Tag: illustration

Day 874: Two Picture Books by William Joyce

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I saw some more cute books by William Joyce too late to send them for the holidays, so I’m saving them for next year for my youngest nephew.

Cover for Santa CallsSanta Calls

Art Atchison Ainsworth and his little sister Esther live in Abilene. One day Santa sends them an order to report to the North Pole in a flying machine. (He sends the flying machine, too.) Art is not always nice to Esther and doesn’t want her to come along. But they go together, taking along Art’s friend Spaulding Littlefeets. What mission does Santa have for the three children?

Cover for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris LessmoreThe Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Mr. Morris Lessmore is leading an ordinary life when he sees a woman with flying books. He wishes he has one, too, and then he finds a room of flying books. Lessmore writes his own book as he explores the joys of books. (This one is bound to appeal to me.)

* * *

Both of these books feature beautiful illustrations in Joyce’s classic retro style. The text of Santa Calls is a little more difficult than that of the other book. The weakest part of Joyce’s books is the text, I think. It is all right, but I have seen more clever writing in other children’s books. But I love the illustrations, and I think that most children won’t notice the quality of the text.

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Day 683: By a Woman’s Hand: Illustrators of the Golden Age

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Cover for By a Woman's HandBy a Woman’s Hand is essentially a picture book for adults. It does not have much in the way of written content, but it has many lovely illustrations.

A short preface tells about the prevalence of woman illustrators toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Then the book provides a very brief, one paragraph or so, biography of about 20 illustrators, surrounded by several pages of their work.

Mother Goose by Clara Burd
Mother Goose by Clara Burd

Although there are lots of chubby children, the illustrations show influences from several different art movements—Art Nouveau, the Pre-Raphaelites, for example. Some of the illustrations are complex and others look almost like paintings. Clara Burd also trained at the Tiffany Studios and designed stained glass windows.

I have been interested in illustrations for children’s books for a long time, although I have not made a study of it. This book is a nice little addition to my collection of children’s books with nice illustrations.

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Day 510: Red Knit Cap Girl

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Cover for Red Knit Cap GirlRed Knit Cap Girl is interested in all the plants and animals in the forest. But she is most interested in getting to know the moon.

She asks her animal friends how she can get close enough to talk to the moon. Apparently, Mr. Owl knows. Accompanied by her friend White Bunny, Red Knit Cap Girl goes to visit Mr. Owl and find out how to talk to the moon.

The illustrations for this picture book are simple and cute. The background makes them look as though they are drawn on wood.

Small children will probably enjoy this simple story. Perhaps it is not as interesting for their parents, but it is a nice, gentle tale.

picture from book
Trying to reach the moon

Day 500: Little Bird

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Cover for Little BirdLittle Bird is a simple picture book about small things. A man drives a big red truck up to the edge of a cliff and lets out a flock of brightly colored birds.

“Some days are different,” the book tells us, and the man finds one small black bird still in the truck. He tries to get the little bird to fly away with the others.

The illustrations by Albertine are simply drawn and brilliantly colored. They are a joy to look at.

illustration from Little Bird
Getting the bird to fly

The text is sparse, perhaps less than 50 words in the entire book. “There are no greater treasures than the little things,” it says.

This book is a gem for small children, who will love the pictures and the charming story. Adults will enjoy reading it to them.

Day 469: Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

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Cover for Nicholas St. NorthA moonbeam goes to earth and into a cave and accidentally frees a spectral boy trapped in the heart of Pitch, the Nightmare King. The spectral boy was the only thing keeping Pitch prisoner, so now he and his Fearlings are free to haunt the nights of children.

Away in the far north, the last of the great wizards Ombrik Shalazar protects a village from the bad influences in the world. Pitch almost invades the village, but he is fought off by North, a young man who was formerly a bandit and happens to be in the village to protect the children. This is the beginning of a battle that will involve flying reindeer, mystical lamas, yetis, and the Man in the Moon.

This story is the first of the series called The Guardians, a franchise that also includes the movie The Rise of the Guardians. It is written to be read to younger children or read by children who are slightly older, maybe up to eight or nine years old. It is straightforwardly told in a fairy tale style, and although it has imaginative ideas, the writing style is not distinctive. There is not much to interest an adult, humor for example, but kids will certainly enjoy it.

ombrik
The Great Wizard Ombrik Shalazar

The book is illustrated by William Joyce in black and white pictures, which although interesting, do not have the charm of some of his brightly colored picture books. The style is a bit on the steampunk side, and I’m sure the pictures would have been more interesting in color. Many of them seem dashed off, although others, such as this one of Ombrik, are beautifully detailed. In reading part of the story about the Man in the Moon, I realized I had read the precursor to this book, which was a lovely picture book for younger children with pictures in a steampunk style.

Day 443: The Mischievians

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Cover for The MischieviansThe Mischievians is a charming little book. It doesn’t have much of a plot but is entertaining nonetheless.

Two children send up a balloon asking for help. Their homework keeps disappearing, so they are in trouble with their parents. Next, a hole opens up in the earth and they fall through into the laboratory of Dr. Zooper, who tells them all about the little monsters lurking in their house.

What do the monsters do? Steal just one sock, hide the remote control, create belly button lint, and of course steal homework, among other serious crimes.

The book is breezily written with just a bit of gross humor that kids like.

Picture from the book
Sending up a message for help

As usual with Joyce, the illustrations are beautiful. The pictures featuring the children are charmingly retro, and the little monsters are cheerfully grotesque. Letters in the text are occasionally tweaked out of place by a mysterious hand. The cover is designed to look like an old, worn out book.

This book is for a little older kids than The Leaf Men, probably suitable for six- to eight-year-olds, although smaller kids will enjoy it, too.

Day 427: The Leaf Men

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Cover for The Leaf MenEven when I was a small child, I looked for beautiful pictures in children’s books (or bunnies–bunnies were good, especially fluffy ones). I had some books that had belonged to my mother, and I used to spend hours looking at Arthur Rackham’s illustrations of fairies and twisted trees full of goblins. As a young adult, I collected children’s books that combined good stories with illustrations by artists such as Rackham, Kay Nielsen, or Mercer Mayer.

A few weeks ago I saw a feature on William Joyce and decided to buy some of his books for my young nieces and nephews. The first one that arrived was The Leaf Men, which I had to order used in hardcover, as it is older. It is written for a young child and is a simple story about the brave bugs who climb to the top of a tree to summon the leaf men in an attempt to save a dying garden and an old woman. (I have seen some editions of this book called just The Leaf Men but the one I purchased was called The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.)

The pictures are beautifully retro, with a 30’s or 40’s appearance. One of the things that attracted me to the book was the huge man in the moon on the cover, which was one of my favorite childhood images.

Good Bugs
The Brave Good Bugs

This is a lovely book. I think it is readily available new in paperback, but it is easy to find good used copies of the hardcover edition online. (I always think paperbacks are going to be totally destroyed, so I prefer to buy hardcover children’s books.)

People who have older kids are probably familiar with Joyce’s work, perhaps through the Guardians of Childhood series (several of which I have also bought for my older nephew). An animated movie called Rise of the Guardians was made from this series in 2012.