Author/Illustrator of over 270 books for children, Tomie dePaola was much beloved by readers and will be missed. Perhaps best known for original stories like his Caldecott honor book, Strega Nona (although when awarded, the misspelling became evident!). But his oeuvre ranged from delightfully informational storybooks to illustrations of poetry collections, biographically based readers such as his Newbery honor book, 26 Fairmont Avenue.
Here, I present a very small sampling, but because I have given away so many of our books (about 15,000 thus far), this is all I have left of his books. Featured is a signed copy showing that I first met him in 1985. Tomie was gregarious, charming, and an engaging conversationalist. A fond memory is his 70th birthday dinner party when he waxed eloquent about the delights of an egg and its aesthetic perfection in form (long before the now world-famous Twitter egg), functionality in cooking, and as a powerhouse in nutrition. He owned more ovens than my husband (who only had four, not including the toaster oven or microwave ovens).
I'm taking on the challenge that Northy set up for us to take 30 shots of the same subject in the month of April. I decided on my home library because I've never photographed it despite the fact that every visitor to my house always photographs it. My first photo is not particularly inspired photographically but the subject matter is of a person who should be remembered.
@allie912 -- I was going to tag you on this photo because I knew of everyone on 365, you would recognize Tomie and his books. My bet is that you recognize some of his books just by the spine!
Wow - you have met so many wonderful people in your interesting job. I am looking forward to seeing your take on your library as you share it with us. I know it will take ages for you to take each image as you get distracted by all those books...
@jyokota Oh yes, he had an entire shelf in our picture book section, another in our early readers and, of course, all his memoirs in our biography collection. My daughter read Strega Nona to her 5 year old son the night she heard.
I absolutely love books and have been an avid reader all my life. I read a lot on my Kindle these days, but have to have hard copy for 'serious' books and photography books.
No month-long series here will be as personal as yours! (I'm going to notify my daughters to follow and share with their kids...a bit of homeschooling!) Domenico @domenicododaro described your library perfectly...A National Treasure! I've never seen anything quite so remarkable! (Did I ever share with you that I accidentally deleted ALL the photos I took on that week-long visit to Chicago? Still breaks my heart!) I digress... This is a touching place to begin and I look forward not only to the pictures you'll share, but I know they'll be filled with information we'll all enjoy learning! It's perfect!
One of the great things about this forum is that you learn so much from others. Tomie de Paola - I didn't know this illustrator. For children, in my opinion, pictures are particularly formative and therefore so important. I always vividly associate the stories from my childhood books with the illustrations.
So looking forward to this series Junko! Thank you for sharing your wonderful library with us! What a great day we had visiting your beautiful home! You made us feel so welcome opening your home to us visitors from across the pond and a few other 365 friends!
I am sorry to hear Tomie passed away. I have several of his books and a wooden sled illustrated by him with his signature on it. He was wonderful. Fav.
May 5th, 2020
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