Over at Grapes 2.0 the Sour One is taking a poll asking what we think is the “Most beautiful children’s book”.
I’ve answered, have you?
In my answer I mentioned both Chris Van Allsburg and Clare T (Turlay) Newberry as favorite author/illustrators (although beautiful illustration doesn’t seem to be the ultimate intent of the Flemish poll that triggered all this yakyak).
I first encountered Newberry’s books when I was a page at the San Jose Public Library back in the early 70s. Shelving books in the Children’s Room one day, I came across Newberry’s book Smudge and promptly fell in love with her cat/kitten sketches.
Check out what I’m talking about. I love the way she was able to convey the cat-ness of the cats and kittens and the texture of their fur.