"Then the all-clear sounded. And people returned, hope undiminished. They returned, so elegant and purposeful to the books." - From The Principles of Uncertainty
"The painful and inevitable struggle remains to create in a childlike and openhearted manner, but to be un-wistful and cruel when judging one’s creation."
Amanda Hall has painted Henri Rousseau into his own works. This is a tricky thing to do well. InThe Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau, a biography written by Michelle Markel, Hall's incorporations are seamless. And more importantly, they feel right.
Right from the start of the book you can feel Hall's deep affinity for Rousseau. In her illustrator's notes she writes about seeing a Rousseau painting for the first time, "It was as though someone turned on a light in my head, a light that shone on something I recognized or remembered." An inspiring story gracefully told, The Fantastic Jungle of Henri Rousseau has illuminating power of its own.
"Just to demonstrate how demented or scattershot my artist-self is, I will now show you one slightly edited week of sketchbook entries. These were done between March 4 - 11, 2013. These images are generally worked on in the early morning before family duties and illustration work takes precedence. Most of these pictures are 8 1/2 x 11 inches or smaller."
"The little girl, Lora, arrives at a secluded monastery with her only friend, Dog. Dogs are forbidden inside the monastery, so while Lora gets uniformed, as prescribed by the rules of the monastery, the head nun puts down Dog. The strict rules of the monastery does not allow Lora to mourn the loss of her lost friend, so she decides to turn into a dog herself and confront all the rules that have been upheld for generations."
If you're in New York next month, check out 'Picture This', a group of evenings which gets local illustrators and their French counterparts together to talk shop, from April 8th to May 17th...
...Herve Tullet and Mo Willems, Olivier Tallec and Oliver Jeffers, to name a few. Sponsored by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy
"Found by former project staff in the James Johnson Sweeney general correspondence, these drawings have been tagged as 'adorable.' If you have any information on the artist, email archives@guggenheim.org."
—Francine Snyder, Director of Library and Archives
Mulazzani's jungle plants and cats, with their lush decorative color and smooth shapes, remind me of Henri Rousseau. Both text and illustration are evocative and playful. The illustrations match a variety specific wishes for the talents or qualities of various animals, from the "eyes of a blackbird to see every blade of grass," to the "contentment of a dog in winter when the snow falls outside." A little bonus comes with the endpapers, made from drafts and sketches of interior illustrations. Altogether stylish and fun to study, I Wish I Had... is a beautiful pairing of words and pictures.
Thank you to Eerdmans Publishing.
Title: I Wish I Had...
Author: Giovanna Zoboli
Publisher: William B. Eerdmanns Publishing Company
Create your own Sound Board on Pinterest and enter for a chance to win a prize pack including a signed book, signed CD and a kazoo! Sweepstakes ends 3/20.