Under the Spell of the Moon: Art for Children from the World’s Great Illustrators
by Patricia Aldana (Editor), Various contributors (Illustrator), Stan Dragland (Translator), Katherine Patterson (Introduction)
The illustrated picture book is one of the most important genres of children’s literature. Great artists have devoted some or all of their working lives to creating art that accompanies a text written for children. While book illustration has been practiced for thousands of years, picture book illustration is a relatively new phenomena. This beautiful book is a collection of poetry from all around the world, illustrated by some of the finest picture book artists working today including Peter Sis, Anthony Browne and Quentin Blake.
IBBY (the International Board on Books for Children), at the heart of whose mandate lies the promotion of books of the highest quality, has been honoring illustrators through the Hans Christian Andersen Awards for nearly forty years. IBBY has also been helping to support the spread of book illustration for children to countries and cultures where such artistic activity is relatively new. In honor of IBBY’s work and to support its future work, many of the world’s greatest illustrators for children have donated art based on a text of their choice drawn from their childhood and culture. The result is a book that celebrates art created for children from around the world. The texts in the book are in both the original language and in English. Noted author and editor Stan Dragland has translated the texts.Groundwood Books will pay a royalty of 15% of all sales to IBBY.
I’ve never seen a moon in the sky that, if it didn’t take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment.
Colin Farrell
I didn't have my glasses on.... 
Love the post and love the quote by Colin Farrell. Thank you!
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thanks ann. this is an amazing book and i like to find quotes from people that you would not expect from them. )
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Good to know about the book. And I also like finding the unexpected (especially in people).
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That is so neat Beth. I love the illustration of the moon as a boat and especially the little girl trailing her hand in the water from the moon. It looks like this book maybe a perfect addition to any little one’s home library. I remember vividly my favorite picture book when I was growing up – The Golden Treasury of Caroline and Her friends by Pierre Probst. Books like that are central to a young mind. Thanks for the post.
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it really is a wonderful book, i’m happy you still remember your favorite, paul. i still buy picture books for myself, there is something special about them for all ages –
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A beautiful cover that would draw in not only a child but an adult. x
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absolutely it’s for all ages )
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Wonderful post and it’s so very, very true. I still love picture books and wish that books for adults and teens included them. They always make things better:)
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me too, har. and that’s why i still buy picture books for myself. )
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What a fantastic looking book. Our kids are well past that stage but I’m going to order one to be the first grandchild’s book. Now all I need is an appropriate suitor, and the requisite baking time to pop a grandchild out.
And it’s so nice to be reminded that something doesn’t have to take our breath away to be awesome. A temporary misplacement of that breath still makes for an amazing event. Thanks.
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what a great idea, chris. and i agree about the amazing event principle. )
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Now this is a gift for the children of the world, Beth. Wow. It sounds like a wonderful undertaking.
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yes, i think so too, mark. i wanted to post something positive about the moon today, with all of the negative hype about the full moon and friday the 13th )
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Oh, Beth, your positiveness will prevail over the howlers and prowlers.
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hahahaha –
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Sounds fabulous! I adore that cover! I will have to check this out!
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i think you’d love it – picture books are not just for children after all )
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Amen! About all I can read anymore!
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This is beautiful! I taught for many years and read some wonderful children’s books to my classes. This is going to be a must-buy for me! Thank you for sharing it with us.
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great susan and i hope you enjoy it )
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What negative hype? It may not have been a full moon back then but I was engaged on a Friday the 13th so we celebrate them all! One of my favorite numbers 13. And well the moon… always has a special place for me in all of its’ phases. 🙂
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yay, jules ) i just meant all of the fears and negatives that people are afraid of happening on this day, i think it’s a great day too, and you proved it )
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of course, I am going to add another book to my COLLECTION…thanks, beth! 🙂
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great, and this made me laugh, thinking about how we couldn’t stop loading up on books while we were together at the bookstore. don finally cut us off. ))
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nah! I got about 8 more later???? …Don’s challenges always spur me on to further greatness…have you ever seen that albert finney movie where he behaves just like we do–you and I in a bookstore? roy knows the title…I KNOW that he’ll swing by and add it…it is a great film…he plays a southerner who craves books — AND peanut butter/banana sandwiches which my dad always loved, too. sometimes finney even dabs the peanut butter directly onto a peeled banana. now THAT is true living…FREEDOM to be you and me! I always think it was called SHOOT THE MOON, another great film…but that ain’t the title! cannot remember it…arghhhh. we bad!
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i think that’s great susie, i would expect nothing less from you. let me know when you guys come up with the title )
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love this exchange! the movie is called “Rich in Love” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_in_Love
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thanks for filling in the blanks, roy )
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Happy to help!
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What a great book to feature and all of the background about it is so wonderful to share! I really liked that this includes many world famous children’s illustrators, translations from the original texts along with the original authentic languages. The donation back to the IBBY is also a great idea. I like the idea of UNICEF being a recipient, if they didn’t have the independent board on books for children…
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P.S. I also liked Colin Farrell’s quote.(misplacing his breath for a moment…) I am rather fond of the moon in all its glory and am so glad you had a book with the moon on the cover and an important message to share today!
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me too, and thanks )
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thanks robin, it is a wonderful book )
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