This book was first published in 1962, the year I was born!, and it's an amazingly beautiful piece of work. I think it's a stunning artistic achievement and I can't imagine all the work that Ms. Ipcar put into all these stunning illustrations. I'm sure if I had read this book back when I was a kid that I'd have become a lobsterman when I grew older. Sadly, I read the book about the fat smart ass who wrote pithy blog posts all day long instead, oh well.Here's some random pages from the book:
Ms. Ipcar, age 90, is still alive, as I write this anyway, and she has a website that you can see here.********
One of the reasons I bought a scanner was to save books like this from being forgotten. I think it's important to save bits and pieces of the more esoteric parts of our popular culture on the internet. I'm glad I got to scan and save this beautiful book, even if only one other person gets to see the art and read the story of it then I feel like I've done something worthwhile.
9 comments:
Yeah, Detroit is well known for its lobster industry.
That is a lovely book. Those types of illustrations zoom me right back to my childhood - I love them.
I applaud you for what you're doing. You're right, those illustrations are excellent!
Nice illustrations. I want to marry a lobsterman.
I love what you've done with your scanner. I can't wait to open my xmas present (I accidentally walked in on Kat and saw it--whoa, that sounds suggestive--I mean, I saw her wrapping it: it's a big old photo-printer/scanner/faxer/copier thingie.) I'm so PUMPED!
Soon I too will use my newly acquired powers for good.
Oh--forgot to mention--you done been TAGGED for the Real Life Curriculum meme. Can't wait to see your course offerings!
Oh awesome! Maybe I will be a lobster man...
Oh, oh, oh ... Dr. MvM, how did you know that I LOVE the work of Dahlov Ipcar? You should look up the book Hardscrabble Harvest, and then find folksinger Priscilla Herdman's recording of it on the album "Daydreamer."
I am very partial to these old children's books. I snatch them up when I find them as library discards. I've been contemplating doing a post on the author Lois Lenski.
One of the things we have lost in the last 30-40 years is that sense of regionality (I think I just made that word up.) Regional occupations, regional dialects, etc. I find that infinitely sad.
Thanks for posting these lovely illustrations!
Sorry, one more thing. There is a fascinating biography available of Margaret Wise Brown, the "Goodnight Moon" author. There was just a whole different culture around being an author at that time. Another interesting one, who I believe was friends with Ms. Ipcar, was Esphyr Slobodkina, the author/illustrator of "Caps For Sale." And there is also a biography of the woman who wrote and photographed "The Lonely Doll" series; wow, was she rather messed up.
Oh, gosh ... you should never get me started talking about children's books, darn it!
Barb-Duh, I would have run off to Maine if I had known it was so colorful and fun looking. :)
Chris-Thanks.
Beckeye-If I was single I'd go for that Linda Greenlaw gal, she's a lady lobsterman.
Dguz-I can't wait to see what you scan! And your tag has been done.
Missy-And you can cruise the streets at night and fight crime!
Suzy-Back then children's books were more about the story and not about selling some corporate crap. They had good stories, some with great moral and ethical lessons and above all they also had great art. If you haven't seen my email to you yet, I picked up "Caps for Sale" in hardback for a quarter yesterday. I'll be posting it soon. I'm on a mission now to find more discarded Dahlov Ipcar books and to scan them, I love her stuff!
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