Studying Bemelmans

If you would have asked me seven years what I expected as far as a career, I would have never guessed I would have ended up in libraries. But leave it to an unemployed history major in the heart of New York at an exhibit featuring the last hundred years in children's literature for me to have that epiphany moment. The home to Patience and Fortitude and being in the right place at the right time, I fell in love with children's literature, art/illustration and early twentieth century New York, circa Bemelmans, de Wolf and Fleur Cowles, when publishing ruled the world. The initial entrance into the grand library was like a welcome home, and from that point until now I'm in a constant state of amazement because libraries are a wonderful thing. I can't speak for other librarians but I never tire of research, in fact it invigorates me. My fascination and love for picture books has never waned from childhood. I'm so grateful my parents stayed up just to read me stories whether it was my mom reading Eloise for the hundredth time or my six foot dad squeezing in the middle of my sister and I reading Harry Potter under the covers with us. You could call it a love affair, my books and I. It's been a thirty year relationship and I hope that passion never dies. To artists and storytellers like Ludwig Bemelmans, Hilary Knight, Emily Arnold McCully, Arnold Lobel and Barbara Cooney, this post; well almost the entirety of this blog is dedicated to you!   

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