The Feather Collector

A big thank you to my student Federica for sharing with me this beautiful book

by the French illustrator Isabelle Simler. I really enjoy the elegant spareness 

of the compositions, and the interesting balance between realism and stylization 

of the illustrations. Together with a variety of birds and their feathers, 

in each spread we get a peek at a mysterious black cat. This possibly dangerous 

creature at the end turns out to be a feather collector, and his presence 

is sure to make the reading more fun and exciting for young children. 

 

 Plumes was published last May in France by Éditions Courtes et Longues.

Friends & Feathers

Will Barnet

Last week our cockatoo friend Viola went back to her home.

Even though she could be as demanding as a toddler (and much louder),

most of the time her presence was delightful and very entertaining.

By the way, I didn't know that cockatoos love cuddles so much!

Seba fell completely under her spell, and after taking dozens of photos

he has already created two portraits of Viola, one of which now hangs 

where her cage used to stand. This post is dedicated to him and to 

all bird lovers, and naturally to our beautiful feathered friends.

Karolin Schnoor

Aris Moore, thanks to Art Found Out

Alberto Macone

Beatrice Alemagna, illustration from Jo singe garçon

Susumu Fujimoto

Bobi Bobi

Elsa Mora

René and Radka

Andrey Remnev

 Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Kevin and the blackbird's nest

Dilka Bear, New Moon, thanks to magpie and whiskeyjack

Michael Shapcott

 GrapeFrogg, You Could Stay There

Simona & Simone

I've been wanting to take some photos of these beautiful volumes since I bought them 

at the Bologna Book Fair, but only now I've found the time to actually do it.

Last year I had already posted about Topipittori, one of my favorite Italian publishers

of illustrated children's books, and this time at the fair I had a chat with its founders,

Giovanna Zoboli and Paolo Canton. Turns out that Paolo and I knew each other

when we were teenagers! Anyway, I really love what they do, and was very happy

to get a copy of the wonderful Vorrei avere signed by the artist SImona Mulazzani...

GIovanna Zoboli's Vorrei avere (I wish I had) is an ode to the beauty and wonder of animals

sung through the poetic words of a child enamored with nature. Mulazzani's enchanting

 illustrations interpret every verse with great sensitivity and a richness of visual inventions.

Love the endpapers with the illustration sketches!

I have also previously featured the works of SImone Rea, one of Italy's brightest young illustrators. 

His elegant paintings illustrate this new translation of Aesop's Fables with warmth 

and a wonderful sense of color and composition. 

Coincidentally, I have already posted the equally sophisticated Aesop interpretation 

by Jean-François Martin which won the Bologna Ragazzi Award this year.

To each his own, I love them both!

How will the blackbird sing?

In 1958, the great Norman McLaren utilized paper cut-outs to transform 

a French–Canadian nonsensical folk song into this playfully surrealistic animation.

In 1940, the same song had inspired a book project by Bruno Munari.

Published for the first time in 1987, it was recently reprinted by Corraini

using silk-screen printing on transparent plastic sheets.

Two lovely examples of genius in simplicity!