As we zoom into 2015, let's have a look at beginnings and ending. Some illustrators do endpapers, others don't – but I love them. They feel as important to me as the first paragraph of a novel ... a sort of
mise-en-scène ... an artful visual placing of what is about to happen – as powerful as walking into a theatre and confronting the curtains up, on a stage already set.
So I ransacked my shelves and have come up with 15 for you to guess at... some old, some new... titles and illustrators at the end. Some have different endpapers at the front to those at the back and some I'll give a hint of, by adding an interior pic. So here we go starting with two forests:
1.
2.
And now no 3, a book from the US with two different endpapers
3
Some illustrators prefer patterns (I'll add an interior pic of the next 4 books to give a hint)
4
5
6
7.
8
Some illustrators do multiple drawings on the endpapers
9
10
11
Some do single illustrations that add to the story
12
No 13 has different endpapers at the start and finish of the book.
13
No 14, is the double spread of the endpaper shown at the beginning of the blog with us zooming into the future of 2015. Have fun! Hope its a good year for all!
14
And finally some endpapers end with 'The beginning...'
15
How many did you get?
ANSWERS:
1. Pookie in Search of a Home by Ivy L Wallace published by Collins UK
2. Little Evie in the Wild Wood Jackie Morris illustrat by Catherine Hyde pub Frances Lincoln UK
3. Zen Ghosts by Jon J Muth published by Scholastic US
4. The Big Pets by Lane Smith published by Viking US
5. Jamela's Dress by Niki Daly published by Frances Lincoln UK
6. Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora pyblished by Greenwillow books US
7. Celebration Song by James Berry illustr by Louise Brierley, Hamish Hamilton UK
8. The Magic Bojabi Tree by Dianne Hofmeyr illustr by Piet Grobler pub Frances Lincoln UK
9. Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky retold & illustr by Niki Daly published by Lothrop US
10. The Arrival by Shaun Tan published by Hodder UK
11. The Tree of Life by Peter Sis published by Walker UK
12. Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf, drawings by Robert Lawson published by Viking US
13. Do the Whales Still Sing? By Dianne Hofmeyr illustr by Jude Daly published by Dial US
14. Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
15. Varmints by Helen Ward illustr Marc Craste published by Templar UK
Twitter: @dihofmeyr
Latest picture book: Zeraffa Giraffa – Top 100 Children's Classics List of Past 10 years
– THE SUNDAY TIMES
by Ann and Paul Rand (Chronicle Books, 2009; originially published in 1956.)
You might remember how much I love this pair’s Sparkle and Spin, and this one is just as playful and just as true. That case cover surprise is an a delight, and complementary-colored endpapers start this book with a bang.
Paul Rand’s graphic genius is so well-matched by the simple and spare words of his wife, Ann. The text and the pictures both glide through that magical reality of childhood. Things that might seem daunting to someone bested by time are small and accessible. Things that may seem obvious or forgettable are ripe for play and adventure.
It’s a reminder to slow down, listen, and watch. The world is built of wonderful things. The big picture is as beautiful as the details.
Here, the sentiment is the whole of this person. I’m not sure there’s an ending more perfect, not for kids or their grownups. There’s so much more to know, but what you carry with you can stay.
by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin (Candlewick, 2014)
The Promise is on this year’s New York Times Best Illustrated Books list and I’m so glad it captured a spot. I imagine weeping and gnashing of teeth to pare down a year into a handful of notables, but they got this one so right.
Here you have bleakness. Bare and raw. And a girl who doesn’t have much but the desolate things. The words themselves pierce the brightness.
The people, too, dry and dusty.
And then.
Some seeds and a promise and a reluctant okay.
I pushed aside the mean and hard and ugly, and I planted, planted, planted.
Everything works in this book. The text is exquisite. The pictures haunting and heartbreaking and hopeful. The paper is luxurious. The case cover differs from the jacket itself. Dig in. Look around. Don’t miss the endpapers that start as stone and end as spring.
There’s a little Frog Belly Rat Bone here, in this fragile world in need of color and life.
(Also, there’s a lot of great stuff about this beautiful book here, and this post is so, so lovely as well.)
And PS! Add a comment by Wednesday, December 3rd to this post for a chance at winning all ten of those books from Chronicle. Don’t forget your pledge to #GiveBooks this year!
I promised to show you how I used the endpapers to finish off my story's narrative with a little visual joke.
In an original draft, I had the last spread taking place in the bathroom instead of the back garden, with Lucy enjoying the bubble bath that Sparky has narrowly avoided. I was going to draw Sparky sitting beside the bath reading Ballet for Dogs: a Ruff Guide (sorry). But they don't get near the bath any more: the action all stays downstairs.
So I thought I would end with Sparky, clearly delusional, thinking he was actually good at ballet, then show him and Lucy cavorting in their ballet gear on the endpapers. I originally envisaged him being dreadful, as he was in class, but then it occurred to me that it might be funnier if he did indeed manage to get good!
John sourced me lots of photos of ballet dancing couples, using Google Images, from which I did these very quick sketches, just to capture the basic poses:
Then I drew Lucy and Sparky in the same positions. It was a bit tricky here and there, since their body-shapes were very different from your average dancer, and a couple of them didn't work as well as the others, but it came together surprisingly quickly:
5 Comments on There's a Dog Dancing across the Endpapers!, last added: 6/17/2012
My last post found me extolling the virtues of endpapers...
...when it struck me that I now have some endpapers of my own...
...not only endpapers, of course, a whole book, but at the moment we are just talking about endpapers...
...it also got me thinking that not only do I love
endpapers...
...but I love a good flyleaf too...
...and you know what, I might be blowing my own trumpet here...
...but I think my flyleaves look non too shabby either.
Today at
Shelftalker, Allison Morris shares some gorgeous endpapers. Check them out at
Endpapers on Parade. After sharing a number of examples she asks, "Have you seen any great endpapers in the recent or more distant past? If so, tell us what books we should open to find them."
I'm quite fond of the endpapers from
Velma Gratch & the Way Cool Butterfly, which are pictured in the article. Other recent favorites include
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, largely because I love the Williams' poems written across the pages. I also like the endpapers for
Astronaut Handbook, which picture different rockets blasting off into space. (Both of these are
Cybils nonfiction picture book nominees, by the way!)
I'm sure this is a cost issue, but I'm always sad when I open a new book to find just plain endpapers. I love them decorated. How about you? Do you like "fancy" endpapers? If so, what are some of your favorites?
I drove my daughter to college yesterday, and moved her into the same dorm that I moved into 26 years ago. I hope she eventually goes to a party like this one. (Oh, and studies hard! Yes, lots of studying!)
(And if you want a history of the Chimera SF Fan Club, click on the picture. There may be a few more compromising photos over there, too.)
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I love these end pages!! They made me smile.