New Arrivals

First things first: this is a photo of our new puppy, just in from the pound...

She is part of a litter of five that was found in a field not far from Florence,

most likely abandoned by her mother's owners after they were weaned.

She doesn't yet have an official name, but has already made herself at home

and helped to dispel the sadness that filled our family after Emma's death. 

Welcome home, little girl!

For a long time now, I have been wanting to create a monthly feature 

dedicated to new and recently published children's books. One of the problems 

with my tendency to create rather long, in-depth posts is the fact that a lot 

of lovely things that catch my eye never make it to Animalarium. 

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this new appointment short and to the point!

Lots of cool design references in this picture

Today's picks are a couple of lovely books that I was able to preview

last Spring at the Bologna Book Fair, and I want to thank both publishers

for kindly sending me some pictures to share on Animalarium. 

The first is La mémoire de l'éléphant by my beloved Jean-François Martin, 

who by the way just won the Grand Prix de l’Illustration 2012 for his Aesop's Fables,

already featured on Animalarium after it won the 2011 Bologna Ragazzi Award. 

Many of the pages display collections of different objects and things

The story, written by Sophie Strady, brings us on a tour through the encyclopedic memory 

of the old elephant Marcel. He is collecting in a book all of the things he has learned

during his long life, now let's see if he can remember the date of his own birthday...

The large-size volume was published by hélium last April, and I hope to see 

an Italian edition out soon.

A strange place to call home features poems by Marilyn Singer illustrated with collages 

by Caldecott winner Ed Young, and was published last month by Chronicle Books. 

This time, we take a tour around the world to meet some animals that have adapted 

to live in the strangest environments and most difficult conditions. An interesting, 

instructive book that is also poetic and beautiful to look at. 

In my opinion, both of these volumes have the qualities to be loved by children and adults alike.

And these are the kind of books that I love the best... See you next month with more!

Rivers & Ponds

Jan Kudláček, Holčička a déšt, 1974, thanks to Arthur van Kruining

At long last, today it rained. It wasn't much, surely not enough for our scorched fields and forests,

 but just enough to lift our spirits and make everything cooler, fresher and greener. 

And Animalarium celebrates the day with a very watery post!

Feodor Rojankovsky, Ploof the wild duck, 1935,

via The Visual Telling of Stories

Dahlov Ipcar, Brown cow farm, 1959

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak, Alenushka's tales, 1986 via HannaRivka

T. Chursinovoy, Askania amazing country, thanks to polny_shkaf

Leo and Diane Dillon, The Secret River

Brian Wildsmith, The Little Wood Duck, 1972

Nikita Charushin, Let the birds sing, 1985, thanks to Book Graphics 

Anna Pugh, Mill pond

Harriet Russell, Kensington gardens 

Uemura Atsushi 

 Leo Lionni, Fish is fish, 1970, via Curio Books

Marie Mahler

Spring Wings

Garrett Price

A new season, a new collection of gorgeous vintage New Yorker covers.

To see our previous selection, click here. 

Roger Duvoisin

Perry Barlow

Abe Birnbaum

Robert Kraus

William Steig

Abe Birnbaum

Abe Birnbaum

Ronald Searle

Charles Saxon

James Stevenson

Joseph Low

Kathy Osborn

Jenni Oliver

Jean-Jacques Sempé

Teletrips to Wonderland

As promised, I'm back with more work by the great Nicole Claveloux.

La main verte, 1978

I first met Claveloux while visiting Paris as a teenager in one of the numerous used

 comic books I had bought at a bouquiniste close to the Boulevard Saint Germain.

The story was called The Green Hand, and I was deeply struck by its surreal,

humorously dark atmosphere and vivid color palette. At the time I didn't know 

that Claveloux was also the illustrator of many innovative, oniric and 

psychedelic children's books, as I only discovered many years later.

Le Voyage extravagant de Hugo Brisefer, text by François Ruy-Vidal, 1968

thanks to Arthur van Kruining

After studying at the Beaux-Arts of Saint-Etienne, Claveloux moved to Paris in 1966 and found work

 as a magazine illustrator. The young educator, writer and publisher François Ruy-Vidal discovered her images 

in Marie-France and introduced her to his associate, the avant-garde American publisher Harlin Quist.

They asked Claveloux to illustrate a text by Ruy-Vidal, The Secret Journey of Hugo the Brat.

The book was published by Quist in France, Germany and the US.

Alala, les télémorphoses, text by Guy Monréal, Harlin Quist, 1970

Claveloux went on to illustrate many more books for Quist, including La Forêt des lilas, The teletrips of Alala,

Hop là [...], Le Chat de Simulombula, L'Oiseau qui radote, The Bright Red Porcupine and Gare à Grabote.

From 1968 to 1973 she teamed with Bernard Bonhomme to produce illustrations for ads, 

theater posters, record covers and children's books.

Alala, the main character of this fantastic tale which takes place in a futuristic setting, is a rebellious

 little girl who has the power to enter the television set and change the course of the programs. 

 The fact that Alala's father is a black prince and her mother is white shocked the American public,

and Quist claimed that the book cost him 88% of his audience.

Gertrude et la Sirène, text by Richard Hughes, Harlin Quist, 1971, thanks to Ang Wyman

Gertrude is a wooden doll who endures in silence the abuses of a little girl so that she can sleep 

every night in her cozy bed. One day a mermaid enters their lives, and after many adventures

 and troubles Gertrude eventually leaves and discovers her freedom. This book was followed by 

L'Enfant de Gertrude, in which the abusive relationship between the child and the doll is reversed. 

These two rather dark and haunting stories focus on the desires, frustrations and cruelties of chilhood,

while the ending gives hope of a real encounter between the two protagonists.

Les Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles, Grasset, 1974

This edition of Lewis Carroll's classic is another masterpiece of psychedelic imagery.

thanks to Alicenations for its post on this book

To date, Claveloux has illustrated a hundred books for numerous French publishers 

including Éditions des Femme, Gallimard Jeunesse and Bayard Hachette Jeunesse. 

She also paints and illustrates erotic books.