On a recent and most adventurous trip to the South of France, I had the pleasure of visiting the small village of Montolieu. Known as the “Village of Books,” Montolieu has a grand array of artisans that specialize in book binding and printing as well as antiquarian bookstores specializing in everything from vintage periodicals and antiquities to comics, art and kids books.
Today’s post will unearth some of my favorite finds from my trip, including books illustrated by J.P. Miller, Charley Harper, and Alain Gree.
I went with a few other folks to Montolieu during the awkward hour of 11:30A, which is right before all shops close up for lunch. I was on a time crunch, and the first (and only) bookstore I visited was La Rose Des Vents, which translates to “The Compass” in English. The shop was fairly small and had two rooms, with regional and history books in the front and children’s books in the back.
While there, I was able to find a few neat books, including a drawing book titled Voyage a Travers Le Monde (Journey Through the World), c. 1974. The book provides instructions on how to draw various cultures from around the world, not by any means accurately by the way.
In addition to that book, I was able to find Le Manege Vivant (c. 1950), which is the French edition of The Marvelous Merry-Go-Round, written by Jane Werner and illustrated by J.P. Miller. I had not seen the book before, and the hippo alone on the cover was enough reason to hold onto it! Upon opening the book, I was pleased to see so many whimsical and colorful illustrations, trademark of Miller’s style.
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I’ve been a fan of Werner Design Werks for a few years now, so I was excited to hear about their recent release of alphabeasties: and other Amazing Types. This beautiful children’s book features animals crafted out of typefaces. How about an alligator set in Volta EF? You got it! There’s even a dachshund made out of “d”s set in Bauhaus. Gary fans rejoice!
In the same vein as Bruno Munari’s Alfabetiere, alphabeasties achieves the perfect balance of fun and well-executed design. Pick up a copy for your your kid, but don’t be suprised if you end it keeping all to yourself.
You can buy alphabeasties at Red Balloon Bookshop or back order a copy at Chronicle books.
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Also worth checking: Charley Harper ABC’s.
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Congrats to MCHL of Sacramento. You are the winner of the Incase HunterGatherer laptop sleeve.
Grain Edit recommended reading: A Russian Diary
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Mein Erster Brockhaus - Ein Buntes Bilder - ABC c1963 Published by F.A Brockhaus Wiesbaden Germany
What young German boy wouldn’t want a book filled with Spargel, Spatz, Specht and Schwable? (most of those were birds..but one was asparagus. I’ll let you guess which one.) This alphabet book is filled with those little dudes. If I ever go to Germany, I’m taking this book with me. I’ll be name dropping German nouns all day. This is the OG way to learn a language. Watch out Rosetta Stone!
Beautiful illustrations and design by: Dieter von Andrian, Paul Froitzheim and Gerhard Wawra.
Pass the drossel!
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Also worth checking: The Jungle Race
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Congrats to our winners in the Alexander Girard/ House Industries Giveaway!.
Grand Prize goes to MidcenturyMaude 2nd Prize goes to Abby S
©2009 Grain Edit
Amy Cartwright is a talented illustrator who designs and illustrates cards, books, and other products for clients including: Hallmark, 3M, Scholastic, and Proctor & Gamble. In her spare time she curates one of our favorite blogs, Stickers and Stuff. The blog showcases vintage kids books and wonderful examples of modern design. Here for grain edit readers Amy shares pictures of some of her favorite books and the stories behind some of her finds. Enjoy!
and now over to you Amy.
Hungry Baby Bunny
This book is one of my most recent finds. I love how the old pages are discolored, and love the wacky, kitsch, super bright pictures of that sweet (slightly scary) happy bunny. I find it really funny how they have “(The Baby Bunny)” written on the cover of the book beneath the giant illustration of him.
Chewing Gum’s Wrapping Paper Collection
The layout of this book is super nice - I love all the color combination’s. It’s by PIE books, if only their books were easier to get hold of, I picked this one up from England.
Cookbooks
I got most of these last summer, they are cheap and fairly easy to come by and have the funniest illustrations. I love to draw faces on things that don’t normally have faces too - like a leg of ham! You’ve got to love the blue bunny Mommy chef who is viciously chopping carrots. I could have gone on and on taking pictures inside these…
The Ground Meat Cookbook and Quick Dishes for the Woman in a Hurry are really good ones, oh and of course Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cookbook.
Cozy Tomato Postcard Book
Cozy Tomato is a great Japanese illustrator. I love Japanese design, and also enjoy the funny translations that sometimes happen too. I got this at Kinokuniya in NYC.
The Big Dipper
I am a big fan of Ed Emberley and his fantastic kids drawing books series that everyone knows so well and loves dearly. I really liked seeing his different drawings in this book and the bright & limited color palette.
This is the House Where Jack Lives
I have tried to find out a bit more about the illustrator Aliki or any other books like this, but haven’t come across any. I love the limited color palette on this and those adorable retro illustrations.
Busy Town
Another book by PIE Books. I picked this one up in Kinokuniya in New York. This books is full of a fantastic collection of European matchboxes.
Mouk
Marc Boutavant is one of my favorite illustrators. I have a few Mouk books, Around the World with Mouk is another great one worth checking out and fairly easy to get hold of. I thought I would share one of the other Mouk books about him and his bicycle because I love bikes!
Publicite 10
I bought this book last summer after we had just moved to Illinois. I was checking out the used book stores in my new neighborhood, thought it was a great find, and always enjoy looking through it. The book pages are made up of lots of different stock, some of them are super glossy and there are a few plates of textured paper here and there.
Ma Saison Preferee
Another amazing Japanese illustrator, Rica Takada. I just had to share this book. I picked it up in London a few years ago. I like the retro style and the European influence too with the drawings of Citroen 2CV’s it brings back fond memories of cruising around in one of those as a kid.
South Pacific
I found this in a random section at a bookstore last year when we were living in Richmond, Virginia. I knew I just had to get it even before I had opened up to the first page.
Tell Me a Riddle
I can’t find any credit to the illustrator in this old book, which is a bit sad because I love the retro style drawings.
This is London
My book collection would not be complete with out a bit of M. Sasek and of course a book about London - one of my favorite cities! This is an original book that was very kindly given to me many years ago. Since then, lots in the This is… series have been reprinted, and are so super easy to get hold of.
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Thanks Amy for sharing your collection with our readers!
A little more about Amy Cartwright:
Amy was born in Gloucestershire, England and earned a degree in illustration from Central Saint Martin’s in London. She now lives with her husband in Illinois, and works as a freelance illustrator. She pretty much spends her whole day drawing pictures.
When she isn’t drawing, and provided that the weather’s nice enough, you may find Amy and her husband exploring on their tandem bike. For more info, check out her scrapbook, blog, and website.
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Enter the Grain Edit Design Stimulus Giveaway! featuring goodies from Steven Harrington, Aesthetic Apparatus, 2K Gingham and many more! We're giving away over $1000 worth of goods. Enter now!©2009 Grain Edit
Eli No! tells the story of one trouble-making dog and the one word that is never far behind. The book was designed and illustrated by Katie Kirk & Nathan Strandberg of Eighthourday.
I love this image of a very content Eli lying on the floor after enjoying a trash can buffet of popsicles and hexagon shaped eggs. Eli seems to be a real pear hater. He left both of them untouched. We’ll atleast he passed on the bacon and butter. Maybe he has high cholesterol?
We always had a few dogs around the house when I was growing up and they would get into everything. Unfortunately most of it wasn’t food. They would try to eat sponges and large plastic things. I’d love to see a list of everything they managed to eat over the years.
Did Eli find a Jewish forest? Eli chases a speedy little squirrel through a forest of menorah shaped trees.
Eli No! is filled with bright fun graphics and beautiful layouts. I can see kids falling in love with this kooky troublemaker.
You can see more images of Eli No! here.
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New giveaways coming soon at Grain Edit ©2008 Grain Edit
The Jungle Race - c 1967- Published by Bancroft & Co.
Super cool children’s book from Czech illustrators G. Seda and J. Pavlin. One of many pop up books the duo illustrated during the 1960s and 70s.
The short version of this story is: a lion, an elephant and and a giraffe try to put together a race and find out that their friends are totally lame. Their loser friends include trendy Zebra fashions snobs, snorkeling hippos and an antelope that likes to get tossed in the air by a gaggle of monkeys.
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With three cats and a dog in our house, we are definitely animal lovers, and my daughter, who will turn one in just a couple of weeks, absolutely loves our animals. She also loves Tricycle Press's Busy Animal Board Books.
We own four of the eight books in the series:
- Busy Kitties, by John Schindel, photography by Sean Franzen
- Busy Penguins, by John Schindel, photography by Jonathan Chester
- Busy Doggies, by John Schindel, photography by Beverly Sparks
- Busy Monkeys, by John Schindel, photography by Luiz Claudio Marigo
Each page in the book features a full-color photographs of an animal(s) demonstrating the action word on the page that will help your child build vocabulary. For example, in the Busy Kitties book, we see "Kitty hissing/ Kitty kissing/ Kitty running/ Kitty sunning" and more.
My daughter is fascinated by the photographs in these sturdy books and just sits there and smiles as she flips the pages. I also appreciate that they will introduce her to other animals, like monkeys and penguins, that she doesn't have the chance to see in their natural habitats.
Other books in the series that we're adding to our wish list include:
These would all make a great addition to your young child's library.
