Perhaps the most important books we’ll make at Lost Art Press are children’s books.
If I had to point to a moment in my young life when I decided to make things, it’s when I became obsessed with the books of David Macaulay, especially “Cathedral.” I checked that book out from the Fort Smith Public Library at least a dozen times.
With that in mind, we have decided to invest significant time and resources into children’s books. And our first book* from this initiative is “Cadi & the Cursed Oak” by Kara Gebhart Uhl and illustrated by Elin Manon.
And I’m pleased to announce that we are now selling and shipping this book. It is $19 and features all the core principles of other Lost Art Press books: a beautiful book, printed on outstanding paper and clothbound with a sewn binding.
“Cadi” is the first of many new children’s books in the works here at Lost Art Press. This effort is being headed up by Kara, an expert in the field of children’s literature. So it seemed appropriate to have one of her books kick this off.
“Cadi & the Cursed Oak” is the tale of a girl who finds a wooden cup that was made from the wood of the famous and haunted Nannau Oak in Wales. Objects made from the oak are said to be cursed (the story of the oak is true).
When Cadi drinks from the cup, she begins to see strange things. And with the help of her grandmother, Cadi learns how the cursed cup is tied forever to a skeleton stashed in the old Nannau oak. But how will she stop the terrifying visions?
And, because this is a Lost Art Press book, you know there will be woodworking parts. Cadi’s father is a Welsh chairmaker, and some of the scenes happen while the two are hunting for arm bows in the forest.
The illustrations by Welsh artist Elin Manon completely suit the story, with every page richly drawn with delightful and spooky details.
We hope you’ll consider purchasing a copy for the children or grandchildren in your life. You never know what acorns you might be planting with the gift of a book.
— Christopher Schwarz
* “Grandpa’s Workshop,” now out of print, was a translated title from a French publisher. “Cadi” is our first “from scratch” children’s book.
No grandkids on the horizon yet. But it’s never too early to start collecting books for them!
This looks stunning. Ordered.
Thank you!!
For what age group is this recommended?
I’d say 8+ (and I leaned on some teachers and librarians for input as well) but it really depends on the parent and child. There are some scary dream scenes and Cadi learns about some things that happened historically (witch trials, the skeleton in the tree etc.). It has a hopeful ending. I hope this helps!
What happened with Grandpa’s Workshop? Are you no longer printing it? I had always hoped if I do have kids, to maybe purchase a copy at some point. I know you’re committed to keeping all your books in print, so this is a surprising revelation.
It wasn’t entirely our call. We had the rights for five years as per the French publisher’s contract. Then it expired, and the price to re-up the contract did not make sense.
boy am i sure glad i got a copy when i did! my kids like grandpa’s workshop. makes me sad to hear greed got in the way.
Congratulations Kara! It’s ordered. I can’t wait to read the tale and to feast my eyes on the illustrations.
Thank you so much, Monroe! Elin’s illustrations are, indeed, a feast!
I will definitely be adding this to my next order from LAP/crucible tools. I think the theme might be a little on the spooky side for my daughter at her current age but I am very excited about sharing books like this with her!
Thank you! Yes, do read it first and then you can just save it for her for whenever you think she’s ready!
My grandson, not yet four, is already a voracious reader and grandpa has been hard at work putting together a library for him. This will be waiting alongside The Wind in the Willows, Peter Rabbit, The Hobbit and many others. Right now I’m anxious to read it myself.
Thank you! And that library sounds wonderful!
Thank you Kara, Elin, and Lost Art Press for making this book. Its on the way and I look forward to reading it. For the kids though it will get in line behind The Birchbark House series. Peace.
Thank you, Jeremy! I love Louise Erdrich’s work.
Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while… David Macaulay’s Mammoth Book was brilliant and hilarious, and I loved Under the City (or whatever the original titles were, non-native speaker that I am). Don’t know what happened to my copies 🙁
I hope your distributors overseas will stock that book! I also just bought the German translation of “Sløyd i tre”, was this close to getting the Swedish original…
Read Cathedral to my boys for years along with the Spooky Old Tree. Couldn’t resist this for my granddaughter.
Thank you!
Agreed, Macaulay’s books definitely fed the “how does that work?” hunger as I was growing up. Those books took something that looked impossible to build, and showed a step-by-step path toward it. Much like Chris’ books. By the way, I ended up an engineer, who’da thunk?
It arrived yesterday, I read it today after lunch. What a wonderful book: story and illustrations. And thank you for the glossary & pronunciations at the end! As I was reading, I was thinking, “Man, I wish I knew how to pronounce these Welsh words.”