www.harborlightnews.com4B Harbor Light Community Newsweekly Week of January 8-14, 2014

Celebrating Words, Literature, Authors, Libraries, Booksellers and Reading!

With special Harbor Light Newspaper LitChat Editor/Columnist Emily Meier, emilym@ncpublish.com

Emily Meier and Wally

A Celebration of Children’s Book Illustration

Heard in the Bookstore

Quotable

Between the Covers | 152 E. Main St., Harbor Springs | 231.526.6658 | bcovers@sbcglobal.net

As part of our ongoing efforts to honor reading and writing, “LitChat” will be included in our newspaper on the first Wednesday of every month. Emily Meier, a writer and reader with deep connections to northern Michigan, is our LitChat editor.L i t C h a t

“All grown-ups were once children-although few of them remember it.”

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince

As children, my father read to us almost every night. My brothers and I gathered in my parent’s bed, each with a book of choice, and listened as my father’s voice took on those of various characters. Snuggled into his side, with my head on his chest, I could hear his heartbeat mix with the vibration of his voice as he read. I studied the pictures and let the sound wash over me. On nights my father had to work late, my mother read to us because bedtime stories were a priority in our house.

We read so many books. And some we read so many times that not only

did the spine and pages start to wear but the lines and the pictures became ingrained in us. Now, many years removed from those nights the stories and illustrations still come to me so easily. They have become a shared language, the shorthand that our family even uses today--the misunderstandings of Amelia Bedelia, the friendship in Winnie the Pooh, the intel-ligent trickery in Brer Rabbit, the greed in The Magic Fish, the humor in Yertle the Turtle.

Sadly, it’s being reported that picture books are being pushed aside by parents eager to rush their children ahead with chapter books. In a New York Times article, “Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children” by Julie Bosman, it’s reported that many parents mistakenly believe that picture books are too simple and in order to secure an Ivy League future, their children

should be reading chapter books by age four and five. How devastating that a whole generation of children will miss this early stage of reading. A picture book offers a child another way into language, introducing them to advanced ideas, humor, and emotions that might not be fully understood without the help of illustration.

Crooked Tree Arts Center thankfully does not share this alarming trend and instead has chosen to celebrate children’s book illustrations. This month, Crooked Tree is providing the space to bring fifty-two original pieces from the Molson Art Collection of Children’s Book Illustration to the Gilbert Gallery.

Francis Molson, a retired Central Michigan University Eng-lish professor and former chair of the English department, and his wife Mary Lois Molson, a former second grade teacher, have collected original children’s book artwork over several years. They have since donated a significant part of the collection to the CMU Clark Historical Library. An endowment ensures that it will be shared and added to over the years.

“I believe in the quality of children’s books and art,” said Mr. Molson. “It’s much different to see the original artwork, than just the prints in books,” he said. “Surely it will benefit students.”

When asked if these pieces share a certain aesthetic, Crooked Tree Visual Arts Director and Curator, Gail DeMeyere, said that these pieces “represent the intrigue and beauty of fine children’s book illustration.”

“This exhibit,” she said, “covers a broad spectrum of whimsy, fanciful fairies, animals, trains, planes, ships, children, witches,

damsels and dragons. There is something for all to enjoy.”

Asked why this exhibit is worth seeing, DeMeyere explained that it is “an experience that brings one back to their childhood spirit and is a gift to share with your children and grandchil-dren. In this day and age where technology is trampling the existence of fine art book illustration it is nice to know there is a place one can go to surround themselves in the slower pace of pen and ink, where imagination takes a breath and focuses on a beautifully crafted story of a magical place in time.”

How wonderful that some adults still remember the impact these illustrations had on their own childhood, how important they were in their introduction to language and story, and that they feel compelled to share them with the next generation.

The work of about forty different illustrators is represented in this exhibit. Some of them will be familiar because the stories they depict have become classics. Others will be recogniz-able because the illustrators were awarded the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal which annually recognizes the preceding year’s “most distinguished American picture book for children” . To spend a bit of time with these original pieces, enjoying the magic of childhood; it’s worth bundling up, brav-ing the elements, and sliding into the Crooked Tree parking lot.

This exhibit will be at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in the Gilbert Gallery January 18th –April 5th.

For more information, contact Crooked Tree Arts Center:461 East Mitchell, Petoskey, MI 49770

Phone: 231.347.4337, Website: https://www.crookedtree.org/

Ted Lewin, Peppe the Lamplighter

Daniel San Souci, The Christmas Ark

Wendell Minor, The Last Train

Thea Kliros, What Can You Do in the Rain?

Michael McCurdy, The Sailor’s Alphabet

“Of course you all know what flying feels like, because everyone

has dreamed about flying.” -E. Nisbet

Five Children and It

Two days before Christmas, and a young man in his late twenties is awkwardly hanging around the counter. After being asked if he needed help finding anything or had a question, he continued to hover until there was no one else in the vicinity. He then approached the desk . . .

Him: “This is going to sound like a really strange request, but I am here visiting my buddy for the first time, and was just telling him how it seemed that everyone in town is too nice. I don’t trust it. So he laughs, and tells me that if I want to have a terrific conversation with people who understand sarcasm and will call me on it, to come visit the bookstore. So, um, here I am.”

What ensued was a good ten minutes of hilarity and witty banter, joined by other customers. As odd as this sounds, it was a compliment that totally made our day. We love being able to provide whatever the customer needs!

- Katie Capaldi, Between the Covers

The Clark Historical Library, Molson Art Collection of

Children’s Book IllustrationCrooked Tree Arts Center

Jan. 18 - April 5, 2014(Courtesy images)