We spent a few days camping in Maine earlier this month, at the same place we go every summer. I spent a lot of time thinking about how much I love visiting, year after year— we pull into the same drive and see the same bay and the same islands. We walk the same rocks along the water and kayak the same salt marsh. There’s something about returning to a familiar place that isn’t home, but almost is. While we were there, I also spent a lot of time thought about how much Barbara Cooney loved Maine, and how much her books are rooted in a sense of time and place.
After the success of Ox-Cart Man and Miss Rumphius, Cooney followed up with Island Boy, which tells the story of Matthais, the youngest of twelve children growing up on Tibbetts Island.
Talk about a sense of place. The endpapers that open and close the book are a literal map of the Maine seacoast. In a 2016 lecture, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen1 notes the many ways in which Cooney personalized this map, including labeling her own home, Hermit Wood:
Like Miss Rumphius, Island Boy celebrates the beauty of Maine, and like Miss Rumphius, it covers the scope and beauty of a life, from early childhood to old age. There’s the idea of seasonality here— in the work of Matthais’s farming family, but also in the idea of what makes a life— growing up, going away and coming back, growing old in a place that one loves.
In talking to his grandfather, little Matthais echoes the words of a young Alice Rumphius:
“I too shall be a sea captain when I grow up,” said little Matthais. “And then I will come back and live on Tibbetts Island.”
“It is good to see the world beyond the bay,” agreed old Matthais. “Then you will know where your heart lies.”
“I already know,” said little Matthais.
Here’s to the places where our hearts lie. Where is yours?
If you’d like to read the earlier posts on Ox-Cart Man and Miss Rumphius, I’ve linked them here:
World More Beautiful comes out August 6th, on what would have been Barbara Cooney’s 107th birthday. If you’d like to pre-order a copy, you can do so from any major retailer or your local independent bookstore, and you can also request it from your local public library.
Also! There’s also a Goodreads giveaway of World More Beautiful happening now through August 9th. Enter below for your chance to win one of three signed, first-edition copies (U.S. addresses only, please).
August Book Events
Wednesday, August 7th: Barbara Cooney Birthday Tea Celebration, 11:00 at Lawrence Memorial Library, Pepperell, MA
Saturday, August 10th: Storytime and craft from 10:30-11:30 AM at Lawrence Memorial Library, Bristol, VT
Saturday, August 17th: Storytime and craft at 10:00 AM at Inklings Children's Books, Waitsfield, VT
Sunday, August 18th: Storytime at 2:00 PM at the Northshire Bookstore, Manchester, VT
Monday, August 19th: Monday Morning Storytime from 10:00-11:00 AM at The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY
Random Good Things
This post over on E.B. Goodale’s
, featuring some gorgeous sketches (including a study for our upcoming picture book, Snow Geese Season).This look back at the 50th anniversary Cadillac Ranch (one of many roadside attractions we visited in 2017 during our cross-country move with two kids and two dogs).
The Cavalcade radio hour on WFUV (discovered through Filterworld: How Algorithms Flatten Culture by Kyle Chaka).
This Thai-inspired turkey and snap pea stir-fry (I also made a version with crumbled tofu for the vegetarians in the house).
Books I’ve Read and Loved Recently (for Adults)
Speaking of seasonality: I read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, starting a day before summer solstice and finishing before we went camping. It’s the story of a little girl and her grandmother exploring an island, and it was the perfect way to absorb the feeling you want to linger with during summer, if that makes sense. Here’s to soaking up the rest of the season.
*Please note that all books mentioned above contain affiliate links to Bookshop.org, a site that helps support local independent bookstores.
Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney. “‘Travels with Hattie & Eleanor: Researching Biography with Barbara Cooney.’” Barbara Cooney: Drawing Biography. 6 Aug. 2016, Bowdoin College Museum of Art.