Book By Its Cover » Children’s

Brian Wildsmith’s Circus

julia — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:44:55 +0000

I saw pictures of this book on one of my favorite blogs Pikaland and quickly knew I needed to track down a copy, which wasn’t too difficult. It’s copyright date is 1970 and it’s full of beautiful, full-spread illustrations of the circus. I have a weak spot for circus themed artwork because it always has tons of color, patterns, costuming and animals. These illustrations have all that created with a very painterly look of loose brush strokes and what looks like crayon resist. The texture is incredible. You can find this book online on ebay or used book shops. I think I paid a whole two bucks for mine- plus shipping.

Papa Tatuado

julia — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:42:08 +0000

This beautiful book came courtesy of a wonderful bookstore in Zaragoza, Spain called Liberia Antigona. They are followers of BBIC and thought I would appreciate this book as much as they do. They were right! The illustrations are magical and nostalgic and although I can’t read the text, it is supposed to be great (according to all the reviews I’ve translated from the internet.) It took me a little while to piece together from different sites what the story is about. Correct me if I’m wrong-they didn’t send along anything with the book explaining the story. It seems the father has been away for a while but returns to his son. He has many tattoos and as he talks about where they have come from, a story of his past emerges- something to do with him being part of the circus. I marvel at these illustrations which take these classic tattoos: sparrows, skulls, roses and sexy ladies, and make them come alive as the characters in the story. I love the idea of using these iconic graphics for storytelling. Both the plot idea and the way the illustrations were executed seem really genius. The illustrator Sergio Mora also did an incredible job of making these drawings seem old with washed out vintage palettes and stained and cracked backgrounds in an almost fleshy color. They are charming with just enough kitsch: like something I wouldn’t mind cutting out of this book to hang on my wall. You should get a copy of this book by contacting Libreria Antigona at libreria.antigona@gmail.com.

Zarafa

julia — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:37:42 +0000

This German children’s book tells the tale of the first giraffe that came to France. I love how the book is tall and narrow letting the giraffe neck stretch up the pages. The book has a nice old fashioned look to it with sketchy pen and watercolor illustrations and Roman numerals for the page numbers. The author, Adam Jaromir, sent this overseas to me but unfortunately I can’t read any of the story besides this sample on the publishers site. So happy to be sharing a book from this part of the world! Get more info on how to get one right here (or the matching wine set!)

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly

julia — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:01:01 +0000

This new take on the classic rhyme is dark and creepy just like it should be. The book, designed and illustrated by Jeremy Holmes, has a very clever format. The whole book is the old lady, fitting into the long rectangle nicely. Her mid-section, where her stomach exists, is the book part. So when flipping the pages you feel like you are looking inside her stomach to see what’s she’s eaten: a fly explorer, a nerdy spider, and so on and so forth. Jeremy’s digital character illustrations have so much personality. The last page is a big surprise: “There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. She died, of course.” The old lady’s eyes close as you turn the page. I can just imagine the squeals from kids as they flip this page and she her eyelids shut. Get a copy of this book here. Thanks Jeremy!

Beastly Rhymes to read after dark

julia — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:27:17 +0000

I have been saving up this book to share on the perfect occasion- the day before Halloween. The talented illustrator Brian Biggs sent over this very furry children’s book he illustrated. Each spread has a new rhyming poem about a frightening creature with silly illustrations that will have your kid in a giggling fit. Besides the green polka dot furry cover wrap, there’s a green and purple creepy crawler bug pattern on the endpapers. You can get a copy right here. Happy Halloween!!!

The Book about Moomin, Mymble and little My

julia — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:10:06 +0000

Moomin fans rejoice! Drawn and Quarterly has added another Moomin book to their growing collection of reprints. This time it’s a classic gorgeous picture book that shows off the colorful illustration work of Tove Jansson. This book has a die cut on each page placed in such a smart way that characters from other pages can sometimes be found peeking in. The story follows Moomintroll through the woods on a journey to bring milk to Moominmamma. Moomintroll runs into Mymble who has just lost Little My, her sister. Lots of adventure ensues as they find their way home. You can get a copy of this beauty right here.

Today I Will

julia — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:09:58 +0000

Today I am excited to share a new book I illustrated by award winning young adult authors Eileen & Jerry Spinelli. Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes, and Promises to Myself is a book of quotes for every day of the year all taken from children’s literature. The authors pulled the quotes from some of my favorite childhood books and gave advice on how to relate them in your own life. It’s a truly inspiring book for all ages. The book starts on January first and continues through the entire calendar year, each day getting it’s own page. For each page I made a spot illustration- that’s 365 illustrations! I had a great time working on the project doing bunches of drawings at a time. I created a cast of strange looking characters I used throughout the book that were mostly a cross between a giraffe and a weaselish looking animal. Random House (who were a pleasure to work with!) gave me all the layouts and basically I just fit my drawings right around the text. You should pick up a copy here- it makes such a great gift.

The Day-Glo Brothers

Jess Rosenkranz — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:03:02 +0000

When I saw this book sitting on my co-worker’s desk, I was immediately drawn to the art style and limited palette of flourescent colors. Further inspection revealed that: A) it was a rambling story about the brothers who invented day-glo inks and B) he was the illustrator. Apparently, after being sidetracked early on by an unfortunate ketchup accident, everything came together for Bob and Joe Switzer sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s with a billboard selling oranges that were so bright “they looked like they were on fire from a mile away”. These days the Day-Glo® company has a website where you can buy day-glo ink jet cartridges, but it is really not a very compelling site design since day-glo colors don’t translate well on screen. The photos of book also don’t fully capture its day-glo-awesomeness either, which is why I recommend you check it out in person. I still don’t fully understand the science, flourescence, light reflection, black lights, but I love the idea that there are still colors out there waiting to be discovered. When I think about it I can’t help but start combining swatches in my mind to try to think up new colors, but no luck so far. Go and buy it
Tony will get some royalties!

Animal Homes

julia — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:30:01 +0000

Today I want to share one of the baby books I illustrated for the wonderful Kid O. Each wooden page has a very simple illustration of an animal a young child might recognize and it’s home. The style is not my usual handrawn line drawing style but Lisa Mahar, the owner, wanted something clean, colorful and modern. The production quality of this book is exceptionally amazing. The three color illustrations were screen printed and the bright flat colors sit on top of the wood so flawlessly. The whole book is four wood pages, eight illustrations total, and the perfect square size for little hands. You can get this book or the companion Things That Go right here. (Also check out the new puzzles and games for this season!)

Giordano del Faro

julia — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:15:08 +0000

This beautiful Italian picture book tells the story of a little boy who lives in a lighthouse. “Geordie had only one toy: the sea. They were friends and they gave each other gifts.” Geordie sends numerous bottles with messages out to sea and constantly wonders “Is there really no one on the other side of the sea?” Eventually he does get a response from a girl who lives in a lighthouse on the opposite side of the ocean. In the end of the book Geordie goes to find her. The gorgeous watercolor illustrations by Marina Marcolin have so much soft texture. They are juxtaposed against her pencil sketches, that sometimes complete the painting where the edges cut it off. I love the spiral staircase that becomes a sketch of a shell (see below). You can see more of her illustrations here, buy this book here, and read the entire story in English here.