New & Notable

The Sinking of the HMS Victory: A Famous Naval Disaster Illustrated in The Pretty Book of Pictures (1765)

The Pretty Book of Pictures for Little Masters and Misses is the best known natural history book John Newbery issued.  Its fame does not rest on the quality of the illustrations as much as the fact that the majority of …

An Image of Japan and its People in 1920s Soviet Children’s Literature

Polina Popova, our roving correspondent on Russian- and Ukrainian-language children’s books, has written a new essay for the Cotsen curatorial blog based on her research when she was in residence at Princeton several years ago.  In this post, she looks …

Is There a Library in the House?

There's no place like home! Katie found this amazing abode in our special collections vaults, and we just had to share it. It was created by The Book House for Children, a company founded by Olive Beaupré Miller (née Olive Kennon Beaupré).

This Week in Princeton History for January 23-29

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, Princeton seeks to build housing for married students, locals consider the merits of slavery in the South, and more.

Hop Along Li’l Bunny

Do you have a case of the wiggles this winter? So does this little bunny! Press down on its head to watch it hop and bobble. Originally spotted on Instagram as an octopus, we re-imagined the project as a rabbit...and all it takes is 2 paper cups and some poster board!

This Week in Princeton History for January 16-22

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, students have a reputation for misbehavior, people claiming to be Nigerian royalty seek pen pals, and more.

Uncovering the secrets of PUL items through spectral imaging

Tiny Library Challenge: The Final Chapter

Everyone loves a good trilogy. Except in this case. Because this is the final chapter in the trifeca of insanity otherwise known as miniature library kits (see parts I and II). But today it ends.

This Week in Princeton History for January 9-15

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a student expresses concern about staff wages, faculty warn seniors that they have to attend classes, and more.

Uncovering the secrets of PUL items through spectral imaging

This Week in Princeton History for January 2-8

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, Princeton’s colors are on display at a party in New Orleans, a student is unimpressed with a future movie classic, and more.

Mother Goose Land: Building a Shared World

Fictional universes are nothing new in children’s literature and it’s been acknowledged for some time that contemporary techniques for worldbuilding so widely used in science fiction, fantasy, video games were explored by authors like Lewis Carroll, George MacDonald, and

This Week in Princeton History for December 26-January 1

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, immigrants are required to be fingerprinted, faculty are investigating mysterious explosions, and more.

Marks in Books 11 : Hanukkah Gift Inscriptions

To celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah in 2022, here’s a post from a few years ago about books that a mother gave as gifts to her children during the Jewish holiday in 1966… The gift exchanges, which are central …

The BiblioFiles Special Edition: Betsy Bird Interviews Team Tolo

Just posted! A special edition BiblioFiles with guest host Betsy Bird. She interviewed the creative team for Tolo, an original chose your path virtual adventure released by the Cotsen Children’s Library.