Walpurgis: The Other Halloween

Beverly Crider's Strange Alabama blog touches on the Other Halloween - Walpurgis Night - and some books where the holiday is mentioned:

Several Stitches in Time

How far does your fandom go? Lewis Barnavelt briefly read about the Norman Invasion at the 1066 Battle of Hastings (The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer, 19). He likely remembered something about the Battle of Hastings -- but that's it. Many readers of Sign likely read the prevous 11 books in the series and remembered reading them -- but that's it/ Maybe someone painted pictures of their favorite scenes from the Barnavelt books. Lewis didn't spent 18 years hand stitching his own 40-foot ong version of the Bayeux Tapestry, the 230-foot long cloth depicting the events leading up to the Normal Invasion.

Andy Wilkinson did.

BiblioFile: House/Ghost Flip Book (2002, Puffin)

Whoever said two books are better than one probably meant well. Then someone came up with tête-bêche and quite possibly blew the mind of that original person.

Strickland on The Life of Eddie Carroll

News from the University of North Georgia on Brad Strickland's new book, Wishing on a Star: The Life of Eddie Carroll, a biography of actor Eddie Carroll:

2013 Edward Gorey House Exhibition

The Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts opened their newest season on Thursday, April 18, with an exhibit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Vinegar Works.  Published by Simon and Schuster in 1963, the three volume set (billed by Gorey as "Three Volumes of Moral Instruction") contains The Insect God, The West Wing, and what is probably Gorey's best known and most quoted abecedarian exercise, The Gashlycrumb Tinies.

From Amy to Zillah and Basil to Yorick and everyone in between (including Neville), the book has never gone out of print and the children have turned up on everything from posters and calendars to t-shirts and no shirts.

The Edward Gorey House will celebrate these three remarkable books with exhibits containing original artwork and manuscripts throughout the rest of the year.

• Musings on The Gashlycrumb Tinies
• The Vinegar Works at Goreyana

"House" at 40 Fan Art: This is not your father’s Oldsmobile: it's the Muggins Simoon

Who’s Who: David Rizzio

Before bed, Lewis reads Stoddard’s account of the murder of this member of the Scottish court [The House with a Clock in its Walls; 19].

Seek Him With Candleshoe

Candleshoe was on somebody-or-other’s movie channel recently and it sounded harmless enough that I thought I’d give it a whirl.  I’m glad I did because it reminded me very much of The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn – both the book and the television special.  (And if you’ve seen that television special you know there’s not much out there that will make you want to remember it.)

Time Capsule: April 5, 1993

April 5, 1993: We’re pleased to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Ghost in the Mirror this month - not just the celebrated return of Lewis Barnavelt and Rose Rita Pottinger but the debut of Brad Strickland’s association with the series, too.

Study Shows Shakespeare As Ruthless Businessman

This April 1 Associated Press article's description of William Shakespeare - "hoarder, moneylender, tax dodger" - says these words aren't usually how we think of the famed dramatist.  Researchers from Aberystwyth University in Wales argue we should:

Alternate Histories in Children’s Literature

An email appeared late last week regarding an entry at the Academic Call For Paper Database seeking scholarly papers on the subject of alternate history in the children’s literature genre:

Historical fiction as a genre within children’s and young adult literature has been traditionally viewed by some as unpopular. Alternate History is fiction where something has changed in the historical timeline: take a known and tweak it. The resulting story can be about that change or the backdrop for a story, where the “what if” is less about the Changed World Event and more how that Changed World Event changed the world, people, culture and their points of view. It can also be great fun for the person who is familiar with the history, to find references to famous people, places, and things that are now just a bit different.