Reading Wednesdays

Another big stack of #libraryloot I’ve been hauled to the studio! I’m reading for research. I support #FReadom (pushing back against book banning).

Fallingwater: The Building of Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece, by Marc Harshman, Anna Egan Smucker, and LeUyen Pham
Sunday Funday in Koreatown, by Aram Kim
Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party, by James Dean and Kimberly Dean
Aliens Love DinoPants, by Claire Freedman and Ben Cortisones
The Fox on the Swing, by Evelina Daciutè and Aušra Kiudulaite
Eraser, by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant
Brave Girl, by Michelle Markel and Melissa Sweet
XO, OX, by Adam Rex and Scott Campbell
The Knight Who Said “NO!”, by Lucy Rowland and Kate Hindley
Have You Seen my Trumpet? by Michaël Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo
Keat’s Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury, by Ezra Jack Keats
The Whatifs, by Emily Kilgore and Zoe Perisco
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet
Sleep Tight, Charlie, by Michaël Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo

Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota

Yesterday was a book adventure! I took part in a tour of the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota. If you ever want to explore a hidden Twin Cities treasure, this is the place! 90 feet below the ground floor of the Anderson Library on the UofM lies an archival collection of books, manuscripts, sketches and other collectibles, that spans an area of 2 football fields.

Down, down, down the elevator we go, past the stalactites and into the caverns containing the stacks of priceless collections.

First draft of Because Of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo http://www.katedicamillo.com/books/bowd.html

After the tour, we were able to view original paintings for GOODNIGHT MOON, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd.

We also got to look at the sketches, dummies and 3d final art for BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY, by Melissa Sweet, winner of the Robert F. Sibert Medal.

What a treat that was. That was not my first or last trip to the Kerlan. I feel very lucky to have such easy access to a place like that!