Books, Books and More Books: Illustrations

 I have always loved picture books.  Since Eleanor was born I have had legitimate cause to buy or borrow many, many books.  With the help of her grandparents and other literary loving family members and friends, Eleanor and Charlotte have amassed quite the collection of children's books.  I thought I would share some of my favorites, but there are so many I like that I decided to do a few categories, the first being illustrations.

 I love the imagination and detail that these illustrations capture.  The story is of a little girl who is in time out and explaining how she is not wild, but rather is "precocious and polite."  The illustrator uses mixed media to bring the animals of the little girl's imagination to life.  There was about a month in Eleanor's toddler-hood that we read this book daily.  We still read it often and it's one that I welcome when she brings it to me.








I discovered Jimmy Liao when Matt and I were in China.  I picked up this book and fell in love with it.  From what I could gather (it was all in Chinese), it was about a little girl going blind. A couple years ago, I found an English translation.  Since then two other books have been released in English by Jimmy Liao: When the Moon Forgot and The Blue Stone: A Journey Through Life.  The Sound of Colors is still my favorite, but all three have the same whimsical, colorful style that I enjoy.







This is a book that Eleanor has been enjoying recently.  The story is a bit strange and all takes place in a bathtub, but the illustrations are amazingly detailed.  The king spends the day in the bathtub, conducting all of his business there (battle, lunch, fishing, and a ball).  The court is not too happy about this and the expressions are hilarious.








Hey, Al is another strange book with great illustrations.  I remember reading this as a small child and thinking, "That was strange."  Now I read it to Eleanor and find it hilarious. 










Okay, I've procrastinated long enough.  I sat down to pack up all the things on my desk and this silly computer distracted me.  Back to work.  We are moving this weekend into a bigger apartment, one that has closets AND outlets AND overhead lighting.  Amazing.  I should be working on making that happen, but writing about kids books is easier.