My Grandma Nus was a high school librarian and books were an always for birthdays and Christmas. (I'm pretty sure I got my book obsession from Grandma.) She must have liked Maurice Sendak as I have a nice little collection of Sendak's work. In The Night Kitchen was one of my favorite books growing up. Mickey swimming in a bottle of milk always amazed me. And, Oliver Hardy as bread bakers was pretty cool too. I didn't realize there was so much controversy about the anatomically correct Mickey until I had kids of my own. But, that hasn't stopped me from reading this book over and over again to the boys through the years.
The mix of fantasy and reality was the draw for me. Mickey yelling at everyone to be quiet so he can sleep (I remember doing that especially during family vacations in hotel rooms because sister Nancy would be breathing too loudly.) and then ending up in a bread dough airplane are things that intrigue kids. And, there is something about the goblin and the cave in Little Bear's Visit that is a little dark and scary. I asked Son #3 why he liked to read Where The Wild Things Are and his response was, "I like Max's tail." Enough said.
This past weekend Son #2 announced that he didn't want "the little kid books" in his room any more. Since the weather hasn't cooperated to get back in the field to plant we had time to sort and clean. We sorted, culled and moved the "little kid" books into #3's room. This morning I went looking for the Sendak books but they weren't in #3's room. They were back in #2's room along with the Shel Silverstein books - so much for "little kid" books.
I did not know a lot about Maurice Sendak beyond his work as an author and illustrator of books. However, after reading different news articles, I suspect Sendak was one of those fortunate people who could make a living doing what he was most passionate about. For him it was being a book artist.
Today, is the first day that farmers in this area have been able to plant since April 27th. Over, the past 10 days seed customers and neighbors have been coming and going, picking seed, and going over farm plans. It's interesting seeing the passion that these individuals have towards farming. The age of the farmer, the number of years farming, and size of the farm have nothing to do with this. Maybe it's because in farming career and family over lap? Or, is it because so many people rely on the farmer for food, fuel and clothing? Or, is it because a farmer knows he/she carries a lot or responsibility for taking care of land and livestock? I'm don't know the answer but I'm glad that farmers have this passion.
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