Inspiring Illustrations

It has been awhile since I have done an Inspiring Illustration Post! The illustrations in 'My Little Golden Book of Manners' are done by my absolute favorite...Richard Scarry !!! I plan on doing a big post about him sometime soon because he is just the coolest :) but for now I will just share a few pics of his from this sweet Golden Book.

Peggy Parish is the author of the story, which has a copyright of 1962. She is also the author of the Amelia Bedelia books which I just loved as a child. I also love that the first page acknowledges the 3rd Grade at the Dalton School, New York as 'Consultants' on the book :)

The book basically just gives practical advice on manners and the best way to act in different situations.

I think the Alligator and the Lion are my favorites! Just look how sweet he can make even the most ferocious animals look!

A giraffe in a sailor's suit!? Yes, Please!! ;)  Someday when I have children I think I will hang some of these illustrations in their rooms.

Inspiring Illustrations

One Kitten for Kim by Adelaide Holl and illustrated by Don Madden is bright, bold and beautiful!! The book is from 1969 and I think the design and colors really gives that away :) The animals are just the cutest! 

Kim's cat has kittens and his parent's insist that he only keep one and find homes for the rest.....which he does...except there is a bit of a twist. I won't give it away but the picture above gives a hint :)
I hope these illustrations brighten your day!!

Inspiring Illustrations

Today's Inspiring Illustrations just may be some of my favorites!! The book they come from is called Animal Stories and was pusblished in 1944. The beautiful illustrations were done by (according to the book cover..) Rojankovsky. After doing a little research I found out that his whole name is Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky. He was born in Russia in 1891. Rojankovsky was educated at the Moscow Fine Arts Academy and served in the Russian Army during WWI. In 1941, he moved to the US and began his illustrating career. He illustrated more than a hundred books, most having to do with animals and/or nature. Rojankovsky also wrote books -an example being The Great Big Animal Book, published in 1952. He was awarded the 1956 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book Frog Went A-Courtin'.

As you can probably tell from the above photo, The book is falling apart. I plan on framing some of the pages and using others for some possible collages or other art projects.

This one is my fav!!! (above)

** I hope you've been enjoying the 'Inspiring Illustrations' feature!! What books inspire you???

Inspiring Illustrations

For this week's Inspiring Illustrations I choose pictures from the Little Golden Book, The Happy Little Whale! My copy is from 1960 and according to the front cover was only $0.25 back then!



The book is about a little whale who was captured at sea and taken to an aquarium. She was very sad at first but then by the end she was very happy to be there (trying to make it sound like capturing wild animals out of their natural habitats is ok, are we? ).... While I find the book is a bit off the mark with today's animal rights standards (it WAS published in 1960), I really enjoy the illustrations!

Don't you just LOVE the bunting in the above picture?? The illustrations were done by Tibor Gergely. Gergely was born in Budapest in 1900. He was a mischeivious boy who would get in trouble at school for always sketching cartoons of his teachers, normally on the blackboard when they would leave the room. He would always carry around a sketchbook and his family thought he would grow up to be an engineer.
His desire to become an artist was reinforced when he was nineteen. He happened
to pass some paintings by Goya and Cezanne leaning against a fence in
Bulyovszky Street in Budapest and he knew he was to be an artist. Which he WAS - living in Budapest and Vienna for a time with his wife, artist Anna Lesznai. He illustrated books and magazines.

In 1939 Gergely and Lesznai immigrated to America when it became clear that the German annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia would extend to Hungary. They remained in America for the rest of their lives.
Gergely’s career as an American illustrator began shortly after arriving in New York when he met Georges Duplaix, head of production at Artists and Writers Guild. In 1940 they collaborated on Topsy Turvy Circus and The Merry Shipwreck was published the following year.
In 1942, when Duplaix became head of the new Graphics Department at Simon and Schuster, he introduced Gergely to Lucille Ogle, the author who was instrumental in creating Golden Books. She became his editor for many years and he soon became one of the most beloved Golden Book illustrators. Over the course of his illustrious career, Tibor Gergely created iconic images for more than seventy Little Golden Books.





This book is Ms. Batista approved!!

** I found out a lot about Tibor Gergely at his official website

Inspiring Illustrations

One of my goals for 2012 (see previous post) is to really spend more time on my blog, building it up, redesigning it, making it prettier and generally making it more a part of my everyday.

I plan on adding one or two weekly 'features'. I have a couple ideas that I am excited about and THIS (Yes! THIS POST! ;) ) is the first!! It is called Inspiring Illustrations and weekly (or at least pretty frequently) I plan on sharing some beautiful artwork from my vintage children's book collection and learning more about the artist.

I have been collecting vintage children's books for close to 3 years now and have amassed quite the collection! I am just so drawn to the illustrations and how beautiful most are. I had started collecting them (mostly books that had some damage to them) so that I could use them in projects, collages, etc... and it just became an obsession! I will have to share a photo of my collection sometime soon.... ANYWAY.. My first choice of books to share with you is BIRDS by Brian Wildsmith.

The pictures in this book are gorgeous. Each one illustrates a group of birds and a collective term for them - an unkindness of ravens, a colony of penguins, etc... The illustrations are just full of color and curiosity. Birds was published in 1967.

Brian Wildsmith was born in Yorkshire, England in 1930. He grew up in a small mining town that was always gray and colorless. He commented once that he always had to use his imagination and draw in his head. He has deservedly earned a reputation as one of the greatest living children’s illustrators. In 1962, he published his first children’s book, ABC, for which he was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal which is Britain’s equivalent to the Caldecott Medal.

He has also illustrated many other books including The Owl and the Woodpecker, The Little Wood Duck along with many other animal books. You can bet I will be looking for more of his books when I am out thrifting!!