From: Norma Jean Sawicki <nsawicki>
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:14:13 -0400

Leonard Marcus is a modest fellow and it is unlikely he would announce that much of the material in the article is The New Yorker appears in his recently published Minders of Make-Believe, Dear Genius: The Collected Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, and his biography of Margaret Wise Brown.

As someone with a long time interest, and fascination with the history of children's book publishing, I commissioned Leonard to write Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of Children's Literature when I was at Houghton Mifflin. It was sixteen years in the making, and I was long gone when it was published in June. One cannot write about the history of children's book publishing in the U.S. without writing about the development of library services to children, as well as a number of associations. The book is chock full of anecdotes and stories about the movers and shakers of both professions...it is great fun to read and there is, of course much in it about power and the way it was used...which, of course, includes Stuart Little.

For those who find the article in The New Yorker interesting, treat yourself and read Leonard's work...start with Minder of Make- Believe...you will not be disappointed. Norma Jean
Received on Tue 15 Jul 2008 02:14:13 PM CDT