I was hoping to get this post out before winter officially started, but I am alas late, unlike Mary, the heroine of this wonderful book, so hoping to get it out before the New Year.
"Hurry, hurry, Mary dear
fall is over, winter's here.
Not a moment to be lost,
in a minute we get frost!
In an hour we get snow!
Drift like houses! Ten below!"
I've had this book for a long time. It is one the rare exceptions in which the writer and the illustrator are a perfect match but that's because they were close friends, who studied art together in Denmark, and came to the States around the same time, and collaborated here while both working as illustrators and writers. Also, they are both absolutely amazing; here's an article about Eric Blegvad and here's one about N.M. Bodecker the author, and also somebody every single book of whose should be be collected, treasured and adored. I gathered many of his books while preparing to write this post, and they are all absolutely amazing.
"Hurry, hurry, Mary dear
fall is over, winter's here.
Not a moment to be lost,
in a minute we get frost!
In an hour we get snow!
Drift like houses! Ten below!"
I've had this book for a long time. It is one the rare exceptions in which the writer and the illustrator are a perfect match but that's because they were close friends, who studied art together in Denmark, and came to the States around the same time, and collaborated here while both working as illustrators and writers. Also, they are both absolutely amazing; here's an article about Eric Blegvad and here's one about N.M. Bodecker the author, and also somebody every single book of whose should be be collected, treasured and adored. I gathered many of his books while preparing to write this post, and they are all absolutely amazing.
Hurry Hurry Mary Dear is a poem which is also a set of instructions relating to preparations for the winter dictated to Mary, the old lady by her husband, who is not seen until the end, we only hear his voice. On each page Mary takes care of a chore or two:
Pull the curtains,
close the shutters.
Dreadfully the wild wind mutters.
Oil the snowshoes,
stoke the fires.
Soon the roads are hopeless mires
After about twenty pages she starts getting pretty tired, and one could say furious because it turns out that her husband has been sitting in his rocking chair this whole time and demanding tea and frosted doughnuts. I am not sure I should feel guilty about this because as I write these lines my friends are in the kitchen preparing a New Year's feast, but let's see if anyone puts a tea pot on my head at some point. I'll make sure to mention it if that happens.
So what is so fabulous about Mary Dear?
First of all it is a wonderfully clever, nuanced poem. Poetry for children is rather outdated or terrible, so it's so rare to find something that rhymes, rhymes well, makes sense, and a joy to read over and over again.
Second, the illustrations, that Blegvad actually based on sketches made by Bodecker, are one of a kind. Incredibly detailed, clever, elegant, finny, with tiny treasures in each one, such as a little cat is in every page that adds an additional narrative to the story. Blegvad is so knowledgeable about all the tasks described in the poem that the all the details make perfect sense, and are so calm, balanced, beautiful and kind that you really feel like you were there with Mary doing all the tasks that actually look to be pretty cool. Also, of course, Blegvad being from Europe means that he actually knows how to draw, which is something that is so rare to find in a contemporary American picture book which is largely going to hang on gimmicky decorative techniques and temporarily interesting characters.
Lastly, it is a book that has something of a moral, but it is conveyed with humor and charm, and a considerable amount of mischief; again making it very different from most books you'll find on the shelf in the bookstore.
With that, I am off to go to some chores in the farm house where I happen to be staying for a few days, I wish you all a wonderfully happy new year!
