Raccoons at Night, Rebecca Evans

Courtesy Rebecca Evans

 I'm planning to post random art on weekends:  illustrations that catch my attention,  by less famous or unpublished artists.  Sound good?  I welcome your suggestions.  Join me.

A Knot of Toads

I have hardly mentioned chapter books in any previous post, so I thought it time to highlight a few.

Newberry Award winner,
Frog and Toad Together
by Arnold Lobel

No childhood would be complete without the Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel.  Days With Frog and Toad is the first in this lyrical series of adventures.  In simple but engaging language, Lobel gets us to smile as these two friends  fight and laugh their way through everyday activities:  planting a garden, taking a ride, flying a kite.  These books are an absolute must for the illustrations alone.  Especially geared to readers grade 1-3, but appropriate for toddlers to adults.

Garden State
Children's Book Award
winner, by
Jane Yolen

Master storyteller Jane Yolen is better known for her picture books or middle grade novels, than for her easy to read chapter books.  Nonetheless, the Commander Toad series for readers 6-9, has equal appeal. Bruce Degen's humorous characterizations of the crew of the Star Warts and the galactic oddities they encounter are the perfect compliment to the writing.  Commander Toad books are a sure-fire way to turn reluctant readers into bookworms.

On an interesting aside, Bruce Degen lists Arnold Lobel as an early influence on his work.

For more amphibian adventures, check out Tuesday by David Wiesner.

And for a challenging quiz, test your knowledge at FunTrivia: Animal groupings with a twist.

Orphan in a Coat

character sketch
by Joanne Roberts

Here is a little character sketch I did at work the other night.  This poor orphan is wearing all the clothes she owns as she travels.

On a technical note, my scans are usually a poor quality, but I had a lot less trouble getting this image to scan. It must have had something to do with the cream colored paper I used.  Interesting.

A Bookish Wedding

Themed weddings have been a fad for decades, but the ones I'm familiar with have always been a costumed affair.  Who grew up in the 70's and didn't hear about a Luke and Leia couple?  When I started seeing the trend to design a wedding that captures the essence of the bride and groom, I wondered why I'd never thought of that.  Lately I've been seeing book themed weddings for librarians, writers, and the average book lover.  I ran across these splendidly bookish invitations from the Mismikado Creations on Etsy.  Sebrina will customize the color and design as well as the titles whenever possible.

Designed by Mismikado Creations
for Chocostudio

vintage book invitation with map
designed by Sebrina Parker Schultz
of Mismikado Creations

You can even include a pocket card with the RSVP "due" date. 

Cricket, The Magazine for Children

Cricket's Choice
Cover Illustration by Trina Schart Hyman

There were many influences on my literary and artistic sensibilities, but few with more impact than Cricket, the magazine for children, which I first encountered in the form of Cricket's Choice.  Published in 1974, this
collection marked the magazine's one-year anniversary.  It was filled with stories, poems, plays, riddles, and pictures . . . lots of pictures.  It was a year before I thought to look for Cricket at the library, but there it was on the magazine rack.  The subscription card went home with me that day, and in April 1979, I received my very first issue.



Cricket Magazine was begun in September of 1973.  For the full story, I highly recommend the 30th anniversary book Celebrate Cricket.

 It was in the pages of Cricket that I discovered the buggies of Cricket Country along with many of my favorite authors and illustrators.  The magazine went through changes in size, color, and format.  Eventually the subtitle "the magazine for children" was dropped, because as Clifton Fadiman so wisely reminded us, it was just as coveted by "those grown-ups who are still children at heart."  It is still going strong nearly forty years later.  Over the years the original has been joined by a whole family of magazines, covering a range of interests and age groups, including those from Cobblestone Publishing.

So thank-you to Marianne, Cliff, Lloyd, Trina, and the many others who shaped the destiny of Cricket.  Thank-you for an enduring legacy of "the rarest kind of best."

Cultivating Our Minds

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

 Engraved  bookplate
by Andy English
Commissioned 2006 

Drawing On the Walls

Courtesy Elliot Ward

As I was cleaning up my files, I found this great illustration by Elliot Ward.  I can't find much about his art except his abandoned blog.