Picture Books from July 2023
My monthly digest of children's picture book discoveries.
It’s that time again, friends! Brace yourself, I found some real treasures this month.
As always, clicking the images below will open them up in Instagram, where you can see a selection of pages & more images.
NOTICING by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Elise Hurst. If everyone read this book and then actually lived out what it says, we’d live in a much better world. The message is one which the likes of Fred Rogers would appreciate, of seeing people as special, unique, and precious — and expanding this appreciation into the wider world. The illustrations are also gorgeous and a wonder to behold.
THE SUN IS LATE AND SO IS THE FARMER by Philip and Erin Stead. The Steads amaze me because they are like stealthy miracle workers. They have no social media presence or email newsletters I am aware of, so I never know when they have a new book coming out. I just end up stumbling across their books in the library and saying ‘Whattt?? They made another new book and didn’t tell me?” And then it’s always brilliant. Everything they touch turns to gold, and this book is no exception.
FRINDLESWYLDE by Natalia & Lauren O’Hara. This is a fantastic gem of a modern fairy tale — it has an ethereal George MacDonald vibe to it in its dream logic, language, and peculiar visions. It’s chilling (literally, as it’s about winter), and paradoxically dark and beautiful with an edge of silver and ice. I truly adore this story and it captivated me instantly from its opening page…
TEACUP by Rebecca Young, illustrated by Matt Ottley. My word. This book is a miracle and a true work of art. The sparse text and vast expanse of images across the pages transport you into another world. Within the text there is an echo of lines from WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (and grew…and grew…). I will need my own copy of this one at some point. O yes, I will.
THE DAM by David Almond, illustrated by Levi Pinfold, who has become one of my favorite book-making people as of late. This earlier work of his does not disappoint, bringing to life images based on a true story. I’ve gushed about Levi Pinfold’s artwork & storytelling in previous posts, especially his masterful PARADISE SANDS — a book I hath geeked out over with my friend Jeffrey Overstreet on his Substack earlier this year.
In other news, I found a few random treasures in my local thrift shop which I am tickled to have in my collection. I always buy copies of JABBERWOCKY if I find them, and I found a baby board version — of which I was not aware there was such a thing! It’s not the entire poem, as it skips a few lines (including the vorpal blade and snicker snack beheading), and only contains the beginning and end. The creatures are mostly accurate and faithful to Carroll’s text, except the mome raths don’t look anything like pigs, and the Jabberwock looks more like a hedgehog. (But to be fair, the text in THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS doesn’t describe what the Jabberwock is or what it looks like. It’s only Tenniel’s illustration which gives us the canon of its appearance.)
I squee like a schoolboy whenever I find a vintage book from the 1970s with great illustrations, and this strange little gem is a true treasure. It smells amazing too — incredibly musty! The illustrations are by Polish artist Krystyna Turska, who I discovered through another used book I found many months ago (THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER). I have a whole album started of her work at my children’s’ book illustration Facebook page WHERE THE WILD THINGS ART. Go forth and see here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1983364818533120&type=3
All right, kids. That’s all for this month. Ta!
