Illustrated Children's Books

                             Illustrated Children's Books - Black Dog Publishing  
                        Babar the Elephant by Jean de Brunhoff, first published 1931
                    The beautiful children's illustrations by Kate Greenaway, 1885
The crazy illustrations from Edward Lear from around 1846, to accompany his witty
limericks and poems (his most famous being The owl & the Pussycat)
To the tiger in the zoo Madeline just said "Pooh-pooh". 
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, 1939
                                    Everyones childhood favourite - Winnie the Pooh!  
                                                   A modern favourite - Maisy!
     The wonderful sketchy illustrations by Val Biro, 1966 for Gumdrop: The Adventures of
                                                               a Vintage Car
One of my favourite books as a child The House that Sailed Away, featuring these
fabulous quirky black and white sketchy illustrations by Laurence Hutchins, 1975.  
I've still got the book! 
                           The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers, 2006
           The scribbly style of Quentin Blake, famous for illustrating Roald Dahl stories
                              Captain Pugwash, illustrations by John Ryan 1976
   Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins, 1968.  Rosie the hen strolls around the farm unaware that a
     crafty fox is creeping behind her!  (Pat Hutchins also wrote The House that Sailed Away)
        Mog the Forgetful Cat, by Judith Kerr, 1970 and the instantly recognisable Miffy by
                                                         Dick Bruna, 1953
              Another of my childhood favourites - Meg and Mog by Jan Pienowski, 1973
The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr, 1968.  This is another book I frequently read as a child.  I can remember being very jealous because the little girls name in the book is Sophie - which is my sister's name.  I was so jealous because I thought my sister had a book written about her, and no one wrote a book for me!
        Some of Brian Wildsmith's amazing painted animal illustrations.  (I've blogged about a
                                         Brian Wildsmith book previously here)

Wow - where can I start with this fabulous book all about illustrated children's books.  If you're interested in children's illustrations I can highly recommend getting a copy of this comprehensive book, which covers authors and illustrators 1659-1945, contemporary children's books, and authors and illustrators 1945-now.    

There is a terrible pressure on children to leave pictures behind and grow into words, as though this is an essential part of education and maturity.  The illustrations in children's books are the first paintings most children see, and what we see and share at that age stays with us for life.
Excerpt from the foreward by Anthony Brown    


This book is filled with a wonderful selection of illustrations in different styles, along with information about the author and illustrator, as well as the stories behind the actual books.

I agree with Anthony Brown that many of the books I read as a child has stayed with me, and it was funny to find some I'd forgotten about whilst going through the book.  The House that Sailed Away, Meg and Mog, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea were particular favourites of mine - and it was so lovely to find them all in this collection.

Illustrated Children's Books was purchased from Readings in carlton.

2 comments:

  1. What a great book. I love children's books. Loved reading them myself and loved reading them to my kids. Miss tucking them in with a story every night. Favorites from when I was a kid: Robert McCloskey (Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings), Russell Hoberman's Frances, Ezra Jack Keats (Snow Day).

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  2. Hi Rita, thanks so much for your comment and as a new mum I'm sure I'll be reading lots of bed time stories to my little boy in a few months time!
    Ezra Jack Keats is featured in this book too with The Snowy Day, A Letter to Amy and Whistle for Willlie. I'm not familier with the books myself, but an American friend of mine saw them in the book and said he loved to read them as a child, and he was very excited to see the illustrations again!

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