STATE of Mind - issue 8
We’ve been working on the KIDS Secret Catalog for quite some time: surrounded by kids, making a catalog for kids and people who love kids, looking at objects formed for kids, and communicating with lots of people who have made the conscious decision to spend their adult lives making things kids might love. Even in the busyness of it, and it was busy, the magic seeped in. Children see what we sometimes forget, say what we won’t, sing what they want, dance when they feel, touch when they need, and only know how to be one way, an outward projection of their inward nature. They’re often reckless, absurdly considerate, shockingly selfish, lavishly affectionate, and busy inhabiting the worlds they still are and have made. This week we wanted to look back on the books we loved when we were small, and remember, and re-learn what moved us back then, and think on how it can move us still.
1. Goodnight Moon (1947), written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd
Greet and say goodbye to every little thing, no matter how small, or mundane, or seemingly insignificant.
2. The Little House (1942), written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton
It is not so wrong to pick yourself up and move to a place where you will be "lived in and taken care of."
3. Madeline series (1930-present), written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, and now his grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano:
Go places with your friends, and be brave.
4. Little Bear (1957), written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
"Tell me about me ... Tell me about things I did once." This is a good thing to say in the mirror.
5. Miss Rumphius (1983), written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Bringing beauty into the world isn't optional, it's a duty.
GOODBYE, CASSINI
Friday last week the Cassini spacecraft made its final pass around Jupiter, into its rings, and burned up; it has been sending us images and data from space for the past 20 years. The New York Times wrote a lovely goodbye to Cassini, along with a compilation of the 100 most astonishing photographs she took for us, and a video detailing her end. When you can, take a moment and behold ... childlike awe is only a click away.
DEEP IN THE ANDES
Apiece Apart has one of our favorite blogs, filled with beautiful interviews and photographs of women who inspire. We found this photo journal by Andrea Gentlparticularly striking. It's a visit with the Q'eros community, a group that lives deep in the Andes mountains, 14,500 feet above sea level. Feast your eyes!