A Velocity of Being
Letters to a Young Reader
Out of Stock- Regular price
- $44.99
- Sale price
- $44.99
- Regular price
-
- Unit price
- / per
An expansive collection of love letters to books, libraries, and reading, from a wonderfully eclectic array of thinkers and creators.A Brain Pickings Best Children's Book of the Year"An embarrassment of riches." -The New York Times
In these pages, some of today's most wonderful culture-makers-writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers-reflect on the joys of reading, how books broaden and deepen human experience, and the ways in which the written word has formed their own character. On the page facing each letter, an illustration by a celebrated illustrator or graphic artist presents that artist's visual response. Among the diverse contributions are letters from Jane Goodall, Neil Gaiman, Jerome Bruner, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yo-Yo Ma, Judy Blume, Lena Dunham, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as a ninety-eight-year-old Holocaust survivor, a pioneering oceanographer, and Italy's first woman in space. Some of the illustrators, cartoonists, and graphic designers involved are Marianne Dubuc, Sean Qualls, Oliver Jeffers, Maira Kalman, Mo Willems, Isabelle Arsenault, Chris Ware, Liniers, Shaun Tan, Tomi Ungerer, and Art Spiegelman.
This project is woven entirely of goodwill, generosity of spirit, and a shared love of books. Everyone involved has donated their time, and all profits will go to the New York Public Library systems.
This stunning 272-page hardcover volume features a lay-flat binding to allow for greater ease of reading.
Praise for A Velocity of Being
A New York Times Bestseller A Brain Pickings Best Children’s Book of 2018 A CBC "Hot Off The Press" Selection of December 2018 Featured in Green Source DFW December 2018 gift guide “An embarrassment of riches.”
The New York Times
Impelled to defend the dignity and authority of books, and the transformative power of continuing to read them in the digital age, Maria Popova and Claudia Zoe Bedrick spent eight years collecting the words and artwork for A Velocity of Being, a treasury of thoughtful, quirky, heartfelt letters from notable adults to the young reader... For adults devoted to raising strong readers amid what Popova calls the 'fragment fetishism' of the internet—and for book lovers of any age on a Christmas list—A Velocity of Being has arrived not a moment too soon.
The Wall Street Journal
This feast of a book provides ample food for thought, with some dazzling visuals, to boot. The collection will nourish readers of all kinds, deserving a permanent place on our bookshelves.
The National Book Review
This should live on the nightstand, be picked up regularly, and savored. A treasure trove for anyone who loves words and pictures.
Booklist
Edited and introduced by Maria Popova, who has been writing since 2006 about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is now included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials; Edited by Claudia Bedrick, publisher, editorial and art director of Enchanted Lion Books.
You May Also Like
View moreSign up to our Newsletter
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.