[In a burst of apparently unwarranted Dewey-beats-Truman optimism, my original draft for this afternoon's Notes from the Horn Book editorial suggested that Hillary Clinton could do worse than read some E.
[
In a burst of apparently unwarranted Dewey-beats-Truman optimism, my original draft for this afternoon's Notes from the Horn Book
editorial suggested that Hillary Clinton could do worse than read some E.B. White (Melissa Sweet's Some Writer! is reviewed in the issue) to guide her presidency. Probably still not a bad idea even as things turned out, but I obviously had to change gears. The new editorial is below.]
![fred-with-daniel-model-castle](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ArchiveImages/HB/2016/11/Fred-with-Daniel-model-castle.jpg)
As our
Out of the Box blog pointed out back in March, Hillary Clinton is far more popular as a subject for children’s books than has been our President-elect, Donald Trump. (
The Horn Book Guide Online currently counts seventeen books about Clinton and one about Donald Trump.) This will change: while I’m hard-pressed to think that Trump could inspire as cozy a picture book as, say, Kathleen Krull and Amy June Bates's
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight, at the very least he’ll find himself now included amongst the many school series devoted to the American presidents. But
My Dad, John McCain notwithstanding, trade children’s book publishing in this country is otherwise as Blue as New England, and this election may serve — please, God, may it serve to do
something — to remind us, the Blues, that an awful lot of children live in families and communities that see things very differently from us.
While I am tempted by my friend
Elizabeth Law’s facetious suggestion over on Facebook to spend the next four years doing nothing but keeping my head in one middle-grade novel or another, that is obviously not a solution. Look for the helpers, Fred Rogers famously said.
Be the helpers, I say to you. Keep bringing children and books together.
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Sage Blackwood
Whenever someone quotes that famous and uplifting Helpers quote, I am tempted to suggest that the quote might actually be attributed to Nancy Rogers, neé Nancy McFeely, his mother. After all, he attributed it to her. "Look for the Helpers." -Nancy Rogers Perhaps if we were more comfortable quoting women and giving credit to women and admiring the insights of women, we wouldn't be in this mess we're in now.Posted : Nov 12, 2016 03:27
Leslie Guhl
Thank you for pointing out the sad dearth of children's books on Mr. Trump. It's a sad day when no publisher will even print a book for children that is favorable to a presidential contender.Posted : Nov 10, 2016 08:56
Linda Baie
I've read it, but cannot remember if Melissa Sweet put this quote in Some Writer! but still, E.B. White, like Mr. Rogers, was optimistic. "Hang onto your hat. Hang onto your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day" I enjoyed reading what you wrote today. Thanks!Posted : Nov 09, 2016 09:33
Claire Ciampa
Wonderful reminder of great advice from a very wise man, Roger. And great spin on it too. BE the helpers. Yes! Thoughtful words on a very sad day.Posted : Nov 09, 2016 05:47