Tuesday, May 19, 2009

10 Books A Day: #30

Reptiles and Amphibians...Herbert S. Zim and Hobart M. Smith...Golden Press

Mammals...Herbert S. Zim and Donald F. Hoffmeister...Golden Press

Poems Bewitched and Haunted...sel.& ed. by John Hollander...Everyman's Library

Dragon, Dragon and Other Tales...John Gardner...Bantam Skylark

Gudgekin the Thistle Girl and Other Tales...John Gardner...Bantam Skylark

The King of the Hummingbirds and Other Tales...John Gardner...Bantam Skylark

Christmas Curiosities: Odd , Dark, and Forgotten Christmas...John Grossman...Stewart, Tabori, and Chang

A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, & Other Subversive Spirits...Carol K. Mack & Dinah Mack...Arcade

The 13 Clocks...James Thurber...The New York Review Children's Books

Bored of the Rings...Harvard Lampoon...Roc Fantasy

A couple of the great old Golden Guides, library discards; a book of poems for Halloween; the satirical (and hilarious) fairy tales by the great author John Gardner; and the latest swag from my Edward R. Hamilton Bargain Books venture. Christmas Curiosities is just that; peculiar imagery from the time between St. Nicholas falling out of favor in the Protestant world and the now familiar image of Santa Claus becoming defined; also limited by the time that color printing becomes more widespread and inexpensive. Kristkindls, Krampuses, and Wienachtsmen compete with Santa Claus and St. Nicholas for the job of gift giver. I find the images of Mrs. Claus and Santa at the Creche are a lot older than I thought. The 13 Clocks is one of the greatest, oddest books of all time, and I'm glad to have this edition; Bored of the Rings has the advantage over other The Lord of the Rings parodies that have come out since Peter Jackson's movies, in that it is actually funny, instead of being merely snide.

1 comment:

AlanDP said...

I still have the reptiles & amphibians and the mammals books from long, long ago. I loved the pictures of all the snakes when I was a kid. In the mammal book, I mostly just looked at the bats.