Stephen Cosgrove's Serendipity Books
Today I stumbled across a hilarious blog post on a dad blog about the Serendipity Book series. Apparently these things are still in print, and blogger Holmes' sons constantly insist that he read them at night.
Holmes' disdain for the remarkably long-lived works of author Stephen Cosgrove and illustrator Robin James is perfectly understandable. I mean, the thing is, kids have no taste. Certainly no discretion in the way of literature. It's only as we grow old that we learn to avoid things which have the moral printed right there on the cover.
That's literal, in the case of the Serendipity books. On every cover is a helpful call-out box titled "The moral of this story is:" For example, the moral of The Wheedle on the Needle is, "Cooperation can solve almost any problem."
I loved the Serendipity books when I was a kid. The series is named after the first book, which was titled Serendipity, and was about a pink dragon with violet doe eyes. The moral of Serendipity is, according to the cover, that "Knowing who you really are will bring you happiness." Written in 1974, Serendipity embodies that entire era's "Free To Be You And Me" aesthetic.
I don't actually remember anything about Serendipity. Any of them, now that I think about it. I remembered that my favorites were Morgan and Yew, and its sequel Morgan and Me. Because they starred a unicorn named Morgan, and I was absolutely mad for unicorns. My third favorite would have to be "The Wheedle on the Needle," because even though I lived in Alaska, I visited my grandmother who lived in the Seattle area several times a year. So it had that "I know that!" local appeal.
Holmes asks what it is kids like about the books. The artwork was certainly a big part of the appeal. Robin James' gorgeous illustrations, watercolors saturated with color and a deft touch of the ink pen. I don't remember being wowed by the moral messages, or by the writing. Certainly as an adult my first choice of reading material wouldn't be a book that starts out with language like,
"It is here that you will find magical, mythical dragons frolicking with common field mice and tiny flying horses chasing butterflies across the sky. It is here, too, that you will find beauty in the commonplace; the sweet sounds of water rushing over a forested fall."
It's also worth noting that, from a parental perspective, these books were - and continue to be - very affordable. Cosgrove deliberately set out to make it that way, and at one point refused the advances of a publisher partly because they would have priced the books higher than he wanted to see. Even today a brand new hardcover edition sells for a mere $10.75, while you can still buy the paperbacks brand new for only $6.50.
But Holmes' kids love the Serendipity series, and I did too. And we're clearly in good company, because the Serendipity books - from the originals through to newer titles - are still in print, and still easily available in libraries on bookstore shelves. How many books from the mid 1970s can say the same?
