Readings, Rated
Fun for the Whole Literary Family: A History of Children’s Books at the Newberry
Along with the Leo Lionni faves and the David Carter pop-ups and the requisite Goodnight Moon and Guess How Much I Love You, I sure would love to have a Myriopticon for my daughter. (Baby Einstein has nothing on this.) You can’t buy one, but you can see one from 1866 on display at a new exhibit at the Newberry Library: “Artifacts of Childhood: 700 Years of Children’s Books,” which showcases 65 of the library’s 10,000-plus books and games for children. This includes centuries-old Italian and French versions of Aesop’s Fables and some early- and mid-20th century selections from Chicago publishers, among other beautiful and rare items. The Myriopticon is “a small paper box shaped like a table television [containing] a long, continuous paper scroll printed with panoramas of famous Civil War battles that are wound past a ’screen’ on the box”–essentially a portable, small-hands-friendly form of the Cyclorama in Atlanta’s Grant Park. Pretty cool. The exhibit opened Saturday, September 27, and runs until January 17, 2009.
Aha, I’ve got some rugrats coming to town next weekend–now I know where to take ‘em. I love how the Newberry’s site describes La Fille de L’Exile as “like Pokemon.” Ha!
What a great event. Thanks for providing the details.