![]() ![]() “The brothers,” Sweet tells us, “studied tortoises, tadpoles, and toads.” Regardless of weather, the whole family would crowd into the small skiff they named Jesse (after White’s water-fearing mother) and head for town. In one delightful anecdote, we discover that the White family thought of themselves as “city people,” but spent summers at Belgrade Lakes in New York, where Elwyn’s father rented two cabins. This book is everything you want a biography to be: not a stiff march through a dry fact-encumbered history, but an intimate peek into the everyday doings of someone we already love through his work. The text itself, minus the writer’s notes and other extras at the end, runs just over 130 pages, and they speed by. Pages feature a mix of Sweet’s endearing and folksy style, together with handwritten copy, Garth Williams’ charming and often hilarious drawings of the famous spider Charlotte, irresistible family photos-the kind you’d frame if they were yours-and a delightful blend of modern fonts with the occasional letter or memorable quotation written in the quirky, irregular type of the old Corona. It’s like walking through a literary garden. Sweet is a gifted, highly original artist, and her work is showcased here with a brilliant layout. Before I could settle down enough to read, I leafed through it several times, just soaking in the beauty. It’s one of the finest biographies I’ve ever read.įrom cover to cover, Some Writer! is positively gorgeous. You don’t have to love typewriters, however, to appreciate Sweet’s book. ![]() ![]() But only someone who has hammered out copy on an old Remington or Royal or Corona can appreciate how nostalgic the very sight of a typewritten letter makes us old-time writers feel. Of course, electric typewriters and computers came along and made everything easier. And though I didn’t type very fast at first, I was enchanted by the way this machine transformed the look of my letters and stories. When he replaced his old Remington, he gave it to me. My father, a court reporter, typed his own depositions until he could afford a stenographer (that, eventually, became my first job). I too grew up loving the sound of a manual typewriter. This opening line from Melissa Sweet’s reverent and captivating look at the life of beloved author E. “I fell in love with the sound of an early typewriter and have been stuck with it ever since” (1). It is written for mid-elementary and up, but the illustrations will make it appealing even to very young readers, and the details will intrigue everyone, including adults.įeatures: Irresistible illustrations in Melissa Sweet’s inimitable style carefully selected family photos telling and fascinating examples of White’s original handwritten drafts showing his notes and revisions exceptionally thorough timeline, complete with book covers and other illustrations a touching Afterword by White’s granddaughter Martha revealing author’s notes from Melissa Sweet, detailing her hands-on research for the book bibliography and index. Levels: Like White’s own work, this book speaks to virtually all ages. ![]()
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