Idyll Musings

The daily adventures of a bookselling family.

Idyll (n) - a short prose piece depicting a rural or pastoral scene in idealized terms; a carefree episode or experience; a romantic interlude; a scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Whimsical and Significant

Can whimsical artwork ever be considered significant? Dr. Seuss would say yes. Robert McCloskey, Eric Carle, H.A. Rey, Leo Lionni and other noted children's book authors and illustrators would too. But for the longest time, most art collectors would laugh at the idea of The Cat In the Hat being called a work of art. Times are changing. Popular opinion is beginning to understand what children's book collectors have known all along: children's book art IS art. This AP article from Saturday is an eye-opening read.

In addition to the 2-dimensional children's picture book, let's not forget about the favorite of favorites, from a child's eye: the 3-dimensional pop-up books!! These books helped our beloved characters burst from the pages in their full color glory! Dinosaurs! Pirates! Firetrucks! Books made even more appealing, because you didn't just read them, you played with them! Ahh, the good old days!

Finding pop-up books with popups intact is the challenge for booksellers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right on the money about Children's Books and their illustrators. We just did a short post on Little Golden Books; some of those covers are fantastic. And thanks for including us in your list of bookish sites.

Bruce
Bookshop Blog

Idyll Musings said...

I love your piece on Little Golden Books. I am partial to Eloise Wilkin and Garth Williams LG books myself.