{"id":2908,"date":"2005-04-30T16:17:09","date_gmt":"2005-04-30T20:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=2908"},"modified":"2015-05-05T08:50:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T12:50:42","slug":"the-books-when-the-sky-is-like-lace-elinor-lander-horwitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=2908","title":{"rendered":"The Books: \u201cWhen the Sky is Like Lace\u201d (Elinor Lander Horwitz)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next book in my Daily Book Excerpt:<\/p>\n

\"SkyLikeLace.gif\"I have written about this book before – and my long search to locate the book of my childhood<\/a> that I thought was called “On a Bimulous Night” – which is why I couldn’t find it for years. The book is called When the Sky is Like Lace<\/a>\"\"<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The book has some of the most beautiful illustrations I have ever seen (by the spectacular Barbara Cooney). Truly transportive. And the language! For example: “it feels like the velvet inside a very old violin case.” This is a line from a CHILDREN’S book. Isn’t it marvelous? Children’s books do not need to be educational or edifying or preachy … they can also be literature. This book is literature.<\/p>\n

Here’s a little excerpt:<\/p>\n


\nEXCERPT FROM When the Sky is Like Lace<\/a>\"\"<\/i>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Because on bimulous nights when the sky is like lace, the trees eucalyptus back and forth, forth and back, swishing and swaying, swaying and swishing — in the fern-deep grove at the midnight end of the garden.<\/p>\n

You will also find that, on bimulous nights when the sky is like lace, the grass is like gooseberry jam. It’s not really squooshy like jam, because then the otters’ feet would slurp around and snails might drown. It only smells<\/i> like gooseberry jam. But if you walk barefoot, it feels like the velvet inside a very old violin case.<\/p>\n

If you plan to go out on a bimulous night when the sky is like lace, here are some rules you must remember:<\/p>\n

Never talk to a rabbit or a kissing gourami.
\nIf your nose itches, don’t scratch it.
\nWear nothing that is orange, not even underneath.<\/p>\n

And — if you have a lucky penny, put it in your pocket. Because, on bimulous nights when the sky is like lace and the otters are singing and the snails are sulking and the trees are dancing and the grass is like gooseberry jam, it’s a good idea to be prepared.<\/p>\n

Because — you never know.<\/p>\n

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