Bess Press

Bess Press
Think trop­i­cal … island nations, high and low islands.  Feel the sun’s warmth, the stir of a gen­tle breeze clat­ter­ing palm fronds high over­head.  Escape win­ter, cold, snow, white, ice. How?  In a book.  Open one of the many books pub­lished by Bess Press, one of the first inde­pen­dent pub­lish­ers locat­ed in Hon­olu­lu.  Their books cov­er his­to­ry and cul­ture, war and peace in the Pacif­ic, the many cul­tures of Poly­ne­sia, Microne­sia (mean­ing small islands, there are over 10,000 islands in Microne­sia) and Melane­sia (the dark islands).
more

Beyond the Page

Quentin Blake: Beyond the Page
  by Vic­ki Palmquist I’ve been savor­ing Quentin Blake: Beyond the Page (Tate Pub­lish­ing, 2012), a book that is replete with pho­tos, illus­tra­tive art, and all the many ways Mr. Blake’s art has adorned many aspects of life “beyond the page.” In his own voice, we hear of the places illus­tra­tion has tak­en him. With some­thing near a state of won­der, Mr.… more

The Curious Child: writing and books

Calligraphy sample
by Vic­ki Palmquist After read­ing Cather­ine, Called Birdy, read­ers will won­der about Edward, Birdy’s broth­er, and the books he was scrib­ing at the monastery. In what type of book did Birdy keep her jour­nal? Who taught her to write? Did she write in the same fan­cy script that her broth­er did at the monastery? Birdy gives the read­er clues about her jour­nal: “The skins are my father’s, left over from the house­hold accounts, and the ink also.… more

The Curious Child: writing and books

Calligraphy sample
by Vic­ki Palmquist After read­ing Cather­ine, Called Birdy, read­ers will won­der about Edward, Birdy’s broth­er, and the books he was scrib­ing at the monastery. In what type of book did Birdy keep her jour­nal? Who taught her to write? Did she write in the same fan­cy script that her broth­er did at the monastery? Birdy gives the read­er clues about her jour­nal: “The skins are my father’s, left over from the house­hold accounts, and the ink also.… more