Goodbye Lady Bird Johnson

Texans take their culture seriously. Our landmarks and historic figures are the stuff of legends.

And then there are the wildflowers.
We adore our wildflowers.
We revere our wildflowers.

Pilgrimages to the Hill Country of Texas are obligatory in the spring and the patches of blues and reds and pinks and yellows that edge the interstate highways lift a traveler's spirit. Every child in the Lone Star State has memories (sometimes not pleasant ones) of being plopped down into a plot of bluebonnets and photographed by enthusiastic parents. The first Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes of the season are greeted like celebrities here.



Tomie dePaola's The Legend of the Bluebonnet and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush are de rigeur reading in elementary schools across the state and it is all because of Lady Bird Johnson.



Kathi Appelt honored the first lady and reminded us that she changed the way we look at the landscape with her 2005 book, Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers. Joy Fisher Hein's joyful illustrations capture the beauty of the flowers and Lady Bird's gracious and loving spirit. Hein shares the thank you letter she had from Mrs. Johnson about the book on her website. Based on the number of copies I have cataloged at various libraries I know that this book has joined dePaola's in every school library in Texas.

As I reflected on Mrs. Johnson's passing this week I recalled that this past spring was one of the longest seasons for flowers that I could ever remember, and I've lived here a long time. Maybe it was the rainy spring weather or maybe it was just a last glorious burst of color to honor her.

As we drove the entling to camp this weekend I marveled at the thick swath of deep orange and red flowers that edged the freeway and thought what a precious gift Lady Bird Johnson gave us.


Kathi Appelt website
Joy Fisher Hein website
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Movie: City of Ember

More cast additions for the movie version of City of Ember:
Tim Robbins, Martin Landau Join 'City of Ember'<

Bill Murray is, as expected, The Mayor of Ember, who the children go up against, and as for the rest of the new cast -- Robbins is Doon's father and an inventor who holds a secret about the city, Landau is Doon's boss in the Pipeworks and Jean-Baptise is a greenhouse worker. Between the talent behind the production and the story itself, I'm itching to see what they make of the dark, electric-lit world.

Narrator: Jim Dale

Narrator maestro, Jim Dale is coming! Narrator virtuoso, Jim Dale is coming! Narrator genius, Jim Dale is coming!

The entling and I snagged our tickets yesterday.

Apparently he is only touring a handful of cities and one of my favorite independent bookstores, Blue Willow Bookshop, got him!!!!


Related: Apparently I live in one of the Harry-est Towns in America!

Honky-Tonk Heroes & Hillbilly Angels

Honky-Tonk Heroes & Hillbilly Angels: the Pioneers of Country & Western Music, words by Holly George-Warren, pictures by Laura Levine, Houghton Mifflin, 2006

I was a fan of Warren and Levine's first collaboration, Shake, Rattle and Roll: The Founders of Rock & Roll so I was ever so pleased to see them take up this music. Holly George Warren certainly has the bona fides to write about the subject.

A book like this reminds me of how much fun a school librarian can have with lesson plans. I can imagine using this to teach "Biography" and sharing these musicians' music along with their stories. Kids today sing "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" but have they ever heard of Gene Autry? Shouldn't they experience the musical virtuosity of Bill Monroe?

Warren has a one page biography on each artist with important dates and milestones from their life and career. She begins the book, appropriately, at the beginning, with a profile on the Carter family.

Laura Levine has painted a full page portrait of each musician with their name worked into the art work. Each member of the Carter family is designated along with "The First Family of Country Music." Bill Monroe is titled "The Father of Bluegrass" and Loretta Lynn's "The Coal Miner's Daughter" appears in the smoke plume coming from a small cabin. Each painting is featured in a period frame so you feel as if you are looking at a grouping of family pictures.

All the greats are included: Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubbs, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Tammy Wynette and more.

I think it would be so much fun during Rodeo time here in the Lone Star State, to turn on some Western (we call it Texas) Swing and share the story of Bob Wills.

Holly George-Warren Website

M is for Masterpiece

M is for Masterpiece: an art alphabet book by David Domeniconi and illustrated by Will Bullas, Sleeping Bear Press, 2006

Sleeping Bear Press is known for their alphabet books on various themes. This book shares the framework of the other books with handsome color and good layout.

Will Bullas's illustrations evoke the artist at work as many of the illustrations feature the "artist's" hand creating the picture. "V is for Van Gogh" is a close up of an artist's paint smeared hands painting a swirling sky. Closeups of paint tubes, colored pencils and brushes bring the tools to life.

The book includes the art of many cultures from Native Americans to Easter Island to African masks.

Q is for Quillwork
J is for Japanese Print

Domeniconi's text rides in a column to the side of each spread. His information is excellent. In addition to the traditional explanations for the subject he includes related stories. For example, in "L is for Landscape" he describes the enormous impact the landscape paintings of Albert Bierstadt had on our country as they communicated the grandeur of the West to Easteners. I thought this was an inspired subject choice to illustrate the concept.

My only criticism is that this very interesting text was somewhat difficult to read because of the size of the type. It is an art to balance all the page elements with the amount of text but this was a shade too small for easy reading.

All in all, this is a nice survey of artists, media, techniques and art forms


A side note: I've been interested by Albert Bierstadt ever since the time I saw one of his paintings in an art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I was having fun looking at all the art but I kept going back to one painting on the wall.

It was very small, maybe 12 inches long at the most. It showed a campfire with a few cowboys sitting nearby. The only light in the painting came came from the glow of the fire. I remember thinking it was a very intimate scene even though the great outdoors loomed in the darkness beyond the fire.

When I asked someone how much it was, I learned it cost more money than the price of my house. The gallery person looked at my slack jaw and said, "Well, it is a Bierstadt." Used to his colossal works, I had not realized he was the artist of this small piece.

I sure can pick'em.

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven by Jonah Winter, pictures by Barry Blitt. Schwartz & Wade Books, 2006.

This book begins with a musical score in Beethoven's own hand. The end papers are an actual photograph of Beethoven's working manuscript for the Grosse Fuge in B flat major, Op. 134.

Jonah Winter recounts the story of Beethoven’s pianos and the thirty-nine apartments where he lived in Vienna. So often children's "non-fiction" blurs the line between fact and speculation. Not so in this book. Winter clearly identifies what is fact and what is conjecture and does so with great humor.

Diaries, eviction notices, physical evidence and piano movers' notes are used as a basis for the story he tells. Why did Ludwig change apartments so frequently? Well, there is some evidence to suggest the neighbors complained. As Beethoven moves from place to place, Winter chronicles the music that was composed there. An author's note at the end gives additional information about his deafness and the amazing fact that he composed his magnificent Ninth Symphony after he had completely lost his hearing.

Barry Blitt's illustrations lift the story to a new level. We first see Beethoven as a baby crying in Gothic letters, "wha wha wha WHA." He accurately and humorously depicts the difficulties and incredible logistics involved in moving pianos to the new apartments, over rooftops, through windows and through walls. The composer's effect on his neighbors is depicted in a cross-section where we see the neighbors living above, below and next door to him reacting to the noise coming from his apartment in the middle. Babies cry, dogs bark and people pound on the floor, ceiling and walls as Beethoven plays.

This book is a must have for music teachers, piano teachers and students of music. What a treat!

Books to Movies

The whole distressing news about the "changes" to The Dark is Rising set me to thinking about other beloved books in our Entwood that have been translated to the silver screen.

Nothing compares to the breadth and depth of the story in written form. Most of the time I do note what was left out and what was changed when a book is made into a movie but overall I enjoy seeing another creative mind's interpretation.

I enjoyed Stormbreaker, even though I didn't think the actor fit my idea of Alex Rider but I enjoyed the movie for what it was.

The Harry Potter movies had their drawbacks but I saw them and enjoyed them. When they pop-up on TV (like tonight) I find myself watching them.

Overall I have liked the Walden Media movies I have seen. I even liked Hoot though I felt they got the casting of Mullet Fingers very wrong.

Which brings me to our most beloved of all stories that have been movie-ized, The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson decided, for sake of dramatic effect, to change some aspects of the story and these changes STILL annoy some members of this household. Aragorn's motivations, Gandalf's confrontation with the Witch King at Pelennor Fields, and Denethor's character spring to mind.

But we all knew that Peter Jackson loved the books. We knew he had read the books and had dreamed of bringing this "unfilmable" story to the screen. The involvement of the fans was nurtured from the very beginning of the project. He knew their interest and support was important to the movies' success.

Jackson infused his project with Tolkien's own words and brought the essence and spirit of the story to life. It was a work of love and it showed in every frame.

I reflected on this as I read this interview with John Hodge, the screenwriter for The Dark is Rising:

Are there other elements from the books that you used. With regards to back story or stuff like that?

I haven't dipped into the other books at all.

So you just focused on the 'Dark Is Rising?'

Just 'Dark Is Rising', yeah.

Studios that are trying to achieve their own fantasy franchise à la Harry or LOTR should take a page out of Peter Jackson's play book.

Oh well.

3-D ABC

3-D ABC: a sculptural alphabet by Bob Raczka. Millbrook Press, 2007

Bob Raczka writes terrific books about art for children. His excellent Here's Looking at Me: How Artists See Themselves should be in every art teacher's collection. In 3-D he explores sculpture. Using an ABC book format, he presents a wide range of concepts and media.

His subjects are well chosen to engage young imaginations. Each work is presented with full attribution which includes the title, the artist, the date and the location of the piece. A page at the back gives full credit for the photography in the book too. The importance of properly citing resources and giving credit to the work of others should be and must be continually emphasized to students.

Everything works in this book from the clear typography to the clean layout. The art is beautifully photographed and tagged with a letter of the alphabet.

Concert for Anarchy by Rebecca Horn at the Tate Gallery in London is an inverted grand piano, hanging in midair with the keys spilling downward. It illustrates "U is for Upside Down."

A sculpture can make you look at things differently,

My favorite piece in the book is Spoonbridge & Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN which is also the cover image. It is tagged with "S is for Spoon"

A Sculpture can make you Smile

This books will certainly make you smile and think about sculpture in a whole new way.
It was also nominated for the Cybil Non-fiction Picture Book award.

Bob Raczka's website

A Different Kind of Book Shelf

And now for something completely different.

We Got "Style"

Librarians are hip and with-it and enjoy Dewey Decimal drinking games!

The NYTimes reports on the social group "Desk Set" in their "Fashion and Style" section today.