A DISCARDED GEM

Look what turned up in the post this week... 'SUN UP' by Alvin Tresselt and Roger Duvoisin, published in 1949 by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Inc. I tracked down several copies on AbeBooks (a very useful site for anyone interested in out of print books) and ordered my copy from BOOK RESCUE! in Burdett, New York.

It's a little battered and it's definitely seen better days, but the glory of the artwork shines through! I'm a huge, huge fan of Roger Duvoisin and the artwork in this book is stunning. I like it even more than the artwork in 'WHITE SNOW, BRIGHT SNOW' also by Tresselt and Duvoisin which won the Caldecott Medal in 1948.

But it's not just the illustrations that I love. What I especially like about this book is the fact that it celebrates the ordinary. Yes the text is a little old fashioned, but this discarded gem from 1949 is a reminder that sometimes it's the everyday things in life that produce the biggest wonders of all. 

'"Today will be a scorcher!" the farmer says, and it is - until the storm comes up.'

Before the rain came

Ripe drops of rain came plopping down

The sun shone once more through torn pieces of clouds

Discarded! Tompkins County Public Library, New York