“Your letters . . . your existence has made something of this world that [it] hadn’t the possibility of before.” - Peter F. NeumeyerIt was 1968. Edward Gorey was contracted by the publisher Addison-Wesley to illustrate a children's book written by Peter F. Neumeyer. At their first meeting Gorey slipped and Neumeyer grabbed him by the arm. The grab dislocated Gorey's shoulder and it was during his stay at the hospital waiting for treatment that they began what would become a deep life-long friendship.The book, an illustrated memoir, features 75 typewriter-transcribed letters, 38 illustrated envelopes, and more than 60 postcards...
The Furry Side of Margaret Wise Brown
In 1947 Margaret Wise Brown published Good Night Moon. The book would redefine the bedtime story and find a place on the bookshelves of millions of infants and kids around the world. By 1990 over 4 million copies had been sold. It has been lauded as one of the better illustrated and designed books of its time.The year before Harper & Brothers published her book Little Fur Family, a tale of a little fur child's day in the woods.There was a little Fur FamilyWarm as toastSmaller than mostIn little fur coatsAnd they lived in a warmWooden tree. Unlike the well...
We’re Off to Illustrate the Wizard; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Zoe Andreas Blank Pages, an arm of the London based design agency Fridge Creative, would like you to help illustrate L. Frank Baum's classic 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', How it Works:The entire text of the book has been uploaded with blank pages interspersed throughout. When you happen upon a blank white page it is need of an illustration. Draw it up and send it off, if the editors like it you're in.Blank Pages, whose mantra is to "Give old classics a new lease of life," plans on releasing other childhood favorites into the wild to be illustrated by the...
It’s a Book and the first annual Unplug Day
A mouse, a jackass, and a monkey walk into a bookstore....Well not really, but Lane Smith's latest book, It's a Book, features these three characters grappling with the ever-changing world of books and technology.The publisher calls it "a delightful manifesto on behalf of print in the digital age" and it is a welcome addition to the p vs. e debate.To celebrate the release of the book, Macmillan has created the first annual Unplug Day and is urging everyone on August 31st to "unplug. unwind. recharge. read a book!"click to enlarge I'm in.Facebook group for Unplug Day
Over Two Billion Sold: Little Golden Books
The concept was simple enough. To publish a illustrated children's book that was well-made and affordable for the American family. At the time the average price of a children's book was $2-$3.George Duplaix, the then president of the Artists and Writers Guild, Inc., pitched the idea to Simon & Schuster and the Little Golden Books were born.The first 12 titles were published in October, 1942 for 25¢ a piece. The distinctive illustrated gold-foil spine over the stiff pictorial boards set the Little Golden Book apart from the field and ushered in a new era of children's books. Now, 65+ years...