The Valentine Cat

A bit belated for Valentine's Day...

 Here's an adorable story illustrated by Leonard Weisgard about an artist who adopts an abandoned kitten.  Soon the little kitten with a heart shape on his fur is inspiring the artist to paint and draw again.  Through a series of misadventures and one wicked chimney sweep, the kitten ends up at the palace.  Despite the title, there's no love story here, but a happy ending nontheless!

The Valentine Cat

Clyde Robert Bulla

illustrated by Leonard Weisgard 1959

Ed Emberley

Ed Emberley

Todd Oldham and Caleb Neelon 2014

We just got this art book of Ed Emberley and it is wonderful!  (Apparently Todd Oldham and I have similar tastes as he published this one and the Charley Harper ones that I also love!).  Emberley's work is downright delightful!  It's neat to see in this collection the variety of his style and I love all of it!

Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book 

2002

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals

1970

These drawing guides are pure fun.  When the kids were little we made the fingerprint artwork and had fun recreating the steps to draw monsters and animals.  

These two are part of our collection but we've checked out others from our local library which has a plethora of his books.

Look at this wonderful dedication!

The Wanderer by Peter Van den Ende

The Wanderer

Peter Van den Ende

 Looking for a nice gift?  This wordless picture book is mysterious and whimsical and quite beautiful.  For any adult that loves art or any child that loves to pour over picture books.

Women's Work Scientific illustration

 If you are a fan of scientific illustration (especially of the antique, natural sciences variety) then these are wonderful references to track down.  Though these aren't "children books", they are a nice supplement to learning about art and science and especially the history of women in these fields.

 Orra White Hitchock created incredible large charts and instructional designs for the classroom and illustrated the work of her geologist and professor husband.  I absolutely love her almost modern-looking graphic designs of geography.

This catalogue is from the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City and contains a wonderful assortment of women illustrators, including Maria Merian.  Being an artist was an acceptable vocation for women of a certain time period.  But it's also neat to see how they were just as interested in the traditionally masculine discipline of observing nature and carrying out experiments and dissections.  And once again I am enamored with the juxtaposition of art and the science and how complimentary they are to each other.  

Charley Harper's Animal Kingdom

 Charley Harper has been around for awhile, but for some reason it's only now that we've discovered him!  

Charley Harper's Animal Kingdom

2015

Apparently Todd Oldham (he writes the introduction) was instrumental in bringing about this collection of Harper's work.   Every page is wonderful!  Charlotte, Henry and I all took a turn pouring over it.  Here's only a small sampling...