Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores / Bedtime for Batman
Books That Belong On Paper Issue No. 8
Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.
FOOTNOTES FROM THE WORLD’S GREATEST BOOKSTORES: TRUE TALES AND LOST MOMENTS FROM BOOK BUYERS, BOOKSELLERS, AND BOOK LOVERS
Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers
by Bob Eckstein, Garrison Keillor (Foreword)
Clarkson Potter
2017, 176 pages, 7.0 x 0.8 x 8.8 inches, Hardcover
I don’t believe that a love of books is the same as a love of reading. While they often intersect, many avid readers are content with digital mediums, and that’s great. But if you’re like me and fall into the former group, chances are you like bookstores as much as you like books. Not only do they provide an opportunity to pick up and tangibly examine texts of interest en masse, they allow you to do so in the company of likeminded folks. Many host events and attract local artists, be they a-list or obscure, serving as a meeting ground for cultural enrichment and community building the world over.
The experience of reading Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores can be likened to that of cruising Google Earth, but instead of digital images of places you might long to go, you’re treated to paintings by New Yorker cartoonist Bob Eckstein, whose lush, colorful strokes instill a sense of familiarity and nostalgia whether you’ve set foot in these places or not.
With this book you can take a tour of some of the most notable shops across the globe through an illustrated collection of anecdotes from store owners, shoppers and celebrities. The stories collected here reveal the lasting impact these places have on their guests and proprietors, and will leave bookstore nerds like myself flipping the pages with increasing glee.
– Janine Fleri
BEDTIME FOR BATMAN WILL HAVE BATMAN FANS, YOUNG AND OLD, DELIGHTING IN THEIR NIGHTLY ROUTINES
Bedtime for Batman
by Michael Dahl, Ethen Beavers (Illustrator)
Capstone Young Readers
2016, 32 pages, 8.5 x 0.3 x 10.3 inches, Hardcover
A boy prepares for bedtime as a masked hero patrols a sleepy Gotham. Batman’s Batsignal sweeps across the sky as a young boy’s dad signals him to prepare for bedtime. The boy dramatically climbs the stairs as Bruce Wayne descends into the Batcave. Batman plunges into the city’s sewers in pursuit of the villains as the caped boy enters the bathroom to brush his teeth. While the boy heroically feeds his fish, Batman saves innocent bystanders, and fearlessly swings from an overpass past Gotham’s skyline. The costumed lad valiantly climbs the stairs to his bunkbed. Meanwhile, Batman ascends a fire escape into the moonlit night.
Mimicking the bold style of the animated TV shows, Bedtime For Batman is illustrated in the muted midnight blue of the darkened metropolis, the bold lemon yellow of the Batsignal and utility belt, the Batmobile’s orange flames as it speeds through the city, and cool aquamarine of the bat-filled Batcave, and ends with both characters frozen in stalwart poses. Its simple storyline of small and large-scale heroism, written in uncomplicated language, could be easily understood by the youngest Batman fan. Batman’s rogue gallery makes an appearance, and the villains are captured with no violence, symbolized by the boy cleaning his room and locking his toys away in a large chest. A handy checklist at the end helps make sure one’s child has prepared for bed. Tackling common obstacles to an easy bedtime such as dressing, hygiene, and tidiness, Bedtime For Batman is a humorous, colorful book for budding heroes.
– SD
04/2/24
