The Bat Poet Randall Jarrell. Maurice Sendak, illus. Harper Collins, New York. 1964. (reprinted, 1992) They just don’t write ’em like this anymore. Or if they do, I haven’t found them and that’s too bad. As you know, I’ve been spending a lot of my life in the last year or so looking at children’s
From the Infallible Source: James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author and philanthropist. Among his works are the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, NYPD Red, Witch and Wizard, and Private series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction, and romance novels. His books have sold more than 300 million copies, and he was the first person to sell 1
For your amusement, a few (draft) lines of a scene from Miss Missy’s School Days Book II of the Miss Missy’s School series I know. You’re wondering how in the world Lawyer wound up at the Farm, aren’t you? Well, I guess you’ll just have to wait for Book II! Miss Missy’s School DaysPublished through
You’re probably already sitting down. Good. USPS is at it again. I ordered a book. The seller, In Elk grove Village, Illinois, shipped the book on July 1. That is to say, the seller, in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, gave the book to the United States Postal Service, in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, which transported
Jose Alberto Gutierrez doesn’t just turn trash into treasure—he transforms it into a free education for neighbors. As The Telegraph reports, the middle-aged garbage collector in Colombia has spent the past two decades collecting discarded books he finds while on the job in Bogota, the country’s capital city. Thousands of titles later, Gutierrez has an enormous library,
Tolkien On Fairy-stories (2008; 1st 1947) This is an essay based on an invited lecture Tolkien gave at St. Andrews College in early 1939. The Andrew Lang Lecture was, and still is, an annual lecture In honor of the famous “Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as
Reposting today Crappy Old Quote of the Day | NO. 138 Originally published on July 4, 2020 Cato’s Farewell John Trenchard & Thomas Gordon The London Journal, Saturday, July 27, 1723 “SIR, As I have with a success which no man has yet met with (if I regard the number of my readers, and the sale of
Shined vs. shone The verb shine has two main definitions: (1) to emit light, and (2) to cause to gleam by polishing. In its first sense, shine traditionally becomes shone in the past tense and as a past participle. In its second sense, shine is traditionally inflected shined. So, for example, we might say, “The sun shone brightly while I shined my shoes.” “In 21st-century writing, however, the distinction
What a predicament. I need about 500 words or so about the Phoenicians. It starts with “The Phoenicians were an ancient people” and needs to end with the alphabet. How hard could that be? Two days of virtually nothing hard, that’s how hard. Part of the issue is that– and I’m not making this up–
Good morning, afternoon, or evening as the case may be! Today I was sidetracked. I need to do a little write up on the Phoenicians and it occurred to me that there might be something in my Horizon Magazine (scroll down a bit) collection that would be more than what I’m finding in encyclopedia and online.
According to Mencken, along with another word highfalutin is a useful word; it is impossible, not employing them to convey the ideas behind them without circumlocution. The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States Fourth Edition (1980, 1st 1919) A true Americanism. Now you know.
This was yesterday, before we got an inch of rain that cooled things down. That’s a real LOL statement right there. This minute I’m having a dilemma. I have not had my sufficiency and fanciful of coffee yet. But the thought of hot liquids is not appealing. Time to switch to iced coffee. The book
From one of the worst children’s books I’ve ever read, The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide (2003). Does that look like a low ceiling to you? I have first hand knowledge of what “walls covered in bookshelves” look like, and this ain’t it. I feel sorry for kids today. I did something I think I’ve
Well, good morning to all of you! I’d thought I’d take a minute and bring you up to speed on the book– mine, not Missy’s, though she tells me her new book is coming along nicely. Mr. Big Food and I were talking about her new work just yesterday. He was very interested. He especially
Art work by Daughter C “Hey, Missy? Do you have a minute?” Marica asked. “Sure, Marica. What can I help you with?” Missy looked up from an enormous pile of open books on her desk. “How’s your book doing?” “Well,” said Missy, “I’ve still quite a number of researches to do, especially with regard to
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