CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATION: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

DO A LOT

THE GAP by Ira Glass from frohlocke on Vimeo.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

A Pond Full of Ink

Recently, I received a copy of A POND FULL OF INK, a collection of nonsense poems written by Annie M. G. Schmidt, translated by David Colmer, and illustrated by Sieb Posthuma.

It's a mystery to me how rhyme originally written in one language can be translated into another, but I'm glad that it was. I can’t judge how close Colmer’s choice of words are to Schmidt’s Dutch. I only know that the combination of text and pictures works beautifully here. Both the poems and the artwork (done in collage, ink and watercolor) have a goofy freewheeling feel. Posthuma’s illustrations (copyright 2011) have a slightly psychedelic 1970s spirit which make them perfect for the poems (originally copyrighted in 1978).

Schmidt and Posthuma excel at inventing whimsically detailed scenes, and the book’s layout is whimsical as well. It starts with heavily saturated endpapers depicting a floating "a" on a black pond, and a little man holding a huge pen. The first poem is about this same “fairy tale author” dipping his pen in the pond. In the last spread the little author is sleeping in a hammock next to the used-up pond. On the back endpapers he has drawn the letter "z." And in between "a" and "z" are elderly otters, walking furniture, a home-invading deer, and bears living in a residential neighborhood. (The meter of “Are you joking, Mrs. Keller?” is so bouncy that it reads like a song.)

The poem “Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve” describes a family living in a “big old oak.” It’s not until you turn the page that you see the tree in its entirety. It has a face and numerous tiny children playing in its branches. Uncle Steve smokes his pipe in one branch and Aunt Sue rocks a baby carriage precariously harnessed from another branch. (“She’s never really worked out how / to park a stroller on a bough.”) A boy rides a swing dangling from pulleys, and ladders are propped to connect the different levels of the home. Crazy, funny details—perfect.

HARDCOVER; Published: 3/7/2014
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 978-0-8028-5433-9

34 Pages

Ages 6 & up

Trim Size, in inches: 8.25"x10.375"

Sieb Posthuma was also commissioned to design stamps.

"For Sieb, the challenge lay in creating one credible, all-inclusive illustration that could be divided into twenty separate stamps. The snowflakes and the clock tower on the right were used to link all scenes together."

Thank you to Eerdmans Books

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Emily Winfield Martin

Emily Winfield Martin creates her own wistful worlds, in illustrations, books, cards and toys...

emily winfield martin, the costume party

emily winfield martin, lydie and bear friend dolls

emily winfield martin,, pretend bear doll

emily winfield martin, conjoined twins doll

emily winfield martin, tatooed lady doll

emily winfield martin, the death of cock robin

emily winfield martin, dream animals, cover

Read an interview with her at ApartmentTherapy and NerdyBookClub and below, she's talking about her book, 'Dream Animals'…

...and here's her 2012 talk at the XOXO Arts and Technology Festival in Portland, Oregon...

…and check out Emily's adorable blog on all her vintage finds at 'SomeGirlsWanderByMistake'...

Monday, March 24, 2014

Bernadette Watts and Shadra Strickland

jpeg found here

Recently author and illustrator Shadra Strickland talked about illustrating PLEASE, LOUISE (written by Toni and Slade Morrison).

To illustrate PLEASE, LOUISE Strickland used a wax resist technique with crayon and watercolor washes. She mentioned the work of Bernadette Watts as a "great source of inspiration."

Wanting to know more about Bernadette Watts, I followed the link from Kirkus to an interview found here. The interview with Watts is fascinating for many reasons, including her telling of plans to sleep in the Frankfurt train station for the duration of the 1967 Frankfurt Book Fair. (If only libraries were open 24 hours a day.)

jpeg found here

Sunday, March 23, 2014

A nice selection of children's book trailers

☞ On Pinterest

Thank you to Mayko Martinez and IlyBook

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Mary Blair's work, now on view at Walt Disney Family Museum

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/22/the-world-of-mary-blair_n_5003658.html

http://www.waltdisney.org/blair

Friday, March 21, 2014

WHAT IN THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?

The Treehorn Trilogy by Florence Parry Heide (illustrated by Edward Gorey) is "...odd, deadpan, surreal and sophisticated." Back in 2010 Bob Shea and Lane Smith asked Ms. Heide what she was thinking when she wrote and published The Shrinking of Treehorn, Treehorn's Treasure, and Treehorn's Wish. Read Ms. Heide's response here.

We are stardust (and pond scum)

Creatures handmade by animator and leaf-collector Lisa LaBracio
Thank you to Maria Popova at Brain Pickings

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Nora Krug

I love illustrator Nora Krug's messy, collage style. Read an interview with her at American Illustration...

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Exhibit Opening: Books on the Charles - Celebrating the Illustrators of Charlesbridge

www.bostonparentspaper.com

Belmont Gallery of Art presents "Books on the Charles - Celebrating the Illustrators of Charlesbridge" from March 30th to May 18th, with artwork from David McPhail, Ryan O'Rourke, Jamie Hogan, Brian Lies, Jef Czekaj, and many others.