TashaTudorhaswrittenandillustratedmorethanseventy-fivebelovedchildren''sbookssinceherfirst,PumpkinMoonshine,in1938.Nowseventy-sevenyearsold,shelivesonafarminsouthernVermont,whereshehasrecreatedanearlyVictorianworld.TocapturethisintimateportraitofTashaTudor,photographerRichardBrownfollowedherthroughoutayearonherfarm.ByinterweavingTudor''sownwordsandmorethan100colorphotographs,BrownhasevokedtheessenceofTudor''suniquelyappealingpersonalityandwayoflife.TheinspirationforTudor''sartisevidentinherdelightfulsurroundings.Foremostisthemagnificentgardenshedesignedandrightfullycalls"Paradiseonearth".Alivelymenagerieisalwaysunderfoot,indoorsandout,includinghertrademarkcorgies,theNubiangoatsshemilkstwiceaday,theone-eyedcatMinou,thechickens,fantaildoves,andthecockatiels,canaries,exoticfinches,andparrotsthatinhabitavirtualvillageofantiquecages.WewatchTudoratworkinacornerofherwinterkitchen,her"chipmunk''snest",onthedelicatewatercolorsanddrawingsthatillustratethebooksandcalendarsthathavecharmedthreegenerations.Examplesofherworkarescatteredthroughoutthebook,includingmanydrawingsfromhersketchbookandvignettesneverpreviouslypublished.Herenchantingthree-storydollhouseisfeaturedindetailasareherhandmadedollsandmarionettesaswellasthecandlelittreethatisthecenterpieceofTashaTudor''sold-fashionedNewEnglandChristmas.Bornin1914intoBostonsocietyshesatonOliverWendellHolmes''skneeasachild;MarkTwainandAlbertEinsteinwerealsoherparents''friends,Tudorfeltfromanearlyagethatshehadlivedbefore,inthe1830s.Shesays,"Everythingcomessoeasilytomefromthatperiod,ofthattime:threadingaloom,growingflax,spinning,milkingacow".Dressedinantiqueclothing,spinningandweavingherownlinen,cookingonawoodstovewithnineteenth-centuryutensils,Tudorinhabitsaworldthatintheseevocativephotographsspeakstoallwholongforasimplerexistenceinharmonywiththeseasonalrhythmsofnature.
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