The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is in Amherst, MA. It is a gem of a museum with gorgeous exhibits, glittery events, and hands-on fun. I’ve been there twice — my visits there would be a lot more frequent if we lived closer! But it’s well worth a long journey to see the treasures there. I thought I had more pictures of the place in my photo album, but I think I may have been too gobsmacked by the experience to manage more than a couple blurry snapshots. Here’s one of their fantastic logos:
Being part of an exhibition that has these legendary artists on the sign out front is dreamy. I can hardly believe it, actually. But believe it I will, following Yoda’s advice.
I saw a real Caldecott medal in the flesh (bronze?) for the first time at this museum. I swore I took a picture of this, but again, gobsmacked. So I’m borrowing one from mykidzbookshelf.com (thank you for posting this picture!)
I used to stare at the sticker-version of this medal on my picture books when I was little. I loved the chaotic scene, the kids dancing/running, the guy with the scary mask-like face. It all seemed so mysterious to me, so significant. What a treat to see Eric Carle’s actual medal.
The show is called “Open + Shut: Celebrating The Art of Endpapers” and is curated by multi-hyphenate creative Bruce Handy. From the Carle’s website:
“Endpapers are the unsung glory of contemporary children’s publishing. Once a purely functional form—sturdy pages glued to the inside of a book’s cardboard covers—endpapers today are often full of wit, surprise, and even deep emotion. As one of the first (and last!) visual elements readers encounter when interacting with a book, endpapers set the mood for the story inside. These can extend the main story, offer a conceptual take on a theme or action, or provide additional visual and narrative information.”
Here’s a corner of Neither’s endpapers (in gouache on paper) right before I mailed them off to Massachusetts:
I have found the “Aquarelle Arches” stamp to be annoying to work around, at times. But at the moment I am finding it charming and I sort of hope it’s still visible after it’s framed. The deckled edge on the paper is chef’s kiss as the youths say. Very fancy. I’ve been using vellum bristol board by Strathmore lately, it’s got a nice surface and is a little easier on the budget than Arches, which is hand-milled in France.
But enough of pipe dream awards and fancy paper — I was able to meet some young readers at the Princeton Children’s Book Festival! This event always reminds me why I am a book maker: to share ideas with little ones and their grown-ups. I made a bunch of friendship bracelets a la Taylor Swift that said “Read” and “Books.” I meant to take more pictures of them, but the book festival was FESTOONED with people and they got joyfully swiped away! If you got a bracelet and signed up for this mailing list in return, thank you! And welcome to my little corner of the internet. Here’s a little hand with a “Read” bracelet and stickers:
And my favorite review of the day, from a young reader. I look forward to more Post-it reviews, maybe I’ll make that a thing at the next book festival.
Oh, and here are the matte finish beads that I used for the bracelets. I found them at Joanne Fabrics, I COULD NOT resist getting them. More beaded bracelets coming soon, I’ll bring them to my next reading/signing!
Sometimes I think about a feeling that I had when I was little: that if you believed hard enough, anything was possible. This feeling has been tempered a bit because, well, adulting. The world. Etc. When I was a child, part of me really thought that I would be able to fly if I thought enough happy thoughts. Part of this was, of course, the fairy-tale/Disney culture that was so important to me as a youngster (and still is, honestly). But now, even though I have given up on literally being able to lift my body off the ground with pixie dust, a new kind of suspension of disbelief has taken that fantasy’s place: the idea that I can be an artist. That I can make a world of picture books and get them published. That little readers will see these books and maybe get inspired. I think it takes a certain kind of delusion to believe I could actually be a children’s book maker. And, as someone said (maybe Mark Twain?) “don’t get rid of all your delusions.” So I’ll be keeping belief in this dream of mine. It also helps a great deal to be surrounded by supportive family and friends, (and have some kind of temporary day/night job). I hope to be able to pay this luck forward, lower the ladder behind me, and launch a bunch of pixie dust onto the heads of other dreamers.
Thanks for reading this far! 💜
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