Summer Songs in a Lena Anderson Garden

Mary Q. Steele. Anna’s Garden Songs. Illustrated by Lena Anderson. New York: Greenwillow, 1989. Illustrations published 1988 in Sweden. (Cotsen 2755)

Last weekend I wished I could be in one of Lena Anderson’s idyllic gardens in the Swedish countryside when the heat index climbed up to 110 in central New Jersey.   It was too hot to dig for anything here…Dreaming of  August’s perfect red ripe tomatoes in the shade was more like it.

Imagine wearing a sweater to go to the farmer’s market in the Princeton Junction train station this time of year…  Doesn’t picking out your vegetables in your bare feet in the grass sound like heaven?

Mary Q. Steele. Anna’s Summer Songs. Illustrated by Lena Anderson. (New York: Greenwillow, 1988). Illustrations published 1984 in Sweden.

No one does summer like a Scandinavian artist…

Welcome back to Bookscape, Tigers!

The tigers in the Cotsen stacks welcome all alumni, alumnas, and their little ones to take a break in the Bookscape gallery during Reunions this weekend.

There are lots of books–board books, picture books, and chapter books galore to read in the comfy chairs or the giant bonsai tree while you’re there.  Just remember they stay in the gallery so other people can enjoy them during their visit.

Check out the Sendak clock in its amazing case in the entryway before taking a look at our current exhibition “Steadfast Toy Soldiers.”  Find the Kite Wall and see which high flyer is your favorite–Hedwig, the tiger-angel fish, the dragon…  And if your dad or mom lifts you up, you can pet Shere Khan on the top of the Wall of Books.

And please help yourself to one of our gallery publications, which are drawn on the amazing resources of the research collection.  There’s  More Tigers, a great selection of Princeton’s favorite great cat, On the Road, a tribute to the automobile,  Puss in Boots, which has the fairy tale and pictures of its amazing  hero, and Party Animals, to get you in the spirit.