The little red dictionary that fits into your (slightly oversized) pocket
The other day, after a trip to my favorite neighborhood hardware store (Crest, on Metropolitan Ave. The only hardware store I know of with it’s own beautiful Tumblr…), my daughter and I stumbled into Desert Island, a quirky shop overflowing with art/comic books. We quickly lost ourselves in all sorts of illustrated worlds and would probably still be there, were we not so hungry for dinner.
I managed to escape with only one purchase (see above)… and how can a mother say no when her kid is actually begging to buy a dictionary? The Pictorial Webster’s Pocket Dictionary is, in it’s own words (or rather, the words of author John M. Carrera) “a collection of G & C Merriam dictionary engravings of the nineteenth century printed alphabetically as a source for creativity in the human brain.” If you see several seemingly unrelated images on the same page, he reasons, you will inevitably begin to make associations, and from these all sorts of inspiration can and will occur.
An interior page of the dictionary, selected at random.
Or, you’re a six year old, and you are first excited to see a drawing of a Heron (“Grandpa’s favorite bird!”) before becoming distracted wondering what kind of space alien the Holothurioidea (on the opposite page) might be.
Suddenly the dictionary is transformed from a somewhat outdated tool, into a visual and literary experience that changes and grows with each viewing.
But I digress. Lets just say, it’s a great book with beautiful reproductions of old fashioned engravings. While it is not technically a kids’ book, there is an equally profound experience awaiting readers of all ages, as long as they are willing to dive in. And if you can’t make it over to the east side of Williamsburg (which you should, because Desert Island is a treasure of a store) you can of course just order one of these up on Amazon and be done with it.
Comments (0)