All things Sendak

Maurice has been on my mind lately. Through another blog, I became aware of "Sendakifying" wherein some illustrators took a scene from a Sendak book and used the style of another illustrator. How cool I thought, I'll try it. Well, it's harder than it looks. (Maybe it depends on who you're blending with Sendak.... hey I like the sound of that: Blending with Sendak, could be a whole new workshop/trend etc.) I chose Garth Williams, because he's another illustrator who's been on my mind as of late. I got a cool copy of "The Rescuers" by Margery Sharp and was entranced by William's illustrations. 

So, who better than to try than Mr. Williams (especially since no one had yet Sendakified him)? It's kind of a psychological as well as technical journey, trying to get inside the head of two illustrators simultaneously. Some people have done an amazing job. Check out Sendak's "BumbleArdy" in the style of Richard Scarry (another fave)..... just hilarious!

Here's a small work-in-progress-- my version of "The Wild Things" a la Garth Williams:

Not well-known fact: Sendak along with his brother Jack wanted to design toys.

And yet another interesting Sendak-related tidbit: "Where the Wild Things Are" was originally "Where the Wild Horses Are" and this blog entry describes how it evolved. I love seeing the behind-the-scenes evolution of a particular book or illustration.
Note to self: get a copy of "The Art of Maurice Sendak"!

Vintage illustration

One of my side passions about kids books is vintage illustration. I've always had a nostalgic fondness for them, but only recently has it turned into a growing hobby.
Today while thrift store rummaging I found a copy of The Joke Book by Oscar Weigle and illustrated by Bill and Bonnie Rutherford. I'm really enjoying the bold craziness of some of these 1950-70's kids books. There's all sorts of silkscreen-like and ink action going on in this one. Here's the cover:

 I was disappointed however, when I tried to find out more about the Rutherfords. I noticed that they had several books to their credit (including Little Black Sambo and The Gingerbread Man) but no biographical information anywhere. This seems a little strange to me. There are other vintage artists out there for which biographical information is readily available. Alice and Martin Provensen, Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry, Gustaf Tenggren (Poky Little Puppy), Tibor Gergely (The Little Red Caboose) etc. But no biographical information for the Rutherfords at all.

It makes me wonder what happens to illustrators when no one remembers them? Who is keeping track of all these wonderful vintage artists?

If anyone has more information on the Rutherfords, please let me know!

Pigs in bad sweaters

Thinking about pigs- in kids books that is. I was prompted to think about pigs when a blog posting brought them to my attention. Pen and Oink is having a contest: just name your favorite pig character and you could win a copy of Maurice Sendak's Bumble-Ardy. I hadn't given it too much thought, but when you think about it, pigs are everywhere in kids books.

In my brain library, I thought of Pig Will and Pig Won't (Richard Scarry), Wilbur of Charlotte's Web (EB White/Garth Williams), Babe: The Gallant Pig (Dick King Smith/Mary Rayner), Poppleton (Cynthia Rylant/Mark Teague), Toot and Puddle (Holly Hobbie), and Wibbly Pig (Mike Inkpen). Then there's the more recent, Olivia (Ian Falconer) and Piggie books (Mo Willems). But one of my favorite's is Benny (Barbro Lindgren & illustrator Olof Landstrom). In Benny's Had Enough the pig's expressions are priceless and the little stuffie he carries around is beyond repair. This is the second time (at least) that I've gone crazy over a Swedish character. The first was Boodil from Boodil My Dog. Which makes me realize that I'll need to devote an entire post to Swedish authors/illustrators someday soon.

One of my daughters says there's also a new (to U.S.) show on Nick Jr. featuring a pig family: Peppa Pig. Very much in the vein of Maisy by Lucy Cousins (also a UK import).

Then there's my own strange pig doodles
that always seem to wind up in bad sweaters:

Pigs are a great resource for showing emotion. Some animals seem to be easier to anthropomorphize (say that fast 10x) than others. Try putting a cute face on a naked mole rat and you'll see what I mean.

Oh, wait.... someone did. Hah!

Ugly, fat pipsqueak....

Well, I was going to write about my earliest children's book memories and I suppose I can still do that. But I just read an eye-opening interview with Maurice Sendak in an online magazine called The Believer.

He reveals all sorts of tidbits in this interview about his childhood, family, the children's book world, and Roald Dahl (he didn't like him, which I found both weird and interesting). One quotable item: his image of children's book illustrator is an "Ugly fat pipsqueak of a person who can't be bothered to grow up."

It's strange how I wasn't introduced to Sendak as a child. I don't know if my parents weren't aware of his books or they deliberately edited them out due to their "harshness". It wasn't until I was an adult that I discovered him and though it's blasphemous to say it, he's still not one of my favorites. I totally respect his work, and think he has some great viewpoints, but his style just doesn't "float my boat" as they say.

What books did I love? One of my earliest favorite books was "We Like Kindergarten"  featuring the art of Eloise Wilkin. I really identified with this girl. She was in kindergarten and loved art just like me. I still like her chubby kids despite what some might say about the cuteness factor.

Another fave early book was "One Morning in Maine" by Robert McCloskey. I love the picture where Sal discovers her tooth is gone. That image is emblazoned on my mind forever.

Of course, there's Dr. Seuss with all his wacky words and crazy characters. I especially remember the wet pet from "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".

Later I had a membership in the Children's Book of the Month Club, where it was Christmas one day a month. Some of the books that stuck with me were "Lyle, Lyle Crocodile", "Harry the Dirty Dog" and "Cannonball Simp".
It makes sense that I loved Cannonball Simp. He was an underdog (literally) and for some reason I always identified with those types. Here is a clip of someone reading it:

Later in my teens I started to discover so many wonderful kids books I can't even begin to name them. But I will mention some of the illustrators that I wish I had known sooner: Richard Scarry, Alice and Martin Provensen, Wanda Gag, Garth Williams among others I'm sure I'm leaving out.

So Maurice, I find myself becoming an ugly, fat pipsqueak. But that's okay.