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The Tchotchkes of Greenwillow

Posted by Michelle Corpora on 9 March 2010, 9:13 am

Here at Greenwillow, tchotchkes (pronounced exactly the way you’d think) are very important to us. They remind us of days gone by, of old friends, of running gags. They brighten cloudy March afternoons. Some of them even dance for us. Here is a tribute to our tchotchkes, those venerable little baubles that make an office into a home away from home.

Barbara

Tums: Relieves heartburn fast. Calcium rich. Great berry flavor.


This is a candle for St. Barbara, for whom I was named. St. Barbara was shut away in a tower, pounded on the head with a mallet, flogged, and ultimately beheaded. Nevertheless, she remained true to her calling and performed miracles. Although venerated as a saint for centuries, the Vatican removed her feast day from the calendar in 1969. Another under-appreciated saint, just like moi. :-)

Virginia

The GWB 10th anniversary bowl is full of a potent mix of Susan Hirschman’s and my txhicnkeickjs. You see here, among other things,  “the world’s oldest dog”–this little dog has been at Greenwillow since the beginning of time. Steve Geck was kind enough to bring all of the Greenwillowites a commemorative Canadian flag pin from the great SARSALA of 2003. One of my favorite txhichinckneks  is the purple plastic thistle. I got it in Scotland when Susan Hirschman and I went to visit Diana Wynne Jones and took a little side trip to Edinburgh.  

Tim

Chad Beckerman gave me this . . . I don’t know what you’d call it . . . when he left Greenwillow, and he told me that I had to keep it forever. Neither of us remember where he got it from; resident historian Barbara Trueson believes it used to belong to Nancy Geller. There is a probably pathological absence of personal effects, decorations, and plants in my office, but I am nothing if not resolute when it comes to keeping promises. So atop a battered filing cabinet this cowboy sits, watching over me and waiting for our next adventure.

Martha

Every fall the Children’s Book Council holds the Extreme Trivia Challenge. The contest is otherwise known as The Golden Bunnies. Because the top two teams get trophies of, yes, golden bunnies! I’ve been lucky enough to be on both a first place and a second place team, and my trophies glow from their prominent place on my desk. Right beside the glass pumpkin that Marlane Kennedy sent me from the real-life Circleville Pumpkin Show that figures in her book Me and the Pumpkin Queen. And some wonderful tiny stone sculptures from Marybeth Kelsey. And a sand dollar from a friend who visited the Oregon coast.

Paul

Some days you may find me lying flat on my apartment floor with my legs raised on the sofa, and other days you may find me walking around the office at a 45-degree angle, all because of occasional horrible lower back pain (which happens with more frequency as I get older–Oh, and by the way, I’ll be 106 in October!). But you will always find my trusty smiling Nick Jr. pillow on my office chair to help ease that pain! Thanks Smiley-Pillow Guy!

Sylvie

This bowl was passed on from Libby and Susan, to Tara, to me. Many of the stones and seashells were added by other Greenwillow staffers throughout the years; collected from Italy, France, Florida, the Caribbean, and other beaches of the world. I love all the different textures; of the items and of the bowl itself. Now it sits on my bookshelf, and sometimes I like looking at that bowl even more than looking out my window…it has history, and tells so many stories!

Steve

When I walked into the office on my first day of work, hanging from the ceiling was a beautiful wicker mobile. Janina Domanska, who illustrated Under the Greenwillow, bought it for Libby Shub. Libby passed it on to Robin Roy, and it now resides with me.  I have it above an air vent, so it’s always revolving.


We’re not quite sure how the black sheep cookie jar came into the Greenwillow fold. I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t be worth appraising on Antiques Roadshow. But we consider it part of the family–as long as it’s full!

Michelle

My colorful assortment of mechanical dragons and other toys have followed me from various jobs in Maryland to Greenwillow here in New York. Sheila Rae is new; the Greenwillow contribution to my collection. The crystal heart was given to me by my aunt when I was laid up in the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. They’re all special for one reason or another, but my oldest office toy, and my most precious, is the little mechanical robot that I’ve had as long as I’ve been old enough to make memories. When you wind him up and lay him down on his back, his little arms pinwheel around until he does a backflip and then pushes himself to standing. Then he walks. After at least 25 years of life, he still works. I keep him around to help me remember two important lessons: 1) Never take yourself too seriously. 2) If you get knocked down, no matter how many times, the best thing you can do is pinwheel your arms, do a backflip, and keep moving forward.

Lois

Move over, Elvis . . . ! I used to be able to see the Statue of Liberty from my roof deck in Brooklyn. We were out there early in the morning and late at night, and I never caught her doing the mamba. But a friend gave me this gem for my birthday, and now I’ll never see her any other way.

Filed under Funny Stuff, Greenwillow History. Tagged 
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Visiting the 23rd Floor: Elisha Cooper

Posted by Virginia Duncan on 8 March 2010, 9:30 am


Elisha Cooper stopped by recently to talk about his new picture book. The book is about a dog and unconditional love, and we adore it. The dog is currently nameless, so we did spend a good deal of time talking about possible names—Lucky, Buttercup, Buster, Henry, Homer, Kaiser . . . . Then we spent a good deal of time talking about the tragic ways in which the dogs of Sylvie’s childhood died . . . and then we spent a good deal of time talking about whether or not one should eat rabbit (Virginia: “God, no!” Sylvie: “Oui! Oui!” Elisha: “Delicious!”). We’re looking forward to seeing Elisha’s finished art at the end of the summer, as well as discovering what he decides to name the dog.

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From the Writer’s Desk

Posted by Greenwillow Books on 5 March 2010, 9:42 am

THE MAKING OF FORGET-HER-NOTS, BY AMY BRECOUNT WHITE 

Pink Coneflowers.

People are always asking me, “Where did you get your inspiration for Forget-Her-Nots?  It’s so unusual.”  The seed was planted when I went to hear the author Toni Morrison speak years ago.  I’d taught high school English and was a freelance writer for newspapers and magazines at the time, but the desire to write a novel beat deep and persistent within me.  The audience was full of aspiring writers eagerly lapping up drops of wisdom from the mouth of a Nobel Laureate.  Her piece of advice that resonated with me was this:  “Write the book that only you can write.” 

I’d heard “write what you know” and “write what you love,” but contemplating the book that I alone could write truly sent me down a new path. I spent months making a list of my loves and what I truly cared about.  I became an observer of my own life and experiences, to decipher what I uniquely had to share with the world.

Orchids are for passion, or "belle of the ball."

Flowers kept popping up.  As a freelancer, I’d pitched a language of flowers idea to a few magazines, but never got the assignment.  I did have several “translations” of the language on my bookshelves and had written articles about gardens and gardening with children for The Washington Post.  I’d also written about recreation and travel, and most of those articles involved hiking, biking, or otherwise immersing myself in the lovely and varied natural worlds within a few hours of Washington, D.C.  As I raised my children and read story after story to them, I knew I wanted my own novel to convey the delights of nature.  For me, nothing inspires joy, hope, and delight better than a bloom. 

In the midst of my mothering, writing, and ruminating, my friend and neighbor Susan was dying of ovarian cancer.  I’d cooked and baked for her, but I wanted to do something special.  So I pulled out my language of flowers books and collected a tussie-mussie, a Victorian symbolic bouquet, from my own herb and flower garden.  I included rosemary for remembrance, sweet basil for best wishes, cedar for strength, coreopsis for cheerfulness, and borage for courage.* I wrote a card translating my flower message and gave her the bouquet.  She was thrilled and said it was the most unique gift she’d ever received.  How I wished my flower messages would come true for her!

Irises send a message, and tulips are for fame!

Within a few weeks of Susan’s death, I realized I had an idea, a story that only I could tell, and I began to write it.  It took me more years than I expected to get “all the lovely words just right,” as a favorite professor of mine used to say.  I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when my Publishers Weekly review described Forget-Her-Nots as having “a delicate sense of magical possibility and reverence for the natural world.” 

That was my goal exactly.

* There is no definitive list of the language of flowers.  In FHN, I used the most commonly found meanings, along with a dash of poetic license.

Amy Brecount White is the author of Forget-Her-Nots, which went on sale this week! She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

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TYPOGRAPHY + POETRY = Nerd Heaven

Posted by Martha Mihalick on 4 March 2010, 9:33 am

I fell in love with poetry in college, thanks to some truly inspiring—and inspired—friends and professors. And I fell in love with typography just after graduating college, when a friend began studying to open her own letterpress business and clued me in to how cool type can be. I’m always on the lookout for funny and beautiful typographic things. Like Garamond shirts, and dorky font puns, and especially for cool ampersands (the best typographical symbol!).

 So when this video popped up in my twitter stream, I, of course, was smitten. Poetry, typography, and speaking out. What could be better? (Well, besides Time You Let Me In!)

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Filed under From the Editor's Desk, Videos We Love.
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From the Studio

Posted by Greenwillow Books on 3 March 2010, 9:20 am

THE MAKING OF FOREVER FRIENDS, BY CARIN BERGER

Carin's daughter and a friend fishing in Japan.

Books sometimes seem to evolve from thin air. Other times they grow out of issues that I am wrestling with personally. The latter is certainly the case with Forever Friends. It’s a story of separation and enduring friendship and was written as our family was preparing to leave to spend four months in Japan. We travel a lot, often leaving our home for extended periods, but somehow this journey loomed particularly large for both my 11-year-old daughter and for me. We had repeated conversations about how friendships can withstand distance and time. It seemed like we both needed that reassurance. Forever Friends is a story that bloomed from these discussions, and, having put our friendships to the test by venturing off into the wilds of Japan, it appears that the premise that true friendship lasts forever has been, happily, proven true!

One more small note: I see Forever Friends as a companion book to The Little Yellow Leaf. They are both books about the richness and importance of friendship, and the little brown bunny and the small blue bird make an appearance on the front and back cover of The Little Yellow Leaf.

Forever Friends in progress. The top two images show spare parts and remnants from the collages. Below you'll see an early sketch, and finally, a finished spread!

Carin Berger is an award-winning designer and illustrator, and the creator of Forever Friends, which went on sale this week! Her other books for children include OK Go and The Little Yellow Leaf, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated book. She won the Society of Illustrators Founder’s Award in 2006. Carin Berger lives with her family in New York City.

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