What do children's illustrators have to do with art?

Often when we think of the word "artist" we think Monet, Picasso, Rembrandt, but what about illustrators? Illustrators are, in their own right, professional artists and can inspire us just like many of the masters. For our children they play a part in their imaginative world, helping bring to life characters and experiences, much like looking at art in a museum can do for adult. The difference between an "artists" and an "illustrator" is you typically wouldn't find a children's book illustrator in a museum, until now.

And speaking of illustrators in museum -there are two exhibits going on right now that I want to share with you....

Illustrator Love

I love the artwork in this adorable take on the old blind men and the elephant story. I actually loved it so much that after we read it in class, the children were invited to create their own animals from different patterned paper. Here is what they came up with...

Illustrator love

We grabbed this book at the library last week and Max has requested it every night since and it's easy to see why. What he seems to love about it is that it's drawn completely in silhouette with bright watercolor backgrounds, leaving so much up to the imagination. We spend most of bedtime simply looking at the pictures and talking about what the babies are doing in each scene, imagining what their facial expressions might look like or how they're feeling. 

As an author Peggy Rathmann tells a good story, as an illustrator she always seems to go beyond what's written. Her scenes are full of extra little "secret" pieces, that you miss the first few times around. One of our favorite "secret" bits is from 10 Minutes Till Bedtime where you can 

see the zoo animals from Goodnight Gorilla heading to the Zoo Keeper's house from out the window of the little boy's room. It's these details that keep the story going and keep us coming back for more! 

images from: The Day the Babies Crawled Away by PeggyRathmann.com/