CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATION

http://sophieblackall.blogspot.com/2015/10/depicting-slavery-in-fine-dessert.html

“The Dog That Nino Didn’t Have” is unsettling and odd. Nino (a boy of about seven) has an imaginary dog, depicted in sketchy lines over the landscape. The pet crawls alongside Nino as they stalk a scruffy cat, then he leaps on Great-Grandma’s lap. When Nino takes a rowboat out on the lake, the dog dives into the deep water.  
Nino’s father (a pilot) phones from faraway, and the dog hears what Nino hears, and loves “the taste of salt water” in the boy's tears. The mother and great-grandmother are pictured, but you don’t see their faces. This enforces the disquieting feel of the book, as does the untidy, retro, lakeside yard. The A-frame house, 1960s station wagon, and toys are drawn with impressionistic looseness. The illustration style resembles silkscreen with its limited earth toned pallet. The world is handsome, mysterious and unanchored.
Nino is shown digging a muddy hole with his imaginary friend, and the text reads, “Sometimes the dog acted so crazy and dumb that people sta…

Illustrator Maria Carluccio has a new shop, Little Acorn Studio, filled with all her beautiful books, prints and stationery. Check it out here...

Jonathan Bentley has written and illustrated a playful picture book about a toddler who wishes to be big, like his older brother. The boy imagines what it might be like to have "big legs like a giraffe," "big hands like a gorilla," and a "big mouth like a crocodile," and finds that there are strategic advantages to being little.

The images of the large animals are both dramatic and comic. The pictures, created with “watercolors, pencils, and scanned textures,” are loose and lively. This is a fast, fun read aloud.



jpeg from eerdlings.com






ISBN-13:9780802854629Publisher:Eerdmans, William B. Publishing CompanyPublication date:09/01/2015Pages:32






Age Range:                          3 - 7 

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=16417447048

“Both Korngold and Fortenberry are attentive to all that Grandma does for Sadie and Ori, making it all the more poignant when they return the favor as Grandma’s physical and mental capabilities begin to diminish” 

Publishers Weekly

Originally published in Dutch, MIKIS AND THE DONKEY takes place on the Greek island of Corfu. Mikis, a boy of about eight, often visits his grandparents on the hill. 
One day his grandfather surprises him with a donkey. To Mikis, Tsaki the donkey is a friend. But to his grandfather she is a “tractor with four legs.” 
The grandfather piles firewood so high in Tsaki's baskets, that her belly is cut by the weight. Mikis and the village doctor force the grandfather to change the cold-hearted way in which he thinks about the donkey.

(spoiler alert) When Mikis and his friend Elena take Tsaki to meet another donkey, the two donkeys get along “really, really well.” 
Mikis spends his summer vacation making a new stable for Tsaki. But the donkey refuses to enter her new home until her foal is placed inside.
Sketchy brown on ivory drawings depict the countryside, village square, classroom, and funny old faces. The loopy, loose lines are both detailed and airy.
Short chapters and colorful characters…