Gnomes

By Wil Huygen

Illustrated by Rien Poortvliet

English translation published in 1977.

  

 

“To my amazement I have heard that there are people who have never seen a gnome.  I can’t help pitying these people.  I am certain there must be something wrong with their eyesight.”

  

                        ~Axel Munthe

                                                                                                                                   

This book was first published in English in 1977 when I was eleven years old; old enough to discern the difference between fact and fiction, yet young enough (as I still am) to imagine that the worlds of fantasy and truth somehow coexist. 

I had always loved my dollhouse, made for me by my parents from what was previously a television cabinet my Dad had made.  I imagined a real family living in it as I rearranged the furniture and made accessories for the tiny occupants. 

It was no wonder, then, that when I first laid eyes on this book I could fathom a world where these little human-like creatures quietly roam.  

This book is designed as a comprehensive guide to a gnome’s life: his family, eating habits, work, hobbies, and how he raises his children.  As a child, I was occupied for hours by the detailed drawings .  The convincing text made the lines between fantasy and reality blur.  I recall studying the diagram of the typical woodland gnome’s home under a tree and mentally deciding how I would arrange my own little gnome house. 

I was envious of the gnomes’ close relationships with the natural world.  They can, of course, communicate with wild animals, and often work cooperatively with the animals to survive in the elements.

Lately, while browsing the internet, I’ve seen some captivating photos of “fairy houses” that people have created in their gardens.  This has inspired me to create my own little home under a tree for a garden gnome or fairy to inhabit.  With a little help (thanks, Mike) I’ve used some found and natural materials to create this little habitat.  Here are a couple of photos.  

Can you imagine some little beings moving in?  Why not?  With a little imagination, you can envision anything!

Snow

by Roy McKie and P.D. Eastman

A special guest blog by two adorable daughters on Father’s day.

This old book is very pertinent to this week; obviously not for the certain type of precipitation the title implies (it IS more than half way through hot, muggy June after all), but rather because of the memories it conjured up about our dad.

Snow! Snow!
Just look at the snow!
Come out! Come out!
Come out in the snow.

We would insistently repeat this phrase to dad whenever there was ANY snow on the ground – whether it be a few flurries or a few feet.  Usually our pleas would be answered with a ‘yes’. Usually.

It is a book that we have had our whole lives, and is a fun children’s book recounting many different activities that can be done in the snow.  

As a family, we have definitely taken advantage of these things.  We have spent so many winter mornings ‘helping’ our dad shovel the driveway, or getting up really early in the morning to go sledding on a deserted hill, just to be able to sled down backwards on our incredibly safe metal sleds.   Or those winter evenings building epic snow forts using recycling bins as ‘brick’ makers, being pulled around on a bright pink sled having fun while making our dad get some extra exercise, and having snowball fights which somehow always ended up being a ‘dump huge piles of snow on each other using snow shovels’ fights.

It’s funny how a book can bring back distant memories so clearly.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad, and thank you!

Love,
Michelle and Laura

The Wonderful Ride

Being the true journal of Mr. George T. Loher who in 1895 cycled from coast to coast on his Yellow Fellow Wheel

By George T. Loher with commentary by his granddaughter, Ellen Smith

Published in 1978

In 1895, George T. Loher, a 29 year old butcher from California, set off with a friend for a bike ride of over 4,000 miles.  His friend turned back soon after the trip began as the conditions were too harsh for him.  Loher, however, pushed through loneliness, harsh climate, equipment problems and harrowing terrain in order to accomplish his enormously ambitious goal.  

His journal consists mostly of a list of town names with some strong opinions, positive and negative, about the people he meets in those towns.  He briefly describes road conditions, ranging from discouragingly difficult during the first half of his trip, over unpaved roads, through the Rocky Mountains, and past the Badlands, to very favorable conditions as he entered Wisconsin and finished his journey through New York City.  

Quite interesting to me was the fact that his bicycle had no brakes.  Apparently, coaster brakes were not available until 1898.  Loher describes his method of riding down steep mountainsides by “tying a quantity of brush together and trailing it through the dust”.

Also intriguing is that many people he encountered resented the bicycle.  Businessmen were concerned about a drop in carriage sales.  Horse lovers saw bikes as a threat.  Police were concerned about traffic problems.  Farmers were upset about the fast moving bicycles frightening their horses and mules.

I picked this journal up recently at a used book store.  It caught my eye because this summer, my brother Andy has embarked on his own cross country bicycle trip.  117 years after Loher’s journey, I’m sure Andy will run into much different road conditions and better access to equipment for bicycle repairs.  What will be similar about their adventures are the potentially harsh weather conditions and the wide variety of personalities met along the way.  Likewise, what they share is the ability to set an unusually ambitious goal and to actually follow through on it.

Best wishes to you, Andy.  Here are some words from another adventurer who accomplished this goal many, many years ago.

“Now let me conclude my experiences by saying that if you ever cross the continent on a bicycle, I sincerely hope you will meet with better roads, more congenial people, and last but not least, a stronger bicycle than I had.”

More information about Andy’s cross country bike journey from Mukilteo, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine can be found here.

 http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=10115&v=2f

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

by Lewis Carroll

This little battered, dusty volume is just one of many Alice in Wonderland books on my shelf.  When my youngest daughter was very small, Alice was her favorite character, as you can see in her photo.  

This here is the oldest copy we have, obtained when our public library weeded it out.  Michelle may not even remember this, but she checked this book out many times.  Because of its age, and because I thought we were probably the only ones borrowing it, I assumed it would eventually be weeded.  One time, I asked at the circulation desk, and the clerk told me I could put my name on file so I would be called if and when they decided to free the book from their collection.  Sure enough, a couple of years later, I went down to the library and purchased it for 50 cents. 

Whenever I see this book, I am reminded that it came from my public library, and my thoughts turn to just how much that institution means to me personally.  The library is a place of unlimited knowledge and imagination and to me that means it truly is a Wonderland.  

One of the fondest memories from my childhood involves wandering up and down the aisles of the children’s room in my neighborhood library.  Especially in the summer when there was no school work to be done, I would come away with an armload of “new” books.  Sometimes I would grab a few non-fiction books, and get an idea or two for a new art project.  Usually, though, my haul would include many gems of fiction which would carry me away to places I never before imagined.  I became the characters in these stories and vicariously participated in their adventures, their sorrows, and their joys.  I could happily spend a summer day lost in a book – or two – or maybe even more.

  

Fast forward about forty years.  The library is still one of my favorite places to be, and now I’m even fortunate enough to work in one!  I can happily go to work in the morning, knowing I’ll be able to spend hours among the stacks.  The awareness that I have a part, however small, in providing a space for discovering facts, improving lives or exercising  imaginations and creativity is so gratifying.

Now, of course, the library has a different look and feel than it did in my childhood.  Gone are the card catalogs, replaced by computers.  The books are still there, but next to them are the DVDs and CDs.  A book may likely be downloaded onto a portable device rather than taken physically in hand to the check out desk.  Questions asked at the reference desk will often be answered using an online database rather than a hefty encyclopedia.  The library has changed and will continue to do so into the future.   

One fact remains true.  

The public library is a still a place of unlimited knowledge and imagination, offering all who enter its doors a portal to Wonderland.