KINDLE

Is Kindle going to impact (notice how I keep using the word “impact” so I don’t have to consult the dictionary in order to figure out whether to use “effect” or “affect”?) children’s books in the future? So far I haven’t seen any indication...but I think things could change when school districts, tired of spending big money for textbooks, opt for lower priced e-books and require all students to own a Kindle or a similar device. Once every kid has his or her own Kindle, then I imagine the world of mainstream children’s books will be affected..effected...I mean, impacted!

Incidentally, Hen Wen has a prediction involving the Kindle. She's worried about all those stories and novels being transported through the open air on their way to electronic reading devices. She fears that some sensitive people are going to have the words of...say, Judy Blume or Lemony Snicket...transmitted directly into their brains via the braces they wear on their teeth or maybe just through latent clairvoyant abilities. This could cause lawsuits from publishers who accuse these people of “wifi-jacking” copyrighted material.

Hen Wen is spelling something with her letter sticks: "B-E-W-A-R-E, B-E-W-A-R-E."

That little pig always was a little weird, wasn't she?

THIS ONE IS TOO EASY

Finally, all of my psychic brunch guests agree that the next Newbery selection will be very controversial. Some people will love it, some will hate it. There will be a lot of teeth-gnashing and garment-rending and complaining and arguing.


Oh, like that wasn’t easy to figure out. That happens every year!

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