You know, back a few weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that the Sacramento Book Fair was rather a lackluster event and that I was quite disappointed in the sales garnered therein.
Well......
I gotta say, I was partly wrong.
First off, the book you see pictured above is one of the books I bought at the fair. I had an inkling that it was more than it appeared (and more than the other dealer thought it was as well). I was right. Though there are still some research bits about this book that I'd like to find out (mostly twiddly stuff that interests me, not anything to change my mind on the edition of the book), I found the information that I needed to verify it's edition. It is indeed a First edition (and not a later state either).
Not often seen in first edition and it's a generally very nice copy too, with a dust jacket in very good+ condition.
I'm quite happy with this book.
It's not the only book I picked up at the fair, and so far, just about everything I did buy (and honestly, I didn't buy much because I like to be able to PAY for what I buy, and since I didn't sell all that much.... well, let's just say that I am not in a position to gamble in a big way currently so cannot live by the book fair book seller's mantra: "buy your way out")
(some other time I'll take another pass at this phrase -- it seems the wildest crap shoot suggestion that I've ever come across, but I do know people who live by it.)
And, on top of buying books that have more to them then the other dealers thought, I have had more success than usual with selling books to customers AFTER the fair was over. Some of them were books I had in stock but hadn't taken with me. Some were books I found for people with a firm interest. Some were shot in the dark quotes.
For me, that's a really good thing.
I admit I'm terrible on follow-up. Terrible for a couple of reasons (foremost of which is shyness in that I don't want to BOTHER people or PUSH them.... not the best qualities to have if you are any kind of saleman, even a collectable book sales person), terrible because (and this happened to me again at this fair) I had recently seen copies of books that were requested in some of my normal book scouting spots -- but when I went back to pick up the books, they were GONE...
So, some customers were pleased or more than pleased with my service. Others.... not so pleased (or actually, I don't really know what they think, as I haven't contacted them as I couldn't produce the books they were looking for).
The thing is, I guess I don't need to feel so down about a Book Fair that wasn't as immediately productive as I could have liked (you know, those bills, though, wait for no man, which is a real bummer) because in the end, it's been not so very bad at all.
As for this book -- I LOVE the illustrations by Garth Williams (best known for his work on Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. the colors he used throughout this book are delicate, yet striking. The feel ... the look of the illustrations is very eye-catching and they pull you in for a longer look. The also match the text nearly perfectly.
The girl who is the centerpiece of this book (it's about a little girl aged approximately three years old) who doesn't really understand when and how holidays come around, but loves them anyway -- she asks lots of questions of her mom...and learns about the seasons and the different times of the year) ...
well, that girl is actually based on Charlotte Zolotow's daughter - Crescent Dragonwagon. (who also turned to writing and illustrating when she grew up). I don't know if the pictures of the little girl bear any resemblance to Crescent herself, but it's nice to think that they might.
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