The Way to Survive is to Make it Fun!

5 Children's Books That Shaped Kate Humphreys of Oly Oly Oxen Free Books

Hi friends,

I'm sorry September was so quiet here. I've been working behind the scenes—writing new articles, planning events, and interviewing fascinating folks! There's a lot of fun Moonbow content coming your way. First up, one of my favorite children's booksellers, Kate Humphreys of Oly Oly Oxen Free, shares five books that shaped her. Enjoy!

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Oly Oly Oxen Free on Instagram

Kate Humphreys is the woman behind the wildly popular and impeccably curated Instagram account and Etsy children’s bookshop, Oly Oly Oxen Free Books. If you’re a fan of classic children’s books, you probably follow Kate, but you may not know her name. Until recently, she stayed hidden behind the colorful images, never showing her face. But lately, she’s been peeking out from behind the green curtain.

If it hadn’t been for Humphreys, I might never have started Moonbow. In late 2021, amid the never-ending pandemic, I began thinking about writing more seriously about children’s books. But I was scared. I’d been through a lot that year and had recently closed my decade-old business. My spirits were low. Starting something in a completely new field felt daunting. I decided I wasn’t ready and quickly shoved the idea to the back of my mind. Then I saw Humphreys’s post about the 1979 book If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow by Cooper Edens. It was one of those wonderfully serendipitous moments when the exact thing you need presents itself. Edens’s whimsical illustration is of a breakfast scene, but it’s no typical meal: there’s a plate of clouds, a cup of rainbow—and the text reads, “If tomorrow morning the sky falls, have clouds for breakfast.” The message beamed off Humphreys’s post directly into my heart. I was going through one of the darkest periods of my life, but instead of being afraid, I needed to remember the night rainbow. A few months later, I announced Moonbow. 

If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow by Cooper Edens

Humphreys doesn't know this. I’m sure she’d balk at the idea of her having anything to do with it—she’d give Edens all of the credit. But this is the power of recommending books; sometimes, that recommendation can change someone’s life.

This got me thinking: What children’s books changed Kate Humphreys’s life?

Humphreys loves working with children. She’s led children’s art camps, was a children’s gardening instructor, and a children’s librarian. She takes children’s books seriously, and her excellent curation at Oly Oly Oxen Free Books is an example of this art form’s potential for fierce originality and life-changing moments.

I asked Humphreys to share the five children’s books that shaped her. Her answers will surprise and delight you. 

Kate & Kermit

I’m Kate. I run a little online bookstore specializing in design-forward children’s books called Oly Oly Oxen Free Books. People ask me a lot about how I developed this seemingly quaint interest in books for children, especially as a thirty-something female with no kids. Really, I’m not sure what has attracted me to kids’ books over other little design niches, but I’ve rationalized with my origin story that I will dole out if the listener has the time to hear it. I’m from the Midwest, the land of corn and strip malls, and I moved to New York in my early twenties. There was a built irreverence and awe from the piles of New York-associated media I had consumed as a youth. It was overwhelming and intimidating. But, for some reason, what I loved noticing most was how small children interacted with the city. I’d be on an absolutely packed train and notice two kids making funny faces at each other from separate subway cars and think, “THE WAY TO SURVIVE HERE IS TO MAKE IT FUN!” Even the subway slog, which is noisy and sweaty and loud, was fun for them.

The humility of a child’s world is so different from the manufactured importance we adults impose upon it, and seeing kids on the subway, in the park, or getting a treat at the bodega was a lesson in being in the moment. I claim this as my impetus in developing an interest in design and pedagogy for children in all its forms: playgrounds, furniture, toys, and, of course, picture books, but I know it’s a culmination of many influences in my life. I worked with kids in the city in a variety of jobs, tried my hand at freelance illustration, and eventually moved back home and became a children’s librarian.

Now, I’m pursuing my dream of being a full-time bookseller, and I chose these books because they’ve meant the most to me at different moments in my journey up to now. I had parents and grandparents who also rejoiced in and loved children's picture books. My family keeps a Peter Rabbit figurine at the dinner table in honor of my Grammy, so I’ve also chosen books based on how they were shared with me. I’ve included a few from my childhood and a few I discovered as an adult.

Somebody Else’s Nut Tree (1958)
Written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak

I discovered Ruth Krauss as an adult, but I’m sure something she wrote was shared with me as a kid, as her writing is so prolific. Just as a kid can unlock an entirely new perspective on situations we’re sure we know everything about, Ruth Krauss can tap into this place where she gracefully and simply turns a sentence on its head, and it changes into a whole new way of seeing the world. This is my favorite book of all time. Each story is so playful and silly and irreverent. This is also my favorite era for Sendak. His collaborations with Krauss (I think they did eight books together) are all delicate little line drawings with tiny children dancing and flying on horseback. It is delightful.

Doctor De Soto (1982)
by William Steig

This book came into my life as a child because my granddad was a dentist. I just remember that when we got to the part where the clever little mice give the fox medicine that keeps his mouth glued shut, my mom did the BEST voice for the sealed-up fox. “Frank oo berry mush” is a line I’ll never forget. As an adult, William Steig has become one of my most esteemed authors/illustrators. It’s fun to come back to something you knew well as a kid and realize it’s actually an amazing piece of art that you spent formative years interacting with.

A Big Mistake (1994)
Written by Lenore Rinder and illustrated by Susan Horn

I read this one over and over. It begins with a child making a painting, and they accidentally paint a blob that they didn’t intend to make. Instead of crunching up the paper and beginning again, they turn it into something else! I love the illustrations in this one that juxtapose tremendous realism with the naive nature of the child’s painting. I definitely made my fair share of “mistake paintings,” thanks to the influence of this book.

The Wind in the Willows (1908)
by Kenneth Grahame

As I got older, my dad would read chapter books to me in bed, with a chapter or two each night. The Wind in the Willows was a favorite, and I’ve since never stopped loving books where frogs and mice dress in old-timey gentlemanly clothing. We had the version with Ernest Shepard’s illustrations, and his quick pen and ink style is something I stared at for long periods of time (we were also a big Winnie the Pooh household, where Ernest Shepard’s other well-known illustrations are found).

The Island of the Nose (1977)
Written by Annie M.G. Schmidt and illustrated by Jan Marinus Verburg

This one, to me, is a great example of how this format doesn’t necessarily have to be saccharine and childish. It can be weird, grotesque, and basically on drugs. This is about a little boy who receives a letter from his uncle, the Prime Minister of the Island of the Nose, that they are in great trouble and they need his help! He goes on a very psychedelic journey to get there, in which he meets Bob Dylan in a car shaped like a dragon, arrives at a party where there is a man with about 12 penises and another man that can play his face like a violin, and finally makes it to the island by frog ferry where everyone wears a false giant nose. It’s a wild ride and a tremendous fantasy book for kids.

Baby Kate loved books too!

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More Moonbow

• 5 Books That Shaped the Author & Illustrator Jon Klassen (bonus podcast edition!)

• 5 Books That Shaped the Author & Illustrator Emmy Kastner (bonus podcast edition!)

• 5 Books That Shaped the Author & Illustrator Helen Hancocks (bonus book club virtual video!)

• 5 Ruth Krauss Books to Read Now With Author & Illustrator Carter Higgins

• 5 Books With Multidisciplinary Artist Chelsey Pettyjohn

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With gratitude,
Taylor