Tanya Sousa's Blog - Posts Tagged "art"
Children's Picture Book Art
I still remember the first time I looked at the Blue Book of Fairy Tales. The words didn't matter at first, but the illustrations snapped into my brain like the most delicious candy -- or the most mouth-watering smell -- you can imagine. I never knew who the illustrator was, but I poured over the images that seemed more real than reality. The fairy Godmother's wings seemed to glow. Dresses were infinitely lovely and all so different from each other, and rendered with exquisite detail.
There were five stories in my version -- Rapunzel, Toads and Diamonds, Cinderella, Snow White and Rose Red, and then my favorite: Beauty and the Beast. Those images matched the feel of the stories to perfection. They drew me into a love of reading like no other book had.
I know the match of illustrations to text in picture books is vital. The most wonderful images don't necessarily go with a story just because they're well done in general. The tone has to be the same. Magic stories need magic images. The illustrator, Gordon Laite, who sadly passed away long ago in 1978 at the young age of 52, changed my world. I so wish I could tell him!
But I can't directly, so I'll tell you.
I still have the book, and look at it from time-to-time to marvel at those images that never cease to take my breath away no matter how old I am. Thank you Gordon Laite!
Did you have any children's picture book images that you especially treasure?
There were five stories in my version -- Rapunzel, Toads and Diamonds, Cinderella, Snow White and Rose Red, and then my favorite: Beauty and the Beast. Those images matched the feel of the stories to perfection. They drew me into a love of reading like no other book had.
I know the match of illustrations to text in picture books is vital. The most wonderful images don't necessarily go with a story just because they're well done in general. The tone has to be the same. Magic stories need magic images. The illustrator, Gordon Laite, who sadly passed away long ago in 1978 at the young age of 52, changed my world. I so wish I could tell him!
But I can't directly, so I'll tell you.
I still have the book, and look at it from time-to-time to marvel at those images that never cease to take my breath away no matter how old I am. Thank you Gordon Laite!
Did you have any children's picture book images that you especially treasure?
