Summary
Cary knows what she would do if she were the librarian-she'd invite all the animals into the library and share her favourite books with lions, bears, peacocks, and monkeys. But the trouble is, not all animals get along with each other, and that's where Cary's trouble begins. . .
Viking is delighted to reissue this Don Freeman classic about a little girl whose wild imagination gets the best of her. With rollicking illustrations, a rib-tickling story, and a setting that will have special appeal for librarians, Freeman's work comes to life again in this hilarious read-aloud.
Don Freeman was born in San Diego, California, in 1908. At an early age, he received a trumpet as a gift from his father. He practiced obsessively and eventually joined a California dance band. After graduating from high school, he ventured to New York City to study art under the tutelage of Joan Sloan and Harry Wickey at the Art Students' League. He managed to support himself throughout his schooling by playing his trumpet evenings, in nightclubs and at weddings.
Gradually, he eased into making a living sketching impressions of Broadway shows for The New York Times and The Herald Tribune . This shift was helped along, in no small part, by a rather heartbreaking incident- he lost his trumpet. One evening, he was so engrossed in sketching people on the subway, he simply forgot it was sitting on the seat beside him. This new career turned out to be a near-perfect fit for Don, though, as he had always loved the theater.
He was introduced to the world of children's literature when William Saroyan asked him to illustrate several books. Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Through his writing, he was able to create his own theater- 'I love the flow of turning the pages, the suspense of what's next. Ideas just come at me and after me. It's all so natural. I work all the t
