Thursday, August 23, 2007

My Favorites ~ Those wonderful Picture Books


My childhood was filled with all kinds of books. My first experiences led my sister to ban me from her bookshelf, because at under 2 years old I liked some of the pictures so much I would tear them out and carry them around with me.

Make Way for Ducklings was my first take home library book, and it is still one of my favorites. I remember how fascinated I was that all the images had been created on a stone with a special crayon. Those lithographs carried such warmth and texture.
As children our parents gave us a set of books called MY BOOKHOUSE. Edited by Olive Beaupre Miller, there were 12 anthologies in the series plus three huge picture books with myths, legends, and tales from Japan, France and Europe.

That same set is now out of print but there are some used and fairly new copies available from time to time on Amazon or EBay. The newer printing in 1971 changed the cover but the gorgeous illustrations by Maud and Miska Petersham were captivating and led me to drawing and illustrating my own stories.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ginger I just love the way you write. . .you always make your experiences so vivid and fun!

NANCY LEFKO said...

Yes! I love this book...it was given to me (by the principal of the school where I taught) at my baby shower for my firstborn. It is indeed special and timeless. Great choice!

trowbridge chronicles said...

Beautiful illustrations, Ginger. I sure wish that they could be enlarged. I wanted to get a closer look at them. Just from a distance they look like they must be oil paintings.

Ginger*:) said...

Most of the illustrations are watercolor with pen and ink, however the cover illustrations may be done in a variety of media. I did find a pristine set on AMAZON with all 12 books, but at over $400.00 I will have to keep that on a "WISH" list.

Kathleen Rietz said...

Beautiful. I love this style of illustration as well. Always nice to study the more classic styles.