Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

“I was not abused, abandoned, or locked up as a child. My parents were not alcoholics, nor were they ever divorced or dead. We did not live in poverty, or in misery, or in an exotic country. I am not a misunderstood genius, a former child celebrity, or the child of a celebrity. I am not a drug addict, sex addict, food addict, or recovered anything. If I indeed had a past life, I have no recollection of who I was.

I have not survived against all odds.

I have not lived to tell.

I have not witnessed the extraordinary.

This is my story.

—Amy Krouse Rosenthal, age 39

Chicago

June 2004”






REVIEW

I've read and reviewed 6,846 books at Goodreads (as of today) and this book is probably #13 or #14 on my list of my very favorite reads ever. I'd give it ten zillion ✩✩✩✩✩✩✩s, if I could. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life is a memoir, and it's a kind of a picture book for grownups, and it's a history book for those of us of-a-certain-age, and it's a book that is full of Very Wise Thoughts.

Amy was actually the Goddess of Creativity...Creativity dripped out of her fingers every time she wrote and it spilled out of her mouth every time she spoke and it surged from her body every time she moved.

“Make the most of your time here,” she told us, almost as if she knew something was in route for her before the doctors did.

So, okay, this isn't much of a review, but, hey, I honestly just lead a rather ordinary life myself. Still, I'd urge you to grab a bit of that life-force that was AKR and read this book. And then watch her little TED talks and view her little videos and you might even read her picture books. And then GO...GO AND MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME HERE.


A Little More About Amy Krouse Rosenthal...



Amy died in 2017. She was 51. She had ovarian cancer. She wrote lots of my favorite books including Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life for grownups, but she also wrote lots of my favorite books for children including Little Pea and Yes Day. She also created lots of wonderful interactive celebrations (take a look at some here). I was delighted to meet her several times at author events. Here is the last photo I took of her. She was autographing her most recent book, Textbook Amy Rosenthal: