Steve, Marin and I had a great time this weekend at the R. Michelson Gallery’s 21st annual Children’s Illustration Show in Norhampton, MA. Here’s a pic of some of the great author’s and illustrator’s who attended. Jane Yolen, Mo Willems, Tony Diterlizzi, Angela Diterlizzi, Barry Moser, Jane Dyer, Diane deGroat, Wendel Minor, Jarret Krosoczka, Scott Fischer, Raul Colon, Rebecca Guay, Gary Lippincott, David Milgrim, Norton Juster, Richard Michelson and many more. It was an amazing group of author’s and illustrators and I feel so proud to be in the photo with them all!

I had a wonderful time last night at the Premiere screening at Harvard of my husbands film about children’s books called Library of the Early Mind. It was great to see the film on the big screen and to be able to watch it with an audience. The panel discussion that followed with Lois Lowry, Leslea Newman, Jerry Pinkney, Padma Venkatraman, Roger Sutton and the filmmakers Edward J. Delaney and Steven Withrow was engaging. I’ll post some pictures from the night soon.

Posted By: Lesley

©Lesley Breen Withrow

©Lesley Breen Withrow

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. -Henry David Thoreau

I love Henry David Thoreau’s mind set and have so many quotes of his that I would love to share. This quote is one that I had not read before and found particularly interesting. Seems to me that there is a lot of truth in ‘we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives’. Above is a cropped sample of some European houses I illustrated for a picture book biography that I am working on and hoping to get published. Here’s to making even deeper footprints! Have a great weekend.

Last weekend my husband, Steven Withrow, daughter and I drove down to Alexandria, Virginia for a preview screening of the film Library of the Early Mind, (which my husband is co-producer of). The screening was a part of the first annual Alexandria Story Festival benefitting a great organization, Wright to Read, and was held at an amazing children’s bookstore, Hooray for Books. The screening went well and the panel discussion following was lively. It was a real pleasure to meet authors Lezlie Evans and Melissa Thomson, as well as the organizer, Leigh Hoyer and her team, and the staff of Hooray for Books. It was a wonderful trip and a real joy for us to to attend it as a family!

©Gartner Greetings

Happy Wednesday! It’s a beautiful day here. Hope you are enjoying yours.

As I said, I picked up a few things at the Brimfield show last week, because you can’t go there and NOT find anything, that would be impossible.
For me, anyhow!
Old stuff is aesthetically more interesting than most new stuff.
Again, for me, anyhow!

Some of the things I am a sucker for are vintage children’s books:

This coloring book is from 1934, and was never used. Why is that a little sad?

These are from 1950- I especially love the alphabet one!

These are teeny- about 3″ each. Wee stuff is always extra cute!

A little salute to Belgium and Holland:

That’s a wine label, I think…plus some sweet wooden shoes.

I always manage to find at least a few “new” old fabrics…

New-old stock Easter candy box= LOVE!

Another mysterious love- old, unused stickers, preferably the gummed paper kind, and especially if they’re in their original package!

Also an unused decal from one of our favorite meccas…Santa’s Village in NH!

And a little something more medieval, too:

Rampant unicorns! Huzzah!

That’s most of what I picked up. I guess I am generally an ephemera lover!

… can you smell it? Fall, Autumn, the wind whistling, a few leaves blowing by…and miles of antiques!

September is when one of the three yearly Brimfield shows occurs, and I snuck away for the day with my mom to partake in the hunt. It turns out that I collect pictures just as much as real stuff (no, more), so herewith are some photos of things I thought were cool, and some of the stuff I got while there. Really, I think the fun is just in the poking around, looking through decades past.

‘Twas a brisk fall day, cloudy for the most part, but with sun poking through occasionally.

Every season is Christmas at Brimfield:

These are some mighty fine paper candy containers:

Here’s something you don’t see anymore, not even in Scotland!

I love the naive painting on this set o’ dwarves…

Here’s a good way to get ahead!

Cute horse ride-on…

This set of cut-out house from the turn-of-the-century was SO beautiful:

I wish they still gave out Green Stamps!

Nifty Halloween stuff:

That’s a lotta bling in one place!

I came *this* close to buying that little tin stove… but it was a little big for where it would go.

If, after walking down row after row of goods you find yourself losing your marbles, you’re apt to find some eventually…

Ah, the prom dress I never had (and never wanted!)… quite spectacular nonetheless!

This painting was wacky but oddly compelling (in a 70’s kind of way!)…

Lovely Quimper faience from France…

Seeds! And plenty of them!

Here’s Mom, with some chairs from the faux-early-American era of the 70s. They just so happen to be exact duplicates of ones we had for years at our house!

Early festive ware…

This great suitcase reminds me of the one George Bailey got in “It’s A Wonderful Life”… but of course, he never got to go anywhere!

Amazing German painted trunks. Love these.

And so we bid adieu for this year to Brimfield. The next show is in May if you want to go!
So, what did I buy? I’ll put them in another post…

Posted by: Lesley

©Lesley Breen Withrow

posted: Lesley

©Lesley Breen Withrow

Today is my daughter’s 5th birthday! We had a great party for her over the weekend with family and friends. She has been enjoying eating the leftover cake and playing with her presents the last few days. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 5 years since my little girl was born. But I am happy to say that I haven’t missed a moment and am looking forward to many more. Love you, Marin!