We Love You So
Maurice Sendak was a true friend to RIF. As far back as 1979, he provided this illustration for our Year of the Child campaign. And just recently, he signed many of these posters for RIF’s 45th anniversary, helping us raise funds to get books to kids to need them most. He was an inspiration to advocates for children everywhere.
But he was so much more to us — and to Book People all over the world. From giving children the freedom to be energetic, afraid and even unruly to giving parents bedtime stories that absorbed them as much as their children, he left behind a legacy that went far beyond reshaping the world of children’s books. His work reshaped children’s worlds.
Thank you, Mr. Sendak. Share how his work shaped your world in the comments below.
U.S. Army Colonel Mike Fenzel now has four kids. When his sons Marcus and Christopher were 20-months and 3-months-old, he was deployed to Afghanistan for 15 months.
Kids that age seem to forget their parents after just a weekend away. But when he returned, his sons’ eyes lit up when they saw him.
They knew his voice. They knew him.
An interview with the best-selling author
When I was a kid, we had a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s one of the first books I remember reading aloud to others. Often they were eating and often I was recounting something disgusting. I couldn’t help it. I was riveted.
Mary Roach, best-selling author and self-declared Book Person (photo David Paul Morris)
There aren’t many writers who can pull that off for us grown-ups. Obscure human feats, or the mysteries of human feet, often end up in academic journals, laden with jargon drowning out any hope of fascination.
But then there’s Mary Roach. The author of Packing for Mars, Stiff, Spook and Bonk, she writes books that evoke that same overwhelming need to interrupt the person sitting next to you and read them a passage … a couple pages … OK, maybe a whole chapter. And they’ll thank you for it.
Mary, a self-declared Book Person, recently sat down to answer a few questions for RIF’s Blog. Thank you, Mary.
What’s your first book memory?
I loved this peculiar book called The Man Who Lost His Head. He literally loses his head. Wakes up in the morning and it’s gone. He tries to replace it with a pumpkin and then a parsnip. (I can picture the drawing of a man in a suit with a parsnip for a head and a hat on top of the parsnip.) The parsnip is deemed “too conspicuous.” I clearly remember learning the word conspicuous. I recall reading other books when I was younger, but this one for some reason stayed with me in a very vivid way. Now that I think of it, it’s a very Mary Roach sort of book. At the time, I didn’t get the play on “losing one’s head.”
You’re giving a first-grader without any books a book of her very own to take home. What do you pick?
Cat in the Hat. You can’t start encouraging disobedience too soon.
You’re going on a beach vacation, do you grab an e-Reader or old-school book?
Old-school book
What’s your most bizarre book story?
Years ago my husband and I were looking at a house for sale in SF that had been staged. Stagers normally dress a home with pretty safe neutral stuff — Pottery Barn vases and fine art coffee table books. This stager had for some reason placed a copy of my book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers on one of the bedside tables. You really could lose a sale that way.
What’s your most treasured book at home?
Arithmetic, a novel by Todd McEwen. It belonged to my dear friend Eric, who died at age 40. At his memorial, his mother invited us all to take home one of his many wonderful books, to remember him by. Eric had introduced me to McEwen’s writing, and this was one I hadn’t read. It’s an amazing novel, and it will always remind me of Eric.
What’s being a Book Person mean to you?
Learning more — continuing to learn more — than I ever learned in college. Secretly wanting to leave dinner parties and sneak upstairs to read. The unique and unmatchable satisfaction of reading something beautifully written. Inspiration. Awe. Never having to worry about an excess of disposable income.
Follow Mary Roach on Twitter (@mary_roach) and visit her website to learn more about her books and how her early career involved elephant wart removal.
The U.K.’s Guardian News recently posted the best first lines in fiction. It’s heavy on the classics and got me thinking about the opening lines that stick with me (which don’t tend to be the classics).
Need a smile on this Monday morning? This RIF kid’s enthusiasm for reading is contagious. Way to not be lazy, Daisy. Glad we could help.
Welcome to our new feature where we’ll post a few of our favorite quotes over the past week — whether they’re funny, useful or simply thought-provoking. Drop a comment below if you’ve seen something particularly noteworthy.
From commutes to appointments to honey-do lists and housekeeping to family time and friends time, we all have busy lives. And that’s just a slice of life.
Here’s a snapshot of what life looks like at RIF National. Just a few highlights from the last couple of weeks …
Welcome to RIF’s new blog. Book People have been commenting non-stop about the incredible song that’s part of our new PSA. And here at the RIF office we also have the song on repeat. So for all of you pledge-takers wondering who sings what, this post is for you.
Welcome friends. I’m Jay, a real Book Person working at RIF. My 3-year-old daughter is into making lists these days – shopping lists, to-do lists, even Santa lists (a kid can’t be too prepared).
With all this list discussion, it got me thinking …
Imagine a best-seller list for the issues that matter most.
We see versions of this every Election Year – jobs, the economy, education, health care. But what about something so basic but so necessary that by simply focusing on it we would see dramatic improvements in all of the other issues?
What about literacy?
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