Not long ago I read and enjoyed Before They Were Artists, Elizabeth Haidle’s 2021 discussion of various visual artists in graphic novel form, aimed a […]
The Worlds of Tomie dePaola
Barbara Elleman’s 2021 book The Worlds of Tomie dePaola: The Art and Stories of the Legendary Artist and Author was a genuine eyeopener. Like many […]
Before They Were Artists
I enjoyed Elizabeth Haidle’s 2021 Before They Were Artists: Famous Illustrators as Kids, and I learned a lot from it. It is a book for […]
The People’s Painter
Sometimes I realize just how much I don’t know. That was the case when I stumbled across a mention of Ben Shahn and looked him […]
Books About Books (and authors), Nonfiction, Perspectives on Children's Literature, Picture Book Adjacent, Review
Who Was A. A. Milne?
This is another picture book-adjacent title, rather than being an actual picture book. Who Was A. A. Milne? (2021) by Sarah Fabiny (and illustrated by […]
Books About Books (and authors), How To, Perspectives on Children's Literature, Picture Book Adjacent, Review
Making It Up As You Go Along
I recently discussed Look at my Book, a picture book about writing picture books. It was surprisingly good, and made me curious how strong other […]
Look at my Book
The subtitle of Loreen Leedy’s 2004 picture book Look at my Book: How Kids Can Write and Illustrate Terrific Books makes it sound like it […]
little big books: Illustrations for children’s picture books
I can’t say enough good about little big books: Illustrations for children’s picture books. This 2012 book edited by Robert Klanten and Hendrik Hellige is […]
My Friend the Paintbrush
I enjoyed Marcus Pfister’s picture book (2025 in Switzerland, 2026 in English) My Friend the Paintbrush: The Colorful World of Marcus Pfister a lot more […]
More Thoughts on Make Believe
A few days ago I posted my first thoughts on Mac Barnett‘s book Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, which came out this week. […]