There was a TV movie made of this book about 4-5 years(?) ago. Does
anyone with a better memory recall it? Konigsberg's work occupies most of a
shelf in my collection of children's books. Another I like a great deal,
set in Pittsburgh, is _Father's Arcane Daughter_. Also on that shelf are
books by Zilpha Keately Snyder. If you like Konigsburg, you'll like Snyder.
One of the advantages of a mother who was an elementary school
librarian was getting to read all the nifty children's books as they came
out.
Deborah G. Harding
Collection Manager
Section of Anthropology
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
412-665-2608
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Sorceress [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 10:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mixed-Up Files
Well, I'm with you, Indigo. When I started on computers, you could only fit
in one per room. (Has anyone seen my walker?)
I missed this book. My kids missed this book. It sounds absolutely
wonderful! Wouldn't it be a boon to have it made into a movie (like Harry
Potter) with a trickle down effect on Museum attendance? Anyone have any
pull in that direction?
Andrea
----- Original Message -----
From: "Indigo Nights" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 9:30 PM
Subject: Mixed-Up Files
> Having once refused to do a huge, ugly filing job,
> where everything was filed numerically and by hand
> (way back in 1975 when the dinosaurs still roamed the
> face of the earth, LOL), and after having worked on
> computers in some form or another since 1973 (can you
> say mag card typewriter?), I find the thought of
> mixed-up files very disturbing. I shudder at the
> thought of my files being thrown all helter skelter
> (somewhat like my bedroom right this moment).
>
> What troubles me more is that we're discussing a book
> that I had NEVER in my life before heard of. It
> appears to have been THEE thing to read, and yet both
> my kids and I missed it.
>
> So, I wanted to know more about this book and what in
> the world was the list talking about.
>
> I found it is still available through Amazon.com (not
> a commercial, just my preferred source other than
> Ebay), and I was able to glean the following about the
> book (in case there are any others here on the list
> who had dinosaurs as pets and can't figure out what in
> the hell all the hubbub is about):
>
> From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler
> by E. L. Konigsburg (Illustrator)
>
> List Price: $5.50
> Our Price: $5.50
> Used Price: $1.91
>
> (For what it's worth, I've recently tried their used
> books option and had great success.)
>
> Anyway, the reviews of the book on the Amazon site
> include:
>
> Editorial Reviews
> Amazon.com
> "After reading this book, I guarantee that you will
> never visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or any
> wonderful, old cavern of a museum) without sneaking
> into the bathrooms to look for Claudia and her brother
> Jamie. They're standing on the toilets, still, hiding
> until the museum closes and their adventure begins.
> Such is the impact of timeless novels . . . they never
> leave us. E. L. Konigsburg won the 1967 Newbery Medal
> for this tale of how Claudia and her brother run away
> to the museum in order to teach their parents a
> lesson. Little do they know that mystery awaits!"
>
> Book Description Read by Jan Miner Two cassettes / 3
> hours 32 mins.
>
> Twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid is restlesses--she
> wants to do something different, such as running away
> from her comfortable suburban life in Connecticut for
> a while. But not just any place will do because
> Claudia likes her comforts. It needs to be a place
> with a bit of luxury and some good company. Ans she
> wants to be gone just long enough to teach her parents
> to appreciate her.
>
> With careful planning, Claudia stages her own secret
> live-in at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art,
> taking along her nine-year-old brother, not so much
> for company, but mostly because he is a miser and will
> have money. What happens to Claudia and Jamie, and the
> changes that come about in this sister-brother duo,
> prove greater than either had bargained for. --This
> text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
>
> Ingram
> Claudia and Jamie run away from home and wind up
> living at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There they
> are privy to the introduction of a new statue and
> immediately are suspicious of its authenticity. 1968
> Newbery Medal; Library of Congress Children's Book of
> the Year; ALA Notable Children's Book.
>
> From the Publisher
> When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very
> carefully She would be gone just long enough to teach
> her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she
> would live in comfort-at the Metropolitan Museum of
> Art. She invited her brother Jamie to go, too, mostly
> because he was a miser and would have money
>
> The two took up residence in the museum right on
> schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over,
> Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the
> same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found
> a statue at the museum so beautiful she could not go
> home until she had discovered its maker, a question
> that baffled even the experts. The former owner of the
> statue was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler And without her
> help Claudia might never have found a way to go home.
>
> About the Author E.L. Konigsburg has never spent the
> night in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
> City, like the heroine of her Newbery Medal-winning
> novel, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.
> Frankweiler, does. But she was born in New York, and
> she is a part-time painter. In fact she's done the
> illustrations for a number of books.
>
> Konigsburg did not grow up in the city. Her family
> moved to Pennsylvania when she was young, and most of
> her childhood was spent in small towns in that state.
> When she attended Carnegie Mellon University in
> Pittsburgh, she majored in chemistry, and after
> graduation she worked as a chemist, doing research and
> teaching. It wasn't until after she was married and
> had three children in school that Konigsburg began
> writing books.
>
> What is exceptional about Konigsburg is her ability to
> communicate convincingly from the point of view of a
> child. As the reviewer for The Horn Book said of
> Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me,
> Elizabeth, "The story is full...of situations
> completely in tune with the imaginations of
> ten-year-old girls." One of Konigsburg's characters,
> Ben in (George), has an ornery inner voice called
> George that seems to have come from the mind of a real
> child.
>
> Konigsburg, who now lives with her family in Ponte
> Vedra Beach, FL, is the author of many books for
> children with a wide variety of subjects and settings.
> One of them is a novelized biography of Eleanor of
> Aquitaine; several are collections of short stories;
> another is a historical novel about the Mona Lisa; and
> the rest are wonderful novels. Most of her books were
> named American Library Association Notable Children's
> Books, and a number were chosen by The Horn Book
> magazine for its Fanfare List. From the Mixed-Up Files
> of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler won the Newbery Medal and
> Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me,
> Elizabeth was named a Newbery Honor Book.
>
>
> I sure do miss my old dinosaur!
>
>
>
> =====
> Indigo Nights
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Looking for a job? Try:
> http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414
>
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