Maine and Robert McCloskey
Tuesday June 26, 2007
Our family is not going to be able to visit Maine this summer, but if you are planning a Maine vacation, you need to know about award winning author and illustrator Robert McCloskey and his children's books. Three of his children's picture books that are set in Maine were honored as Caldecott winners for their illustrations. My husband's family is from Maine. All of the children in our widespread family are introduced to Maine through McCloskey's Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine, which are both Caldecott Honor Books. Another Maine favorite is McCloskey's Time of Wonder, his first picture book in color, for which he received the Caldecott Medal. Do you and/or your children have a favorite Robert McCloskey book or another favorite children's book set in Maine? Let me know by clicking on "comments" below and sharing your recommendations.
(Cover art courtesy of Puffin Books)
Comments
We love Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine. We are traveling to Maine and Prince Edward Island this summer and would like to visit Buck’s Harbor. Do you know exactly where it is located. PEI is, of course, due to our love of Anne of Green Gables. I often plan family vacations based on books we are reading. We plan to read Evangeline on our way to Portland!
Your trip sounds wonderful. Buck’s Harbor is located in the East Penobscot Bay area in South Brooksville. It is about 30 minutes from Blue Hill, Maine.
I agree with you that Robert McCloskey is certainly a treasure. He creates a wonderful sense of place in his books, and for a Midwesterner like myself, in love with the woods, shore and water, Maine’s beauty pulls even more powerfully after reading his stories.
My kids have enjoyed all of McCloskey’s books except Time of Wonder. I found this at the bookstore last summer and couldn’t get even a whisker of interest from either of them. I bought it anyway, because I loved it. It stirs the dreamer in me and makes me remember my own summers as a child in northern Minnesota in the woods and on the lakes.
I grew up on the Maine coast, in the town of Castine on Penobscot Bay. So although I love ‘Blueberries for Sal’(as do my two daughters), ‘Time of Wonder’ is my favorite Robert McCloskey book.This book captures the the beauty of the region and it also brings to the reader that remembrance of the child’s perspective of the natural and everday world; everday is exciting because it is new; nature is filled with magic and mystery; there is always something to observe and listen for. The sense of wonder and nostalgia is strong for me, having grown up in this area. I also note that for those of us who lived there year round, there was also a sense of sadness at summer’s end when the “summer people” packed up and went back to their other lives.
My husband and I live and travel fulltime in our RV. We are currently in the Bar Harbor area. Just by chance I saw a flyer in the window of a store about an art exhibit/sale of Maine’s illustrators of children’s literature. This exhibit featured several newer and upcoming artists, but there were three Robert McCloskey sketches on loan from his family. What a treat to see original sketches from his wonderful books. Maine is out of this world. The trees, water, and mountains are breathtaking. I could stay here forever . . . or at least until the snow begins to fall!