Recently, the American Libraries magazine released a fun piece about gifts for booklovers. The 2016 Holiday Gift Guide for Librarians and Book Lovers included great suggestions for your favorite book lover, like a banned books matchbox set or a reading lamp bookmark. But what if these suggestions don’t fit the bill for that perfect gift for your favorite bibliophile? And what if money were no object?
Every year, as part of its annual Christmas book, Neiman Marcus offers a variety of “Fantasy Gifts.”. This year these dream gifts include a private quarterback camp with Joe Montana, an opportunity for a walk-on role in a Broadway musical, and one option which might make the book lover in you drool with desire… a curated collection of 36 Caldecott Medal-winning children’s books. All of these books are either first editions or early printings and all in original dust jackets; this collection has been gathered by two New England book sellers, Johnnycake Books and E.M. Maurice Books.
Curious which titles are included? This special collection of Caldecott winners includes some very recent titles such as
2015: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, illustrator Dan Santat
2014: Locomotive, illustrator Brian Floca
2013: This Is Not My Hat, illustrator Jon Klassen
as well as a variety of classic titles including
1991: Black and White, illustrator David Macaulay
1986: The Polar Express, illustrator Chris Van Allsburg
1978: Noah’s Ark, illustrator Peter Spier
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, illustrators Diane and Leo Dillon
1964: Where the Wild Things Are, illustrator Maurice Sendak
1963: The Snowy Day, illustrator Ezra Jack Keats
1954: Madeline’s Rescue, illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans
1942: Make Way for Ducklings, illustrator Robert McCloskey
1938: Animals of the Bible: A Picture Book, illustrator Dorothy P. Lathrop
The cost? $100,000. (With the purchase of the curated collection of 36 Caldecott Medal-winning children’s books, Neiman Marcus will donate $10,000 to The Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation which works to bring art experiences to youth.)
Ginger Reeder, VP of Corporate Communications at Neiman Marcus, has been working with the selection of fantasy gifts for Neiman Marcus for 57 years. Ms. Reeder says there have been quite a number of calls about this particular fantasy gift, but there has been no buyer as of yet for this one-of-a-kind gift. She is a big fan of children’s literature and acknowledges that her sentimental favorite out of all these books is Make Way for Ducklings.
I wondered if, each year as Ms. Reeder works to select the fantasy gifts, she anticipates the many people eagerly reaching for the Christmas catalog to dream about giving (or getting) one of these very special items? Her response? Every year I think “how am I going to top last year!”
Dianna Burt
Wow! How amazing!