Shall I shave my head or...

...learn to tie my hair up in pretty knots?

I'm so done with my hair growing like crazy and having to pull it back in a sloppy ponytail. Something has to change before I just cut it all off. Thankfully, the lovely hair illustrations by Maria Gil Ulldemolins (aka MGU) has me leaning toward knots rather than baldness.

 MGU's Etsy shop, blog, and website (discovered via lenorenevermore)

All the World

One of my favorite picture books right now is All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee. It has no shortage of fans, being a Caldecott Honor Book and a New York Times Best Illustrated choice of 2009. 

I could tell you all about the extensive praise that the lyrical text and captivating drawings have received, but instead I am posting a video of Ms. Frazee talking about the joys of illustrating for the child audience.

Any time I have an opportunity to hear an illustrator speak about their artistic inspiration and craftsmanship, I am in awe. These are the people who can bring stories to life.

All the World achieves that perfect union of word and picture, but I would say it takes it one step beyond and Frazee's illustrations tell many tales within the text. It is a beautiful, grand achievement.

Video courtesy of youtube

a favorite illustration

Peace in watercolor /photoshop courtesy of Simona Cordero via flickr

Atsuyo et Akiko + Winnie the Pooh

I know that Lorelei just posted about her love of the classic Winnie the Pooh and the new movie, but I could not resist sharing my own Pooh find. Over on the blog Dilly Dallas I discovered the adorable shop Atsuyo et Akiko and I love what they are doing with the classic honey-loving bear and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. Seriously, aren't those pillows just the cutest?

illustrated nursery

 from "The Laidlaw Reader Primer, First year--First Half"

 by Herman Dressel, M. Madilene Veverka, and May Robbins. 

Illustrated by Mabel B. Hill and Hazel Fraze

via katinthecupboard

I still have a lot to do in terms of putting together an actual nursery nook, but that is not stopping me from finding ideas everywhere. 

For example, I can not get enough of illustrated nurseries and picture book bedrooms. There are so many sweet touches to found (like the fabric chair in the image above or the striped curtains in "Goodnight Moon") that I find inspiring (though I have to be careful not to incorporate all of them and make the baby dizzy with color and pattern!) Here are some of my favorites:

In the bedroom below, I obviously love the view of sail boats outside the window (though I can't make that happen in my house...), but I also love the star ceiling, the little vases of flowers, and the animal shaped chair:

 from "Wonderful Story Book" by Margaret Wise Brown

illustrated by J. P. Miller via try-whistling-this

"Yes" and "please" to a patterned wallpaper, touches of the lightest, whitest blue, and a beautifully stenciled dresser:

via miriana (via This are a few of my favourite things...)

I think the  following picture confirms that I'm a sucker for sailboats and rocking horses and toy drums:

"The Indoor Noisy Book" by Margaret Wise Brown

illustrated by Leonard Weisgard via krakencrafts

Aside from the presence of the toys mentioned above, I love this image for the huge open window (and view!), the packed mini-bookcase, the kid-size table, and the yellow. I do have a soft spot for some well-used yellow:

"Words" by Selma Lola Chambers

illustrated by Gertrude Elliott via try-whistling-this

Pooh

Image courtesy logoi.com

This Friday, "Winnie the Pooh" is back on the big screen. There is something sweet and lovely always about that 'silly old bear'. I do appreciate Disney's adaptation of the Milne stories (especially the fact they are respectful of the pacing and tender whimsy of the literary version), but I am a fanatic admirer of the E.H. Shepard illustrations.

The Shepard line drawings capture childhood imaginings and all of their gentle silliness, kindness and wonder. They are truly classic and, in my opinion, among the very best in children's book art.

Image courtesy of fortunecity
 

Image courtesy of BibliOdyssey

Image courtesy of BibliOdyssey

Image courtesy of childillustration.blogspot.com

 The following illustration is my favorite:

" He nodded and went out ...and in a moment I heard Winnie-the-Pooh
– bump, bump, bump – going up the stairs behind him."

"This original illustration is reproduced on page 159 of Winnie-the-Pooh and comprises a full-page illustration in the published volume. It represents one of the iconic images of Winnie-the-Pooh and comes from the final chapter in which Christopher Robin gives a Pooh party, and we say good-bye. " 

Image courtesy of BibliOdyssey

So many Alices

Burton's Alice from tengossip.com

On March 5th, Tim Burton is set to release his vision of Alice in Wonderland here in the states. I feel as though the buzz surrounding this film is near deafening and I'm very curious about the finished project. When I saw the first still shots and press from the movie I remember thinking it was an interesting choice for Alice. Later, I realized that is because I have an image of "Alice" that has everything to do with long blond hair and a blue dress and for some reason anything that deviates from this seems odd. I'm a little ashamed to admit that is probably because I was first exposed to Disney's Alice and that is the image that stuck (despite reading numerous beautifully illustrated versions of the tale), but really there are so many Alices out there. Lewis Carroll's story, first widely published in 1865, has inspired illustrators, animators, photographers, and film makers for well over a century. Burton is certainly not the first to put forth his version of our gal and her Wonderland and, undoubtedly, he won't be the last....

John Tenniel's illustration from the 1st ed. Alice in Wonderland

Arthur Rackham's Alice and the Pack of Cards courtesy of art.com

Alice in Wonderland No 10 by Vladimir Clavijo-Telepnev

Mabel Lucie Attwell's "Oh Dear! Oh Dear! I shall be too late!" courtesy of childillustration.blogspot.com

Jessie Wilcox-Smith illustration courtesy of the-office.com

Disney's Alice in Wonderland courtesy of google.com

Lisbeth Zwerger's Alice in Wonderland courtesy of everypicture.com

Looking Glass 6 by Elena Kalis courtesy of google.com

Annie Leibovtz's Alice courtesy of fanpop.com

Image courtesy of thequeenbea.wordpress.com

Burton's Alice courtesy of fanpop.com

"The Nutshell Library" collection

One of my favorite children's book collections is the "Nutshell Library" originally published in the 1960s by Harper & Row. Each set includes 4 nutshell-sized (3.9 x 1.8 inch) picture books that were illustrated by one of 3 masters of children's picture book art: Sendak, Knight, and Kraus.

Maurice Sendak's "Nutshell Library" was published in 1962:

via biblio.com

Hilary Knight's "Christmas Nutshell Library" was published in 1963:

via Page Books

Robert Kraus's "The Bunny's Nutshell Library" came out in 1965:

via Rara* Avis Studios

Sadly, only Sendak's "library" is still in print, but if you see any of these sets or even any of the books individually - buy them up! (especially if you find Knight's collection WITH book jackets on the cheap. It is one of the things that, like Lorelei, I am always desperately seeking). These are all beautiful books and the mini-ness of the format just makes them that much more lovely to behold as well as hold.

from Sendak's "Pierre" (via Little Lamb Books)

from Knight's "A Christmas Stocking Story"

(via Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves)

from Kraus's "The Silver Dandelion" (via Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves)

there are no words

Image from The Snowman courtesy of childrensbookalmanac.com

The wordless picture book is really nothing short of a triumph in communication. It conveys a narrative through illustration, inviting readers (or lookers in this case) to visit the story again and again, to imagine and re-imagine the tale. A successful wordless picture book is an impressive piece of art and an inventive mode of storytelling.

Images of Wave courtesy of babyology.com.au and kimprint.wordpress.com

Images of Rain courtesy of loveforbooks.blogspot.com

There are wordless storybooks in most libraries, but if I had to choose ten favorites- this would be the list I would suggest every library have available (see Mae's post on Wave here). Check them out!

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer
Sunshine by Jean Ormerod
Rain by Peter Spier
Wave by Suzy Lee
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
Flotsam by David Weisner
Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang
Chalk by Bill Thomson

 Images of Chalk courtesy of Tunix Events and hartford.edu

Images of Flotsam courtesy of amazon.com

vintage picture book illustrations

Forget shoes or jewels or just about anything else, if I could have a collection of anything - it'd be vintage children's picture books. Of course like any collection, building such a library can get expensive, but lucky for me there are some amazing sites that cultivate the images that my greedy little hands want to hold. Below are some lovelies from some of my favorite picture book blogs and websites. Enjoy the feast for your eyes!

The blog "Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves" is a must visit for any picture book lover. The blogger Burgin Streetman has the most amazing personal collection of vintage finds which she discusses in loving detail, shares in great giveaways, and also sells in her etsy shop. I've discovered so many great illustrators (and stories) through her posts, here are a few:

from "This is New York" by M. Sasek, 1960

from "Miss Esta Maude's Secret" by W. T. Cummings (1961)

from "The Fabulous Firework Family" by James Flora, 1955

"Vintage Children's Books" is a flickr pool that has not only shares images from picture books, but also vintage illustrations from coloring books, sketches and greeting cards:

from "Words" by Joe Kaufman, 1963

original sketch of Setting off for the North Pole by E.H. Shepard, 1926

(located at the Victoria & Albert Museum)

from "Frog Went a Courtin'" retold by John Langstaff, illustrationed by Feodor Rojankovwky, 1983

"We Heart Books" is an Australian blog maintained by two mums who also run the We Heart Books Store. They not only share images of the amazing vintage children's books that they grew up with (that are often unknown to American audiences), but also beautiful contemporary Australian picture books. I totally want to be friends with them:

from "Singing Away the Dark" by Julie Morstad (2010)

from "Sunshine" by Jan Omerod, 1982

from "A Little House of Your Own" by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers, 1957

Sadly, the blogger of "Golden Gems" has been on a hiatus for a seriously long time, but her archive of Golden Books is deep and I love to just revisit some of the stunning images created for those slender little volumes:

from "The Animal Fair" by Alice and Martin Provensen, 1952

endpages from "The Large and Growly Bear" by Gertrude Crampton, illustrated by J. P. Miller (1961)

from "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson

illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, 1951

"Fantasy Vintage Home" is another flickr pool that I adore. Although this pool includes lots of images from ads and magazines, I always end up stumbling upon images of homes from picture books that I want to dive into and live in (no matter whether those homes are supposed to belong to people or mice):

from "See Again, Say Again" by Antonio Frasconi, 1964

from a Slavic (Russian?) children's book, 1968

from "Songs We Sing" illustrated by William Dugan, 1957