20th February

This has become an addiction, collecting and recording birthdays. I keep finding new sources and because of this I find authors whose date I have missed. There are also a large number of younger authors and illustrators who seem to have a reluctance to include their birthdays in their biographies.

Two author/illustrators who were born in February, but who I missed are Mark Teague and Simms Taback. Mark's birthday is the 1oth (I don't know when), the day before his co-conspirator in his dinosaur books, Jane Yolen's. This week I purchased their newest dinosaur title, How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? and I am sure the children will enjoy it just as much as the other titles.

Simms Taback's birthday is on the 13th. He was born in 1932. Examining his website http://www.simmstaback.com , I learned that he has a large number of books I have never sighted. These appear to be for a very young audience and include flaps and 'feely' books. They are very brightly coloured too, unlike the darker titles we have in the library, namely There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat and The House That Jack Built. These books may appear dark, because of their predominantly black pages as backgrounds, but the details are colourful and the layouts interesting. If you only know the Childs Play Pam Adams version of Old Lady, have a look at this one to see a much more 'grown up' and artistic one. While on the website I saw some wonderful posters that I would love to purchase for the library. Why do you need an American address and bank account? Someone needs to bring a pile to Australia!