Maria van Lieshout is a children’s author/illustrator that is creating fresh, sleek, genre defiant picture books and is the subject of this month’s Picture This. Van Lieshout grew up in Oegstgeest, a small town in Holland, which by all appearances is an absolutely lovely place. After high school she attended The George Washington University in…
Picture This: Ruth Brown From an Early Childhood of Extreme Contrast to Master of Spooky Picture Books
Ruth Brown is the master of spooky picture books. She has written and/or illustrated dozens of books for young children covering a wide variety of topics, but her creepier works are the most distinctive with their balance between fear and charm. Brown was born in Devon, England in 1942. The first five years of her…
Picture This: Suzy Lee
Remember how last month the first Picture This post was going to be about Patricia Polacco? I thought I’d be able to write a succinct overview of Polacco’s work along with numerous insights into the underlying themes consistent throughout her body of work, with picture scans and a timeline of her life up to this…
Tip Your Hats to Picture This: Woman Authored Picture Books
Throwing Popcorn, our reviews of all ages movies and tv shows, has been “popping” all over the place. It could not be contained to a once-a-month format and is now a regular feature. Its replacement is Picture This — an in depth look at the work of woman authors and/or illustrators of children’s picture books. Prepare…
Interview with Caldecott Winner Erin Stead
Erin Stead’s artwork is just beautiful. You can frame pages from any children’s book she has illustrated and you are looking at a piece of strong stand-alone art. Even zooming in on minor images does not detract from the effect. Take a look for yourself: The large images are gorgeous:And close-ups of the details from…
Nostalgia Nexus: Fire and Luck
Excalibur Series Chris Claremont (W) Alan Davis (A) Marvel So, I started reading Excalibur mainly due to a girl crush on Rachel Summers. She was bad ass, clad in red leather and spikes, with the power to devour worlds. But add in Kitty Pride, her dragon Lockheed, and Nightcrawler? Yeah. I’m there.