Cats and Carols

Cats and Carols by Lesley Anne Ivory (1995, Little, Brown and Company).

I recently discovered the wonderful art of Lesley Anne Ivory, a British artist who has illustrated over 40 children's books, all about cats. I love her warm, detailed paintings, often starring her own kitties or friend's cats. 

This book has various Christmas carol lyrics with an illustration for each. It's a beautiful book for your collection. As you can see below, my own sweet Mia enjoyed it, too. 

Find more Christmas children's book ideas on my Pinterest board here.

The Mermaid

The Mermaid by Jan Brett (Penguin, 2017). 

Jan Brett has been a favorite author/illustrator of mine since I was a kid. If you have never read her books, you really should. Her illustrations are beautifully detailed, usually drawing from Scandinavian motifs. Here she departs from that and instead creates a Japanese underwater world in this original retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Instead of three bears there are three octopuses, and instead of a little golden-haired girl there is a mermaid. This is a wonderful book that I am happy to add to my collection.

Caribbean Canvas

Caribbean Canvas by Frané Lessac (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1987). 

My mom found this for me at a used bookstore recently.  Lessac is one of our favorite illustrators.  She's perhaps most well known for My Little Island which was featured on Reading Rainbow.  This book is a compilation of West Indian poetry and proverbs illustrated with Lessac's artwork.  Listed in the image captions are the islands where each image was created.  

Moonshadow

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I recently got a new job and moved back to my hometown in Connecticut so I've been busy, but it's also easier now for me to raid my parents' attic for my old childhood books.  

Moonshadow by Angela Carter, illustrated by Justin Todd (Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1982).

Apparently a rather rare book, this was one of my favorites as a kid.  My dad and I found it at a used bookstore when I was little and I loved the way he would read me the zany story and we would find the hidden pictures within the illustrations. 

The book is about a boy named Tom who likes to play with his shadow, casting shadow puppets on the wall before bed.  One night, a goblin, who says he's the Man in the Moon, jumps out at Tom and tells him his shadow is tired of him playing games with him and wants a night of freedom where he doesn't have to follow him around all the time.  Off his shadow goes, in the shape of a cat, and Tom must run to catch him.  The illustrations feature many optical illusions and hidden pictures.  In the beginning there is also a map for a board game that you can play with dice. 

In researching the author and illustrator, I discovered that they are both relatively well known in Britain.  Carter is known for her feminist and magical realism novels and Todd seems to be best known for illustrating British children's classics like Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows. 

This is definitely a unique children's book! Maybe a little too scary for some young kids, but it was enchanting for me.

Thanksgiving Treat

Thanksgiving Treat by Catherine Stock (Atheneum, 1990). 

This is a sweet book about a young boy who wants to help with Thanksgiving preparations but no one in his family wants his help because they think he'll just get in the way.  Until of course his grandfather teaches him out to collect chestnuts for roasting, and his family is appreciative of the yummy treat.  

Catherine Stock has written and illustrated numerous wonderful picture books, including Galimoto which was a Reading Rainbow book.  

Book Con 2015

Yesterday I attended Book Con in New York.  This was actually my third year attending. Despite the sometimes craziness with crowds and poor organization, I had a really good time and was able to see some great panels on YA and children's books. 

The first panel I attended was called BFFs Forever with YA superstars Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Gayle Forman, moderated by Sarah Petrie, founder of Forever Young Adult. I have been reading Dessen's books since I was a young teen in the 00's so it was great to see her.  I also love Jenny Han.  They all spoke about teen girls' friendships, with funny personal stories. They also pointed out how friend break-ups can be so hurtful and have a long-lasting impact yet there is no real language for it like there is for relationship break-ups.  It's a topic that hasn't been explored a lot in literature.  The three are all friends and supportive of each other as well.  You can read a more detailed recap of the panel at Publisher's Weekly here. 

Before going to the next panel, I took a walk around the show floor where tons of publishing companies set up booths.  I happened to come across Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth.  I'll admit, no matter how often my mom tried to get me to read that book as a kid, I always thought it was boring.  But it definitely a classic of children's lit.











Next I went to see Taye Diggs and Shane Evans talk about their new picture book, Mixed Me.  As you may know, Taye Diggs is a famous actor and actually was just announced as the new star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway.  He is divorced from Broadway and Frozen star Idina Menzel and they have a son together.  Their son was the inspiration for this book.  They talked about race and diversity in children's books.  I didn't get a good photo of them, so I'll share this great illustration from the book.

To end the day, I went to Rainbow Rowell's panel.  She writes both YA and adult books, her most well-known being Eleanor & Park.  My favorite book of hers is actually Fangirl, followed by Landline.  She has a sharp, witty sense of humor which was showcased at the panel.  We got some insight into her books and writing process, as well as her fangirl obsessions. 

All in all, I had a great day!  I didn't get any autographs... due to the way the convention is set up, you really have to choose whether you want to get autographs or go to panels, it's very hard to do both.  I prefer listening to the panels so that was my choice, and I was happy with it. I bought a cool Book Con t-shirt and got a free tote bag and promotional postcards from two of my favorite up and coming illustrators, Phoebe Wahl and Emma Block.  I'm looking forward to next year!