Books I Thrifted on Vacation
I love to travel but I don’t love that travel hits pause on all my rituals, including creative routines and writing. It is sometimes hard to be in the moment, when I’m conscious of all the possible creative moments slipping away. If there is someone out there who can write on vacation, I would love to hear from them because it is time to fully acknowledge: I cannot.
We just came back from Spring Break and I was feeling the pang of missed days of work (to be clear not my JOBS, I was perfectly fine with days off from WORK) and unpacking our car. The bad thing about the road trips is it allows me unlimited thrift stops and purchases and as usual on this trip, I bought a lot of kids’ books. And I suddenly realized that it was a creative act to seek out and select and bring home vintage kids’ books, it all goes into the well, and I can share them in this space Do you like my justification for bringing more books home? It’s for work, okay?
So from the thrift stores of Southern Oregon and Northern California, I bring you: Books I Thrifted on Vacation [there will be a follow-up Books I Bought on Vacation because I really need the chance to talk about Treehorn Books in Santa Rosa, CA so stand by for that next thrilling installment
First up: It’s not often I thrift one vintage Tomi Ungerer, let alone two but miracles did happen: I Am Papa Snap and These Are My Favorite No Such Stories [1971] and Allumette [1974]. Papa Snap is the kind of surrealistic nonsense that Ungerer was king of. A 1972 Joe Flarehety review started:
“Writers of children's books ‐seem to be divided into two categories: those who write about sugary little twerps who help old ladies across the street or make up beds for stray puppies, perpetuating the myths about childhood; and those who plumb the darkness of those early years—the fear, the fascination with horror, the penchant for tyranny that children possess”
No prizes for guessing which one Ungerer was. Allumette is similarly dark but with the happy twist of the titular Little Match Girl actually getting everything she has ever wanted and inspiring other people to volunteer and donate to help others. An unusually optimistic entry in his catalog, and welcome. If you want to know more about his life and work, check out my earlier post.
I bought two more entries for my growing pile of doll books that will one day be a full entry here or a zine in the shape of a dollhouse, maybe? Time will tell.
Ginnie and the Mystery Doll by Catherine Woolley was just one of dozens of Ginnie titles but did you know that CW also wrote books under the name Jane Thayer - most famous for authoring the Gus the Ghost books? Funnily enough, I also picked up a copy of Gus Goes to School on this trip [Original title: Gus Was a Real Dumb Ghost so kudos on changing that] and had no idea they were the same person. She died in 2005, at 100 years old, having written 87 books for kids and this one is full of nice moments of spending the summer on Cape Cod eating beach plum jam on toast and looking at the sky and water.
The Christmas Dolls by Carol Beach York was reviewed by Kirkus when it came out: “this plum pudding of cozy, conventionally Christmassy ingredients, the result is the de-Scrooging of Mr. Not-So-Much, two happy rejuvenated dolls, and a merry Christmas for one and all. Doll-sized fantasy that works well enough for very little, very girly girls--not too silly, not too sweet. Fun CBY fact: one of her books, Good Charlotte, was the inspiration for the band name.
Another genius of the picture book world was William Steig and this funny little entry When Everybody Wore a Hat [2003] was a late-in-life reminiscence of his childhood. As many indignant reviewers on Goodreads say, it is a little scattered but I forgive my elders and betters anything. My fave Goodsread review snippet is this lady who is her own personal Commonsense reviewer and her parental warning:
Cleanliness: Parents argue. Mentions women wore corsets during this time and the illustration of this is a little odd - definitely pronouncing her chest area.
Read it at your own risk I guess!
Last up from the thrifts are two YA novels: A Robert Cormier book I’ve never read from 1990, Other Bells for Us to Ring. I’m a little apprehensive about the theme of religion and the Kirkus descriptor of “gentle” because I love Robert Cormier for the very reasons outlined in his Wikipedia bio:
Robert Edmund Cormier (January 17, 1925 – November 2, 2000) was an American writer and journalist, known for his deeply pessimistic novels, many of which were written for young adults. Recurring themes include abuse, mental illness, violence, revenge, betrayal, and conspiracy. In most of his novels, the protagonists do not win.
In short, he was BLEAK. But I’ll give this kindler, gentler RC a try.
The second is a Norma Klein I surely have 3 or 4 copies of already, Love is One of the Choices, but if I find a NK book in the wild, I always adopt it. I know a long-form zine deep dive on Norma Klein has been my plan for years, maybe this is the year (she says optimistically!)
Bonus content: Did I buy this sock puppet book by Frieda Gates just for this creepy back cover? Yes, yes I did.
Stay tuned for books I bought at Treehorns, a whole different armful.
