WHAT IS ROUND?

What is Round? (1954; Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, May 2017)
Poetic verses on the beautiful things that are round for children.

Alvin Tresselt was a pioneeing children's book author and graphic designer. was born in New Jersey. He was an editor for Humpty Dumpty magazine and an executive editor for Parent's Magazine Press before becoming an instructor and the Dean of Faculty for the Institute of Children's Literature in Connecticut. He wrote over thirty children's books, selling over a million copies. He received the Caldecott Medal in 1947 for White Snow, Bright Snow. His best-known book is a retelling of the Ukranian folk tale The Mitten. Tresselt was a pioneer in children's writing, well known for his poetic prose style. He created the “mood” picture book, in which the setting and description for a story was even more important than the characters and plot.

Blossom Budney Tresselt was a children's book author and teacher. She studied at the Frederick Mizen Academy of Art and the Art Institute before moving to New York in the mid-40s. There, she worked as an exhibition designer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She married Alvin Tresselt in 1949 and moved to Connecticut in 1955. She published A Kiss is Round, her first children's book and collaboration with Graphic Designer Vladimir Bobri in 1954.

“Alvin Tresselt was effectively a pioneer of poetic, lyrical, evocative, mood-rich prose for children.” --School Library Journal
“
An evocative impression of the changing moods of wind and weather.” --The New York Times Book Review, on Sun Up

“Impressionistic illustrations beautifully reflect an evocative text.” --Kirkus, on The Gift of the Tree

“The original text stands the test of time, reaching its audience with power and emotion as it directs attention to the forces of nature at work.” --School Library Journal, on The Gift of the Tree

“Tresselt writes quiet, factual prose about katydids, reapers and threshing, falling leaves, apple-gathering, and the first frost.” --New York Herald Tribune, on Autumn Harvest

“Tresselt's classic picture book shows the city from daybreak until the beginning of the nine-to-five work day...Recommended.” --Booklist, Wake Up, City!

“One of my favorite books when I was a small gal...lovely...A beautiful book.” --Meet Me at Mike's Blog, on The Frog in the Well