Wesley Dennis, illustrator

Wesley Dennis, 1903-1966, was an illustrator known mostly for his life-like images of horses and animals. You probably have seen his illustrations on Marguerite Henry books,

































or John Steinbeck's The Red Pony,

or Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.

Here are a couple of stories he wrote and illustrated that are still terrific. The stories are genuine but with a sense of humor, and of course, illustrated beautifully:

 We have the Album of Horses book, which I didn't realize was written by Marguerite Henry and illustrated by Wesley Dennis. No wonder I liked it so well.

There are even Breyer horses created for Marguerite Henry/Wesley Dennis books. Here is King of the Wind.

And look: how sweet are Misty and Stormy?       

One last cool thing about Wesley Dennis. He really enjoyed drawing for kids and loved to personally answer his fan mail. It was difficult to keep up, but he knew that kids loved getting mail, so he came up with an idea  to have kids subscribe to a series of postcards that he would illustrate and write, duplicate and send each week. Take a look at these hidden treasures!

Kind of a Big Deal (that's Minnesotan for "AWESOME")

Photo: Cheryl Simon
For Shelf Awareness blog April 3, 2013
Three of my favorite author-types: Lemony Snicket (Dan Handler), Neil Gaiman, and Jon Klassen promote Lemony Snicket's new picture book for younger readers, The Dark. 

Written by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen, and the

audio version read by Neil Gaiman.

First, Lemony Snicket. I've loved his books and writing since The Bad Beginning, when my husband and I would fight over who got to read to the kids each night. The words, language and wit were intoxicating, a word which here means, very enjoyable and addictive. The tales revolve around three clever siblings to whom very unfortunate things happen, mostly because of an evil foe, sometimes referred to as Count Olaf. To top it off, the books are beautifully bound, and illustrated by the magnificent Brett Helquist. 

Brett Helquist has illustrated a number of young adult books, including some by Blue Balliett called Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3. You must read them.

There is much to like in Chasing Vermeer: two friends, art, a scandal, a mystery. It takes the friends' intuition and clever skills to solve the puzzle. 

OK, back to the picture at top. 
I first read Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I found to be amazingly creepy and intriguing and I couldn't put it down. The illustration were done by Dave McKean, and they helped draw me in to the story.
The next Neil Gaiman book I read was The Graveyard Book. 

 

Although the Graveyard book starts out with a triple murder, the rest of the book is kind of a sweet book about a newly orphaned boy who is brought up by the ghosts in a cemetery. I loved it.Then, while I was sorting a children's book cart at the library, I came across a picture book by Gaiman, also illustrated by Dave McKean. Great strong female hero Lucy saves her family from the wolves living in the walls of their house. 

And finally, Jon Klassen. I recently wrote about him and his illustrations. I think he's terrific, and I can't wait to see this next book The Dark. Find it and all of the books mentioned at your local library!

Oh, one more piece of awesomeness: listen to Dan Handler's interview on Fresh Air where he accompanies himself on the accordion,  singing Prince's When Doves Cry. Priceless!!

Illustrator Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen is a Canadian writer and illustrator, who you may have heard of from his fantastic book, I Want My Hat Back, which one the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 2013. Working in a public library gives me immediate access to what people are reading, and this book attracted my attention by the simple cover and intriguing title. It's satisfying right to the surprising and hilarious end, but fun to find clever clues in the middle. I love that the the rabbit's words are in red, matching the red hat, but also indicating that he is lying.

I loved this book so much, and as I do when I love something, I dug around for more info. I found that there have been several adorable adaptations of the book. My favorite is the Dr. Who version which you can find here: http://doctorwho.tumblr.com/post/12891889415/i-want-my-hat-back-the-doctor-edition

Then what I found is some self-plagiarism by Mr. Klassen in another wonderful book that he illustrated called Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett.

Annabelle, the main character in Extra Yarn, knits sweaters for everyone she knows. Then she goes on to knit sweaters for all the animals, and here, Klassen illustrates his animals from I Want My Hat Back wearing Annabelle's sweaters.

These are clever, fun books with fantastic illustrations. Find these and more at your local library!