Picture Books from July + August 2024
My (sort-of) monthly digest of children's picture book discoveries.
Greetings and salutations, friends! As we enter into the autumnal time of year, here’s a round up of picture books I discovered and devoured over summer-proper.
As always, clicking the images below will open them up in Instagram, where you can see a selection of pages & more images.
LETTERS FROM BEAR by French author-illustrator couple Gauthier David and Marie Caudry. This is their English-language debut and it’s a surreal delight with a sweet storyline and weird otherworldly artwork.
SELF PORTRAIT: TRINA SCHART HYMAN. I’ve been captivated for the past few years as I gradually discover more about the late illustrator Trina Schart Hyman — so much so, that the style of her work is something I’m using as inspiration for the style of illustrations I’d like to do for the novel I’m trying to write.
Turns out, she was the former art director of Cricket Magazine, a publication I read as a kid and won many awards for poetry & story submissions sent in by my sixth grade English teacher (Mrs. Whelan). Hyman also drew the little comics in each issue I enjoyed so much. This rare 1981 “Self-Portrait” book I got from the library is a visual autobiography of her early enchanted life and how she got started as an illustrator. I absolutely adore it and didn’t want to return it.
SNOW WHITE adapted by Paul Heins. In the wake of the former book I’ve checked out other books that Trina Schart Hyman illustrated, and this is one of the best ones I’ve seen.
IF EVERYBODY DID by the late Jo Ann Stover (1931-2009). In the same breath of requesting inter-library loans I had a memory pang and decided to see if I could track down this absurdist masterpiece from my childhood (with the original cover and artwork). My elementary school library had this book and I think it was my kindergarten teacher who read this book to us, which resulted in bounds of laughter. First published in 1960, it’s a bit of a rarity to have a book this strange & twisted come out in a time when most children’s books were still pretty stale and tame. Did any of you also grow up with this one?
THE TINY STAR by Mem Fox and Freya Blackwood. This is an absolutely beautiful and mysterious story and I love the softness of the illustrations. I tend to be drawn to books that center around neighborhood houses and people in community. I feel like this would be another book that fits into the category of “life, the universe, and everything” as per my previous post (see here….)
Picture Books about Life, the Universe, and Everything
Every now and then, you stumble upon a children’s picture book that is so specific and arresting in its poetry, integrity, and visual splendor, you get the impression it has tapped into something true and mysterious about the actual universe we live in, and how it works. I don’t really know how to explain it. You just get a sense that there is a secret …
GODFATHER DEATH by Sally Nicholls & Julia Sarda. Adapted from a Grimm’s fairy tale, this book is deliciously dark and I love it to death (literally). Julia Sarda is one of my favorite artists working today, and I seek out everything she does. Her work is so rich and I get so excited whenever she does something new.
…and finally friends, INTO THE GOBLIN MARKET by Vikki Vansickle and Jensine Eckwall is by far the greatest and my most favorite picture book I’ve discovered this year. It rhymes and revels in dark beauty in the finest fairy tale fashion, and it looks gorgeous. This one is destined to become a classic.
Happy Reading, kidlets — and while you’re seeking out these gems of bookish wonderment, don’t forget I have a new one of my own out now, so tell your librarians and teachers.
New Book Alert! STORYWINKS, Volume One
Friends, I’m happy to announce my new book is unleashed into the world: STORYWINKS, Volume One.