Great New Books

Update on 9/17/12: OLD BLACK WITCH is available now! Here: Purple House Press
~~Update 4/6/12: Reprint publisher, Purple House Press, will be re-issuing this favorite childhood book, Old Black Witch, in the fall!~~

By the time I was six, I knew from the Brothers Grimm story of Hansel and Gretel that mean witches were bad and would get their just due; but I also knew from Dr. Seuss' Grinch that cruel hearts could change and grow with kindness. On our little black and white television set that sixth year of my life, I had watched the annual showing of THE WIZARD OF OZ and had witnessed Neil Armstrong become the first man to set foot on the moon, making me think pretty much anything was possible.

I can't say for sure, but maybe all those things contributed in making the unlikely book, OLD BLACK WITCH, one of my childhood favorites. Like the mother and son in the story, my family had just moved into an old Victorian fixer-upper, that needed some new paint and tender loving care. Nicky and his mother start a fire in the fireplace after moving in, but as they begin scrubbing and cleaning, who should stumble out onto the hearth from the smoke filled chimney, but an old witch (who is not as scary as she thinks she is!)

She tries to frighten them away, but they are determined to stay - they have put all their money into the house and plan on converting it into a tearoom - the menu is even planned. When the tearoom finally opens, with its red and white checked curtains and Sweet Williams on the tables, the society ladies love it so much that Nicky's mother needs help. That's when they discover the Old Black Witch can cook! She wins everyone over with her delicious dishes, despite her witchy ways.

Nicky's mother sets Old Black Witch up in an attic bedroom and she loves sharing it with the cobwebs and bats. She only wishes she had a couple of toads to keep her company...

Well, she gets her wish when she saves the tearoom from two robbers ("not all the people who heard about the tearoom were nice quiet ladies") after she zaps them and promptly turns them into - yes - spotted toads.

The story is quite eccentric and the artwork is wonderfully detailed. At the end of the book is a recipe for Old Black Witch's Bewitching Pancakes. What kind?

"Boil cauldron,

make a brew,

What kind of berries

make a pancake blue?"

This is one of many obscure books published by Parents' Magazine Press, which operated a children's mail-order book club in the 1960's and '70's. Through this club's affordability and popularity came many books that Baby Boomers (like me) remember fondly. Some titles are so popular, that they've become quite collectible. CLICK HERE, if you'd like to browse which titles Loganberry Books has available in stock. (You can also scour your own neighborhood bookstores and libraries, or google the titles to find them on Amazon or Ebay. I literally wracked my brain for years to remember this book title, and finally came across it this fall! I guess OLD BLACK WITCH is one of the most requested books! When I looked up the customer comments on Amazon, most everyone had the same wonderful memories as I did and were thrilled to have found this old childhood friend. )

You know those obscure (often unavailable and out-of-print) picture books you read as a child over and over again? The ones that delighted and stayed with you over the years - and sometimes still haunt you when you can't think of the title!

THE SHEEP OF THE LAL BAH, by David Mark, illustrated by Lionel Kalish (published in 1967) was one of my favorites. Happily, my parents saved it and I was able to read it with my own children. The good news is, if you google this particular out-of-print book, you're more than likely to find it available online.

A sheep named Ramesh was the "lawn mower" for a big park named Lal Bagh, "in a little city in the heart of India".

Hard working people from miles around came to visit the beautiful park. "They came to see the big white petals of the lotus flowers opening and closing in the pond. And the rubbery plants and stickly plants and curly plants in the glass house..."

On holidays Ramesh mowed the grass in very special patterns.

The women came and rubbed his head. Children took rides on his back.

But one day, the forward thinking mayor decides the city needs a modern machine to make the people feel proud of their city.

Ramesh leaves and the people stop coming to the park (because you can't climb on a machine's back and ask it for a ride!)

You'll have to get the book to find out where they find Ramesh and how they get him to come back.

Lionel Kalish"s detailed illustrations and David Mark's descriptive text made me feel, as a young child, like I was visiting India...

I was reminded of this obscure picture book about India recently when I read that New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art is bringing to light some obscure artists of that country in the exhibit, “Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India 1100-1900”, which is at the MET from September 28th until January 8th, 2012. (Photo source: HERE)

“Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram at Ajmer on his Return from the Mewar Campaign”
By Balchand, 1635
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 11 15/16 by 7 15/16 inches

I read in THE ECONOMIST - "This is the first time that an exhibition of this scale has concentrated on particular artists, their families and ateliers, rather than on the regions of India or particular patrons and rulers. The Met show begins with examples of the earliest surviving portable images in Indian art. Between the 12th and 16th centuries these manuscript illustrations, painted on palm leaves, were miniaturised versions of the vast murals that decorated Jain and Buddhist monasteries. The images, painted in flat, primary colours, are often the only surviving visual record of those murals."

“Rao Jagat Singh of Kota at Ease in a Garden”
Attributed to Hada Master, 1660
Opaque watercolor on paper, 10 5/8 by 6 15/16 inches

Obscure? "The scholars found signatures embedded in many paintings just waiting for someone to take the trouble to look. More often, connoisseurship was their tool. This combination of a good eye, intelligence and intuition, combined with long experience of looking at Indian art, led to the identification of dozens of artists. Links between generations have become clear, as have the influence of brother upon brother, the place of an artist in an atelier, the travels from one court to another and the influence of imported European art."