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What I’m Doing at Kirkus Today,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring
a Handful of International Children’s Book Art

h1 May 11th, 2012 by jules


“Just then Kakatua, the scarlet macaw flew down onto a nearby branch. ‘Kakatua, will you please let the whole jungle know that I challenge any animals to a race? We will see who is the fastest animal in the forest.’ ‘Kaaa kaaa a race a RACE,’ cried Kakatua. ‘Kanchil challenges any animal to a race.’ And with that, she took off flying low through the forest. ‘A race, A RACE. Come see The Great Race. Kaaa, KAAA.'”
(Click to enlarge)

This morning at Kirkus, I take a look at the new picture book offering from the very talented author/illustrator Tao Nyeu, Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always. That link is here this morning.

* * *

Last week at Kirkus, I took a look at two new picture book titles from Tara Books, who—as I wrote over at Kirkus—are an independent publisher based in South India. I also mentioned some of their more recent (but not from 2012) titles, and so today I’ve got illustrations from those older picture books, as well as spreads from the two brand-new ones.

Enjoy the art.


“Before long, every animal in the forest had heard about The Great Race. Kanchil then appeared, skipping happily down the riverbank. ‘Who is going to race me?’ he asked. ‘Are you, Gajah? Or you, Harimau? Think twice, because I am the fastest animal in the forest.’ No one spoke a word. Kanchil looked around at the animals who were gathered. ‘Will no one race me? Not one of you?'”
(Click to enlarge)


From Nathan Kumar Scott’s The Great Race, illustrated by Jagdish Chitara (2012)

* * *


“At night my clock began to tick / In an anti-clockwise way /
And by the time I woke up / It was noon, of yesterday.”
(Click to enlarge)


“My homework was done completely / I added, divided, I found out the square. /
I wrote every sum down neatly / I finished it all, I promise, I swear! …”
(Click to see full spread, including text)


From Anushka Ravishankar’s Excuses Excuses,
illustrated by Gabrielle Manglou (2012)

* * *


“…My art is tied up closely with childhood memory.
When I was little, my brother and I often went to the river to fish. …”
(Click to see full spread, including text)


“…Here is the octopus in its habitat, the ocean. I have tried to capture the ocean in lines: its restless movement, the ebb and flow of its tides, the waves that billow and fall over each other, and its sheer depth. …”
(Click to see full spread, including text)


From Rambharos Jha’s Waterlife (2012)
(BolognaRagazzi Award, Mention: New Horizons, 2012)

* * *


“I am an artist, but I wasn’t always one. This is the story of how it happened. When I was growing up, I did all kinds of work. My family was poor. I’m the little girl you see in this picture, walking with my mother. We worked in the rice field.”
(Click to enlarge)


“THE ICE-CREAM MAN”
(Click to enlarge)


From Gita Wolf’s Following My Paint Brush,
illustrated by Dulari Devi (2011)

* * *




From Gita Wolf’s Monkey Photo,
illustrated by Swarna Chitrakar (2010)

* * *


(Click to enlarge)


(Click to enlarge)


From Gita Wolf’s hand-crafted Do!,
illustrated by Ramesh Hengadi and Shantaram Dhadpe
(with help from Rasika Hengadi and Kusum Dhadpe), 2009
(BolognaRagazzi Award, Winner: New Horizons, 2010)

* * *



(Click each image to enlarge)


From Anushka Ravishankar’s To Market! To Market!,
illustrated by Emanuele Scanziani (2007)

* * * * * * *

The Great Race © 2012 Tara Books, Nathan Kumar Scott and Jagdish Chitara.
Excuses Excuses © 2012 Tara Books, Anushka Ravishankar and Gabrielle Manglou.
Waterlife © 2012 Tara Books and Rambharos Jha.
Following My Paintbrush © 2012 Tara Books, Gita Wolf and Dulari Devi.
Monkey Photo © 2012 Tara Books, Gita Wolf and Swarna Chitrakar.
Do! © 2012 Tara Books, Gita Wolf, Ramesh Hengadi, Rasika Hengadi, Shantaram Dhadpe, and Kusum Dhadpe.
To Market! To Market! © 2012 Tara Books, Anushka Ravishankar, Emanuele Scanziani and Rathna Ramanathan.





2 comments to “What I’m Doing at Kirkus Today,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring
a Handful of International Children’s Book Art”

  1. I LOVE and adore seeing picture books from other cultures. I look at them and think how the world appears to me, born here, and to someone else, born there, and what informs our childhoods. I love the colors, the spots, lines, swirls – the patterns are AMAZING. I especially love WATERLIFE and the huge eyes in FOLLOWING MY PAINTBRUSH and the richness of the movement in the last one TO MARKET, TO MARKET. Thanks for sharing the stuff you were so lucky to see in Bologna.

         by tanita May 11th, 2012 at 1:12 pm

  2. Those are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. It’s amazing how much the art from FOLLOWING MY PAINTBRUSH was influenced by traditional Indian painting: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~mltotton/14.jpg (I even remembered which style it was…must’ve actually learned something in that class!!)

         by Sarah Stevenson (aquafortis) May 12th, 2012 at 11:40 am

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