Cindy: I first encountered M.B. Goffstein‘s books at my first professional job as a public children’s librarian in 1984. I read Sleepy People (1966) and was hooked. I still yawn even thinking about that book with a small family living in a slipper drinking hot cocoa. I’ve wanted to purchase it, but rare copies sell in the hundreds of dollars. You can imagine the joy of finding a review package from The New York Review Children’s Collection on my doorstop with not one but TWO M.B. Goffstein reissues inside! Fish for Supper and Brookie and Her Lamb will be back in print on March 2nd.
Brookie and Her Lamb (Farrar, 1967) is the only Goffstein book I own so I am able to compare the second edition with this new NYRB release. Gone is the paper jacket and the little pink flowers surrounding the cover illustration. Gone, too, is the jacket flap information that tells readers the message of the book. The rest of the book is delightfully intact. Opening it to see Goffstein’s pen and ink spare illustrations is a joy all over again. A drawing of Brookie taking her lamb for a walk with the jaunty pair viewed from the back just makes one smile. This is a story of unconditional love and so much more. “Brookie had a little lamb and she loved him very much.” She taught him to sing and read, but he could only sing “Baa, baa, baa.” And he could only read, “Baa, baa, baa.” She loved him anyhow. I always found it magical how Goffstein could say so much with so few words and such nuanced, but seemingly simple, illustrations. According to the press release, “Goffstein once said it took nine hours to draw a vacuum cord just right.” Mary may have had a little lamb, but I’ll take Brookie and Her Lamb any day! And, here’s to more Brooke Goffstein reissues…PLEASE!
Lynn: the New York Review is also re-releasing Goffstein’s 1977 Caldecott Honor book, Fish for Supper. This was the first Goffstein book that I remember meeting. This is the charming story of the determinedly independent old lady who goes out early, fishes all day, eats her catch and prepares to happily do it all over again the next day. I fell in love with it all over again, perhaps because I’m a grandmother now myself!
These new editions are in the small trim size and the covers look much the same although the tiny flowers on the first editions have been removed for a cleaner look. Don’t miss these!
bookendsblog.net 