I don’t know if you have ever realized this, but the world elf is in bookshelf! So, of course I had to sit down and draw a bookshelf elf. Which took way too much of my time and now I have to get back to writing this newsletter!
I might have a slight obsession with books, especially purchasing books. I was trying to make a vow to stop buying so many and just check them out from the library, but honestly what is the fun in that? Why not do both!?
Here are some I have been enjoying lately, purchased and loaned:
A Story Is to Share How Ruth Krauss Found Another Way to Tell a Tale
Written by Carter Higgins, Pictures by Isabelle Arsenault
I am a huge fan of both Carter Higgins and Isabelle Arsenault. I knew I would love a book with the both of them together, but really takes the cake. I am pretty devoted to biography picture books (The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa, A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White, It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way…to name a few). I love learning about interesting people in bits & pieces and enjoy how the illustrations add a whole other story. This one is a gem and I really love.
Here are two posts I have seen about the book, if you want to read more: Max’s Boat and Moonbow
Everything about this quote from New York Journal of Books sums up my feelings of making art for picture books:
In A Story Is to Share: How Ruth Krauss Found Another Way to Tell a Tale, Higgins reminds us all about the world of children seen through the eyes of Ruth Krauss and how she so adeptly saw children. Higgins also reminds anyone interested in writing books for children to follow Krauss’ lead in always remembering to view the world from the perspective of a child. And to do so unconventionally, just as Krauss did. “When she listens and she wonders and she’s playful she remembers/She finds another way to tell a tale.”
Friends
By Daniela Sosa
Fell in love with this one by Daniela. This is a book about celebrating all the different types of friends you can have. Old friends, new friends, far away friends. The story is simple and sweet and the illustrations are adorable.
Baby’s First Kind Words
By Hsingping Pan
I do have an obsession with baby board books and yes, I am the crazy person who buys them, even though my child is 10 years old. They are for me, okay? This one is just so cute! I love Hsinping’s illustrations and they are absolutely perfect for board books. A book that showcases compassion and kindness are win for me, extra bonus points for a cute color palette!
The Runaway Princess
By Johan Traïanowski
This is a fun one! I haven’t come across too many graphic novels that were done with traditional materials. It’s deceiving, because the cover feels like it’s digitally made, but the interior spreads are vibrantly hand painted and colored. It says the ‘book was drawn with India ink and a nib pen on 180 g A4 sheets of paper, then colored directly with crayon and inks’. It’s a fun story, with witty characters and I love that it asks the reader to be involved. I really enjoyed reading this one with my daughter.
Here’s an interview I found on Comics Beat that tells you what inspired The Runaway Princess.
I hope you enjoyed Playtime bookshELF! What are you reading lately (I love recommendations!) And most importantly, do you like reading book recommendations?
-Denise