Tweaked Titles

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bookscape fireplace 3Recently, a visitor to our Bookscape Gallery stopped by our desks, laughing. He was delighted to have discovered one of our library’s little secrets – shelves of wooden books, carved with very special titles! We would love to share some of those with you today, but first, a little history…

Our current gallery was conceptualized in 2002 by James Bradberry, a Pennsylvania architect who has done multiple projects at Princeton University. Bradberry’s drawings were brought to life by artist and designer Judson Beaumont of Straight Line Designs. During the creative process, the idea of stocking the shelves with humorous wooden books was born, and the Cotsen staff was more than up to the challenge of brainstorming titles for them!

The book titles are a mix of puns, parody, and wordplay. Some have attributed authors, and some do not. They are scattered throughout the gallery for visitors to browse and enjoy. There is one very special giant book as well – the “Hearth of Darkness” over our faux fireplace has a space carved inside it that is PERFECT for housing Beatrix Potter books.

Below is an incomplete list of our tweaked titles (come visit us and see more!):

Feline in the Fedora
H. Granger, Fly Through Your Owls
Goldilocks: My Story
Dare to Be Different by U. Duckling
I, Playtypus
Effective Communication by Amelia Bedelia
Run Toto Run!
Bone Appetit by Mother Hubbard
The Poky Puppy Digs Deeper
Stepping Out of Line by Madeline
The Antarctic Local by Chris Van Allaboard
Ramona Quimby, Age 80
The Case of the Missing Button by Corduroy
Smell the Roses: Advice from the Bull Pen by Ferdinand
Strega No-No
Richard’s Scariest Word Book Ever

Sadly, the grand creator of this library, Jusdon Beaumont, passed away in 2020. If you’re interested in learning more about his life and work, Cotsen’s curator Andrea Immel penned a beautiful tribute to him on the curatorial blog. You’re in our hearts Jud!

It’s a Fixer Upper

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Is your story time tractor running a little rough? Maybe it’s missing a few foam bead plugs or yarn wires? Not to worry! With your handy-dandy toolbox and “can do” spirit, you’ll have everything working in no time!

We read Tough Chicks written by Cece Meng, and illustrated by Melissa Suber (Clarion Books, 2009). Penny, Polly and Molly are NOT like the other chicks on the farm. Instead of preening feathers, peacefully pecking grain, or cheeping, they are swinging on cow tails, playing in mud, and getting under the hood of Farmer Fred’s tractor to see how it works. The other animals on the farm are annoyed by their antics, but when the tractor breaks down and gets stuck, it’s up to the tough chicks to use their unconventional skills to solve the problem!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box (we used a 4″ x 4″ x 4″ craft box, but a small tissue box works too!)
  • Poster board or tagboard
  • 2 foam beads
  • 2 small rubber bands
  • 1 sock
  • Cotton balls or polyester fill
  • 1 pair of wiggle eyes
  • 1 chick beak (paper or self-adhesive foam)
  • 1 tractor & tractor engine (more on this below!)
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

This story time was essentially two small projects: a chick hand puppet, and a tractor toolbox. Our puppet was a yellow soccer sock (we bought a 10 pair pack on Amazon for about $30) stuffed with poly fill and gathered around the neck with a rubber band. We added wiggle eyes, a self-adhesive foam beak, and a jaunty feather crest.

Notice when you place the sock on your hand, you can still use your thumb and fingers to grasp things? It’s an important detail that we’ll return to later! Next up is the tool box:

To make the box handle, tab both ends of 1.5″ x 11″ strip of poster board or tagboard, then attach the tabs to the underside of the box lid. Glue 1 foam bead on the top of the lid, and another on the front of the box. Wind a small rubber band around the beads to keep the lid closed while carrying. Decorate the tool box with markers (or use color masking tape like we did).

Now for the contents of the tool box! These can vary, but here’s what was in our boxes:

There are 3 foam bead bolts, 1 toilet paper tube oil can, and 3 different tubes and wires. The wires are made of yarn or sparkle stems and have rubber band or clothespin fasteners. All of these items are used to “fix” the engine of this AMAZING book cart tractor Katie constructed out of boxes, tubes, and poster board!

The back of the tractor flipped up to reveal the engine, which had parts missing. Kids then used the various items from their tool kits to repair it…all while wearing their chick hand puppet!

We constructed the tractor’s engine out of various upcycled boxes and materials (I especially love the mac & cheese box oil tank). You can also see how our tool box items fit on the engine below:

When it was each kid’s turn, they would bring their tool kits to the “broken” tractor, then use their items (with assistance from their hand puppet) to put everything in the proper place. When the engine was “fixed,” I played an audio clip of a tractor engine roaring to life!

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

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BY KATIE ZONDLO

Every year on the second Tuesday of October, the world celebrates Ada Lovelace Day, which honors the accomplishments of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Started in 2009 as a way to inspire future generations of girls to enter STEM fields as well as support the women already working in STEM careers, groups now host gatherings, conferences, workshops and social mixers that appeal to audiences of all ages.

The day is named after Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), who is considered the first computer programmer. Using an early general-purposed computer called an Analytical Engine, an instrument envisioned by her friend and mentor Charles Babbage, Ada recognized the 19th century machine could be used for more than just general calculation. She poured over numbers and figures to create an algorithm for the not-yet built computer. Unfortunately, the Analytical Engine was never completed, so Ada wasn’t able to witness the success of her program.

Nearly a century after Ada wrote her algorithm, modern day computers tested the software and discovered there was only one minor mistake that could be easily corrected. The program was almost perfect. In the late 20th century, the United States Department of Defense developed a common computer programming language that was named Ada, in honor of Lovelace and her contributions to the field.

We’re celebrating today by highlighting award-winning author and Princeton alumna Laurie Wallmark’s picture book biography, Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine (Creston Books, 2015). Recipient of the National Science Teachers Association’s Outstanding Science Trade Book and the California Reading Association’s Eureka Book Award, you can find it read here by Story Time With Michele. The book’s truly gorgeous illustrations are by April Chu. Laurie has authored several more books about women in STEM, such as Kalpana Chawla, Judit Polgár, Grace Hopper, and Maria Mitchell!

Ada Lovelace is also featured, along with four other famous scientists, in the virtual escape room I designed, The Discovery Museum.

Images from blog post are from: Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, written by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by April Chu. Creston Books, 2015.