How to use this Page

Bats are a much-maligned animal. Long thought of as creepy or evil or diseased, a closer look reveals that the wide variety of bat species also possess an amazing array of attributes and perform all sorts of vital ecological roles: from pollinating bananas and mangoes to eating so many insects every night that they save [...]

The William Cannon Art Gallery is part of the Carlsbad City Library Complex. Its entrance is on the right side of the courtyard, beyond these archways.

That’s me, giving my UCSD students — past and present — a private tour of the Original Art Show at Cannon Art Gallery. I’m pointing out aspects of Carolyn Fisher’s illustration work from Weeds Find A Way by Cindy Jenson-Elliott. photo by Denise Harbison

Why? Because after November 23, 2014 , the traveling exhibit, “The Original Art 2013“ at the Cannon Art Gallery, in Carlsbad CA will close!

David Diaz checking out the artistry on display at The Original Art
photo by Roxyanne Young

Don’t miss this exhibit! You’ll encounter 40 examples of the best-illustrated books of 2013, from the most talented in the field.

A highlight is the inclusion of published illustrators who happen to live in San Diego and Los Angeles, including Salina Yoon, Debbie Tilley, Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha, David Diaz, Janell Cannon, and Robin Preiss Glasser, to name just a few!

Salina Yoon beside her original work from Penguin and Pinecone and Found!
photo by Roxyanne Young

There’s a dedicated reading corner where you can sit and peruse the books each piece is culled from. Many of the originals include drawings, paintings, prints, etchings, and collages — a rare opportunity to fully appreciate the diversity of creativity applied to these works. Gallery curator Karen McGuire even adhered post-its to corresponding pages of each book, so that visitors can compare the printed result to its original, up-close!

Book trailers are played on a continual loop above the reading corner of the Gallery. photo by Joy Chu

There’s also a video featuring 19 trailers highlighting selected artists on display, broadcast throughout the duration of the exhibit. Don’t miss it — it’s at the reading corner! Here are just a few of the trailers you’d encounter.

IDEA: It’s not too early to order picture books for holiday gift giving! Give everyone you love a children’s picture book. It’s a bazillion times more enduring than a mere Christmas card! There’s something for everyone.

Like this one (below). Yes, Renata Liwska‘s original work is on display at The Cannon Art Gallery too!

Check out the work of Renata, and her multi-talented illustrator colleagues, at the Cannon Art Gallery, before it becomes yet another happy memory.

1775 Dove Lane
Carlsbad, CA 92011
(760) 602-202
Hours
Tuesday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
CLOSED MONDAYS

Illustration by Renata Lewiska; text by Nina Laden

#71 Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993)
27 points

Beautiful story, beautiful illustrations. – B Patton

An adventure in identity. – Rose Marie Moore

Sweet baby.  When Stellaluna first came out I was in high school and my mom was working in the oldest independent bookstore in Kalamazoo, Michigan, The Athena (until Barnes and Noble snuffed it out like a candle, but that’s a tale for another day).  So I remember the release of this book.  Mom was charmed, and I was impressed by the illustrations.  It looked like nothing else I’d ever seen before.  On the one hand you had these lush intricately detail full-color pictures.  On the other hand, it was peppered with the most delicate of thin-lined spot illustrations in the corners.  And as someone who has lived in multiple homes where bats have gotten in and flown about, I know just how scary they can be.  So to see this utterly realistic and yet also A-DOR-ABLE creature in this book . . . well, I was charmed.  The publisher released a Stellaluna bat toy not long thereafter, and I believe it hung in my dorm room for a spell.  Not many other children’s books could boast equal representation.

The plot is the typical fish out of water tale, but with a nice twist.  A baby fruit bat is raised by birds, and finds that her natural inclinations are different from theirs.  The mother bird understands but informs her that she must adhere to the rules.  Not long thereafter Stellaluna is reunited with her mother, but in an interesting twist she doesn’t immediately abandon her bird family.  It’s not too dissimilar from Leo Lionni’s fabulous Nicolas, Where Have You Been? but with a different take on the situation.

The truly splendid Kirkus review said of it, “The appealingly furry, wide-eyed, fawn-colored bats have both scientific precision and real character; they’re displayed against intense skies or the soft browns and greens of the woodland in spare, beautifully constructed (occasionally even humorous) compositions. Delightful and informative but never didactic: a splendid debut.”

I'm missing picturebooks on this blog! Colour and playfullness! Which makes me wonder - are we endorsing the message: picturebook writers have still to ‘grow’ into YA writers? As an art teacher in another life, I see picturebooks as the foundation for developing an early aesthetic - line, tone, texture, colour, imagery, flights of fancy, hidden meaning, pattern and rhythm are all there to be unknowlingly absorbed by the child.


So here are my favourite 5 PICTUREBOOK BEASTIES. Classic beasts like Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, Antony Browne’s Gorilla and Munro Leaf’s Ferdinand are givens, (5 is an impossibly small number!) so I’ve tried for some really small beasties, one imaginary one and one jungle beast. You probably have plenty more favourites to add. No vampires or dinosaurs allowed!



1. THE FROGS AND THE CAT (see top of blog) by Kazanari Hino illustrated by Tokao Siato published by Fukuinkan Shoten won the IBBY Honours Book in 2004 for Japanese Illustration.

11 Comments on 5 FAVOURITE PICTUREBOOK BEASTIES – Dianne Hofmeyr, last added: 7/23/2010

YOUR TEXT HERE (thank you to Fuse)