We Invented Civilization? Out soon! #middlegradebooks #comingsoon #kidlit #kidlithistory

The cover, by Maurice Sendak has a dark blue background with light blue vines surrounding an oval with a white background. In the oval, the title is in reddish-brown color; the author and illustrator names are in black. In the center is a mother bear in a chair holding Little Bear on her lap. A scroll saying "A I Can Read Book" is centered underneath the oval. This cover is the current one, not the original.

🎈Today is Else Holmelund Minarik’s birthday.🎈 This first-grade teacher walked into #UrsulaNordstrom’s office with a manuscript written in blue crayon. Ursula saw in it the first book for the I CAN READ! series. LITTLE BEAR, illus. by Maurice Sendak, published in 1957. #kidlit #kidlithistory

The cover is illustrated by Faith Ringgold, in 2007. Bright red brick house in background. Bronzville in bright yellow letters at the top. Four kids on or near stoop. A girl is pushing a baby carriage. A boy is catching a ball. Two girls are standing on the steps. A woman and child are watching from a window.

Happy Birthday Gwendolyn Brooks (1917)! 🎈 I learned from the brilliant @mariapopova.bsky.social, that #UrsulaNordstrom published a book of poems by Brooks in 1956: BRONZEVILLE BOYS AND GIRLS, illus. originally by Ronni Solbert, and, beautifully, in the reprint by #FaithRinggold. #kidlitHistory

The cover has a white background. In the foreground a young boy is jumping to catch a basketball.

How could it be June already?
In May 1972, Harper & Row published WILLIAM’S DOLL, by Charlotte Zolotow, illus. by William Pène DuBois, edited by #UrsulaNordstrom. Zolotow tells a lovely story about a boy who wanted a doll. It was his grandmother who saw the value in that ask. #KidlitHistory #kidlit

The cover is a painting of a matronly older smiling woman in a dress and an apron and with a cane and many cats following her down an unpaved road. Her dress is orange with red polka dots and her apron is yellow. The cats are all different colors and types. A green field and the horizon with clouds are in the background.

🎈Happy Birthday, Margaret Wise Brown!🎈 When she and legendary editor #UrsulaNordstrom first worked together in 1937, they were just two 27-year-olds trying to make an impact in the children's book world. WHEN THE WIND BLEW was followed by THE RUNAWAY BUNNY and GOODNIGHT MOON. #kidlitHistory #kidlit

The cover background is in shades of taupe. Crockett is on the right-hand side, facing right and behind him is Ruth on the left-hand side, facing left. Various small drawings of Harold are sprinkled about.

You can learn more about Ruth/Crockett in @philnel.bsky.social's excellent adult biography: CROCKETT JOHNSON AND RUTH KRAUSS: HOW AN UNLIKELY COUPLE FOUND LOVE, DODGED THE FBI, AND TRANSFORMED CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. I referred to it often in writing my biography of #UrsulaNordstrom. #kidlitHistory

The cover is a mustard yellow, with the title in big and bold red type. This is the 75th Anniversary edition. There's a drawing of Harold dropping a seed in the ground.

80 years ago today, in 1945, Harper & Row published THE CARROT SEED, by Ruth Krauss, illus. by her husband, Crockett Johnson, edited by the extraordinary #UrsulaNordstrom. A #PB, it was Ruth’s debut book. Ursula would edit and publish approximately 20 more of Ruth's books. #KidlitHistory #kidlit

Currently reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Just finished the excellent new graphic novel Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol, and have been slowly making my way through Dear Genius: the Letters of Ursula Nordstrom 📚

#reading #graphicnovels #kidlithistory #books