Write a title to your blog post like that you are just SETTING YOURSELF UP for trouble. But I like trouble. I eat it for breakfast. Or, at the very least, gnaw on it idly at lunch.
In the past I’ve noted each appearance of a statue pertaining to children’s literature when it crops up, but I’ve never been particularly systematic. That ends today! This post, which I shall continually update with your points and suggestions, shall serve as a place to find all statues pertaining to books for kids residing in the continental U.S. where they can be viewed regularly. Those are the parameters. Should someone ever wish to do a road trip in which they visit of them helpful reader Sarah McElfresh suggested using www.batchgeo.org to create a map. She’s already started one here (which gives a nice sense of how the locations fall out). For my part, I will also note the sculptor whenever I am able on each of these but I warn you that I am lazy and haven’t been able to track them all down. Here are the results:
Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Location: Central Park, New York City, NY
Sculptor: José de Creeft
We all know this classic Alice statue that kids somehow manage to climb all over without killing themselves in the process (a miracle in and of itself). Originally constructed in 1959, the face of this particular Alice was modeled after de Creeft’s then-8-year-old daughter, Donna Marie. What isn’t as widely known is the fact that this is not the only place you can see this famous face.
Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Location: DiMenna Children’s History Museum, New York Historical Society
Sculptor: José de Creeft
Also created in 1959, this plaster is a patinated full size unique cast of the head of Jose de Creeft’s monumental bronze, Alice in Wonderland (the one in Central Park). She is located in the children’s library portion of the DiMenna Children’s History Museum within the New York Historical Society and is, understandably, quite large. There is also, apparently, a doormouse in a drawer in the same library. Thank you, Alice Stevenson, for the info. And lest we ignore the forgotten Alice in Central Park . . .
Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Location: James Michael Levin Playground, Central Park, New York City, NY
Sculptor: Frederick George Richard Roth
Completed in 1936, this is actually my favorite statue in Central Park. It has a monkey spitting water at you. What more do you need?
Book: Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland
Location: Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Fort Bragg, CA
Sculptor: Keena Good
Inspired by the coast to fill at least a part of it with Alice in Wonderland characters, metal artist Keena Good began a Kickstarter campaign to bring her vision to life. She succeeded magnificently and you can read about her process here. The sculptures were installed in April of 2013. Finding images of the sculptures proved to be somewhat difficult. You can see some better shots in the previous link. Thanks to Deborah Alterman for the tip!
Book: Alice’s Through the Looking Glass
Location: The White Marsh branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, MD
Sculptor: William F. Duffy
Isn’t it gorgeous? We don’t have many red statues on this list, and the rough feel of the piece is perfect. As you can see the statue was originally created in 1983. You can read the artist’s thoughts on their creation here. Big time thanks to Paula Wiley for some of the images.
Book: Amelia Bedelia
Location: Harvin Clarendon County Library, Manning, South Carolina
Sculptor: James Peter Chaconas
This little bronze has been in the possession of the Harvin Clarendon County Library since around 1999, it would seem. It was the artist’s first work with bronze, and he did a stand up and cheer job. The little cat makes for a nice touch. Thanks to Charlotte Johnston for the tip and info.
Book: The Bears of Blue River
Location: Shelbyville, IN
Not all children’s literary statues are of books you’ve heard of. I confess that until I ran across this image of the character Brent Balser holding aloft two bear cubs from Charles Major’s The Bears of Blue River, the book was unknown to me. What cannot be in doubt, however, is how friggin’ cool the image is. There’s even an annual Bears of Blue River Festival. Boo-yah, Shelbyville! Thanks to BHT for the link. And speaking of bears . . .
Book: Blueberries for Sal
Location: Boothbay Harbor, ME
Sculptor: Nancy Schön
Remember the name “Nancy Schön” because it’s going to come up more than once here. In 2008 she was commissioned by the Board of Directors of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens to make a sculpture of Little Bear from the book Blueberries for Sal by the author Robert McCloskey. The result is this cute little feller who is surrounded by actual honest-to-goodness blueberry bushes. You can read more about it and see Ms. Schön’s process here.
Title: The Bremen Town Musicians
Location: Morgan County Public Library, Madison, GA
Sculptor: Elbert Weinberg
Created originally for the Lenox Square Shopping Center (see some of the Uncle Remus statues below for others created for this open air mall), this beauty was apparently moved from the mall to the library as recently as 2012. Love the look. You can read a plaque with more information in this blog post.
Title: The Bremen Town Musicians
Location: The Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee, WI
Sculptor: Gerhardt Marcks
A little more representational than its Georgian equivalent, this statue was originally constructed in 1951. And lest you think this is the only children’s literary statue of Milwaukee, be sure you check out Gertie the Duck as well. Thanks to JoAnn Early Macken for the tip!
Book: Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Location: Grand Canyon Lodge sun room, North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Sculptor: Peter Jepson
Though his book was penned by the same woman behind such classics as Misty of Chincoteague, and his adventures turned into a Disney film, not many folks remember old Brighty these days. That’s part of what I love about statuary. Long after the books have faded, something of them remains. In this case, a little burro bronze located at the Grand Canyon Lodge not too far from where Brighty’s story took place. You can learn more about him here if you’ve a hankering. Thanks to Pam for the heads up.
Book: The Cat in the Hat
Location: The Nichols Library, Naperville, IL
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
Standing at a whopping eight feet tall, this is one of the rare Cat in the Hats to stand on his own two feet without his creator’s statue anywhere nearby. Get more information (as well as an audio tour of the statue) here. See the cat yarn bombed here. Thanks to Mr. Schu and Andrea Beaty for the suggestion!
Book: The Cat in the Hat
Location: The Storybook Garden, The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, TX
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
Now this Cat does indeed share quite a few similarities with the Cat in Naperville, it’s true. From what I can tell this Cat is significantly smaller, coming in at roughly the size of a small child. Still, it really feels like there should be some kind of connection.
Book: The Cat in the Hat
Location: The Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego, CA
Ah! A very nice one. Clearly Seuss is planning on taking over the world here. Spoiler Alert: He did. Thanks to Lauren for the tip.
Book: The Cat in the Hat
Location: Cohen Children’s Hospital, North Shore, Long Island, NY
Tina wins for finding what may well be the most unknown Seuss sculptures to date. Indeed, if she hadn’t sent me a picture herself I might not have believed it. I’ll let her explain: “At the entrance of the Cohen Children’s Hospital at North Shore Long Island Jewish in Lake Success (just over the Queens border in Nassau County) are two wonderful bronze statues of the Cat in the Hat, and Sally and Nick riding their bicycle.” You can see them in the background in the first picture and too too close in the second. If anyone can send me something a little more clear, I’d be grateful. This one’s pretty obscure. Thanks to Tina for the tip!
Book: Charlotte’s Web
Location: Wellesley Free Library, Wellesley, MA
Sculptor: Rion Microys
I never said the statues had to be made out of a particular substance, did I? So by that logic papier maché is a-okay. Here, Charlotte and Wilbur reside in a children’s room alongside Templeton the rat (he’s in there somewhere). For more information you can go here. Thanks to Jill Hilycord for the link!
Book: Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures With the Family Lazardo
Location: The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, TX
Sculptor: Bob ”Daddy-O” Wade
From 2001 to about 2007 or so, Bob lived on the roof of The Grace Museum’s garage. Originally the sculpture was commissioned for the 20th annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, and the council’s Outdoor Sculpture Committee received permission from The Grace to put Dinosaur Bob on its garage. From what I’ve been able to piece together, Bob was challenged by someone in town and the city told The Grace to remove Bob. Eventually he was saved and refurbished and given to the NCCIL where he lives today. Here’s an article about Bob and his controversy. A brochure from 2013 shows where he eventually landed. Thanks to Sidney Levesque for the tip and Morgan Mogler for the image!
Book: The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard
Location: Stagecoach Park, Evergreen, CO
Sculptor: Greg Wasil
Based on a book by B.G. Hennessey, I always assumed that Bob here was based on Bill Joyce’s Dinosaur Bob. Not the case! Check out more info on Bob here.
Book: The Enormous Egg
Location: The National Zoo, Washington D.C.
Do we count statues that were named for children’s books after the fact? We do when it’s a book like Oliver Butterworth’s classic. Plus I like having the three dinosaur statues here together. As it happens the name makes a lot of sense if you’ve read the book. In it a boy raises a dinosaur but when it becomes too large, “the boy brings him to the ‘National Museum’ in Washington, D.C. He remains there until he is eventually transferred to the National Zoo’s Elephant House because there is a law against stabling large animals in District.” Apt, no? You can learn more about the dino here. Thanks to L. Quirk for the link.
Books: Everything by Dr. Seuss
Location: The Dr. Seuss National Memorial at The Quadrangle in Springfield, MA
Can you believe that this is just a small sample of the statues you’ll find in this remarkable place? To learn more about it, go here.
Book: Gentle Ben
Location: Walt Morey Park, Wilsonville, OR
This eight foot tall, 500-pound statue commemorates the hero of Walter Morey’s beloved book. Apparently Morey lived in town and his family donated the land for the park. In spite of his size and weight he was stolen and recovered back in 2012. Curiously, I could find no information on the sculptor or the year the statue was created. Thanks to Jen Maurer for the link.
Book: Gertie the Duck
Location: Milwaukee Riverwalk, Wisconsin Avenue Bridge, Milwaukee, WI
Sculptor: Gwendolyn Gillen
Ill-remembered today, this 1959 classic by Nicholas P. Georgiady and Louis G. Romano was based on a true story about a mother duck that nested on a wood piling under the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge. Today that same bridge sports statues of that little duck and her offspring as a reminder. There are five statues of Gertie and her chicks (which were named Black Bill, Dee Dee, Freddie, Millie, Pee Wee, and Rosie) along the Riverwalk. There’s also a bronze statue of the Fonz known as The Bronz Fonz not too far away, but that’s neither here nor there. You can find more info on Gertie here. Thanks to JoAnn Early Macken for the tip!
Book: Goodnight Moon
Location: Grenville, South Carolina
Sculptor: Jim Ryan and Zan Wells
One of the rare cases where sculptures have been made of a near forgotten character in a classic work of literature. As the story goes, there are a total of nine images of mice in Goodnight Moon. So for his senior project, Jim Ryan decided to make these mice and place them around the city’s Main Street. Technically there is a mouse in the book, and who’s to say it’s the same one in every picture? More info can be found here. Thanks to Jill Hilycord for the note.
Book: Green Eggs and Ham
Location: 95th Street Library, Naperville, IL
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
Naperville again. You’ve got to credit the people there. They like their Seuss. Mind you, I can never look at Sam-I-Am without wondering what the name of his top-hatted picky eating best friend was. A mystery for the ages, that one. Don’t be deceive by the photo of Sam, by the way. This little feller stands at a good nine feet tall! More information can be found here.
Book: Green Eggs and Ham
Location: The Storybook Garden, The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, TX
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
Same sculptor, different location. As you can see the stick holding the food items is much shorter in this version than the one in Naperville. Otherwise they’re mighty close. Thanks to Sidney Levesque for the tip.
Book: Harry the Dirty Dog
Location: Bookworm Gardens, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Now here’s a location I can truly get behind! Apparently the Bookworm Gardens pride themselves on providing a, “garden based completely on children’s literature—over 60 different books are represented, selected by reading specialists, librarians, teachers, and kids.” Best of all, you get to actually wash Harry. See the location and all its cool ideas here. And thanks to JoAnn Early Macken for the tip!
Book: Honk the Moose
Location: Pavilion Park, Biwabik, MN
If the original book isn’t ringing any bells it’s a shame. This was a 1936 Newbery Honor book written by Phil Strong and illustrated by the legendary Kurt Weise. It’s always interesting to me when statues are made of books that were, themselves, based on true stories. In this case, the tale is about a moose that holed up in a stable with some horses when the weather was particularly grim. There’s a great MPR piece on it. The statue itself is made of fiberglass. No idea who made it but I believe its plaque suggests that it was created in 2000. Thanks to Tina Larson and Laurie Johnson for the tip.
Book: Horton Hears a Who
Location: The Storybook Garden, The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, TX
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
A beautiful bronze sculpture of Horton is available for viewing in Abilene. A lovely little feller from tip to toenails. Thanks to Sidney Levesque for the tip and Morgan Mogler for the image.
Book: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Location: Naper Boulevard Library, Naperville, IL
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
And we’re back in Naperville once more! You may recall that one of the Cats in the Hats was located outside the Nichols Library and Green Eggs and Ham outside the 95th Street branch. Artist Leo Rijn is back again as well with a Seuss character, and a holiday themed one at that. Go here for more information. Thanks to Crystal Brunelle for the tip!
Book: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Location: The Storybook Garden, The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, TX
Sculptor: Leo Rijn
And like a ping-pong ball we shoot back to Abilene. I just love how his feet have sunk into the “snow”. Thanks to Sidney Levesque for the tip and Morgan Mogler for the image.
Title: The Jack Tales
Location: Community Center, Southwest Virginia Community College, Cedar Bluff, VA
Sculptor: Charles Vess & Johnny Hagerman with Eric Cook and Eric Yost
Though the definition of “sculpture” is broad, I find this Bas-relief sculpture made out of the brick of a wall certainly counts. Standing at 750 square feet it was begun in 1992. As Vess says of the choice to go with Jack stories:
“In the fall of 1992, I was commissioned by Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands, Virginia, to conceptualize a monumental 30′ x 50′ brick wall sculpture that would be placed in a new campus building. . . . It was then that a young man named Jack seemed to plant himself squarely in front of my path to research. Jack of the mountains, Jack and his brothers, Soldier Jack, — the Jack Tale. Who better to represent the people of these four counties than young Jack, the hero of hundreds of lively tales, indigenous to the Appalachian Mountains? These very tales were brought by the Scots-Irish and German immigrants from Europe into the southwestern Virginia region during the mid 1700′s. Much as the early pioneers adapted themselves to this mountain environment, so did their stories adapt along with them. Thus, tales that were first transmitted orally throughout the British Isles and written down by the Brothers Grimm in Germany, mutated here into stories with an intrinsically `American’ hero. A hero who possessed limitless optimism and a trust in his absolute ability to control his own destiny.”
The wall was finished in 1997. And as Tina Hanlon said of the imagery, “Besides scenes from multiple Jack Tales, Vess put on the side a Native American storyteller and Brer Rabbit figure, to add cultural diversity to the Appalachian storytelling traditions represented.” Thank you, Tina, for the tip!
Title: John Henry
Location: John Henry Historical Park, Talcott, WV
Sculptor: Charles Cooper
So explain to me this. Paul Bunyan statues are so common in America that I had to include only one in this write-up for fear of making it too Paul Bunyan-centric. And I anticipated a similar problem when I decided to include John Henry. Yet insofar as I can tell this is the only version of the man to be found in the continental United States. Whence the logic? Finished in 1972 (the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Big Bend Tunnel where he plied his trade, or so say the denizens of Talcott) the statue weighs about three tons. Good thing too since he used to be in a remote location and subject to extreme vandalism. According to Roadside America he’s been riddled with bullets, pickaxe holes, dragged along Hwy 3, and doused with white paint. Now he can be found at the entrance of the Big Bend Tunnel as of 2012 having been fully restored and repaired. Information on his move can be found here. Thanks to Tina Hanlon for the tip.
Book: The Jungle Book
Location: Bensenville Public Library, Bensenville, IL
Sculptor: Tuck Langland
I like the story behind these. It seems that the Bensenville Public Library wanted to do something special for their 50th anniversary. And where other libraries might just throw a party or make a PSA, Bensenville set its sights a little higher. In 2010 they commissioned sculptor Tuck Langland to create these scenes from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and then put them both inside and outside of the library. Then Tuck created sculpture workshops for the kids and they made figures that were cast and added to the library’s sculptures that he had made. You can see some pictures here and read a news story about it here.
Book: The Jungle Book
Location: Lena Meijer Children’s Garden, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
Sculptor: Marshall Fredericks
Tracing the history of this particular sculpture wasn’t as easy as all that. Most of what I know comes from folks running into it over the years. This one actually has the most poignancy for me because apparently when my mother was a little girl she used to climb all over it. That would have been in Northland. Yet Kent Culotta says that he remembered seeing it in the courtyard of the Livonia Mall (also in Michigan). According to the Meijer Gardens the piece is called Boy & Bear and is a bronze sculpture from 1954. I don’t know what caused it to travel from place to place, but at least we can say for certain that it’s found a home in the end. Learn more about the Meijer Gardens here. Thanks to Kent Culotta for the tip!
Book: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Location: Sleepy Hollow, NY
Sculptor: The company Miglo-Bufkin
Erected in 2006, I debated whether or not to include this story since it’s not technically children’s. Then again, I have copies in my own children’s section and few would argue that the Disney animated film isn’t totally kid-friendly. Also, the statue is awesome. According to this site, “The sculpture cost $175,000 raised through private donations and a state grant. The rust colored sculpture is fabricated out of overlapping rusted metal plates by the metal working company of Miglo-Bufkin.” If you’re interested in visiting the address is 420 North Broadway at Gordon Avenue in Sleepy Hollow, NY and it’s not far from the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery’s south entrance. Thanks to Leigh Woznick for the link!
Book: Lentil
Location: Hamilton, OH
Sculptor: Nancy Schön
In 2010 Ms. Schön was honored by The Eric Carle Museum for her work in the field.
Title: The Lion and the Mouse (Aesop’s Fables)
Location: Silver Spring Library, Silver Spring, MD
Sculptor: Marcia Billig
Beautifully public. Sometimes I like it best when the statues are out and available for whatever passersby happen to come along. However, Reader Kriesberg says, “Perhaps unfortunately, the library will close and move to a more urban setting, with probably no lawn, in a year, and I don’t know whether this outdoor sculpture, or the Depression-era Civil War mural inside will move to the new facility.” Some info on the statue can be found here.
Book: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Location: “Darrell’s Dream” Boundless Playground, Warriors’ Path State Park, Kingsport, TN
Until I started making this list, I was under the distinct impression that the only notable statue related to this book was the one of Mr. Lewis in Belfast. Not so! In spite of its British roots the book inspired one of the most original children’s literature sites in this little round-up. Says commenter Kim, “There is a boundless playground at Warriors’ Path State Park in Kingsport, TN that has several statues of the characters of Narnia. There is a multisensory/braille trail that you can follow to hear/read the story of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. You can walk through a wardrobe with fur coats to get into the playground and then on the trail there are some really great statues.” How right she is. Though I was only able to find an image of poor Mr. Tumnus looking like nothing so much as a guy being turned into a statue, it’s enough to convince. You can learn more about the playground and its various amazing aspects here. How interesting that this is one of the rare children’s books to actual make statuary a big part of the plot. Maybe that accounts for the lack of Narnia statues in the world. They’d look too much like the White Witch’s handiwork, no? Thanks so much to Kim for the tip.
Title: The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Location: Town Square, Mansfield, Missouri
Sculptor: William J. Williams
It gets a bit tricky when an author is also a character in their own books. But considering the massive popularity of Laura Ingalls Wilder and all that she entails, it wouldn’t be right to ignore this image of her. This particular bust is part of a series called the Hall of Famous Missourians and was inducted on September 15, 1993. And I don’t know if you can tell, but the titles of all her books encircle her on the ground. Thanks to Brita for the tip!
