The Children's Book

I've been curious about the novel The Children's Book by AS Byat since it came out:

Olive Wellwood lives an apparently perfect life; a successful writer of children's books, she lives in a beautiful old farmhouse in the Kentish countryside - Todefright, "tactfully extended and modernised in the Arts and Crafts style" - with her husband Humphry, her sister Violet and her brood of children. There they hold parties and mix with their friends and neighbours, well-known figures in the worlds of art, literature and politics; indeed, the novel begins in the run up to the Wellwoods' Midsummer party, with its Shakespearean themed costumes and a visiting puppet show.

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Meanwhile Olive, pregnant again, continues to work not only on the children's books she writes for publication, but the individual, handwritten volumes she fills with stories for each of her own children, mysterious tales of secret worlds accessed through invisible doors, gaps in tree roots or cracks in tea-cups. Yet as with the Wellwoods' own lives, these beautiful fairy tales are filled with secrets and with danger, foreshadowing difficult times ahead as the children begin to grow out of their seemingly idyllic lives.

Read the whole review by Elizabeth Gregory here.

Maurice Sendak on what being an illustrator means

"When you hide another story in a story, that's the story I'm telling the children."

I found this via Mark Mitchell at How to be a Children's Book Illustrator.

Library of the Early Mind

From Publishers Weekly: New Film on Children's Book Authors and Illustrators:

Jean de Brunhoff’s Babar stories, or more specifically Adam Gopnik’s interpretation of them as part of the common language of childhood in the New Yorker in September 2008, serve as both title and inspiration for an upcoming film on children’s literature, Library of the Early Mind, directed and produced by Edward J. Delaney and co-produced by Steven Withrow.

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“We wanted to do a film that would be interesting to people who may not have an interest in children’s literature,” says Withrow. “We wanted to describe how the writers and illustrators become artists and how these personal experiences really were the crucibles of the art they created.”

Here is the film's website.

June 10, 1928

Maurice Sendak turns 82 today.

Sketch of the Day

This was from our trip to Italy last July. We were looking at a lot of Hell paintings. Fra Angelico was one of my favorites.

Frank Frazetta, 1928-2010

Frank Frazetta died May 10 at the age of 82. Here is a post for him at Drawn.

We have this Leaping Lizards print above our living room couch.

May he rest in peace.

Best Sellers

This week's best-selling picture books from the New York Times. I think The Quiet Book and Instructions look fantastic.

1. THE SANDWICH SWAP, by Queen Rania of Jordan with Kelly DiPucchio. Illustrated by Tricia Tusa. (Disney-Hyperion, $16.99.) Sometimes breaking bread, no matter what’s between the slices, leads to understanding. (Ages 3 to 7).
2. THE QUIET BOOK, by Deborah Underwood. Illustrated by Renata Liwska. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $12.95.) Animal friends experience the surprisingly numerous shades of quiet. (Ages 3 to 5).
3. THE LION AND THE MOUSE, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. (Little, Brown, $16.99.) A fable of reciprocal kindness, redrawn. (Ages 3 to 6).
4. INSTRUCTIONS, by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Charles Vess. (Harper/HarperCollins, $14.99.) Wisdom for surviving life’s journey. (All ages). 
5. POET EXTRAORDINAIRE!, by Jane O’Connor. Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. (HarperCollins, $12.99.) Fancy Nancy turns to rhyme. (Ages 4 to 8). 
6. WADDLE!, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder. (Workman, $12.95.) Animals in motion, with color. (Ages 4 to 8). 
7. LEGO STAR WARS, by Simon Beecroft. (DK, $21.99.) An annotated visual dictionary. (Ages 7 and up). 
8. SKIPPYJON JONES, LOST IN SPICE, written and illustrated by Judy Schachner. (Dutton, $16.99.) The peppery red planet captures a cat’s fancy. (Ages 4 to 8). 
9. THE EARTH BOOK, written and illustrated by Todd Parr. (Megan Tingley/Little, Brown, $9.99.) Ideas for saving the planet, plus a poster. (Ages 3 to 6). 
10. GALLOP!, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder. (Workman, $12.95.) Animals seem to move when you flip the page. (Ages 4 to 8)

Puffin

Puffin Books is celebrating its 70th anniversary. 

Check out the Puffin Handbook, where they list the 70 best books for children.

Sketch of the Day

Back to the land of old-fashioned pen and ink! (With water color tests underneath)

"A great nation is a reading nation."

Welcome to Children's Book Week!

Since 1919, Children's Book Week has been celebrated nationally in schools, libraries, bookstores, clubs, private homes -- any place where there are children and books. Educators, librarians, booksellers, and families have celebrated children's books and the love of reading with storytelling, parties, author and illustrator appearances, and other book-related events.

It all began with the idea that children's books can change lives. In 1913, Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, began touring the country to promote higher standards in children's books. He proposed creating a Children's Book Week, which would be supported by all interested groups: publishers, booksellers, and librarians.

Read more about CBW here.