Now that people are snatching up Amazon’s New Kindle, we keep hearing about the demise of the “real” book at the expense of e-books. Which makes me a bit sad. While I love my Kindle, there’s something to be said about the memories of going to the bookstore, getting a brand new crisp paperback book with its shiny cover, cracking it open and smelling the freshly printed pages, reading through page by page, and having the utter satisfaction of reading the last word on the last page and closing the book.
I still remember clearly when I was in Kindergarten, we took a “field trip” to the school library. I was in awe. Like Burgess Meredith in the Twilight Zone, I wanted to read every one of them. I remember grabbing a book, only to have it taken away from me and taught what a “library card” is. But soon after, I got my very own copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which I devoured just as voraciously as that caterpillar eating holes in the pages.
Out of Print Clothing is a great company that pays homage to some of the great cover art of classic literature. They have T-Shirts, books, journals, notecards, tote bags, and other gift ideas dedicated to remembering and preserving some of the iconic cover designs of the last century.
They’ve got great classics represented in their T-Shirts, including three of my favorite books growing up, Harry the Dirty Dog, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Caps for Sale.
Grown-ups will appreciate beautiful cover art from books like A Clockwork Orange, Farenheit 451, Of Mice and Men, Atlas Shrugged, Moby Dick, 1984, and dozens of other classics.
Something else noteworthy (no pun intended) is this set of note cards featuring eight classic covers. This way, you can preserve the lost art of writing as well as reading!. This includes the iconic cover of The Great Gatsby designed by Francis Cugat (something I particularly appreciate given that my hometown for the last five years has been “West Egg”).
The store is a veritable online treasure trove of gifts for book lovers, including actual children’s books (with original cover art, of course), from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz to Charlotte’s Web to Harold and the Purple Crayon. These are hardcover reproductions of the originals, not the cheap mass-produced tiny paperback version you see all over the place today.
These gifts are a great reminder of how wonderful the gift of reading is. Not only this, for each product sold, one book is donated to a community in need through our partner Books For Africa or donations are given to literacy projects here in the United States. It’s a wonderful way.
Between Out of Print Clothing and the organization Gone Reading which I highlighted a few weeks ago, you can make this a very happy Christmas for book lovers in your life!
