Alison Lurie is a former Professor of English at Cornell. She is the author of two collections of essays on children’s literature, Don’t Tell the Grownups and Boys and Girls Forever, and the editor of The Oxford Book of Fairy Tales. Her most recent novel is Truth and Consequences.
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The Revolt of the Invisible Woman
May 9, 2013
The Woman Upstairs
by Claire Messud
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‘Something Wonderful Out of Almost Nothing’
July 12, 2012
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Who Is Peter Pan?
April 5, 2012
The Annotated Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie, edited with an introduction and notes by Maria Tatar
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Master of the Downbeat
June 9, 2011
Pulse
by Julian Barnes
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Comedy in Bloom
March 25, 2010
The Three Weissmanns of Westport
by Cathleen Schine
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Widcraft
January 15, 2009
The Widows of Eastwick
by John Updike
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Do Schools Have to Be Boring?
December 18, 2008
School by Catherine Burke and Ian Grosvenor
The Open Classroom: A Practical Guide to a New Way of Teaching by Herbert R. Kohl
Social Design: Creating Buildings with People in Mind by Robert Sommer
Big Box Reuse by Julia Christensen
Small Wonder: The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory by Jonathan Zimmerman
Children’s Spaces edited by Mark Dudek
Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and Other Boneheaded Bureaucrats Are Turning America into a Nation of Children by David Harsanyi
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The Message of the Schoolroom
December 4, 2008
School
by Catherine Burke and Ian Grosvenor
Small Wonder: The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory
by Jonathan Zimmerman
Teaching Boys and Girls Separately an article by Elizabeth Weil
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Please Release the Chinese Writers in Prison!
July 17, 2008
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The Girl in the Tower
May 1, 2008
Petrosinella: A Neapolitan Rapunzel
retold and illustrated by Diane Stanley
Golden: A Retelling of “Rapunzel”
by Cameron Dokey
Letters from Rapunzel
by Sara Lewis Holmes
Rapunzel
by Barbara Rogasky, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Zel
by Donna Jo Napoli
The Tower Room
by Adèle Geras
Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel
by Patricia Storace, illustrated by Raúl Colón
Rapunzel: A Groovy Fairy Tale
by Lynn Roberts, illustrated by David Roberts
Barbie as Rapunzel
by Merry North
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Pottery
September 27, 2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a film directed by David Yates, based on the book by J.K. Rowling
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When Is a Building Beautiful?
March 15, 2007
The Architecture of Happiness
by Alain de Botton
The Art of Travel
by Alain de Botton
The Consolations of Philosophy
by Alain de Botton
How Proust Can Change Your Life
by Alain de Botton
The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping and the Novel
by Alain de Botton
Household Gods: The British and Their Possessions
by Deborah Cohen
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The Lamp in the Mausoleum
December 21, 2006
The View from Castle Rock: Stories
by Alice Munro
Carried Away: A Selection of Stories
by Alice Munro, with an introduction by Margaret Atwood
Alice Munro: Writing Her Lives: A Biography
by Robert Thacker
Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro
by Sheila Munro
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Barbara Epstein (1928–2006)
August 10, 2006
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The Passion of C.S. Lewis
February 9, 2006
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a film directed by Andrew Adamson
The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis
by Alan Jacobs
Revisiting Narnia: Fantasy, Myth and Religionin C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles
edited by Shanna Caughey
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Liberated Girls
November 3, 2005
Little Women, Little Men, Jo’s Boys
by Louisa May Alcott
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The Royal Family
December 16, 2004
The Story of Babar
by Jean de Brunhoff
The Travels of Babar
by Jean de Brunhoff
Babar the King
by Jean de Brunhoff
Babar and Zephir
by Jean de Brunhoff
Babar’s Picnic
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar’s Visit to Bird Island by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar Comes to America
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar Loses His Crown
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar Visits Another Planet
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar and the Wully-Wully
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar’s Mystery
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar and the Ghost
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar’s Little Girl Makes a Friend
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar’s Battle
by Laurent de Brunhoff
The Rescue of Babar
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar’s Museum of Art
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Bonhomme
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Animal Land: The Creatures of Children’s Fiction by Margaret Blount
The Empire’s Old Clothes: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to Our Minds
by Ariel Dorfman
The Art of Babar
by Nicholas Fox Weber
Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff: The Legacy of Babar
by Ann Meinzen Hildebrand
Should We Burn Babar? Essays on Children’s Literature and the Power of Stories
by Herbert Kohl
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‘The Good Bad Boy’
August 12, 2004
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The Good Bad Boy
June 24, 2004
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God’s Houses Part II
July 17, 2003
Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Contemplation
by Terryl N. Kinder
America’s Religious Architecture: Sacred Places for Every Community
by Marilyn J. Chiat
Houses of God: Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States
by Peter W. Williams
Architecture for the Gods
by Michael J. Crosbie
Sacred Architecture
by Caroline Humphrey and Piers Vitebsky
Re-Pitching the Tent: Reordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission
by Richard Giles
Building from Belief: Advance, Retreat, and Compromise in the Remaking of Catholic Church Architecture
by Michael E. DeSanctis
Ugly as Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces—and How We Can Change Them Back Again
by Michael S. Rose
When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-Century America
by Jeanne Halgren Kilde
The New Religious Image of Urban America: The Shopping Mall as Ceremonial Center
by Ira G. Zepp Jr
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Statement for Peace
February 13, 2003
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The Underduckling
August 9, 2001
Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller Jackie Wullschlager
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The Oddness of Oz
December 21, 2000
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‘Lovely Ballerina’
June 29, 2000
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On Edward Gorey (1925–2000)
May 25, 2000
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Not for Muggles
December 16, 1999
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J.K. Rowling
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Bothered and Bewildered
October 23, 1997
Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft by Robin Briggs
The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations by Diane Purkiss
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Opening the Box of Delights
December 21, 1995
A Book of Discoveries by John Masefield
Martin Hyde: The Duke’s Messenger
by John Masefield
Jim Davis
by John Masefield
The Midnight Folk
by John Masefield, illustrated by Quentin Blake
The Box of Delights: When the Wolves Were Running
by John Masefield, illustrated by Quentin Blake
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On James Merrill (1926–1995)
March 23, 1995
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She Had It All
March 2, 1995
Little Women A film directed by Gillian Armstrong
Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy Holt, Knopf, Little, Brown, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Penguin, Puffin, Random House, Scholastic, Simon and, Schuster, and Viking Penguin by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women by Laurie Lawlor, based on the screenplay by Robin Swicord, from the novel by Lousia May Alcott
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Leaving the Door Ajar
April 7, 1994
Imagination of the Heart: The Life of Walter de la Mare by Theresa Whistler
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Cootie Power
December 16, 1993
The People in the Playground by Iona Opie
Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School by Barrie Thorne
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Undiscovered Country
December 17, 1992
Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson, translated by Elizabeth Portch
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson, translated by Elizabeth Portch
Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Warburton
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Warburton
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A Fine Romance
April 25, 1991
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The Cabinet of Dr. Seuss
December 20, 1990
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
Horton Hatches the Egg
McElligot’s Pool
Bartholomew and the Oobleck
Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
If I Ran the Zoo
Horton Hears a Who
On Beyond Zebra!
If I Ran the Circus
The Cat in the Hat
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
The Lorax
The Butter Battle Book
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
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A Dictionary for Deconstructors
November 23, 1989
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The Frog Prince
November 24, 1988
Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
Leaving Home by Garrison Keillor
Happy to Be Here by Garrison Keillor
A Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book by Marcia Pankake, by Jon Pankake, with a foreword by Garrison Keillor
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The Woman Who Rode Away
May 12, 1988
Trust Me: Short Stories by John Updike
S. by John Updike
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Underground Artist
February 18, 1988
A Game of Dark
Salt River Times
Max’s Dream
A Parcel of Trees
While the Bell Rings
Underground Alley
Winter Quarters
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True Confessions
June 11, 1987
How I Grew by Mary McCarthy
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Bad Housekeeping
December 19, 1985
The Good Terrorist
by Doris Lessing
The Diaries of Jane Somers: The Diary of a Good Neighbour & If the Old Could by Doris Lessing
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Life’s Greatest Hits
October 24, 1985
The Singing Game by Iona Opie, by Peter Opie
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Riding the Wave of the Future
October 25, 1984
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
The Last of the Dragons by E. Nesbit
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
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The Ratushinskaya Case
June 30, 1983
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Skin Deep
June 2, 1983
American Beauty by Lois W. Banner
Skin to Skin: Eroticism in Dress by Prudence Glynn
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The World of the Pied Piper
March 18, 1982
Kate Greenaway: A Biography
by Rodney Engen
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Sex and Fashion
October 22, 1981
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Boycott Taba
October 11, 1979
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Braking for Elves
March 8, 1979
The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People
by Thomas Keightley
A Field Guide to the Little People by Nancy Arrowsmith, by George Moore
Gnomes by Wil Huygen, with illustrations by Rien Poortvliet
Faeries described and illustrated by Brian Froud, by Alan Lee, edited and designed by David Larkin
The Fairies in Tradition and Literature by Katharine Briggs
The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore and Legends by Katharine Briggs
An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katharine Briggs
Fairy Tales and After: From Snow White to E.B. White by Roger Sale
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From Rags to Rags
December 7, 1978
The Woman’s Dress for Success Book by John T. Molloy
Seeing Through Clothes by Anne Hollander
In Fashion: Dress in the Twentieth Century by Prudence Glynn, illustrated by Madeleine Ginsburg
Mirror, Mirror: A Social History of Fashion by Michael Batterberry, by Ariane Batterberry
Avedon: Photographs 1947-1977 with an essay by Harold Brodkey
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Release Ngugi
June 15, 1978
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To the Sideshow
March 23, 1978
Animals and Men: Their Relationship as Reflected in Western Art from Prehistory to the Present Day by Kenneth Clark
Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self by Leslie Fiedler
A Fiedler Reader
by Leslie Fiedler
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The Round Table in Ruins
November 24, 1977
The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White, prologue by Sylvia Townsend Warner, illustrations by Trevor Stubley
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The Dress Code
November 25, 1976
On Human Finery by Quentin Bell
Dress and Society, 1560-1970 by Geoffrey Squire
Hollywood CostumeGlamour! Glitter! Romance! by Dale McConathy, with Diana Vreeland
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A Tail of Terror
December 11, 1975
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The Power of Smokey
June 12, 1975
Shardik
by Richard Adams
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The Boy Who Couldn’t Grow Up
February 6, 1975
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Happy Endings
November 28, 1974
Waiting for the Party: The Life of Frances Hodgson Burnett by Ann Thwaite
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The Fate of the Munchkins
April 18, 1974
The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by W.W. Denslow, with an introduction, notes, and bibliography by Michael Patrick Hearn
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Wise-Women
June 14, 1973
The Summer Before the Dark
by Doris Lessing
The Black Prince
by Iris Murdoch
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Good Children’s Books!
December 14, 1972
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Joseph Schindelman
The Tenth Life of Osiris Oaks by Wally Cox, by Everett Greenbaum, illustrated by F.A. Fitzgerald
The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, illustrated by Shirley Hughes
A Castle of Bone by Penelope Farmer
The House of Wings by Betsy Byars, illustrated by Daniel Schwartz
No Way of Telling by Emma Smith
Goldengrove by Jill Paton Walsh
Friday and Robinson by Michel Tournier, illustrated by David Stone Martin
Once Upon a Time, the Fairy Tale World of Arthur Rackham edited by Margery Darrell
The Light Princess by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
The Golden Key by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
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Witches and Fairies: Fitzgerald to Updike
December 2, 1971
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Fairy Tale Liberation
December 17, 1970
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Intellect and Non-Violence
December 15, 1966
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Consumers’ Report
December 9, 1965
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Early Powell
June 1, 1963
What’s Become of Waring? by Anthony Powell
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Alison Lurie on John Updike
February 2, 2009