BRATTLEBORO — Brooks Memorial Library has mounted a new display just outside the Children's Room.
Presenting the work of Bellows Falls author and artist C.W. Norris-Brown, the two 6-foot-by-3-foot cases explore, through images and text, the process of writing and illustrating his children's book, Did Tiger Take the Rain?, published by Green Writers Press of Brattleboro.
Norris-Brown's academic background is in anthropology. Postdoctoral work took him from India to Borneo, Appalachia, and Canada, focusing on people of the forests and their place in the health of the ecosystem, according to a news release.
Did Tiger Take the Rain?, illustrated with Norris-Brown's watercolors, tells of a village in Nepal that has been uncommonly hot and dry. One day, a tiger comes. The villagers think it is a bad omen and that the tiger has taken the rain. Best friends Usha and Anjali decide to ask Tiger herself why she has taken the rain.
Entering the forest, they meet Jackal and Monkey, who help them understand that Tiger didn't take the rain, the importance of forests to the water cycle, and the shared experiences of all creatures.
In the library display, Charles shares his love of being in the forests and mountains - both in Vermont and in Nepal - as the starting point for his children's writing, as well as his field notes on how to transform the experience of a place into words and illustrations. Also included are several drawings and watercolors that show how he arrived at the final painting, which is also on display, for one of his illustrations.
The display will be up through the end of May, and can be seen during the library's regular hours of operation: Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.