Christopher Nolan's latest film Interstellar is an epic experience. It's length, coming in at just under 3 hours, is a salute to endurance (of both your body and the human race) and a supersonic mediation on time. It is a battle of an earthly dystopia, with planet earth just one generation from being inhabitable, vs. a space utopia, where the survival of the human race is poised to come from the exploration of space. In both worlds the book has a strong presence and it is through books that both worlds communicate with each other. On earth, it is the library in Molly's room....
Paddington Bear Invades London
A run of first edition of Paddington In 1956 Michael Bond, a BBC cameraman, bought a small toy bear left alone on a shelf in a department store in London for his wife Brenda. He named it Paddington after the train station closest to his home. In 1958 Williams Collins published the first Paddington book, A Bear Called Paddington, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum. To date 150 titles have been published ranging from the original novels to board books for babies. Over 35 million books have been sold and Paddington has been translated into over 40 languages. Now comes Paddington the movie and to celebrate its...
Small is Beautiful: The Work of L. Delaney
A dollhouse without books is like a miniature room without windows! Books add life and character to a room! There isn't a miniature scene that a book would not look fantastic in---libraries, studies, attics, bedrooms, living rooms... Her moniker is: Miniatures for the Well-Appointed Dollhouse! L. Delaney has had the doll bug since she was a child. She was always bothered by the combination of inconsistent quality and the high prices of dollhouse accessories then one Christmas she decided to do something about it. With all the scrap material that was accumulating in her room she set out to create some miniatures...
November is Picture Book Month
Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative celebrating the print picture book. Founded by author & storyteller Dianne de Las Casas the goal is to simply share the love of the picture book. In this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And the world needs picture books. There’s nothing like the physical page turn of a beautifully crafted picture book Every day in November, there is a new post from a picture book champion explaining why he/she thinks picture books are important. The website features tons of activities and a teacher's guide to help...
Folio Society focused on emerging from the darkness
They have been in business for 65 years and have almost 2,000 titles under their belt. They produce some of the most beautiful and well-made books on the planet. They work with the leading illustrators in the world. Yet the Folio Society remains far from a household name. Why? Their business model stinks. They operated exclusively as a membership book club and didn't spend any energy actively promoting their titles until two years ago! Focusing on high-quality production values centered on packaging, typography, and illustration should not automatically negate attention to distribution, marketing and building brand awareness. It is the age...