Thirty Years Later there is "Room for the Baby"

 Michelle Edwards - Author of Room for the Baby
On Saturday, September 29, 2012, an audience of 50-75 attentive listeners, from young readers to older adults, were present on the second floor of Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City, Iowa to hear the first public reading of Room for the Baby by Michelle Edwards.  The delightful story centers on a young family: Mom, Dad, and young son, who find that a new baby is to join their family.  But where will the baby sleep?  The sewing room is filled with scraps of cloth, thread, and other unwanted items that neighbors and friends have given the mom.  They knew she would make good use of the unwanted items.  But now the sewing room was needed for the baby.  As the family waits from Passover to Hanukkah, the room slowly empties.  Jana Christy's pastel drawings amplify the book's themes of recycle, reuse, reduce; a timeline of Jewish holidays; and love and friendship within a family and within the neighborhood.

Thirty years earlier Michelle Edwards had sketched out a story "Yetta, the Scrap Saver.
Yetta lived on Mermaid Avenue because that is the avenue her own Grandmother Yetta lived on.  The black and white sketches show a busy streetscape and a grandmother who saved scraps given her by her Brooklyn neighbors as they knew she would put them to good use.
When Edwards returned to the story, the location had moved to 18th Avenue, the scrap saver had become much younger and more modern, and so Room for the Baby emerged.
In the story the family moves through the year marked by Jewish holidays all the while mother takes the bits of fabric, bolts of flannel, and other stashes of cloth and makes diapers, and sleepers, and little shirts for the baby and for children of her neighbors.  She unraveled mismatched mittens and used the yarn to create new warm ones with stripes.  And when the neighbors came by for "free stuff" they transformed their found treasures into gifts for the baby. There was a soft animal made from the socks, a mobile created from the wooden spools, many knitted items, and a name collage created from the magazines.
At the end of the reading, Michelle answered questions, signed books (both new and old), and those who were in attendance enjoyed cake sent by Michelle Edwards' writing pals - The Tallgrass Writers.
A lovely day in celebration of a book that is sure to delight many readers - young and old.

 

Anyone planning a major children's literature conference or just wanting to have an inspiring author visit your school/community for a day with readers might wish to investigate inviting an author or illustrator to share their experience with writing. With the common core standards being implemented the background of a book and research becomes an important element in the way readers read. Thanks to Flory Gessner for the photos from the reading. smc

 

McBookwords has a dozen or more authors that speak with young readers.  If you would like to investigate having an author visit your school or library -- for an author appearance please contact us at McBookwords.  Each of these authors often speak  in schools with young readers, and at all types of groups that are interested in literacy and  books.

 smc

Room for the Baby by Michelle Edwards - Book Signing

At a tea and conversation event hosted by Claudia McGehee I saw Michelle Edwards - the author of the newly released Room for the Baby (Random House, 2012) and found out that on September 29th at Prairie Lights  Michelle will read from her book and sign copies of Room for the Baby.  Prairie Lights • 15 South Dubuque St. • Iowa City, IA 52240 • 319-337-2681 • 800-295-BOOK.  The event will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the upstairs room at Prairie Lights.

Room for the Baby A delightful book that follows the tradition of the Caldecott Award winning Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Talback (Viking, 1999); Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gilman (Scholastic, 1993); and Jim Aylesworth's My Grandfather's Coat (Scholastic, 2014).  In Edwards's Room for the Baby (Illustrated by Jana Christy; Random House, 2012), Mom - a seamstress who has collected many garments, cloth and so forth to create new garments, is faced with the task of finding room for the new baby.  How will she transform this room full of things into a room for the baby?

A reviewer in the School Library Journal says: "From the endpapers featuring quilt squares with menorahs, apples and honey, onesies, yarn and knitting needles, teddy bears, and spools of red thread with needles, readers will know they are in for a multi-layered story."  The story follows the family from Passover (when the impending birth of the baby is announced) to the the third night of Hanukkah, when Lily is born "and big brother and the neighbors bring Lily gifts created from hand-me-downs and leftover materials. Brightly colored, collage-like illustrations with detailed patterns accompany the lively text, delivering the reuse, recycle, repurpose theme. That the family is Jewish and the neighborhood diverse add texture to the story in a completely natural fashion."

This book is sure to be a winner.

If you are not able to get to Prairie Lights I know they would take orders for autographed copies and mail your copy to you.

Author appearances are very effective in promoting interest in reading and writing -- and can inspire many literacy related activities.  Anyone planning a major children's literature conference or just wanting to have an inspiring author visit your school/community for a day with readers might wish to invite check out other authors in the Midwest that are available to visit your school or library.

 

McBookwords has a dozen or more authors that speak with young readers.  If you would like to investigate having an author visit your school or library -- for an author appearance please contact us at McBookwords.  Each of these authors often speak  in schools with young readers, and at all types of groups that are interested in literacy and  books.

 smc