Little Lit

Little Lit

edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly 2000

Here's an interesting collection of fairy tales that's been illustrated by different artists in comic form.  Madeleine is a big fan of comics/graphic novels so she was the first to really appreciate this.  William Joyce is in here and I was surprised (but pleased) to see Barbara McClintock as well.  I'm not a fan of all the art styles, but I really appreciate the many visual variations and the stories are good.  Charlotte's been asking to read this one a lot lately.  Her favorite stories are "Sleeping Beauty", "The Hungry Horse" and "The Fisherman and the Sea Princess".

The Fantastic Drawings of Danielle

The Fantastic Drawings of Danielle

Barbara McClintock 1996

Another gloriously illustrated book by Barbara McClintock.  This story is about a girl and her father who is a photographer.  He can't understand the fantastical drawings she makes.  But when he gets sick and she tries to help him she finds encouragement after meeting a woman artist.

Heartaches of a French Cat

This one’s for you, Cristy.


Another book that kept me flipping through those thrift store shelves. Somehow finding a book like this unexpectedly makes me love it all the more.

Heartaches of a French Cat

Barbara McClintock 1989

A “beautiful, sophisticated and unusual child’s picture book” inspired by stories of Honore de Balzac and P.J. Stahl. The story is told without text but takes place on the stage, relying on the theatrical illustrations which Madeleine and I found absolutely delightful!

Minette leaves home for a life of romance and wealth with the rakish Count Bisquet. But the Count grows tired of his wife and takes up with an actress, much to Minette’s sorrow and humiliation. She takes their kitten and leaves her husband, returning to her sisters. The Count’s lawyer, who has been kind and fallen in love with Minette presents her with a marriage annulment and a proposal. Instead of accepting the lawyer’s hand, Minette makes her own fortune by writing her memoirs which become a grand hit.

 Madeleine wished that she married the lawyer but he shows up at the end with flowers so I think they do get togther after all.

 

Barbara McClintock was obviously influenced by the French illustrator J.J. Grandville but this one reminds me of Max Ernst.