The Efficient, Inventive (Often Annoying) Melvil Dewey

Calkins Creek (Boyds Mills& Kane)

(pub. 11.10.2020) 

40 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: 
Alexis O'Neill
       and illustrator:   

Edwin Fotheringham

 
C haracter:  Melvil Dewey

O verview: 

        

"Melvil Dewey’s love of organization and words at a very early age drove him to develop and implement his Dewey Decimal Classification system, a school to train librarians, inventions to streamline librarians’ work, and more, leaving a significant and lasting impact in libraries throughout the world."

T antalizing taste: 

     "Melvil Dewey loves putting things in order.

    Oh, no - what's he doing now?

    He's organized the chaos of his mother's kitchen cupboard. And now the cellar.

    There. Nice and neat.      

    Melvil loves keeping track of things.

    He's recording his height. His weight. How much money he has earned.

    Melvil loves books. He tucks his money into this pocket and goes for a ten-mile walk.

    Wait - where is he going?"

And something more: I attended the wonderful virtual release celebration of The Efficient, Inventive (Often Annoying) Melvil Dewey, and later Alexis shared with me the inspiration for the book: "A goofy video about the Dewey Decimal Classification system sent to me by a school library sparked this book about this quirky and controversial creator of the DDC. The number 10 held Dewey in thrall throughout his life. His birthday is on December 10. As a kid, he walked 10 miles from his home in Adams Center to Watertown, New York to purchase a dictionary for a reported $10. He even said, 'I am so loyal to decimals that I even like to sleep decimally” – 10 hours a night!'"

Yogi

The Life, Loves, 
and Language of
Baseball Legend
Yogi Berra

Calkins Creek
(Boyds Mill & Kane)
(pub. 2.5.2019) 
 48 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor:  Barbara Rosenstock

 and illustrator: Terry Widener
 
C haracter: Yogi Berra
O verview: 
     "Lawrence 'Yogi' Berra loved his family, his neighborhood, his friends, and, most of all, baseball. He was crazy about it.
      But baseball didn't love him back - at least not right away. Yogi didn't look like other players. When he finally made it to the Major Leagues, Yogi endured pranks and harassment from players, sportswriters, and fans. Their words hurt but they didn't stop him. Yogi soon became known for playing exceptional ball and talking a good game. Yogi's quirky sayings - his 'Yogi-isms'- became the stuff of legend.
     Barb Rosenstock's dynamic text and Terry Widener's powerful illustrations celebrate the talents, loves, and inspirational words of Yogi Berra who earned a World Series ring for each finger, and who made baseball love him back."

T antalizing taste: 
     "Lawdie loved his coaches. But coaches didn't always love him back. Wait for a good pitch! Don't slide like that! You're gonna fall over, Berra! He took a lot of teasing for his squat body, long arms, and waddling walk. When he wasn't on the field, Lawdie studied the game from the sidelines with his arms and legs crossed. After his friends saw a movie where a yogi sat cross-legged and charmed snakes, Lawdie was called 'Yogi.'

And something more: The back matter includes a wealth of information about Yogi Berra, including a discussion of Yogi's sayings: "Yogi Berra's quotations, or Yogi-isms, are legendary. Original sources for his sayings are notoriously difficult to pin down. Many Yogi-isms seem to be original, but others may have been used by someone else first, then popularized by Berra... Yogi's own memories of what and why he made some remarks changed over time."
      But, as explained in Barbara Rosenstock's Author's Note, "He's the most quoted athlete in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and among the most quoted Americans of all time."

"You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're  going because you might not get there." - Yogi