The d'Aulaires: Artists and Historians

Edgar Parin was born in Switzerland on September 30, 1898. He took his mother's name, d'Aulaire, when he became an artist.

Edgar and Ingri d'Aulaire

Edgar met Ingri Mortenson at art school in Munich in 1921. The couple married in Norway, then moved to Paris. As Bohemian artists, they often talked about emigrating to America. “The enormous continent with all its possibilities and grandeur caught our imagination,” Edgar later recalled. They immigrated to New York in 1929.

The couple collaborated on their first children's book, The Magic Rug, at the suggestion of a New York city librarian in 1931. Next came three books - the first of which is Ola - steeped in the Scandinavian folktales of Ingri’s childhood in Norway.

What a cute book!!!  source

Next they shifted their attention to books featuring American heroes such as Pocohantas, Benjamin Franklin and Buffalo Bill, before turning to the realm of mythology.

The husband and wife team eventually produced over 20 picture books for children. The D'Aulaires established the picture book biography as a valued staple of library collections. They worked as a team on both the art and text throughout their joint career.

here - from Beautiful Feet Books

Originally, the d'Aulaires used stone lithography for their illustrations. A single four-color illustration required four slabs of Bavarian limestone (one for each color), with each stone weighing up to two hundred pounds! The technique gave their illustrations a wealth of authentic detail and vibrancy. 

source

In the early 1960s, when this process became too expensive, the d’Aulaires switched to acetate sheets which closely mimicked the texture of lithographic stone. (Many of the old stones are now housed in the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection.)

The d’Aulaires' career spanned nearly five decades. They were working on a new book when Ingri died in 1980 at the age of seventy-five. Edgar continued working until he died in 1985 at the age of eighty-six.

Abraham Lincoln received a Caldecott Medal in 1940 and the d'Aulaires received the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal for "distinguished contribution to children's literature." The D'Aulaire's Trolls was a New York Times outstanding book of 1971.

[sources: New York Review Books and The Children's Literature Network.]

Have you seen their picture books for young children?  Book of Animals, Too Big, and The Two Cars - here, for ages 2-5.

Or their folklore collection? Norse Myths, Trolls, The Terrible Troll Bird - here, for ages 5-12.

here, for ages 5-12

Summer is a Time for Stories! Don't Miss These...

Giveaway time! What have I got to make that summer road trip a little bit easier?  Story Recordings!

I've partnered with Greathall Productions to give away three Jim Weiss Storytelling CDs!

My SUMMER GIVEAWAY STARTS TOMORROW, but today I want to introduce you to Jim Weiss and review some of his recordings.

"Jim Weiss is a master narrator especially when it comes to 
conversation…he takes on persona easily, 
male or female, young or old…" 

—AudioFile 

Jim Weiss brings stories to life with his voice, which is at once soothing and spellbinding.  He doesn't have the benefit of costumes or props, yet he has no trouble holding kids' (or their parents') attention. And he plays the part of a wide range of characters!

As I listened recently to Jim Weiss' skillful telling of The Jungle Book I was transported to Kipling's jungle - Jim does all the voices, of course: Mowgli; his "brothers" the Wolves; Bagheera; Baloo the Bear; Shere Khan; Messua (Mowgli's human mother); and more! 

Our family first came across Jim Weiss' stories back in the 1990's, through our homeschooling connections. The audio recordings (cassettes in those days!) were perfect to listen to on summer road trips. Our kids were entranced! 

Jim and his wife started Greathall Productions ("Intelligent entertainment for the thinking family") in 1989 and to date have produced over 47 storytelling recordings! You can navigate their website and not only find CD recordings grouped by age listening level, but also hear samples of many of the recordings.

Our family's favorite Jim Weiss storytelling recordings:
ARABIAN NIGHTS (ages 5 and up) We were definitely transported by these eloquently told tales of Scheherazade, including Jim's retelling of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves".

SHE & HE: ADVENTURES IN MYTHOLOGY (ages 5 and up)  This collection of several well-known Greek Myths was a perfect compliment to our unit study of Greece.

SHERLOCK HOLMES (ages 8 and up).  My husband and I were as entranced by Jim Weiss' retelling of these Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson stories as our kids!

Not to be Missed:
THE JUNGLE BOOK - If you think you know the whole story from the Disney movie, guess again!  Your kids will love Weiss's tellings of the stories of Rudyard Kipling: "Mowgli's Brothers"; "Tiger! Tiger"; "Red Dog"; and "The Spring Running". (ages 7 and up)

AMERICAN TALL TALES - These uproarious American folk stories will have you laughing out loud...You'll meet Paul Bunyan, taller than the trees and mightier than the rivers; Johnny Appleseed, whose gentle generosity make him a beloved legend; and Pecos Bill, whose outrageous Texas-sized exploits make him the greatest of all cowboys. (ages 5 and up)

BEST LOVED STORIES IN SONG AND DANCE - Three favorite tales (for girls and boys): "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"; "The Sleeping Beauty"; "Snow White and Rose Red".

Unabridged Narrated Books (these will not be included in my Giveaway, but I had to mention them!):
CARRY ON, MR. BOWDITCH (unabridged, ages 8 and up). A Newberry winner, the book is based on the the real life of Nathanael Bowditch, inventor of a new method for sea navigation: lunar reckoning. The story is set during the American Revolution, and is a touching biography of a worthy hero. I read this book to my kids, but I wish we would have had this recording! (6 1/2 hours on 6 CDs)
COME ON, SEABISCUIT!  - This is not the Hollywood version of this remarkable story! read my past post here.  (3 1/2 hours on 4 CDs)

Be sure to stop back by my blog tomorrow for details about how to enter my SUMMER GIVEAWAY of Jim Weiss Storytelling Recordings (giveaway runs 6/25 - 7/2/13)...  good luck!

Grecian Urns (& Myths) for Children!

My favorite museum here in Southern California is The J. Paul Getty. The main museum, "The Getty Center", in Los Angeles, contains a wonderful collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present.  

But it was my recent visit to the smaller - original - "Getty Villa" in Malibu, which houses ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, that inspired today's post (book recommendations at the end)...

I spent a glorious, sun-filled afternoon at the Getty Villa with my sisters, my daughter, and baby grandson.  They treated me to a birthday lunch at the outdoor cafe, and then we explored this wonderful museum that sits on a high hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
  

The Villa is surrounded by Roman-style gardens. It's the only full-scale reproduction that we have in North American of a Roman villa!  Check out this guided video tour about the history of the Getty Villa.

The best part?  The "Family Forum" gallery - we stopped in, with my grandson asleep and strapped to his mommy in his baby carrier (watch what ensued - my daughter used to be in Musical Theatre, and she was not shy with the Shadow Box Activity!)

The Family Forum offers activities for kids such as decorating Greek urns using a rub-off marker to create your own illustrations between permanent patterns along the sides.

Kids can also go behind a large screen representing a Grecian urn, as their shadows are projected onto the screen for everyone to see in silhouette. There are fun props behind the screen for kids (or silly Mommies) to hold and use to cast shadow pictures...

Ahem - my lovely daughter, with her version of "Ode on a Grecian Urn".  We laughed so hard (notice the baby carrier?)  It reminded me of that wonderful scene from The Music Man... 

"One Grecian urn...two Grecian urns...and a fountain!"
 source

The fun activity room also had a tabletop with raised patterns that you could go over with a crayon and paper to "rub" a design onto an outline of an urn... 

And of course, a real Grecian Urn for inspiration was on display in a glass case...

Today's Book Recommendations:

I cannot recommend these two books highly enough: Padraic Colum's The Children's Homer and The Golden Fleece - look for editions with exquisite pen and ink illustrations by Willy Pogany. (Ages 9-12) My kids were entranced by Colum's beautiful, easy to understand re-telling of the Iliad and the Odyssey and the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts.  My daughter got so into Greek mythology, she wanted a Greek party for her ninth birthday! (and she got it: her friends came in togas, we put little Greek columns on her cake, and played Freeze-Greek-Statue-Tag)

I recently came across this gorgeously illustrated picture book, Greek Myths, re-told by Ann Turnbull, with artwork by Sarah Young. (ages 8 and up)

This is not a comprehensive book on mythology but an introduction to the Twelve Olympians: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hermes, Athena, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis.
"Fresh take on some of the most important Greek myths, illustrated in a very modern way in tones of grey and green with occasional flashes of colour and the glow of gold. We are entertained by tales of the Greek gods and heroes, the relationship between which is clearly set out in the foreword, where we are told of the history of the Titans, the twelve Olympians and the Muses. The book is divided into three sections: the earth, the heavens and the underworld; monsters and heroes and, finally, gods and mortals." source - historicalnovelsociety.org

My daughter remembers pouring over this book by Aliki (there is a "browse inside" feature here).  She loved the colorful, detailed illustrations.  It's a good introduction to the gods and goddesses of Greece. (ages 6 and up)

I've mentioned Jim Weiss before.  His storytelling style is perfect for Greek Mythology!  And now his recordings are available to download here.  Or you can order a CD or listen to a sample by clicking here. (ages 6 and up)

I hope you liked my little tour of the Getty Villa and some of my favorite books on Greek Mythology.  Have any of you read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympian books?  I'd love to hear what you think of them!