Back in March, I wrote a post called Favorite Picture Books No One Else Knew. The first book I mentioned was a lovely picture book, Princesses’ Tresses. Here’s what I wrote in that post:
“One of my favorite no-one-else books was Princesses’ Tresses by Luciana Roselli. This book was an early 70’s confection of (three?)-color art in sherbet hues, drawn with a fanciful, sentimental line. The story was simple, about a little girl with very short hair who yearned for long princess hair, oodles and miles and spaghetti swirls of it — until she realized how much of a pain that much hair would actually be, and she settles for trusting that her hair will grow to a pretty, manageable length and will be just fine and dandy, thank you.
Why did I love this book so very much? I can’t even begin to tell you. Perhaps it was partly the fact that my mother gave it to me especially because of my very thick, impossible hair, and partly that the little girl’s name was Elisabeth (that elegant variation of my own very common name). I know it had something to do with the images that went with phrases like, ‘It would take seven handmaidens to wash it, seven suns to dry it…’ [paraphrased; I can’t find my beloved copy].
I was entranced by the improbably elaborate hairdos necessary to contain all that mass: for instance, hair parted and braided and fashioned into, say, a large garden trellis. The consequences of incredible tresses became increasingly absurd, ending, I think, with a prince or two getting lost in there. (Put Dr. Freud back on the shelf; this book was too sprightly to have engaged in metaphor.)
The writing was actually lyrical, but it was also simple and clear and comfortingly matter-of-fact, like a good fairy tale. I don’t know how and where my mother found that book, and I’m sure she never would have imagined I’d read it almost as often as I read Where the Wild Things Are, but there you are. In all my years of loving and living with books, I’ve never met another person familiar with that one.”
Here’s where things get good. Not only did I hear from one or two other readers who had read that book, but just the other day the author’s daughter found the post and wrote a comment! Yes, thirty-some years after falling in love with the book (and 47 years after it was written), I had the pleasure of meeting the little girl who inspired one of my all-time favorite stories.
Since most readers probably won’t have noticed the comment, coming as it did months after the post, I wanted to share it with you.
Elisa Roselli says:
July 9, 2010 at 11:20 am
“I am very moved to hear that you loved PRINCESSES’ TRESSES. It was written and illustrated by my mother, and I was the little girl in the story!
“I desperately wanted long hair, but when I was about 5 or so and trying to grow it, a nasty uncle cut a great chunk of it off. That was his idea of a joke. They had to cut the rest of my hair to even it up and I think it was one of the great traumatic experiences of my childhood. My mother wrote the book to comfort me. A year earlier, she had written a book called THE POLKA DOT CHILD to help me deal with the experience of chicken pox!
“You’re wrong about the date though. It was 1963. My mother was well ahead of her time and it’s not surprising that you estimate the style of her drawing at a decade later than it was.
“She had an international career as an illustrator and designer and died in 1986. The full collection of her works was bequeathed to the Centro Studi e Archivio della Communicazione in Parma,Italy.”
THIS is why I love the Internet — nothing else in the history of the world has brought far-flung people together as easily. It’s hard to describe how meaningful it was for me to hear from her; it was a little like having Julie Andrews sign my battered childhood copy of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles or hearing Norton Juster read aloud (at my request, at his signing a few years ago) The Dot and the Line. My book-loving childhood self met my book-loving adult self full circle. That’s even more magical than a princess with hair long enough for a prince to get lost in.
A charming full-circle ending to a charming life story! That’s why I love the power of books in children’s lives That you could have this visceral connection to a story for over thirty-some years and that your post could touch her daughter in such a meaningful way is really the beauty of the world we know live in.
I’ll bet you barely remember what toys you had back then or the clothes you wore or the stroller your mother pushed you in but you sure won’t forget that book!
Thanks for the lovely post!
Stacey
Does anyone remember The Diamond in the Window. A short chapter book. I was maybe 8 or 9 when I read it. Like the wardrobe in Narnia.
The Diamond in the Window is by Jane Langton. It’s part of an award winning series that also includes The Swing in the Summerhouse and The Fledgling (a Newberry Honor Book, I think).
I love those books!
HI Sarah, I found this post because someone asked me (Purple House Press) to reprint Princesses Tresses. And then I read your note. We did reprint Diamond in the Window! With a new Foreword by Gregory Maguire, who explains that this book inspired him to become a writer, and what it was like meeting, then working with Jane Langton when he grew up.
The book was a favorite of mine growing up too. When I read it, my book only had one illustration. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Blegvad drew over 30 illustrations for it. We restored them all.
Hi Elizabeth, always nice to read which books meant a lot to you as a child! If you can send me contact info for Elisa Roselli, I’d appreciate it. Maybe it’s still the same ten years later.
Jill
I have been thinking of this book lately and remembering how much I loved it as a child.
After googling the name, I found it on Amazon.com for a price much higher than it would have been in the 70’s when I owned it. Of course, this is the same way I stumbled upon your blog.
Unlike you, I had VERY short hair as a child, almost boy like. I longed to have the princesses tresses too like the girl in the story. I loved your real-life happy ending.
Princess Tresses has been my favorite book since I was a little girl. I am now honored to have twin girls of my own that love this book as well. I pleaded with my mother for it when the older twin gave her sister a haircut. The book gave my daughter such peace to know that “with time all things grow.” I only have the one copy and hope to be able to find another so they can read this amazing book to their own children someday. I am not having any luck though.
I have 4 children, the boys are 10 and 8. We lost 2 babies, both 2nd trimester, after my second son. I always dreamed of having a little girl, I just never thought that God would bless me with twins.
My husband travels a lot for work and is in Paris right now. I’m going back to school and had a sitter tonight so I could go to class. Even though it was late, they couldn’t sleep until I read them Princess Tresses. Some nights they like to tell it to me as the look at all of the wonderful drawings. The older twin is actually named Elizabeth (the boys named her) and Andrea is our youngest.
Thank you for all of your nice comments. It has really helped me find my smile tonight. I pray that I will somehow find another copy for them. I know that this story will be a part of our lives forever. It is amazing.
Lora
..I am 49 years old and this book rings around my thoughts at times. I”Seven basins to wash it, Seven maidens to brush it…” etc. How I wish I had this book again to read to my girls both of whom happen to have long beautiful tresses and neither of whom can manage to brush and dress it themselves! love and Blessings
This was my favorite childhood book. Why did I love this book so very much? I can’t even begin to tell you. Perhaps it was partly the fact that my mother gave it to me especially because of my very thick, impossible hair, and partly that the little girl’s name was Elisabeth.
When a nasty little boy stuck gum in my hair in first grade, I got the first punk rock haircut of the 60s. My mother bought me this book to cheer me up and I loved it. No longer have it but an always on the lookout for a replacement. Wish they’d reissue it!
You had a smart mom! That was the perfect book to console a newly-shorn daughter.
Hello, I can’t imagine you are going to answer this ten years later, but this was my favorite childhood book, and after having it in my collection for 45 years it has. disappeared. I would like to contact Elisa Roselli to discuss the copyright and reissuing the book. Any ideas on how to reach her? I haven’t the faintest idea where to start.