me and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
I’m far too mentally unstable to be writing this entry right now.
Alas….
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I’ve been meaning to write about my favorite children’s book illustrators.
I think I’m going to mourn the loss of my childhood forever.
I don’t think I’ll ever be cooler than I was at at…like 7.
Everything about my life was better then.
Most of all the books.
“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” was hands down my favorite book growing up. It was the first time I learned to laugh at misfortune. I think that’s an important thing to learn. Especially as a kid.
The illustrations still knock me out.
Something about the simply black and white etching is so perfect for the story. Just take a look at Alexander in that picture. Isn’t that just so perfect!?!?!?!? Hahaha!!!! He’s the epitome of the wild haired person who can’t get anything right. The way he’s just standing there! The way he holds his hands all awkawrd like! God. Alexander is still the man of my dreams.
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And then there’s…..
Edward Gorey.
I remember my kindergarden teacher reading us the Edward Gorey alphabet book. For those of you who don’t know, Edward Gorey’s alphabet book contains a different child dying for every letter—hence the “A is for Amy who fell down the stairs.” It took me a few years to realize the humor behind the book. But at 5 I just thought it was spooky and cool.
Once again, I think I have a thing for black-and-white etchings.
P.S. If you ever visit me on Cape Cod, I will bring you to Edward Gorey’s house. They turned his house into a museum. It’s quite possibly the best museum ever!
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Harris Burdick is responsible for a lot of my childhood fascination with stories. What’s especially magical about Harris Burdick is the story behind his book. The story goes like this: Harris Burdick walked into a children’s book editor’s office with a stack of haunting illustrations, like the one above. Accompanying each photo was one mysterious sentence. The editor was so impressed that she demanded that Harris come back the next day with the stories to go along with the drawings. Harris left his stack of pictures with the editor and promised to come back the next day. But he never returned. Ever. So the editor was just left with these eerie pictures and a one sentence glimpse of the story that could have followed. I still look at these illustrations every once in a while. They make my imagination go wild. Look him up if you want to see the rest of his illustrations, and the sentences that went along with them.
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And now for my all time favorite childrens book illustrator of all time…..
QUENTIN BLAKE!
First of all….isn’t that the absolute perfect name for a children’s book illustrator?
Anyway, he illustrated all of Roald Dahl’s books.
When I saw the cover of Matilda, I knew instantly she was going to my icon for life. And she still is.
When I was little, I thought Roald Dahl drew the pictures too…because the pictures just fit so perfectly.
I remember reading about Matilda’s awful parents…and then looking at their picture…and thinking that the description and the parents were so perfect that they really must exist in real life.
I still sorta believe that.
You can tell Quentin was a very good reader…because he understand Roald’s characters very well. They were sorta a match-made in heaven. So to speak.
Anyway, what I always thought was interesting about Quentin Blake is that whenever a character was good…he gave them little dot eyes…and whenever they were mean…he gave them big bulging eyes.
He also had the absolute best way of showing a pretentious asshole by making their nose go up high in the air.
No one did a flared nostril better than Quentin.
Quentin’s book “Tell Me A Picture” is a great read. Also…the phrase “tell me a picture” is my motto for storytelling.
Anyway, I feel much better after going down that memory lane. I feel all warm and fuzzy.
like,
Me
