banquet

brian wildsmith's the twelve days of christmas

love brian wildsmith's the twelve days of christmas -
a classic always and forever.

a good book drive

Tammy and I are happy to be donating books to this years A Good Book Drive, an annual book drive to bring stories to a new generation of readers and support kids in need of new books. This year the Drive supports the Vancouver literacy program The Writers’ Exchange.

I love this project! My house is practically held up by books, and to have to choose just one was close to impossible. In the end I went with Charlie and the Chcocolate Factory, which we had just finished reading at home and had held the kids spellbound every night (hear my whys and wherefores here.)

If you want to get involved, there's more information here. And big thank you's to Lizzy and Cory for all that they do for this special project.

bernadette watts' little red riding hood

beautiful illustrations in this happily dark version, from bernadette watts, oxford university press, 1968.

the practical princess

the practical princess (1969) by jay williams with illustrations by friso henstra:

"now, then, pull yourself together," she said, sternly. "if you sit waiting for a prince to rescue you, you may sit here forever. be practical! if there's any rescuing to be done, you're going to have to do it yourself."

would like to see more of henstra's work...

squirrels

sweet on squirrels (in theory), i happpily slipped one into the boreal forest print, but i love these dear little red ones from koloman moser's Bilderbuch für die Nichte von Ditha Mautner von Markhof (1904).

from 50 watts, found via daddytypes.

charles mozley

from the procession, illustrated by charles mozley.

icebergs

love that image of the iceberg on the bottom, centre right.

from the golden treasury of knowledge.

and this is beautiful.

the stars: a new way to see them

was gifted a  thrifted copy of the stars: a new way to see them, by hans augusto rey (yes, that h.a.rey).

from his wikipedia:

before the 1952 publication of rey's the stars: a new way to see them, (isbn 0-395-24830-2) star charts used a conventional set of diagrams that were difficult to remember and relied on dim stars that are difficult to see in modern populated areas. rey invented a new set of constellation diagrams that could be seen as cartoonish depictions of the creature or character the constellations was supposed to represent—- or, at least, were memorable.

at least.

right up my alley though. thanks jm!

meles meles

putting the final touches on a new print, and am currently consumed by the bits i am unearthing.

case in point, the badger (who is perhaps a geeky choice for small talk when you are trying to impress someone) (even though, the badger is seriously cool).

images: helen ward then paul bransom's the wind in the willows, and wes anderson's  fantastic mr. fox

hi, mister robin!

more roger duvoisin illustrations in this book discovered at jm's