MaineBusiness.com

YARMOUTH, MAINE (August 2009)—Renowned Maine artist Dahlov Ipcar will celebrate the rerelease of her classic illustrated children’s book, Hardscrabble Harvest, with a signing from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, at the new L.L. Bean Home store in Freeport. The signing will be part of the store’s grand-opening celebration.

Hardscrabble, a tribute to small, local farmers, will mark the fourth Ipcar children's book in the last 18 months to be rescued from out-of-print status by independent Maine-based publisher Islandport Press. It follows The Little Fisherman, which was written by Margaret Wise Brown, My Wonderful Christmas Tree and The Cat at Night.

Four other book signings with Ipcar are also scheduled. They are:

Sept. 26 – 10 a.m. to noon, Georgetown Historical Society, 20 Bay Point Road, Georgetown.

Oct. 17 – noon to 2 p.m, Borders Books & Music, 430 Gorham Road, South Portland.

Nov. 6 – 10 a.m. to noon, Mid Coast Hospital, 123 Medical Center Drive, Brunswick.

Dec. 5 – 1 to 3 p.m. Lisa-Marie's Made in Maine, 170 Front St., Bath.

After illustrating The Little Fisherman in 1945, Ipcar, now 91, wrote and illustrated more than 30 children’s books and continued to develop her reputation as an artist. Today, Ipcar’s intricate and fanciful artwork is known worldwide, with pieces in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is represented in all the leading art museums of Maine, as well as in many corporate and private collections throughout the U.S. In 1972, Ipcar and her husband received the Maine Governor's Award for "significant contributions to Maine in the broad field of the arts and humanities." She has received honorary degrees from the University of Maine, Colby, and Bates colleges. In 1998, the University of Minnesota honored her with The Kerlan Award in Children's Literature.

For more information visit www.islandportpress.com; call 207-846-3344; or email books@islandportpress.com.