Making the best of…
Life rarely goes to plan. But that’s not always a bad thing.
Case in point: one of the newest acquisitions at Butterflies & Aliens North, a book about making the best out of what life throws your way, that has its own real life story of the same.
Mechanimals, written and illustrated by Chris Tougas, and published by Orca Books, tells the tale of a farmer who turns a natural disaster into a story of invention, optimism, and whimsy… delivered with a fun dose of cartoon steampunk vibes.
Meanwhile, this copy of Mechanimals also tells a tale of a book’s life well lived, mysterious further adventures in the world, and now perhaps a cozy retirement. It clearly started out as an Edmonton Public Library copy, an extra layer of transparent plastic armour wrapped around its dust jacket and all the proper ID and security stickers still properly applied.
From there, the sharpie ink on the barcode declares its honourable discharge from active duty, to a next life through a library book sale.
Who knows what that next stretch of life was like, but it started its latest adventure today, here…
Clearly the Universe wants me to know that morning walks are encouraged.
Adopted along with a handful of friends, this copy of Mechanimals finally got to set aside its ID and plastic armour, with just a few small reminders of its noble past service stamped and stuck on the inside covers. I don’t always remove the evidence of our books’ past lives — sometimes it’s even the feature — but it seemed like the right thing to do with this one.
It will now get to just relax, wearing its now comfy naked dust jacket like a robe, and entertain the occasional appreciative visitor to Butterflies & Aliens North.
Happy Reading!
— Winston
