Edward Lear
drawings by L. Leslie Brooke
Kangaroo endpages
Unfortunately Brooke did not draw a Daddy Long-legs. This looks more like a crane fly to me.
Friday, January 25, 2019
The Pelican Chorus
I never get tired of silliness and nonsense! Edward Lear is, of course, the king of such things. His nonsense verses paired with L. Leslie Brooke's drawings are particularly fun. There's a chair and table who decide to walk around town, a Pobble (whatever that is!) who loses his toes, and a bold pair of sugar-tongs and nutcracker who decide to ride off on horses (my favorite poem!)
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Hello Lighthouse
Over Winter break we traveled down to South Carolina and then Florida. Charleston is definitely someplace I'd like to visit again and spend more time exploring. We only had a couple days there, but while walking around the city we found a wonderful bookstore- Blue Bicycle Books. (Anytime we travel I manage to sniff out bookshops!)
Blue Bicycle Books is an interesting mix of new and old books. In a back hallway shelf I found an antique copy of Twenty Years Before the Mast. I particularly liked the description on the front page:
In the children's room Madeleine picked up Hello Lighthouse. I immediately loved the illustrations, some of which are drawn with the unique perspective of living in a lighthouse. Sophie Blackall makes the life of a lighthouse keeper seem particularly charming.
Sophie Blackall 2018
Friday, January 4, 2019
If I Had a Little Dream
Nina Laden
illustrated by Melissa Castrillion
2017
A rhyming verse celebrating life and child-like wonder. The pictures really make the book.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth
Rachel Ignotofsky
2018
I absolutely adore the illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky (I first discovered her on Etsy years ago when I bought Henry one of her bacteria cell t-shirts). I always love when science and art converge. This year both Henry and Charlotte happened to be studying eco-systems and biomes in their science classes, so reading this book was extra fun! The design and layout of illustrations and facts and information is simply fabulous! We even used it as a studying tool for Charlotte's science test.
Monday, October 1, 2018
Thursday, September 13, 2018
The Wind in the Willows
This was the summer of The Wind in the Willows. Though it's a classic I confess I had never actually read it before, which is too bad because it's perfectly wonderful! We had a second-hand hardback copy with less than interesting illustrations. Though Grahame's writing is so lovely, we felt the pictures were lacking. So I tracked down a version illustrated by David Petersen (we have a copy of one of his Mouse Guard comics). When I saw the cover I knew this was the one for us! (Rackham also did a version with delightful illustrations as well).
Kenneth Grahame
illustrated by David Petersen 2016
How could you not love dreamy Ratty and timid Mole, the stern Badger and of course the irascible Toad. The story meanders beautifully with Grahame's descriptions of the river and English countryside. We found much of the dialog and hijinks of Toad are laugh out loud funny!
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Summer Birds: The butterflies of Maria Merian
Margarita Engle 2010
pictures by Julie Paschkis
So I was thrilled to discover this book about a woman naturalist and illustrator who was fascinated by insects too! I had never heard of her before, so this book was a perfect jumping off point to learn more about Maria Merian. Born in the 1600's, Maria studied insects in their natural habitat and became known for her scientific observations as well as her beautiful illustrations.
Julie Paschikis does a fair job of invoking a Hieronymus Bosch style of art to go with the fantastical ideas that certain creatures came from mud and were evil. There's a nice biographical bit about Maria at the end. She was a remarkable woman and though this picture book is a good introduction, it's definitely worth looking her up and reading more about her!
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