on aging and bookselling

This past year, my mother celebrated her 100th birthday and in the parties that followed, the term “antique” was thrown around a lot (but only in the most loving way!). It got me thinking…when I was young and just starting to be interested in collecting, I remember someone telling me that an “antique” item was one that was more than one-hundred years old. At the time, that made sense: one hundred years before was smack dab in the middle of the 19th century, predating even the Civil War. Heck, there were still Civil War soldiers (though probably drummer boys) alive.

When I think of one-hundred years now, it gets a little confusing. A century ago, children were reading books that don’t seem so very old: the Oz books, Thornton Burgess, The Little Engine That Could, and Doctor Dolittle. They were just on the cusp of experiencing the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

Maybe it’s my age. Maybe it’s my overarching interest in virtually all of children’s literature. I know that there are various reasons that individuals are drawn to collecting kid’s books. Some are interested in only one subject (mysteries or cookbooks or series books or award-winners). Others are drawn to a specific title that resonates strongly with a childhood experience (every example of A Child’s Garden of Verses, for instance). There are folks who collect for love and others for monetary gain and yet more because they HAVE to collect something (and children’s books are plentiful and relatively inexpensive). And there are completists: collectors who need to have every title that Margaret Wise Brown ever issued. I know of at least one person who collects first editions of children’s books by adult authors who have only written one kid’s book (and if a second title is issued, the first is removed from the collection). Collecting is a highly personal activity and the best collections are fiercely focused and reflect an individual’s passions.

I have the misfortune…the result, I suspect, of having been a combined History and English major in college…of lacking any such specificity in my own collection. I’m interested in virtually all aspects of the field and that has resulted, first, in a large collection of pop-up, movable, and novelty books (my primary interest) and, secondarily, an inventory of over 13,000 volumes. At 75 years of age, I’m re-thinking my earlier inclinations, but have little recourse other than to live with their consequences. I started dealing in old and rare children’s books over thirty years ago in order to get rid of excess inventory and gain some cash to purchase more pop-ups, but instead of seeing the number of volumes dwindle (isn’t that the reason to start a business?), they’ve grown exponentially.

If I didn’t love it all so much I’d probably be clinically depressed. If I’ve inherited my mother’s genes I probably have another twenty-five years to dispose of my extra stock (at ten volumes per week if my math is correct and if I never buy another book). Otherwise, it’s my kids’ problem.

Caldecott & Newbery Honor Books

We in Cleveland know an awful lot about “close, but no cigar.” Consider “The Fumble” or “The Drive” or the seventh game of the 1997 World Series against the Marlins (sports analogies that will go over the heads of 99% of our readership, but still bring tears to the eyes of Clevelanders everywhere). 

Thankfully, the same emotional distress that goes hand-in-hand with sports doesn’t really translate well to the world of publishing. Still, the annual decisions of a handful of seasoned librarians and the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott medals each January help determine the commercial fates of both the Award-Winners and the also-ran Honor Books for generations.

For the Newbery (since 1922) and the Caldecott (since 1938), a gold seal on the front of the dust jacket virtually guarantees a long, often endless, life in print while the silver seal awarded to Honor Books promises no such outcome. And while a list of the gold-sealed titles constitutes a remarkably credible rendering of 20th century children’s literature and illustration, one cannot help compare some of the award-winners to those that didn’t quite make the mark and wonder why the committee tilted one way or the other.

Human beings are fallible and no list is perfect. Such 20th century literary icons as Curious George never received ANY mention from either committee and neither have such modern day stand-outs as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or Miss Nelson is Missing. Was the 1939 Newbery Medal-winner Thimble Summer really a better book than the Honoree, Mr. Popper’s Penguins? How about the 1953 winner Secret of the Andes…better than Charlotte’s Web? Was the 1940 Caldecott Medal awarded to Abraham Lincoln more deserving than the runner-up, Madeline? Should the 1949 Caldecott Medal have gone to Blueberries for Sal rather than to The Big Snow? You get the idea (and notice how assiduously I’ve avoided using modern examples!). 

Of the thousands and thousands of new children’s and young adult titles issued every year, an unbelievably small number…sometimes as many as half-a-dozen and sometimes none…achieve the rank of Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winners. Not all are still in print or even worthy of note; some older Newbery-related titles dealt with social issues in ways no longer deemed appropriate or relevant and some Caldecott-related titles sported racial and ethnic caricatures viewed as harmful (see the newly out-of-print Dr. Seuss Honor Books such as McElligot’s Pool and If I Ran the Zoo). Regardless, a book’s selection as an Honoree elevates it above countless others and should…in a fair world…identify it as a significant and collection-worthy item.

Interestingly, many of the Caldecott and Newbery Honor Books are still remarkably inexpensive. Some of this is due, as with all collectibles, to supply. Books issued by popular and established authors and illustrators by major publishers tend to achieve larger print runs than those by first-timers. Despite the awards received or demand from collectors, there are still a lot of them floating around. Others have simply never gained the traction of the award-winners and exist in a nether land of familiar but not assiduously sought-after titles. To my mind, this is a big mistake! Cream rises, and not only were these honorees noted as among the best of the best at their release, but a remarkable number of them have passed the test of time for both exceptional writing and illustration and as favorites among children and the adults who nurture them.

I’m often asked for help shaping collections, especially by beginning collectors. My advice always revolves around three principles: collect what you love, collect items of intrinsic value, and focus on a specific target. A collection of Caldecott and Newbery Honor Books hits that trifecta nicely.