Spring 2005 Vol

Home , Robert Kurson, Trina Schart Hyman

Center for the Book at the New Hampshire Book Notes State Library Spring 2005 Vol. 1 , Issue 1 Celebrating Books and Reading in the Granite State By Michael York State Librarian New Hampshire Writers Project, the program. Future projects may include Established to promote books, read- Poetry Society of New Hampshire, sponsoring a statewide book award, ing, libraries and literacy the Center the New Hampshire Library Trust- and perhaps working with our vari- for the Book in the Library of Con- ees Association, and the New Hamp- ous partners to co-sponsor a book gress celebrates the importance of shire Library Association. festival. Recently, we launched a books and the printed word. The membership program which we hope national Center has affiliate state cen- There are of course a number of will connect us with New ters for the book, many of which are places in New Hampshire that the Hampshire’s readers and generate part of their state library, while oth- Center for the Book could have support for the development of new ers are attached to public libraries or ended up, but the State Library, projects and programs. state humanities councils. Wanting to which is committed to the develop- be part of this heritage, New Hamp- ment of the Center for the Book — Given the talent and enthusiasm shire joined with the other affiliates in we see it as offering great benefits present in our state, I am confident 2002 as a member of this wonderful for New Hampshire — seems like a that the Center will do very well and consortium. Although people now get perfect fit. The State library has in will act as a catalyst for programs information in many formats other the past worked closely with a wide centered on books and literacy. The than printed on paper, the book still variety of organizations, like those on people of New Hampshire who are plays a vital role and the New Hamp- the Center’s Advisory Board on interested in literature and literacy shire State Library recognized this projects that offered mutual benefit now have an organization they can when we created our own Center for to everyone involved. Of course the rely on to keep them informed and the Book. The Center for the Book State Library also works closely with entertained. We hope that this inau- at the New Hampshire State Library public and school libraries through- gural issue of Book Notes will pro- became the New Hampshire affiliate out the state. Because of our experi- vide you with an introduction to the of the Center for the Book in the Li- ence and our ties to so many New Center and what we do. brary of Congress in 2002. Hampshire organizations, the State Library is a place where the Center INSIDE THIS ISSUE When Katie McDonough, who was for the Book will do very well. We at the time a member of the Library have a very talented director of the Letters About Literature 2 Development section staff here at the Center for the Book, Mary Russell. Poetry Society of NH 3 State Library, made our application She has great ideas and the energy IMPAC Dublin Award 4 for affiliate status to the national Cen- and passion to turn those ideas into Award Notes 4 ter she indicated that we would part- great programs. NH Books Column 5 ner with like-minded New Hampshire Reader Recommendations 6 organizations to provide programs on Our current programs include par- Ladybug Winner 2004 7 books and reading of interest to the ticipation in the national Letters About Trina Schart Hyman 8 citizens of New Hampshire. The Ad- Literature competition, sponsorship Books in Unexpected Places 9 visory Board for our Center includes of the Ladybug Picture Book Award, NHHC Journeys to the Edge 10 representatives from a number of nominating books for the IMPAC NH Summer Reading Program 11 these organizations including the New Dublin Literary Award, and involve- Center for the Book at LC 12 Hampshire Humanities Council, the ment with the Granite State Reads

Spring 2005 - 1 Center for the Book Letters About Literature at the New Hampshire Letters About Literature (LAL) is The complete list of titles that in- State Library a reading and writing promotion spired 2005 LAL entries is avail- program of the Center for the Book able on our web site. in the Library of Congress, pre- Mary A. Russell, Director sented in partnership with Target In recognition of their accomplish- 603-271-2866 Stores. To enter, young readers ment, each student who wrote a [email protected] wrote a personal letter to an author semifinalist letter received a certifi- explaining how his or her work cate and a bookmark depicting the 2005 Advisory Board changed their view of the world or 2005 inspirational titles at their com- themselves. Readers petition level. There were Chair selected authors from two competition levels in Carrie Thomas any genre—fiction or New Hampshire this year: Colby-Sawyer College nonfiction, contempo- level I included students in rary or classic. There grades 4-6 and level II in- Vice-Chair th th Jackie Gardner, CHILIS were three competition cluded 7 and 8 graders. levels in the program: The semifinalist essays at Van McLeod upper elementary, each level were sent to a NH Dept.of Cultural Resources middle school, and sec- panel of New Hampshire ondary. The contest judges who will select a Cathy Higgins theme encouraged state winner at each level. NH Dept. of Education young readers to ex- The essays of these state plore their personal re- winners will be sent on for Michael York sponse to a book and the national competition. New Hampshire State Library then express that re- The 2005 New Hampshire sponse in a creative, Katie Goodman winners will be announced New Hampshire Writers Project original way. in early April on our web site. Deborah Watrous Three hundred elemen- NH Humanities Council tary and middle school New Hampshire first par- students from New ticipated in this national Cynthia Huntington Hampshire sent letters reading and writing com- Poet Laureate of New Hampshire for the 2005 LAL competition in 2004. Last petition. Unfortunately, year’s New Hampshire winners Becky Albert no semifinalist quality essays were were: NH Educational Media Association received from New Hampshire high school students this year. Two Andrea Thorpe • Samantha Lo, a fourth grader at NH Library Association groups of readers working on be- Thorntons Ferry School in half of the Center for the Book in Merrimack who wrote to Candace Sally Jones the Library of Congress read the Goldapper, author of the story NH Library Trustees Association 45,500 essays from students Daddy’s Girl … at Long Last, from throughout the United States and Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul. Pat Frisella selected semifinalists for each par- Poetry Society of New Hampshire ticipating state. There were thirty • Helen H. Aki, a homeschooled essays selected as New eighth grader from Weare, who Eleanor Strang Hampshire’s semifinalists. wrote to Tamora Pierce, author of Urban Public Library Consortium the Protector of the Small series. From the tragic story of hockey Micheal Herrmann player Travis Roy to the hilarious Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord • Zoe Cannon, a homeschooled exploits of Donna Ciocca’s Harley eleventh grader from Nottingham, Katie McDonough and Homer, the books that inspired who wrote to Stephanie S. Tolan, Kimball Public Library, Atkinson the students’ semifinalist letters author of Welcome to the Ark. cover a range of topics and genres. New Hampshire’s Literary Community Congratulations The Poetry Society to the of New Hampshire LAL 2005 NH By Pat Frisella, Semifinalists! President, PSNH Shannon Barrett The Poetry Society of New Hamp- I am happy to report the PSNH shire (PSNH) has been noodling seems to be on solid footing now with Hannah Benson around the fringes of the literary over 200 members and non-profit Nathan Berardi community since the early 1960’s status. when it first got its corporate char- Stephanie Brady ter, complete with a logo of Pe- From a sleepy social club we have Evelyn Bulkeley gasus touching down on the stone become a dynamic organization -- hence the title of our quarterly sponsoring readers, hosting open Shauna Casey publication, The Poet’s Touch- mics, and most recently programming Aaron Crosby stone. The magazine includes po- a monthly spoken-word radio pro- ems, reviews, articles about poetry, gram. This past year we offered Madison Doucette and art. We sponsor quarterly na- readings by Pulitzer Prize winner Britta Haley tional contests offering $1000 in Maxine Kumin and a performance prize money, members-only con- program featuring the works of Walt Danielle Hirshberg tests, and youth contests. Winning Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Sarah D. Huckins poems are published in the maga- Langston Hughes. Our radio show zine. In addition to our quarterly is on the first Sunday of the month Liz Kendall magazine, we occasionally publish from 5 to 7pm on WSCA-LP Sammi Landino books of poetry, the most recent (106.1), Portsmouth Community Ra- being Images from Ruin. We are dio. A recent show featured Rodger Spenser LaRosa working on one on war and peace, Martin, members of the Highway Karissa Layden due out atthe end of this year, and Poets Motorcycle Club, and musi- then will begin in earnest working cians. Each month we host an open Tommy Lynch on a book of poems of place, the mic at Borders Books on Ft. Eddy place being New Hampshire. Road in Concord following featured Gunnar Nelson readers. Stephanie Ann Parisi We charge modest membership Ashley C. Repp dues, so the success of major We are building a community of po- projects depends entirely on our ets and re-introducing poetry to the Katherine Rice ability to raise funds in the form of community at large. grants and donations for specific Nick Salafia One of the goals of the Center projects. And, finally, the society is Emily Smith for the Book at the New Hamp- responsible for assisting the Gov- shire State Library is to pro- Zachary B. Smith ernor and Executive Council in mote the many organizations selecting the State Poet Laureate, throughout the state whose Matthew W. Strabone who serves a five-year term. work supports our mission of Madeleine Whitaker celebrating and promoting Like most volunteer-run organiza- reading, books, literacy, and the David White tions, the society has gone through literary heritage of New Hamp- David Willson many changes, including near-death shire. The Poetry Society of experiences when memberships New Hampshire is one of these Kaitlin Winn lagged and board members ran out organizations and this profile, of steam. However, we have Emily Wood written by their President, is the worked hard to develop a solid, first in a series of articles on Pia Yarnell energetic board of directors com- members of New Hampshire’s mitted to the organization and to literary community. tackle membership development.

Spring 2005 - 3 The IMPAC Dublin Literary Award The NH Connection by Alice Nye The New Hampshire State Library’s The Preservationist by David nomination panel for the International Maine; Banishing Verona by IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is Margot Livesey; Shadow of the moving into the end stretch before Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; The finalizing its choices for the 2006 Zigzag Way by Anita Desai; The award. The State Library is one Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg among 185 library systems repre- and Four Souls by Louise Erdrich. senting 129 cities from 51 countries that are charged with making nomi- The rules of nomination dictate that nations for this prestigious award. an eligible book be of “high literary merit.” Group members will have With a May nomination deadline the opportunity to advocate for their looming, the eleven-member group favorites before a vote by the full — a committee of the NH Center by the New Hampshire group: The group will determine our nominnes. for the Book — will soon be nar- Amateur Marriage by Ann Tyler; A panel of international judges rowing its choices down to a maxi- There is Room for You by Charlotte based in Dublin, Ireland will then mum of three. Books eligible for the Bacon; The Man in My Basement narrow the nominations, first to a 2006 award must be published in by Walter Mosley; Little Children shortlist of nominees typically an- English in 2004 or, if first translated by Tom Perrotta; My Sister’s nounced in March. The winner will into English in 2004, published in their Keeper by Jodi Picoult; My Nine be revealed in June 2006. With the original language between 2000 and Lives: Chapters of a Possible Past award comes a prize of 100,000 2004. At present the following titles by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala; The Siege pounds, the largest literary prize in are being considered for nomination of Salt Cove by Anthony Weller; the world today. Award Notes New Hampshire is home to several book awards and details about each of them are included on the Center’s web site at http://www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter/literacyc/awards.html Great Stone Face Award braries and vote! The deadline for Awards, sponsored by the New votes to be sent is May 6, 2005. Hampshire Writers Project The annual Great Stone Face Book (NHWP), are presented every other Award was established to promote Isinglass Award year and honor outstanding literary reading enjoyment among New achievements and recognize emerg- Hampshire’s fourth through sixth The Isinglass Award is a statewide ing NH writers. The 2005 awards graders, to increase awareness of reading award for students in grades will be given out this fall for work quality contemporary writing and to 7 & 8, developed by the Barrington published between July 15, 2003 allow children a chance to honor a Public Library and the Barrington and July 15, 2005. favorite author. It is sponsored by Middle School to promote the cre- Check the web site at CHILIS (Children’s Librarians of ation of a well balanced reading list www.nhwritersproject.org for details NH), a section of the New Hamp- by adolescents for their peers. Vot- as they become available. shire Library Association (NHLA). ing for the winner from each year’s Authors who are NH natives, NH The Great Stone Face Committee list is coordinated by local libraries residents, or whose work is inher- compiles a list of 25 recently pub- who may obtain voting slips and tally ently about NH are eligible for these lished titles, which children then use sheets by sending an e-mail to awards which are given for fiction, as a guide for voting each April dur- [email protected]. Votes are nonfiction, poetry, and children’s lit- ing National Library Week. The win- due by May 1st of each year. erature. Anyone can make nomina- ner is announced in May at the tions — including self-nominations NHLA conference. Every vote NH Literary Awards — by completing the nomination counts, so please encourage young form, which will be available on the readers, grades 4-6 to visit their li- The New Hampshire Literary (continues on p. 7)

4 - Spring 2005 Become a New Hampshire Books Founding Member By Donna Gilbreth and Support the Center for the Book Welcome to this inaugural column the Whites (Write Way Publishing, about New Hampshire books and 1997). Readers are introduced to at the NHSL authors. The editor says I may write Will Buchanan, a beloved teacher about anything regarding New at a New Hampshire prep school Name: Hampshire authors or books. who is an avid hiker and woods- man. When not scaling high peaks Organization: I thought about author Dan Brown, or tossing axes at trees, Will is re- whose book The Da Vinci Code is laxing with a good Scotch, which he Mailing Address: still wildly popular and will soon be a shares with his cat Butch. But Will major motion picture with Tom has some unresolved issues from his Hanks (although I can’t quite visual- past, and a few anger management ize Mr. Hanks as the Harvard pro- issues, which get him in trouble with City: fessor Robert Langdon). I consid- his girlfriend Laurie, the local police ered telling you the anecdote about chief. Will then becomes the chief how Exeter librarian Pam Gjettum suspect in the sensational murder of State: Zip: became a character in The Da Vinci a student he was chaperoning, and E-mail: Code, or exploring the question of he must use all his outdoor skills and why Mr. Brown used my uncommon wit to prove his innocence and catch Annual Membership surname (Ventresca) for a character the real killer. The mystery is well Levels in Angels and Demons. But you done, and it’s fun to read about hik- don’t need me to tell you that Dan ing in the White Mountains. Members receive Book Notes, Brown is probably the hottest New our semiannual newsletter. Hampshire author at the moment. Eslick’s third novel, Deadly Kin (Viking, 2003) brings back the Supporter $5 - $24 Instead, I have decided to write about multi-talented Will Buchanan to Friend $25 - $99 another New Hampshire author writ- solve another murder in the moun- Contributor $100 - $499 ing exciting mysteries. He hasn’t tains. And his latest book in the se- Patron $500 - $999 achieved the fame or wealth of Mr. ries Mountain Peril (Viking, 2005) Benefactor $1000 & up Brown yet, but there is promise. I’m was recently published. referring to author Tom Eslick, author of four mystery novels set in the I look forward to reading the fur- Enclosed is my check mountains of New Hampshire. Mr. ther adventures of New Hampshire Eslick is a teacher at Proctor Acad- hero Will Buchanan, and hopefully for $ ______payable to emy in Andover, and also an experi- author Tom Eslick will find some of Park Street Foundation enced hiker and musician. His many the same success that has come to Personal Member talents and interests are all brought that other New Hampshire author Organization Member together in his first novel Tracked in on the seacoast. The Park Street Foundation serves as the fiscal agent of the Center for the Book at the NH State Library and is a tax-exempt 501c(3) organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library 20 Park Street, Concord, NH 03301

Spring 2005 - 5 Granite State Readers Recommend We recently invited readers from around the state to tell us about a book that they would recommend to others. Here is a selection of the recommendations that we received. Please check out the complete list of Granite State readers’ recommendations and tell us about a book that you would recommend by visit- ing our web site at www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter/programs

Campton, NH Farmington, NH Nashua, NH

Robin DeRosa Pat Frisella Umang Kumar Assistant Professor of English, President, Poetry Society of NH The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.A Plymouth State University Poetry 180, A Turning Back to Poetry lucid and poignant portrayal of a story Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. by Billy Collins. It is a great collection of partly set in Afghanistan. Touted as the In our current time, in which “morality” fairly contemporary poetry meant to en- first Afghan novel in English. Very fluent decides elections and sets policy, here’s tice people back to the joy of reading read. a novel that makes us all question exactly poetry. As Collins said somewhere or what the definition of the word really is. other, “High School is the place where A moving story of alienation and family poetry goes to die.” This collection could Portsmouth, NH loyalty against the lively backdrop of the bring it back to life for a lot of people. circus freak show, this is a novel that pro- Katherine Towler vokes, amuses, and astonishes at every Novelist and freelance writer. turn. Hanover, NH No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod. This novel is beautifully written and tells Jodi Picoult the moving story of a mining family from Canterbury, NH NYT bestselling novelist Cape Breton. MacLeod, a Canadian, is a of My Sister’s Keeper and Vanishing Acts superb writer, truly one of the greats writ- Hope Jordan Jaqueline Mitchard’s The Breakdown ing in English today. Avid reader Lane. I was fortunate enough to read a I recommend Mary and O’Neil by Justin galley of this book (which arrives in April) Cronin. It won the PEN/Hemingway award and was completely moved by the plight Rye, NH and it’s beautifully written without being of a woman who has it all, and who sees sentimental or sappy. It made me cry. It’s, her life falling apart bit by bit. It’s every Mimi White pure and simple, good literature that be- bit as good as The Deep End of the Poet, teacher longs in the pantheon of work by Russell Ocean, her first book...and the first Oprah Next-To-Last-Things, Stanley Kunitz. Banks, Margaret Atwood, and John Irv- pick ever. Enjoy! I read this for the first time in 1987 and I ing. return to it often, so often in fact that it is now two worn covers and several loose- Manchester, NH leaf, dog-eared pages. Stanley Kunitz will Center Barnstead, NH be one hundred in July 2005. He has a Katie Goodman rare combination of poetic wisdom, hu- John Reed Executive Director, mility, and energy that teaches me over Pattern Recognition, William Gibson. New Hampshire Writers’ Project and over again what it means to be hu- The future is now . . . and it’s a little scarier I recommend This Day: Diaries from man. The book is a collection of poems, than we thought! Gibson is a superb American Women. This book answers the interviews and journal entries. writer, and his tale of newsgroups, 9/11, question . . . What is a day in the life marketing, and a heroine who can only really like for a CEO, an at-home mom, a trust her online friend “Parkaboy” is refugee, a rodeo rider, a young executive, Somersworth, NH poignant and compelling. an actress, a congresswoman, a widow - indeed any woman. Editors Joni B. Cole, Cynthia G. Riley Rebecca Joffrey, and B.K. Rakhra invited Librarian, Somersworth HS Concord, NH hundreds of women across America to The God of Small Things by Arundhati keep a “day diary” on the same day in Roy. The book is rich and complex, wo- Don Kimball October of 2002. (Joni Cole recently ven with personal, historical and politi- Poet / Retired family therapist taught a workshop at the NHWP’s Up- cal detail, set in the south of India. Imag- I strongly recommend Rhina P. Espaillat’s per Valley Writers’ Conference and lives ery is vivid and emotion powerful. It’s a first book of poems, Where Horizons Go in Vermont.) The result is an extraordi- gem. - for it includes some of the finest son- nary collection of intimate details, real- nets I’ve ever read; several short narra- life drama, and laugh-out-loud moments tive poems in rhyming couplets; three all the good stuff of real life. This book villanelles and a sestina - all written in a will have universal appeal to any woman contemporary vernacular, about concerns who has ever woken up and had to face of the heart and mind, all with breath- an ordinary or extraordinary day! taking artistry!

6 - Spring 2005 Keiko Kasza wins 2004 Award Notes Ladybug Picture Book Award (continued from p. 4) Book at the New Hampshire State web site in May, and submitting it with Library and was established in 2003 a $25 nomination fee. As part of the to promote early literacy and honor NH Literary Awards the NHWP the best in recent children’s picture Board of Trustees also gives a life- books. time achievement award. A committee of children’s librarians NH Teen Book Award from around New Hampshire selects New Hampshire children from 10 picture book titles each winter. Under the sponsorship of the NHLA, preschoolers to those in third grade Throughout the summer and fall li- a committee of librarians established selected My Lucky Day by Keiko brarians share the books with chil- the New Hampshire Teen Book Kasza, published by G. P. Putnam’s dren at storytimes, develop colorful Award in the fall of 2004. High Sons, a division of Penguin Young displays of the titles, and encourage school students were invited to make Readers Group, as the winner of the families to borrow and read the nominations for the award and to 2004 Ladybug Picture Book Award. books at home. Then, during suggest names for it. When nomina- Children’s Book Week in November, tions closed in mid-January, students With 14,313 children casting ballots New Hampshire preschools, elemen- had submitted 130 different titles in- for their favorite picture book from tary schools and public libraries serve cluding works of both nonfiction and among 10 titles, My Lucky Day won as polling places where the children fiction. Librarians around the state are with 2,445 votes. can vote to select the award winner. now busy reading the nominated titles More than 100 schools and libraries and will distribute a final list of 13 Last year I Stink! by Kate and Jim around the state participated in 2004. books at the NH Libraries Confer- McMullan (published by Joanne Financial support for the 2004 ence in May. In April of 2006, high Cotler Books) was the winner with Ladybug Picture Book Award was school students will cast their votes 2,034 votes. A six-inch crystal piece, provided by Toadstool Bookshops for the winner of the first NH Teen featuring the NH Center for the Book of Keene, Milford, and Book Award. Ladybug, was created by Pepi Peterborough. Herrmann Crystal and was sent to Sarah Josepha Hale the McMullans. Ms. Kasza will re- The nominated titles for 2005 were Award ceive a similar award. announced in February and will be voted on in November 2005. Ballots Grace Paley is the Sarah Josepha The Ladybug Picture Book Award and tally sheets will be available later Hale Award winner for 2005. Ms. is sponsored by the Center for the in the spring on our website. Paley is an acclaimed writer of short stories, a poet, and an activist. She 2005 Ladybug Nominees has taught at Columbia University, Syracuse University and Sarah Absolutely Not by Matthew McElligott Lawrence College. She is a found- The Big Trip by Valeri Gorbachev ing member of the Greenwich Village Gator Gumbo: A Spicy-hot Tale Peace Center and a former colum- by Candace Fleming; pictures by Sally Anne Lambert nist for Seven Days. The Sarah I Wanna Iguana Josepha Hale Award, presented an- by Karen Kaufman Orloff; illustrated by David Catrow nually by the Trustees of the Richards Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems Free Library since 1956, goes to a writer who, through his or her life Moo Who? by Margie Palatini; illustrated by Keith Graves work, maintains a connection to New My Little Sister Hugged an Ape England. Named for Sarah Josepha by Bill Grossman; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Hale the award honors the contribu- Skippyjon Jones by Judith Byron Schachner tion of one of 19th century Snakes! by David Greenberg; illustrated by Lynn Munsinger America’s most powerful women. Winter Woes by Marty Kelley

Spring 2005 - 7 New Hampshire’s Literary Treasures Trina Schart Hyman by Mary A. Russell Trina Schart Hyman believed that it comfort, the way other people go to New York City. In1966 Ms. Hyman was important to know what the a church or to a therapist. Books and separated from her husband, and she dragon was thinking. In creating the illustrations are a part of me: they’re and her daughter moved to an old illustrations for over 150 books not just what I do: they’re what I am.” stone house on the banks of the Con- throughout her life she began each (Horn Book July/Aug 1985, p. 413.) necticut River in Lyme, New Hamp- project not with sketches or prelimi- shire along with Trina’s lover Nancie naries, but by thinking about the story. Besides books, she loved visits to the and her twin daughters. Looking “I think about the characters and what Philadelphia Art Museum, making up back on the early years in New makes them tick and where they’re games and stories, creating fairies Hampshire, Katrin Hyman described coming from and where they might with her sister, and listening to mu- her mother as “an ordinary person be going to. Who are these people? sic. What she did not love was who wanted to raise her family and What do they like to eat for break- school, and after eleven years — she own her own home. She did it by fast?” (Horn Book July/Aug 1985, skipped first grade — she came out taking any job she could get: text- p. 417.) When she illustrated Saint of the public school system believing books, Little Golden Books, dozens George and the Dragon: A Golden she “was a hopelessly stupid little of unmemorable children’s stories. Legend, adapted from Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queen by Marga- ret Hodges, Ms. Hyman researched “One of the nicest things about being an artist and considered every aspect of the is the ability to see things a little differently, a story: the time period, the flowers, what Una and George wore and little more carefully, perhaps a little more thought and ate, and how the dragon imaginatively, than most other people do.” felt about it all. Then all these things went into the pictures, making them rich and interesting and beautiful no matter how many times you read the creature who would never be able She nearly went blind doing color book. to learn or to think”(Self-Portrait.) separations. I think she nearly went What she could do was draw and crazy from a lack of free time, fresh In 1966 Ms. Hyman moved to she went to art school in Philadel- air, and sunshine and from the con- Lyme, New Hampshire where she phia where she majored in illustra- stant pressure to keep her bills paid lived until her death. In 1981 she de- tion and found her home. and her family intact” (Horn Book scribed her life in Self-Portrait: July/Aug 1985, p. 423.) Trina Schart Hyman (Addison- Trina continued her studies in Bos- Wesley). She was born in Philadel- ton and Stockholm, where she moved But she did not go crazy, or blind; phia, Pennsylvania and lived twenty with her husband. She got her first she survived and she created a body miles outside the city in one of the illustration job while in Sweden, a of work that reflected the world as first housing developments built dur- children’s book called Toffe och den Trina Schart Hyman saw it: “One of ing WWII. The first book that Trina Lilla Bilen (Toffe and the Little the nicest things about being an artist could read was Little Red Riding Car). After travelling 2800 miles is the ability to see things a little dif- Hood and for a year that story be- through Europe on a tandem bicycle, ferently, a little more carefully, per- came so much a part of Trina’s life Trina and her husband moved to haps a little more imaginatively, than that she dressed in a red cape nearly Boston where she made the rounds most other people do. To be able to every day. It was the beginning of a with her portfolio, got a little illustra- see the possibilities in things; to see lifelong love of books. “I have this tion work, met Helen Jones (who the magic in them, to see what it is consuming, fatal passion for books— would become one of the most im- that makes the thing inherently itself. the books themselves, the way they portant people in Trina’s professional And then, sometimes, to go beyond look and smell, the feel of them, and life as well as a close friend) and had the surface of the thing and see what of course the stories that they have her daughter Katrin. it is that the thing wishes to become: to tell. When I’m upset or depressed the cities that live in clouds, the land- or unhappy, I go to a bookstore for The next move for the family was to scapes that become sleeping bodies,

8 - Spring 2005 the human face that becomes an ani- child.” (A Question of Balance: Art- and the Making of the King in col- mal, the tree that becomes a woman” ists and Writers on Motherhood, laboration with Margaret Hodges (Horn Book July/Aug 1985, p. 411.) edited by Judith Pierce Rosenberg, was her last published work. p. 225.) During this period Ms. Hyman be- Author Lois Lowry wrote about her came an author as well as an illustra- In 1999 Ms. Hyman was success- friend Trina Schart Hyman in the tor with the publication of How Six fully treated for breast cancer, but January/February 2005 Horn Book Found Christmas in 1969. In 1971 after four years in remission the dis- Magazine: “Her irreverence was Nancie and her twins moved to Cali- ease came back. In her last year Ms. memorable but so was her reverence, fornia. Trina became the art director Hyman continued to work and spend and everyone who knew her will re- of the newly founded magazine time with her family and friends at her member her passion for and appre- Cricket. She created the trademark home in Lyme. She died on Novem- ciation of writing, music, art, food, cricket, as well as his companions, ber 17, 2004, at the Dartmouth- gardens, and good gossip.” and remained art director until 1979. Hitchcock Medical Center. Merlin

Ms. Hyman illustrated a wide variety of stories including Grimm’s fairy tales, Arthurian legends, and works by Dylan Thomas, Mark Twain, and Geoffrey Chaucer. She won numer- ous awards for her work including Books in Unexpected Places the Caldecott Medal for Saint George and the Dragon by Mar- What do you do when you have hundreds of books and you move into a garet Hodges (1985) and Caldecott small apartment? If you are Mitch Sawaya you take them to work. Mitch is Honors for Little Red Riding Hood the owner of the Strange Brew Tavern on Market Street in Manchester and (1983), Herschel and the he lined the walls of the restaurant — and the windows, and under the Hannukkah Goblins by Eric A. counters — with his personal book collection when he moved to Manches- Kimmel (1989), and A Child’s Cal- ter and opened Strange Brew six years ago. The books add to the warm, endar by John Updike (1999). There cozy feeling of Strange Brew — which offers live music every night and the is an excellent list of Ms. Hyman’s largest selection of tap beer in the state. The books also provide an informal work, including sample illustrations, book exchange system. Because most of the books start out as Mitch’s at www.ortakales.com/illustrators/ personal library the selection is specific to his tastes; Robert Ludlum, Stephen Hyman2.html. Ms. Hyman’s later King, James Patterson, James Lee Burke, Carl Hiaasen, and John Grisham, work reflected an awareness of the just to mention a few, are particular favorites. There are currently about need for multicultural children’s 1000 books on the shelves at Strange Brew, with another 300 or so piled in books and included The Fortune the office waiting to go out on the shelves. Mitch periodically heads over to Tellers by Lloyd Alexander, the il- the Barnes & Noble on Manchester’s South Willow Street and buys up lustrations for which were inspired by every fiction best seller (except romance). As he finishes reading them — the beauty of Cameroon, the home about four books each week — they become part of the Strange Brew of Ms. Hyman’s son-in-law. She also library. This arrangement is not without its downside; Mitch’s college year- took up oil painting as a way to ex- book (Tufts ‘80) and a leather-bound copy of his all-time favorite story, plore artistic visions that didn’t fit into The Lord of the Rings, both disappeared from the shelves. Mitch had to illustrations for children’s books. chalk that up to a lesson learned the hard way, but he is basically happy with the home he has found for his many books. “It’s great having the library. It’s Ms. Hyman was an outspoken critic a conversation starter, as well as a lending library. People have brought me of the children’s publishing industry books from their own collections.” As far as Mitch knows no authors have and spoke candidly on the challenges come in and seen their own books on the shelves, but with so many books of raising a child on an artist’s income coming and going at Strange Brew, it is probably only a matter of time. and the conflicts inherent in being an Hours and directions are at www.strangebrewtavern.info. artist and a mother: “If you want to paint, I don’t think you can be a mom, Have you come across books in unexpected places in your be a waitress to make money, and travels around New Hampshire? Send an email to paint. It’s hard enough to be a mom [email protected] and we may share your and paint. I think you need help with discovery with our readers in a future issue of Book Notes. your children, even if you have one

Spring 2005 - 9 What Is New Hampshire Reading? 2005 The NH Humanities Council Offers “Journeys to the Edge” by Deborah Watrous Director, NHHC

Brash risk-taking in the untamed sled dogs, spoke at the Appalachian Salem, and Rochester Public Librar- frontier is absolutely elemental to the Mountain Club’s Highland Center in ies. All programs are open to the American character. America was Crawford Notch. Ben Jones will give public free of charge. carved from a wild frontier and in that a free reading on April 14 at 7pm at crucible generation after generation the Claremont Opera House. And the Companion Children’s tested its mettle. But in the modern Council hopes to bring Nat Philbrick Programming world where few spaces remain un- to the seacoast this fall. touched, this thirst for risk and ad- For the first time, the NHHC is of- venture remains at the core of our The NHHC has partnered with the fering companion children’s pro- character. We are drawn to travel Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) gramming for What is NH Reading? into harm’s way, enchanted by the un- and NH Public Television to bring the in order to reach out to young fami- known, lured to the frontier. Why? “Journeys to the Edge” book discus- lies and to promote family literacy. sions series to ten communities Designed by NHPTV’s “Knowledge Throughout the year, the New Hamp- around New Hampshire. The Network, ” each children’s program shire Humanities Council (NHHC) NHHC loans 25 copies of the book will involve the reading aloud of a invites the public to explore these to each site and provides a scholar children’s book connected to the questions in “Journeys To The to lead each of the discussions. 2005 adult book’s plot or theme, a 30- Edge,” the 2005 theme of the discussions will be held at the Gilford minute video also thematically con- Council’s popular statewide reading and Franklin Public Libraries, nected, and an activity. Children will and discussion series, What is NH Richards Free Library in Newport, attend their activity while parents at- Reading?. The ten books featured Manchester YMCA, Portsmouth tend the adult discussion. in “Journeys to the Edge” put people Brewery, AMC Highland Center in from around New Hampshire shoul- Crawford Notch, Pease Public Li- A complete schedule of books and der to shoulder with men and women brary in Plymouth, and the Jaffrey, discussion programs is available at who have travelled to the edge, some www.nhhc.org. by choice, others thrust there by cir- cumstance. What is it that they dis- cover? Come find out! The Books in the NHHC’s What is NH Reading? 2005 is made Journeys to the Edge Series possible by a major grant from the law firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson LLP. Additional support has been Touching the Void by Joe Simpson provided by the Marshall Family Running North: A Yukon Adventure by Ann Mariah Cook Fund of the Northern New Hamp- In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship shire Foundation and the Portsmouth Essex by Nathanial Philbrick Brewery. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Book Discussion Sites Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery The Rope Eater by Ben Jones The Humanities Council will bring a A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby few of the authors featured in the se- Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger ries to the state over the course of West with the Night by Beryl Markham the year. In January, Ann Mariah Cook, accompanied by one of her

10 - Spring 2005 The New Hampshire Summer Reading Program Features “Camp Wannaread” By Ann Hoey Happy campers will be hiking to the the Summer Reading Program offers tor of such titles as Fall is not Easy. public libraries this summer for libraries materials and information to Past summer reading artists have in- “Camp Wannaread” — the 2005 help them promote reading and li- cluded Chris Demarest, True Kelley New Hampshire Summer Reading braries in their communities. A com- and Tomi de Paola. Program. Kids and their families will mittee of children’s librarians devel- be reading about bears and bugs, ops a manual that provides librarians All New Hampshire public libraries making camp crafts, and sharing fa- with program, craft and decorating receive a free summer reading vorite campfire stories in libraries ideas, publicity tips, booklists, manual and poster. Reasonably around the state. websites and other information—all priced t-shirts and printed materials related to the summer’s theme. In are available for ordering. Most li- Begun in 1990 by the Children’s Li- addition, the committee contracts with braries run their summer reading pro- brarians section of the New Hamp- a New Hampshire artist who designs grams from six to eight weeks and shire Library Association, the N.H. a t-shirt, poster, bookmarks, read- feature theme-related activities and Summer Reading Program is de- ing certificates, reading logs and other performances at no cost to partici- signed to encourage recreational artwork. This year’s summer read- pants. Thanks to the Kids, Books reading among children and families ing program features the whimsical and the Arts program, a joint project over the summer vacation months. work of Marty Kelley, a New Bos- of the New Hampshire State Coun- Featuring a different theme each year, ton resident and author and illustra- cil on the Arts and the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library, libraries can apply for grants to bring performers to their communities. Storytellers, magicians, musi- cians and puppeteers have all developed programs related to the Sum- mer Reading Program theme.

Last year, more than 14,000 children read over 160,000 books during the New Hampshire Summer Reading Program. Research shows that children who read over the summer do better in school than those who don’t. Public librarians use the summer reading program to help promote recreational reading and keep kids interested in books.

So, watch for “Camp Wannaread” at a public library in your community and enjoy a summer of reading and fun-filled activities. This newsletter has been made possible in part through funds Book Notes (ISSN 1554-3609) is published twice per year by administered by the New the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library, Hampshire State Library and 20 Park Street, Concord, NH 03301-6314. provided by the Institute of Museum (c) 2005. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in and Library Services, a federal part without permission is prohibited. agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of http://www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter learning.

Spring 2005 - 11 Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library 20 Park Street Concord, NH 03301

The mission of the

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promote reading, 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012

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books, literacy, 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012

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libraries play in 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012

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enriching 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012

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The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress By John Y. Cole Director, Center for the Book at and the center’s entire program were libraries and 2) encourage the study the Library of Congress to be supported by donations from of the historical role of books, the private sector. In 1987 there still reading, literacy, and libraries. We The Center for the Book at the Li- were only two employees—myself operate primarily through projects brary of Congress was the creation and a secretary. However the new and partnerships—within the Li- of one man: booklover and historian Librarian of Congress, James H. brary of Congress and throughout Daniel J. Boorstin, who became Li- Billington, agreed that in his next bud- the nation and the world. We have brarian of Congress in 1975. In get he would include funds to sup- a reading promotion partners pro- 1977 he proposed legislation to cre- port up to four Center for the Book gram that includes more than 80 ate a center at the Library of Con- staff positions. He did—and we national, civic, and educational or- gress which would stimulate public gradually grew to a staff of four. All ganizations, and informal partner- interest in books and reading. With the center’s programs and projects, ships with many academic, re- the enactment of Public Law 95-129, however, are still supported by funds search, and professional organiza- approved on Oct. 13, 1977, Presi- from elsewhere, mostly tax-deduct- tions. We have stimulated the cre- dent Jimmy Carter approved the leg- ible contributions from individuals, ation of centers for the book in Aus- islation, an indication of his “commit- corporations and foundations, but tralia, Russia, Scotland, and South ment to scholarly research and to the also occasional transfers of funds Africa. development of public interest in from other government agencies. books and reading.” The center is both the Library of Today the Center for the Book is a Congress’s focal point for celebrat- The legislation created the center as small, catalytic office that uses the ing the legacy of books and the a public-private partnership. The resources and prestige of the Library written word and a national um- Library was to pay the salary of the of Congress to 1) stimulate public brella for sharing good and practi- director (me!), but any additional staff interest in books, reading, literacy and cal reading promotion ideas.

12 - Spring 2005