Happy International Children’s Book Day!

Portrait of Hans Christian Andersen, taken by Thora Hallager (1869). Wikimedia Commons

April 2 is not only Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday (happy 219th birthday, Hans!), it’s also International Children’s Book Day! Started in 1967 by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), International Children’s Book Day is dedicated to children’s books and is committed to inspire a love of reading in children around the globe. Schools and libraries are encouraged to host parties or story times, read picture and chapter books, have kids pen their own tales or poems, and overall celebrate a worldwide appreciation of children’s books.

Every year, a National Section of IBBY is nominated to be the sponsor of International Children’s Book Day. The sponsor decides upon a theme, invites a prominent author to write a message, and an illustrator is asked to design an announcement poster. The 2024 international sponsor is Japan!

Courtesy of IBBY Japan #ICBD24

Japan’s 2024 theme is “Cross the Seas on the Wing of your Imagination.” Author and recipient of the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award Eiko Kadono composed a gorgeous letter encouraging children to listen to stories that travel everywhere. Artist Nana Furiya designed the official poster, which whimsically repeats the theme in several different languages under a tall tree filled with book characters.

As Katie was composing this post, she got to thinking…what are our Princeton University Library colleagues’ favorite children’s books? Katie asked them that very question and also asked them to explain why in just one sentence.The book could be a recent read, a beloved title from the past, or a favorite as of today.

The response was tremendous! Our colleagues shared books we remembered reading as a child, titles we had never heard of before, stories we have poured over multiple times, and others we are eager to pick up and read. Here are the favorites, listed in alphabetical order by last name:

“Aside from being beautifully illustrated by Gary White Deer, it’s based on a true story, largely forgotten by most of the world, that unites the disparate parts of my ethnic heritage (which aren’t actually that disparate in the end).”

April Armstrong – Library Collections Specialist V, Mudd Manuscript Library


“I remember reading the Redwall books every chance I could get while on family vacation in Maine circa 1994. Just a totally immersive, absorbing experience.”

Kathleen Brennan – Records Manager


“Not only has it been a joy to read it with both of my kids, but it’s a surprisingly thoughtful little story about childhood anxieties and misunderstandings.”

Tom Bruno – Assistant Director, Content Access


“The art is gorgeous, the book is inclusive, and it’s a great introduction to graphic novels. Plus, the tea dragons are adorable.”

Halle Burns – Research Data Management Specialist


“’Favorite’ does not seem an apt word for describing a story that made a fourth-grade me sob uncontrollably as if in bereavement, but I would not trade the experience of reading “Little Mermaid” for that of reading ten happy-ending stories combined. (HCA’s “Little Mermaid” in Chinese translation by Ye Junjian, not in its Disneyfied version)

Minjie Chen – Metadata Librarian for the Cotsen Children’s Library


“I still quote this book: ‘You get what you get and you don’t get upset.’”

Carolyn Cole – Senior Library Software Engineer


“It illustrates the process of self-discovery.”

Alicia Cozine – Senior Library IT Operations Engineer


“It is a story about not caring what others think or conforming to the role society has written for you. With hard work, persistence and creativity, you can make anything happen – like surrounding yourself with nature, even in the middle of the city.”

Jessica Hoppe Dağcı – Coordinator, Marquand Library Operations and Special Collections


“Her house is upside-down! She’s essentially the neighborhood witch, and I love how all the kids’ commonplace problems manifest in reality.”

Dominique Dixon – Associate Librarian


“Adventures of a worker bee who likes to eat pollen, make sweets, and organize her honey pots.”

Mireille Djenno – Global Special Collections Librarian


“It opens up a good discussion about where our food comes from.”

Ameet Doshi – Head, Stokes Library


Darlene Dreyer – Assistant to the Associate University Librarian


“I read it as an adult and was very moved by it. The description of the family and beautiful young friendship, and the more than devastating ending.”

Rebecca Friedman – Assistant Librarian, Marquand Library


“I love the details in illustrations, and as a young parent I could totally understand Petson’s life with a naughty kitten. I read it in Russian countless times, and it was translated to many languages (English title: Pancakes for Findus).”

Maria Gorbunova – Rare Books Cataloging Librarian


“Besides beings a nice story for children who love animals, I appreciate that it was an early exposure to thinking about ethics in scientific research. It also provided considerate thoughts about the nature of prejudice and touched on environmentalism, so not merely the endearing tale of a motherly mouse seeking to save her sick child from the spring plow, but that was also a lovely aspect of the story.”

Hannah Hadley – Manager, Open Publishing and Repository Services, Library-Data, Research and Teaching Services


Berta Harvey – Library Collections Specialist V, Lewis Science Library


“My children found it so engaging when they were toddlers. It has very expressive pictures and it’s fun to read.”

Anna Headley – Senior Library Software Engineer


“A book of stories and poems, mostly whimsical, always thoughtful, and sometimes melancholical.”

Regine Heberlein – Library IT Data Analyst


“ALL of Freeman’s picture books are beautiful!”

Flora Kim – Metadata Operations Specialist


“It was the first time I’d seen my own love for books and fantasy stories reflected back in a book.”

Morgan Kirkpatrick – Special Collections Project Cataloging Specialist II


“This is a wonderful story about how love and care impact the ways living beings interact with the world – all wrapped up in an adorable story about a family trying to adopt fearsome watchdogs only for each dog to become more of a marshmallow than the last.”

Brittany Norwood – Policy and International Affairs Librarian


“The illustrations are rich; my son and I see something new each time we read it. It’s also a wonderful story about how even the most contentious relationships can be healed!”

Stephanie Oster – Publicity Manager, Library Communications


“My favorite story to read to my kids when they were young.”

Anu Vedantham – Assistant University Librarian for Research, Teaching, and Social Sciences


“Timeless triumph of peace and gentleness over stupidity and aggression. And the cork trees!”

Eric White – Scheide Librarian and Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections



“The book builds self-esteem and kids learn how quiet is a superpower.”

Emily Wild – Chemistry, Geosciences and Environmental Studies Librarian


And how about Katie and Dr. Dana’s books? Since someone already mentioned her favorite picture book (“…but not Ferdinand”), Katie picked Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White “because it’s a beautiful story of unexpected friendship, growth, family, and life’s hardest lesson: learning to let go.”

Katie also reminded me of how she visited Andersen’s home country during her awesome travels in Europe! You can read more about her adventures in this post!

As for me, I picked this Jan Brett classic from my childhood because “I was horse-obsessed.” I spent countless hours reading, studying, and drawing elaborate tributes to this picture book (you can see a delightful story time project we did for it here):

I wanted a horse so so so soooo very bad growing up. Wished for it, dreamed of it, waited for it. It took a couple decades, but my horse FINALLY arrived! My heart runneth over…

Three cheers for International Children’s Book Day everyone! And may all your stories have happy endings!

Once Upon New Times

Come see tales transformed at “Once Upon New Times: Reimagining Children’s Classics,” currently on display at the Cotsen Children’s Library! Curated as a companion to the larger exhibit in the Milberg Gallery of Firestone Library, each item offers a different perspective on a cherished classic. From highly imaginative physical transformations to diverse adaptations, we hope you enjoy these selections from the Cotsen collections, curated by Andrea Immel, Dana Sheridan, and Katie Zondlo. We have a few items to share below…

Katie and I were especially delighted that LEGO’s “Once Upon a Brick” Pop-Up Book made it in the exhibit! Originally posted on the blog here, this set not only renders “Jack and the Beanstalk” in 3D, the pop-up mechanism delights visitors both young and young-at-heart.

LEGO. Once Upon A Brick: Pop-Up Books. Ideas No. 21315 (The LEGO Group, 2018). Jason Allemann and Grant Davis (LEGO Ideas member submitters), Wesley Talbott and Crystal Marie Fontan (LEGO designers/graphics).

Visitors can also take a look at a kamishibai version of Alice in Wonderland, which includes a red-dressed Alice and a white rabbit in snappy pinstriped trousers. Those unfamiliar with the Japanese performance art of kamishibai can learn more here.

Takahashi Gozan, adaptor. Fushigi no kuni no Arisu-chan. Illustrated by Seiichi Yuno. (Tokyo: Nihon Kamishibai Gento Kabushiki Kaisha, Shōwa 27, 1952). Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Also featured is the gorgeous book The Singing Bones by multiple award winning, and New York Times bestselling, author, illustrator, artist, and filmmaker, Shaun Tan. Masterfully rendered, the book distills classic fairy tales down to a single page (or sometimes a paragraph!) and represents it with a powerfully elemental sculpture. You can hear Tan discuss it, as well as his other books, here.

Shaun Tan, reteller/illustrator. The Singing Bones: Inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales. (New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2016). Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

I’ll also share this humorous 1939 pamphlet from General Electric Company titled “Mrs. Cinderella.” Here the story of Cinderella is retold using General Electric products (while also thwarting goblins messing with getting dinner prepared for her happily ever after). You can read more about this particular item in Andrea Immel’s excellent post on Cotsen’s Curatorial blog.

Mrs. Cinderella. Illustrated by Corydon Bell. (New York: General Electric Co., 1939). Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

“Once Upon New Times: Reimagining Children’s Classics” runs through March 2024. If you’re in the area, please come and visit! You will find directions and hours to Cotsen Children’s Library here, and we have some fun community programs and events coming up in connection with the exhibit (hint: think gingerbread architecture)!

In The Company of Good Books

Keep company with literary luminaries this fall! The Department of Special Collections at Princeton University Library invites you to “In the Company of Good Books: Shakespeare to Morrison,” currently on display in the Milberg Gallery of Firestone Library through December 10th.

In honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623, the exhibit showcases Princeton’s collection of English literature, and the readers and writers who celebrated English literature around the world. Curators Jennifer Garcon, Librarian for Modern and Contemporary Special Collections, Gabriel Swift, Librarian for American Collections, and Eric White, Scheide Librarian & Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections, Rare Books & Manuscripts, have selected some true treasures.

In addition to William Shakespeare and Toni Morrison, you will find Maya Angelou, Sylvia Beach, George Lamming, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Carlos Bolusan, Lorraine Hansberry, Chinua Achebe, Virginia Woolf, and others! Visitors can peruse working manuscripts, archives, original cover art, portraits, and charming inscriptions, including James Baldwin’s personal copy of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, signed by the author.

Maya Angelou (1928–2014). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1969.

We at the Cotsen Children’s Library are always on the lookout for children’s literary connections, and we found a couple amazing ones in this exhibit! First is one of three tiny manuscripts by Charlotte Bronte. Written when she was a youth, these juvenalia concern the fictional African kingdom of Angria, and are penned on pages bound with blue Epsom salt wrappers. To give you an idea of size, and how minuscule Bronte’s handwriting is, the bound volume on the left is only about 3.5″ tall!

Also in the exhibit are the manuscript notes, sketchbooks, and original storage case of Maria Edgeworth, a prolific novelist for both adults and young readers.

An early edition of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is displayed, which reminded me of this very interesting fact. When she was only twelve or thirteen, Austen penned The Beautifull Cassandra: A Novel in Twelve Chapters, a tiny work of 465 words total. The Princeton University Press offers a delightful version, with an afterword by Princeton faculty Claudia L. Johnson and artwork by Leon Steinmetz.

Readers might not be aware that Morrison made significant contributions to children’s literature as well. Collaborating with Slade Morrison, mother and son authored nine books for children. These delightful tales were displayed in Cotsen’s previous exhibit, “They’ve Got Game: The Children’s Books of Toni & Slade Morrison.”

montage round 2 If you are interested in learning more about the exhibit, you will find a digital companion  here, and a fantastic Zoom panel with the book’s illustrators here. We also hosted a connected community gallery event this spring, which you can find here.

From now to December 10th, please plan to visit “In the Company of Good Books” in Princeton! It is truly monumental. Not able to visit in person? No problem! Virtual guests can find the exhibit here.