Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom

It's hard to think of a mid-century kids' classic that wasn't guided into print by Ursula Nordstrom. Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web, Harriet the Spy, Bread and Jam for Frances, Goodnight Moon, The Giving Tree: all were edited by Nordstrom as she brought much-needed air into what had been a stuffy, prim, and neglected side of the book business. Nordstrom was anything but stuffy or prim herself, and her notes to everyone from the young Maurice Sendak to the elderly Laura Ingalls Wilder are full of wit, sass, and the sort of funny, loving pep talks that any author would be lucky to receive. We have a whole shelf of collections of letters (a particular favorite of mine), and this is one of the best.