The Shop Around the Corner: What was the "Storybook Lady" Reading?

You've Got Mail is one of those cozy movies my daughter and I can watch again and again!  How about you?

For us, the setting (a children's bookshop in New York City) and the music (Nora Ephron's movies always have brilliant soundtracks of oldies and forgotten treasures), play as much of a starring role as the actors.  

And who better to make you feel good than Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks?

When watching the movie, I'd never taken the time to figure out which book Meg Ryan's character, Kathleen Kelly, is reading as the "Storybook Lady".  But this time I quickly paused the dvd to see the book's cover...

And saw the word B-O-Y.  And I listened carefully to the passage she was reading aloud to the children...

I must tell you, therefore, that it was I and I alone who had the idea for the great and daring Mouse Plot. We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine.

“Why don't we,” I said, “slip it into one of Mrs. Pratchett’s jars of sweets? Then when she puts her dirty hand in to grab a handful, she'll grab a stinky dead mouse instead.”

The other four stared at me in wonder. Then, as the sheer genius of the plot began to sink in, they all started grinning. They slapped me on the back. They cheered me and danced around the classroom.

“We'll do it today!” they cried. “We’ll do it on the way home! You had the idea, so you can be the one to put the mouse in the jar.”

Boy by Roald Dahl

The passage that we see Kathleen Kelly reading during her book shop's story time to the group of kids is from Boy: Tales of Childhood, an autobiographical children's novel written by Roald Dahl.

Kathleen Kelly's bookstore in the film was based largely on Manhattan's  Books of Wonder.  Meg Ryan worked the counter at Books of Wonder for a day as part of her preparation. Decorative props from the film can still be seen at the store.

The children's book store scenes in the film were actually filmed at Maya Schaper's Cheese and Antique Shop on 103 West 69th Street (which has since closed - life imitating art?). 

Did you know that You've Got Mail (1998) is based on a classic movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan?  The title?  The Shop Around the Corner (1940), of course! (Another film we watch again and again!)

Jame's Stewart's Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullavan's Klara Novak.

[Source, and more fun You've Got Mail movie trivia here.]

LITERARY COSTUMES IN FILM

Today I visited the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, so that I could see their new exhibit, "Maurice Sendak: 50 Year, 50 Works, 50 Reasons".  It's the first stop for this touring exhibition that posthumously celebrates Sendak and the 50th Anniversary of his picture book, Where The Wild Things Are.  But more on that in a later post...

This post is about another exhibit at the Bowers: "CUT! Costume and the Cinema".  I was lucky enough to make it to see this exhibition before it leaves.  (March 10, 2013 is the last day - so hurry if you live in Orange County.)

All the costumes were GOR-GEOUS, but I was most excited to see the gowns designed for films based on some of my favorite classic literature.  Take a look (and don't miss the children's book at the end of this post)...

Kate Winslet wore this dressing gown in Finding Neverland,
a movie based on the life of J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan.

Here's a view of the back (and you can barely see the
exhibit hall we just came from with the Maurice Sendak art!)

The lovely taupe colored gown in the middle with all the ruching is from
Miss Potter, a film about Beatrix Potter, starring Renee Zellweger.

Left: hat and gown worn by Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood,
in the film based on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995).
Center: hat and gown worn by Sarah Pickering as Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit (1988)
 Right: The wedding gown and veiled hat worn by Charlotte Gainsbourg
 in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Erye (1996)

Look at these quaint "underpinnings".

See more costumes that were on exhibit, HERE.

We ended our day at the Museum Gift Shop, full of great books...history and art books, picture books, pop-up books, and sticker books...

Children's section of the giftshop.

Here's a fun sticker book about costumes I found on the bookshelves.  It's from Usborne, a publishing company that specializes in non-fiction books that are fun and fact-filled.  This book, Clothes & Fashion Sticker Book, would be sure to delight any child who is interested in costumes, design, or paper dolls (for ages 5 and up).

Illustrated with photographs of clothes and accessories, this fun book includes paintings as well as photos and illustrations to bring the fashions of the past to life. It features lively text and fascinating facts that look at fashions through the ages from ancient times right up to the modern age. It offers over 100 stickers.

Well, I hope you liked my little tour.  And check back soon for my post about the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Bowers (it will be there until April 28, 2013).

A BEAUTIFUL SHORT FILM, INSPIRED BY BOOKS - AND A HURRICANE

Morris and Humpty Dumpty [source]

Have you seen the Oscar nominated short film, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore"?  The animation is riveting, but so is the story. The first scene opens, with "Pop Goes the Weasel" playing in the background, and the camera shot panning down to Morris. He is sitting on his (New-Orleans-French-Quarter-looking) balcony, humming to himself and writing in his journal when, suddenly a strong wind kicks up, blowing his words right off the page.  Ultimately - in true Wizard of Oz style - he and all his books are swept away as well.  This occurrence, like the song accompanying it, seems nonsensical.

"Why" and "Where" are the questions that make you want to watch until the end.  And the engaging little Humpty Dumpty flip-book character, stylized animation, and Buster Keaton dance numbers (albeit with stick-leg books!), won't let you look away.

In doing some quick investigating, I discovered that the impetus for this film, all about Book Love, was born in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  These words of author/creator/director William Joyce brought tears to my eyes:
"The main thing I guess," Joyce said, "was going into the shelters and seeing the displaced people and seeing the kids in these, usually a sports arena, with no privacy or any of the stuff they knew as home. But they had been given books -- there were different organizations to make sure kids had books to read while they were in the shelter. Seeing these kids reading these books and being able to shut out all the sadness and the uncertainty and lose themselves in a book..." [source]

I don't know how long the film will be available to view on YouTube, but here's the link - enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJPMsWw6Z8
(And if you would like to give a book to a child in need, or support groups doing this, visit one of these sites: BookEnds, Better World Books, Reading Is Fundamental [RIF], or Save The Children.)