Elizabeth Bird

Fusenews: Anne Carroll Moore Does Not Love Stuart Little*

Got my latest issue of The New Yorker in the mail yesterday.  Saw the. . . . cover.  Ahem.  Moved on and found to my delight that the article The Lion and the Mouse: The battle that reshaped children's literature by Jill Lepore was finally up and running.  Ms. Lepore called the Central Children's Room a couple times in regards to this article, and I was hoping it would come out sooner rather than later.  It's well done too.  The focus is squarely on uber-librarian Anne Carroll Moore (both the good and the bad) and her dislike for E.B. White's Stuart Little.  To hear more about it, check out this audio interview with Ms. Lepore and White's stepson Roger Angell.  I, personally, hated Stuart Little as a child.  Not for the reasons Moore outlined (i.e. the mix of fantasy and reality or how Stuart was often "staggering out of scale") but because of the ending.  It was such a deeply unsatisfying conclusion for a third grader.  I remember the rage I felt when we reached the last page of the book and Stuart's journey just... went on.  I suppose I should reread the puppy to see if it can defeat the sense of betrayal I felt as a kid.  *sigh*  Thanks to Fran Manushkin for the audio link and Ruth Gordon for the print.  The picture is by Ian Falconer.

• From Cynopsis Kids is an update on the whole somewhat depressing Wild Things situation:

"We'll have to wait a little longer for Max and his wild rumpus to begin as Warner Bros. has reportedly moved the release of Spike Jonze's feature film version of Where the Wild Things Are , per the LA Times .  The newspaper spoke to studio head Alan Horn, who explained, "We've given him more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film.  We'd like to find a common ground the represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience.  We obviously still have a challenge on our hands.  But I wouldn't call it a problem, simply a challenge."  Featuring a script by Dave Eggers , the movie, which is based on Maurice Sendak's classic kid's book Where the Wild Things Are, had most recently been slated for a 2009 release."

• I used to get the Sunday New York Times.  Good stuff, that.  But the subscription lapsed, I was lazy, long story short no Times for me.  That means that I miss articles like the recent A Few of Life's Nuggets, and a Children's Book is Formed by Michael Winerip which appeared, bafflingly, in the Region section.  Winerip discusses the difficulty in moving suburban kids from place to place in a novel these days.  It's an interesting piece on race, class, and the act of writing for children.  Interesting enough that I've an interest in Winerip's Adam Canfield of the Slash which I missed entirely back in 2005.  Thanks to Children's Illustration for the link.

• Peter gives us a glimpse into his Newbery book collection over at Collecting Children's Books.  It's not relegated solely to books either.  There are Newbery/Caldecott Banquet pamphlets and various pieces of swag from different dinners.  So those of you who still have your Norton Juster harmonicas, hold on to 'em tight.  And since this year's pamphlet was exceedingly beautiful, I think I'll be framing mine soon.

• Babymouse the Musical?  Dude, why stop there?  I want to see an out and out musical on the stage!  Think of it.  Kristen Chenoweth IS Babymouse!

• Regarding the Go Fug Yourself assessment of that recent Entertainment Weekly cover, I love those gals.  Here's their take on the Twilight books too.  Remember that Jessica is the queen of the run-on sentence:

"okay: basically I think a lot of the plot points which are presented as being Super Romantic are actually creepy and stalkery and, listen, you just should not be okay with it if you find out that this dude you're seeing has been sneaking into your house unbeknownst to you and watching you sleep all night, every night, even if it's under the guise of 'protecting you' or something because for one thing, if you need protection, don't you have a right to know that from the get-go instead of being treated like someone from a 1940s three-hankie weeper where the doctor and Bette Davis's husband, like, make the executive decision not to tell the little lady that she's got a giant brain tumor?" 

• Daily Image:

Oh, the Berts.  Oh, the Ernies.

Thanks to Children's Illustration for the picture.  You can go to her site for more info.

*Dibs on this title!

Posted by Elizabeth Bird on July 15, 2008 | Comments (8)