14th - 22nd September Venice Glass Week

This international festival is dedicated to glass art and we can enjoy this event without a trip to Murano in Venice. We can do it vicariously through these wonderful books.

Superb picture books:

• The Glass Horse of Venice  by Arnold Zable and Anita Lester

Claudia lives in the beautiful city of Venice. As she rushes from her apartment out into the campo and into an alley, she stops at the glassblower’s workshop. In the window are the wondrous glass figurines she admires daily. So many different animals. Elephant’s owls, giraffes, but also horses. Even winged horses.

The glassblower invites her in and asks if she has heard of Pegasus, the winged horse who lives in the stars. From beneath the counter, he brings out a little glass horse with broken wings. He gifts it to her, saying that one day she will discover its secret. 

• A Thousand Glass Flowers  by Evan Turk

Marietta and her family lived on the island of Murano, near Venice, as all glassmakers did in the early Renaissance. Her father, Angelo Barovier, was a true maestro, a master of glass. Marietta longed to create gorgeous glass too, but glass was men’s work.

One day her father showed her how to shape the scalding-hot material into a work of art, and Marietta was mesmerized. Her skills grew and grew.

Marietta worked until she created her own unique glass bead: the rosetta. Small but precious, the beautiful beads grew popular around the world and became as valuable as gold.

• The Glassmaker's Daughter by Dianne Hofmeyr and Jane Ray

In Venice a wealthy, successful glassmaker is worried about his daughter Daniela who is always sad. He offers a glass palace to anyone who can make his daughter smile. Many attempt to entertain her but they all fail. Then Angelo a young glassmaker decides to try, creating a special gift, a looking glass. When Daniela looks into it she sees a very funny, grumpy face looking back. Amused by her own reflection Daniela begins to smile and laugh.  Her happiness is so infectious soon the whole city is laughing and dancing too.

• The Glass Heart by Sally Gardner

Three Venetian sisters  each have a glass heart. After the eldest dies of a broken heart and the second princess is bed-ridden with a crack in hers, the King is determined to ensure that his youngest daughter’s heart remains whole and unharmed. Therefore it is decided that she will only marry a prince who is good with glass. But the princess is already in love, with the kind and reliable courtier who looks after her. When he saves the princess’ life and is given his freedom by the King, he decides to go to a neighbouring island and learn the craft of glassblowing. But learning such a craft takes time, will the princess have waited for him when he gets back?

The tradition of glass-blowing and the islands Murano and Venice take centre stage in this gorgeous fairy tale.

This novel for 9+ readers:

• The Girl of Glass by Holly Webb

Mariana lives with her family on the Venetian island of Murano - famed for its artists who create masterpieces from glass. But when Mariana's little sister, Eliza, dies their father decides to use his glassmaking skill - and a dash of magic - to create a girl of glass in Eliza's image.

And novels for you:

• The Glass Maker  by Tracy Chevalier

“This charming fable is at once a love story that skips through six centuries, and also a love song to the timeless craft of glassmaking. Chevalier probes the fierce rivalries and enduring loyalties of Murano’s glass dynasties, capturing the roar of the furnace, the sweat on the skin, and the glittering beauty of Venetian glass.” – Geraldine Brooks

• The Glassblower of Murano   by Marina Fiorata

The novel follows Nora Manin as she undertakes a journey very similar to my own, visiting Murano and entering a glass workshop. Nora is not just a tourist, though – she is planning to start a new life in Venice and is hoping to get a job blowing glass. As the descendant of one of the most famous glassblowers in Venetian history, Corradino Manin, and a talented glass artist in her own right, Nora easily convinces the factory owner to employ her. However, as Nora begins to settle into her new job she learns something about her ancestor that she would rather not have known.

International Year of Glass

 

The Year will celebrate the essential role glass has and will continue to have in Society. In the library this year we started off with a display of books that feature glass and glass products. We collected fiction and nonfiction books about jars, glasses, bottles, spectacles, marbles, lights, lanterns, telescopes, microscopes, mirrors, magnifying glasses, lighthouses and windows. We couldn't believe just how much we had to display.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find books that were so worth sharing. Among many, these are just luminary.

It Fell From the Sky by Eric and Terry Fan

From the cover of the book you can see that 'it' is a glass marble.

Here is the blurb:

A whimsical and elegantly illustrated picture book about community, art, the importance of giving back - and the wonder that fell from the sky.

It fell from the sky on a Thursday. None of the insects know where it came from, or what it is. Some say it's an egg. Others, a gumdrop. But whatever it is, it fell near Spider's house, so he's convinced it belongs to him.

Spider builds a wonderous display so that insects from far and wide can come to look at the marvel. Spider has their best interests at heart. So what if he has to charge a small fee? So what if the lines are long?

But as Spider raises the prices, insects stop showing up, much to Spider's bemusement. And then, all of a sudden, an unexpected disaster hits and the marvel disappears!

This charming story is accompanied by characterful illustrations, and also teaches children important life lessons about greed and the importance of sharing.

A Thousand Glass Flowers by Evan Turk

Here is the blurb:

This gorgeous and empowering picture book from award-winning author-illustrator Evan Turk paints the portrait of Marietta Barovier, the groundbreaking Renaissance artisan who helped shape the future of Venetian glassmaking.  

Marietta and her family lived on the island of Murano, near Venice, as all glassmakers did in the early Renaissance. Her father, Angelo Barovier, was a true maestro, a master of glass. Marietta longed to create gorgeous glass too, but glass was men's work. 

One day her father showed her how to shape the scalding-hot material into a work of art, and Marietta was mesmerized. Her skills grew and grew. 

Marietta worked until she created her own unique glass bead: the rosetta. Small but precious, the beautiful beads grew popular around the world and became as valuable as gold. The young girl who was once told she could not create art was now the woman who would leave her mark on glasswork for centuries to come.

The Glassmaker's Daughter by Dianne Hofmeyr and Jane Ray

Here is the blurb:

Daniela the glassmaker's daughter is grumpy and never smiles. Her father promises a beautiful glass palace to anyone who can make her laugh. People come from far and wide to try their luck in amusing Daniela. But mask makers, lion tamers and magicians cannot raise a smile from the princess. It is only when a young apprentice makes the first looking glass that Daniela learns to smile - at her own grumpy reflection! This beautiful fable set in sixteenth-century Venice features stunning illustrations from award-winning artist Jane Ray alongside a poetic text. 

Glass Tears by Jane Jolly and Di Wu

Here is the blurb:

Tian and her family make a special glass bouquet to place on their father's grave. Some years before, he had left Vietnam on a ship bound for wider, browner lands, but never came home. As Tian threads the tiny glass beads onto wire stems she remembers her father and sheds for him, a glass tear.  Based on a true event from the 1940s.

Child of Glass  by Beatrice Alemagna

Here is the blurb:

Child of Glass follows Gisele, a fragile yet resilient girl who was born entirely made of glass. Sparkling and luminous, she attracts awe and attention from across the world. But as she is also completely transparent and her innermost thoughts and feelings are always on display, she also faces rejection and alienation. Gisele must, therefore, embark on a journey to find her place in the world. In sparse, poetic language marked by insight and realism, Child of Glass reminds us of the inner courage and capacity for self-realization we all possess.

A Bottle of Happiness by Pippa Goodhart and Ehsan Abdollahi

Here is the blurb:

There was once a big mountain. The people on one side were rich and worked only to get richer. The people on the other side of the mountain were poor but had a wealth of stories and laughter. One day a poor young boy decides to seek a new story and this leads him to the rich people's marketplace. He would love one of the ripe pieces of fruit, but what can a poor boy trade?  Find out if it is possible to bottle and share happiness in this timeless fable, exquisitely illustrated in an eye-opening and unusual style. 

Memory Jars by Vera Brosgol

Here is the blurb:

A young girl finds a clever way to keep her favorite things--and people--close to her forever in Memory Jars. Freda is devastated when she can't eat all the delicious blueberries she's picked. She has to wait a whole year before they're back, and she doesn't want to lose them! Then Gran reminds her that they can save blueberries in a jar, as jam. So Freda begins to save all her favorite things. But it turns out that saving everything also means she can't enjoy anything, and Freda realizes that some things are best saved as memories. 

In a Jar by Deborah Marcero

Here is the blurb:

Here's a marvelous picture book, charmingly written and beautifully illustrated, about the power of memory and the magic of friendship. 
Llewellyn, a little rabbit, is a collector. He gathers things in jars--ordinary things like buttercups, feathers, and heart-shaped stones. Then he meets another rabbit, Evelyn, and together they begin to collect extraordinary things--like rainbows, the sound of the ocean, and the wind just before snow falls. And, best of all, when they hold the jars and peer inside, they remember all the wonderful things they've seen and done.

And an oldie that I found on the shelves and reread. It might still be in your library too.

Ah Kee and the Glass Bottle by Joan Salanitri and Di Wu

'A picture book for all ages. This is love story set in China when merchant caravans travelled the Silk Road. Ah Kee's gift of a blue glass drinking bottle to her husband Li Chong leads her on a perilous journey in storm-ravaged mountains to save his life.' 

All these and I haven't mentioned mirrors, spectacles, windows or any of the many other things on the list above.