Those of you who frequent our Children’s Room will have seen the above-the-stacks display of Dr. Seuss books, featuring everything from How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins in honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 112th birthday. We here at the Free-For-All have reveled in our love of Dr. Seuss, in the past, so we are thrilled … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
In his introduction to the reprint of ‘Salem’s Lot, Stephen King explains that he was, and remains a “writer of the moment”, which means that his characters, and the themes in his books, often reflects the ages in which they were written, even though their themes may be timeless. In a recent report from UNESCO, Stephen … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Jules Verne!
If you’ve checked Google today, you’ll see that they’ve set up a Doodle to celebrate Charles Perrault, the French author who gave us such classics as Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, among others. It’s no secret that we here at the Free For All are big fans of fairy tales, magic, fantasy, and … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Charles Perrault!
You never need an excuse for cake, but today, there is an excellent reason for one…the birthday of philologist, mythologist, and librarian, Jacob Grimm. Born in 1785 in Hanau, Germany, Jacob was the elder of the two Grimm brothers (Wilhelm was born about year later). He went to University to study law, but, like … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Jacob Grimm!
It’s a good few weeks for literary birthdays, with Louisa May Alcott’s last Sunday, Mark Twain’s and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s on Monday (who saw the adorable Google Doodle dedicated to Anne of Green Gables?), and Rex Stout’s today (and there are more yet to come!). Rex Todhunter Stout was a wizard words, a devil at mysteries, … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Rex Stout!
There’s been lots of talk lately in the bookish sections of the internet discussing feminism in YA novels, and how fiction can teach young women (and older women, and men, and all the humans, really) how feminism can make the world a better place. We’ve even had a few chats … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Louisa May Alcott (and Bronson, too!)
A young boy leads a mule to a water pump in the middle of a sun-parched desert. He gazes out over the utter wilderness, and sees a single man riding towards him, a dusty hat casting a long shadow over his face. The man appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, in a world where no visitor is … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Ennio Morricone!