October 7, 1931- November 18, 2012
Born in Newport, and a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, author and illustrator Robert E. Barry was a beloved and most modest man-about-town who loved libraries and often shared his favorite articles, stories, and drawings with lucky librarians. My personal favorite—after his own drawings and notes—was the December 28, 2007 New York Times article entitled “The Library’s Helpful Sage of the Stacks,” about the New York Public Library librarian, David Smith, whose business card reads “Librarian to the Stars.” Robert Barry was one of Newport’s stars. One of his earlier books, Faint George, was selected by the New York Times as one of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year in 1957. His book Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree was originally published in 1963 by Doubleday. In the year 2000, Doubleday requested new color illustrations and published a new edition of the book. It became a New York Times bestseller.
Throughout his career as a writer, illustrator, and teacher, Mr. Barry lived in Germany, Switzerland, and the Caribbean. He taught in the design department at the University of Massachusetts- Dartmouth. He lived in Newport for many years and was a longtime member of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
The following books by Robert E. Barry are found in the Redwood Library’s collections:
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
Snowman’s Secret
Next Please
Ramon and the Pirate Gull
The Musical Palm Tree
This is the Story of Faint George Who Wanted to be a Knight
Rowena Dunlap Burke
Redwood Library and Athenaeum
December 13, 2012
By Hector Tobar
Reviewed by Rowena Burke
Araceli, a name which means alter of heaven or heavenly homemaker, is truly the star in this new and highly readable novel by Hector Tobar. Without Araceli's constant efforts and often invisible labor, the Torres-Thompson household would be a much less beautiful place. She prepares the meals and she cleans for this family of four. A former art student in Mexico City, she creates art out of found objects in her tiny backyard abode. And she has attitude. Even with the attitude, they keep her, because she is such a capable powerhouse.
When the Torres-Thompson family lets go the other two Mexican household help, Araceli takes on more and more childcare, which is not her forte at all. She becomes adept at it, though, and does her very most thoughtful best.
Most, she misses Pepe, the gardener, who had transformed the yard to a rainforest and kept it up, seemingly effortlessly. She will probably never see him again. The undocumented in the U.S. lead invisible lives until they do wrong.
To me, Scott Torres and Maureen Thompson, the parents in this saga, are half-people leading half-lives. They have worked hard to forget their financially impoverished backgrounds and they have erased Scotts' father, after one politically incorrect comment that offended Maureen.
This very contemporary sweeping novel has been keeping me up late at might and giving me owl eyes- it is that good! The reader may want to keep a Spanish dictionary nearby to keep up with some of the phrases, which are often very pointed and very humorous.
Hector Tobar documents the undocumented and I highly recommend this book!