Favorite Picture Books of 2012

Hello, friends! As usual, it's been a while and I am a bad blogger. BUT since it's almost the end of the year (can you believe it?!) and it's Picture Book Month (yay!), I thought I would share some my favorites that were published in 2012. What are yours? I would love to know!

 And Then It's Spring, written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead, published by Roaring Brook Press
-A little boy and his dog, (turtle and rabbit, too!) plant some seeds and eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring. This simple story is made wonderful by the illustrations and muted color palette.

 Sweet Dreams, written by Rose A. Lewis and illustrated by Jen Corace, published by Abrams Books
-Oh, how I love Jen Corace's illustrations! This is just such a lovely rhyming bedtime story.

 Olivia the Fairy Princess, written and illustrated by Ian Faconer, published by Atheneum
-Now you could argue that Olivia has become a bit a franchise, but I still love the books. The latest is one of my favorites, simply because Olivia, like myself, is sick of princesses! She has a bit of an identity crisis in this story because she doesn't want to be ordinary, she wants to stand out! Follow her humorous journey to answer that question in this quirky book.

 More, written by I. C. Springman, illustrated by Brian Lies, published by Houghton Mifflin
-Goodness, I love this book about a magpie who collects too much stuff and his little mice friends show him how less can be more.

 The Insomniacs, written by Karina Wolf, illustrated by The Brothers Hilts, published by Putnam
-A fabulous story of a family that moves twelve time zones away for a new job and has trouble adopting to the time change. They discover a whole new world at night when they are unable to sleep, and eventually find beauty in their new schedule. This book channels Charles Addams and Edward Gorey which is probably why I like it so very much.

On My Bookshelf: A Tree is Nice

The weather has been crazy this week. It has been so hot and steamy, yesterday it got up to 100! We have been spending a lot of time indoors, sketching, reading and watching Netflix. I was scouring my bookshelves trying to find a cool, summery book to share and found this little gem.

A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry, illustrated by Marc Simont published by Harper & Brothers in 1956. This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1957.

I just love Marc Simont's work, he illustrated the Nate the Great books, and one of my childhood favorites, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed.

 

    

 

 

 

Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition

Hogwarts at Night, by Caroline Hadilaksono

Hermione, by Ana Galvan

Psychedelic Luna, by Xavier Collette

Doutes, by Alexandre Day

Hagrid Holding Harry, by Scott C.

Snape, who is fantastic in the movies, BTW. By Nicolas Bannister

Untitled, by Lorelay Bove

I am a big Harry Potter fan, more so of the books than the movies. I actually rather dislike all of the movies except for the first one, so I probably won't be rushing to the theater any time soon. Fortunately, I can still get my HP fix at the Gallery Nucleus website. This gallery in California is having a tribute show with works by a wide variety of artists (and styles). They have posted most of the work online and there are over 100 pieces to browse through. I don't think the show runs much longer, so check out the website soon, if you are interested! I had to stop myself from posting many more images, there are just so many cool ones!

On My Bookshelf: Funny Bunny

Time to think spring, even if it's still a bit chilly here and yes, snow is in the weekend forecast. Sigh. But this book I have to share with you is bright and cheery!

Funny Bunny was written by Rachel Learnard with illustrations by Alice and Martin Provensen, published by Simon & Schuster in 1950.

This is a story about a cute little bunny without a tail who is called Funny Bunny by the other critters in the forest. He goes on a little adventure to find a tail for himself. The illustrations are darling and I love the vivid colors, so fun! This book seems like it would have been a designer's dream to work on with the pretty end sheets, type, and pop ups, such great additions to this lovely little story.

Love the lettering.

What a fun way to start the story!

Love that the birds are wearing sweaters.

How cute are the baby raccoons and kittens?

He found a tail!

LOVE.

Inspiration: Little Golden Book Gown

Have you seen this? A friend sent me the link today and I just couldn't stop looking at the photos. Isn't this dress by Ryan Novelline, made entirely of recycled Little Golden Books amazing? The final product is incredible, but I find the process photos the most fascinating. Check out all of the photos here.

All photos from the website of Ryan Novelline

Bits of Halloween

Here are some bits and pieces from books I love, all related to my most favorite time of year. It's almost here!

The wicked witch from Knuckle Heads, illustrations by Michael Slack and story by Joan Holub. Copyright 2008

Wouldn't you like to drive a broom-o-cycle or a pumpkin car? I certainly would! From Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. Copyright 1974

Another Richard Scarry illustration from the cover of Richard Scarry's Best Stories Ever, copyright 1971.

These little guys are of course from a Lauren Child book. My Extremely Good Charlie and Lola Annual 2009, to be exact.

On My Bookshelf: Ed Emberley's Big Orange Drawing Book

Hello! I have another fun little Halloween goodie to share with you, Ed Emberley's Big Orange Drawing Book. Copyright 1980, published by Little, Brown and Company. As I have mentioned before, I am a big Ed Emberley fan, so this instructional Halloween drawing book was an exciting find. I love how his books show every single step of the process, as I am a total nerd for diagrams. His drawings are so simple, yet charming and in this case, perfectly capture the spirit of Halloween.

On My Bookshelf: A Woggle of Witches

I love Halloween, it's most definitely one of my favorite holidays. My collection of Halloween books is growing at steady rate, so I thought it might be fun to share a few of my favorites with you each week leading up to this fantastic holiday of mine.

Let's start with A Woggle of Witches by Adrienne Adams, copyright 1971, published by Aladdin Paperbacks. Oh my, how I love this book! As a child I was obsessed with becoming an honest to goodness, broom flying, black hat wearing, witch. I even would have been delighted to become Samantha from the TV show Bewitched, which I was also fascinated by as a small one. But alas, I never learned to fly so my supply of witch books would have to suffice.

I love, love, love the illustrations in this book, and the primarily black color palette gives the book just the right amount of spook and fun. These witches sure do know how to have a good time!