Library a Fitting Venue for Nancy Carlson Presentation

It was only fitting that children’s book author and illustrator Nancy Carlson would give a recent presentation at the .

Libraries—especially the original Edina Library on 50th street—are where Carlson first got the inspiration to write and illustrate children’s book for a living. Today, she is renowned for her books (more than 60 published to date) as well as her plays and illustrations, which are both in her books and in special posters she publishes.

Her recent presentation was a combination of Carlson giving an overview of her life, her observations on today’s rapidly changing work of publishing and the reading of an essay she wrote as part of a project for the Minnesota Historical Society.

The essay is part of a recently released book, Libraries of Minnesota. It contains writing by Carlson and six other Minnesota children and young adult writers who tell how libraries influenced them at a young age. Photos for the book are by Doug Ohman and contain photographs from a large cross sample of libraries throughout the state. The book is part of the Minnesota Byways series.

Titled “Summer Reading,” Carlson’s essay looks back to the summer when she was 10 years old.

“I was going to join to the Summer Reading Carnival," Carlson said. “I parked my bike and ran up a path through mature oak and apple trees to an old Tudor farmhouse, the Edina Public Library, circa 1963. I walked in the side door and immediately fell in love.”

That summer and for many to come, Carlson’s second home was the library. It was there her imagination ran wild and she begin to form the ideas that would lead to the stories and illustrations, resulting in her receiving numerous awards and acknowledgements for her work from Reading Rainbow, Children’s Choice and the Children’s Books Council.

She expresses both excitement, but also sadness, which the world of reading she and so many others grew up with—books in print—is quickly being replaced by digital and electronic versions.

“Especially for kids, the turning of the page brings an excitement and stimulates the imagination and that’s missing when you read a book on line or from a Kindle,” she said.

However, she also realizes there are possibilities in this new world previously not available and wants “to be part of that mix.”

Regardless of the format of current and future books, Carlson still spends a great deal of time making appearances and talking to both young people and adults. Prior to the Friday appearance in Edina, she had been in Marshalltown, IA, so it is rather commonplace for her to be at a library one day and at an elementary school the next.

A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Carlson has that artist’s creative mindset and is continually looking ahead to future projects, be they new books (in whatever format) or creating a book park.

“Kids would hike a mile and read a short book at stations along the way and then at the end, would receive a free book.”

Carlson’s following still appears quite strong. There were probably 30 people in attendance at the Edina appearance and afterward she spent a good deal of time signing books and talking with her admirers.

Further information on Carlson is available by visiting her website. To learn more about Libraries of Minnesota, visit www.mhspress.org.