A Little Bookshelf

It is so wonderful to be reading picture books to my daughters.  I can vividly remember when I was a child and graduated from picture books to chapter books and the illustrations largely disappeared.  I remember asking my parents why the pictures had gone and not really getting a very good answer.  Because, really, why do the pictures have to go when the books get longer?  Surely we can still have some illustrations to go with our stories as we get older and hopefully wiser.

But I digress.  Picture books is where we are at.  And the new breed of chapter books (I'm thinking of the Mariella Mystery series of books by Kate Pankhurst here) with lots of fun and funky illustrations scattered through the books.  Anything that helps kids graduate from picture books on their parent's laps to reading in front of the heater on their own is fine by me.  

This post is my homage to the best illustrators in the business, past and present.  This list is by no means exhaustive, and please, leave your favourite illustrators in the comments section.

Some of my favourite illustrators include:

Freya Blackwood has a gorgeous floaty style that perfectly compliment the picture books she illustrates.

Sarah Davis ia another Australian author and I especially love her pencil drawings in the Violet Mackerel series of chapter books.

Robert Ingpen is an Australian illustrator who was illustrated a while collection of classic children's fiction including, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island.

Stephen Michael King is one talented guy.  He has written and illustrated pictures for himself and others as well as illustrating chapter books.  Milly, Jack and the Dancing Cat is my favourite picture book and I love the illustrations he did for the Glenda Millard series of chapter books, The Kingdon of Silk.

E.H. Shepherd's illustrations for the Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne are classics for a very good reason.  They capture the joy, silliness and heart of the stories perfectly.