What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week, Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Craig Thompson,
Patrick McDonnell, Matthew Forsythe, Laura
Park, Aaron Renier, Jerry Pinkney, and Jackie Morris
October 14th, 2011 by jules
This morning over at Kirkus, I take a look at the new picture book from master author/illustrator Eric Carle. The link is here.
For last week’s column, I discussed the brand-new Nursery Rhyme Comics from First Second Books, a collection of 50 rhymes as re-imagined by cartoonists. Below, I’ve got some of the cartoons from that to share. Included right is a cutting from graphic novelist Craig Thompson’s very entertaining re-imagining of Edward Lear’s “The Owl & the Pussycat.”
Yet while we’re on the subject of nursery rhymes and songs for young children, I’m also sharing some spreads from Caldecott medalist Jerry Pinkney’s Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, released this month from Little, Brown, which features one chipmunk’s night-time adventure. I’m also including spreads from Jackie Morris’s The Cat and the Fiddle: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books in late September. Both books are beautiful. (Here is Kirkus’s starred review of Pinkney’s title, which they call “sumptuous.”)
Enjoy the art.
How I wonder where you are!”
(Click to enlarge spread)
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Illustration opening the post is © 2011 by Craig Thompson.
Illustrations for “The Donkey” copyright © 2011 by Patrick McDonnell.
Illustrations for “Tweedledum and Tweedledee” copyright © 2011 by Matthew Forsythe.
Illustrations for “‘Croak,’ Said the Toad” copyright © 2011 by Laura Park.
Illustrations for “The Lion and the Unicorn” copyright © 2011 by Aaron Renier.
All images published with permission of First Second Books.
TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR. Copyright © 2011 by Jerry Pinkney. Published by Little Brown and Company, New York. All images reproduced by permission of publisher.
THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE: A TREASURY OF NURSERY RHYMES. Copyright ©2011 Frances Lincoln Ltd. and Jackie Morris. Published by Frances Lincoln, London. All images reproduced by permission of publisher.
Swooning over the Pinkney spreads. Sublime.
Nursery Rhyme Comics = totally fun idea :).
Thanks for all the chewy art!
Already have the Nursery Rhyme book on its way. I love the work of Pinkney so that is going to have to find a spot on my shelves as is the work of Morris. What a wonderful way to begin Friday morning. Thanks!
Jules, Thanks for all the visual delights. I’m always glad to hear of another book from the amazing Jerry Pinkney, and can’t wait to see more chipmunks and starry flowers, but is poet Jane Taylor’s name really not on the cover? Just because the poem is in public domain, is her work not to be recognized?
Jeannine, good point, but I assume it’s because, as the Kirkus reviewer notes, Pinkney is “tweaking a later version of the multi-verse 1806 original with minor changes in wording and repeated insertions of the first two lines as a chorus.” In an artist’s note at the book’s close, he talks about selecting the lyrics most commonly found in the public domain and changing a few words for rhythm. He also changed a word in verse three. He also alternates between “how I wonder what you are” and “how I wonder where you are.”
I suppose that’s why, but I admit to not knowing how that type of attribution works!
Aaron Renier’s work is meticulous and amazing. I could sit and stare at all the details for hours, they fire up the imagination and thirst for adventure. I’m looking forward to the next Walker Bean book, it can’t get here soon enough!
[…] Interested in seeing more? Here is another mention of The Cat and the Fiddle on Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast […]