How
will you spend Curiosity Day?
Never
heard of it? Are you curious to learn
more?
September
17 is an annual celebration of being curious.
This year it’s the Saturday closest to H.A. Rey’s birthday. Rey co-created a monumental children’s
classic, Curious George. In fact this is the 75th
anniversary of the historic publishing of the curious little monkey.
Houghton
Mifflin, the long-time publisher to Margaret and Hans Augusta Rey, said it’s
celebrating the brand’s diamond jubilee with the publishing of an anniversary edition of the
original book, and a new collection of seven stories, the Complete Adventures of Curious George.
The
original seven-volume series that began in 1941 has grown to 133 titles in 26 languages.
Publishers Weekly reports
there are 75 million Curious George
books in print.
The
Reys fled Paris, France in June 1940 during a bloody period of World War
II. They left just before the Nazis
invaded. They took with them five
manuscripts, one about a French monkey for a book originally titled The Adventures of Fifi.
Let
me just say for the record that Curious
George is my all-time favorite children’s book character. Sure he has his rivals, including Cat in the Hat, but this good little monkey
who is always very curious, has always stolen my heart. He embodies exactly what we should all
be -- curious daredevils who ignore authority but manage to find a way to save
the day.
The American Booksellers Association promoted a summer reading campaign
that was inspired by the ever-seeking monkey with its theme of “Get Curious
about Reading." There was a Curious
George tour, created in conjunction with the American Children's Museum and the
Ultimate Block Party. I didn’t seek a
comment from the inquisitive animal for this story, but no doubt he’d probably
answer me with questions, contorted stares, and a sneaky smile.
I
raised my kids to snack on Curious George
books. I think they would also say he
was one of their favorite book characters.
Why not? He10 Proven Ways to Generate PR For Your Book honors the part of us
that wants to touch the stove to see if it’s hot. He’s mischievous, but not malicious. He wants to help, not harm, but he always
seems to get into trouble and cause a ruckus.
We
should celebrate Curiosity Day by
reading Curious George and by
unleashing the inner-seeker within each of us.
To learn more on how to promote books, read my greatest blog posts
from the past five years and 2,000 posts:
2016 Book Marketing & Book Publicity Toolkit
2015 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit
2014 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit
Book Marketing & Book PR Toolkit:
2013
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