Speaking of contemporary children’s books…after posting about Pablo Amargo’s sketchbook two weeks ago, I wanted to see more. So Pablo graciously sent over two of his books and an adorable t-shirt(!) which I already wore so it’s currently in the laundry. The title of this book translates to Not All Cows are Equal and seems to be about how all different cows like different things- lying in a meadow, playing hide and seek, playing jump rope, or looking at the reflection of the moon. (The eight years I took Spanish throughout elementary and high school paid off enough for me to barely translate these short sentence on each page.) The last page (I think) says that all cows when they are small love to hear their mom tell them stories. I can just imagine some little kid saying- mom, I’m just like the cows! Pablo’s illustrations are amazing. I was expecting, from the looks of Pablo’s sketchbook, big bold graphics. But these are different. They have a bit of texture, the coolest stylized characters and lots of little quirky details (like a rooster popping his head out of a baby carriage a woman is pushing- she’s also trying to give it a pacifier). There is definitely an overall carefully designed composition of each spread which are very long horizontal panoramas. The interesting overall shapes he uses to define spaces does remind me that this is the work of the same artist. It’s nice because both his sense of design and his unique drawing style get shown off in this book. Blog reader Ximena, who has been following his work, commented on the sketchbook page that “he’s changed his style two or three times”. If you missed Pablo’s sketchbooks check them out right here. Also check out his site here. Looks like you can buy this book here (but my Spanish isn’t that good!) Look forward to seeing another book of his next week.

UPDATE: I just got an email from the publisher–YOU CAN BUY THIS BOOK (11€+shipping) through their website using paypal. The web address is here. Just send an email to loquiero@spr-msh.com and Marcello can help you order it. Their agency has published the entire trilogy No Todas las Vacas son Iguales, Perros de la Calle and Osos de Cuento

© Julia Rothman 2007