I’ve always enjoyed picture books that are both written and illustrated by the same person. Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle, Tomie DePaola, Leo Lionni, Dr. Seuss(!) are some favourites. I like picture books generally as you can have a look at here, here, here, here … or here! An author who illustrates their own stories, however, is particularly interesting because I would imagine they would clearly have their own vision of what they wanted the illustrations to be like – what the spirit of the book would be. A few years ago, we were at an author’s speaking event at our library and we found out that children’s authors often have no idea or choice who will illustrate their stories. This came as a real surprise to me. I felt as if the writer would have a certain essence or feel about the story and that might really not be reflected, depending upon the illustrator. This author (whose name I strangely can’t remember – I guess we’ve heard quite a few author talks over the years) did reassure us that he felt he’d always been well paired and that the same illustrator had been able to illustrate several of his books.
One of my favourite children’s authors and illustrators is Jan Brett. I was first introduced to her books when we received a baby gift for my oldest son. It was The Hat in board book form and came with a little stuffed version of Hedgie, the little hedgehog who was the main character. He had the red sock hanging over his head which is, of course, his “hat.” Once my son became old enough to appreciate the storyline, it became one of his favourites.
What we immediately noticed about The Hat was the sidebar on each page that gives a preview to which character or “happening” is coming up next. That is so much fun for young children. As they enjoy the story, they look to what they might expect next and then are full of anticipation to see whether it really will be what it indicates for the next page. I’ve read that particular book, as well as other of Brett’s books, to several children over the years and they appreciate that feature each time. The illustrations are bright and detailed and the stories themselves are engaging yet simple.
Other books? Yes, we enjoyed The Hat so much that I kept my eye out for others on each trip to the library and over the years have found The Mitten, Hedgie’s Surprise, The Gingerbread Baby and many more. I’ve noticed another one – the much more recent, The Snowy Nap.
Many of her illustrations have a Nordic feel, and yet others such as The Umbrella which takes place in the Costa Rican Cloud Forest do not. The Tale of the Tiger Slippers is set in India, Daisy Comes Home is set in China, and Comet’s Nine Lives, takes place on Nantucket Island. In reading about her process of writing a book, it seems she has had interesting travels to many places to better understand these settings.
Brett has treasuries as well – Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury, Jan Brett’s Snowy Treasury and Jan Brett’s Animal Treasury. Additionally, she has some classics retold such as The Owl and the Pussycat, Town Mouse Country Mouse, The Night Before Christmas and my favourite, The Twelve Days of Christmas, highlighting “ Merry Christmas” in eleven languages and so beautifully illustrated.
One day, a few years ago, I stumbled upon a Jan Brett website. I had had no idea. We’d enjoyed her books for years but somehow all the time my own kids were of an interested age, I was unaware of it. Since discovering it, I have had opportunity to share it with others though. It’s full of good things. Among those good things are:
Printable cards and envelopes
Colouring pages, both printing and cursive
Alphabet Tracing sheets
Colouring placemats
Advent Calendar
Games
Videos (with How to Draw a variety of her characters or animals that she draws. From moose and baby polar bears to tigers and baby checks, the videos offer step by step instruction from Jan herself.)
And lots more. Take some time to have a look.
If you’d like to hear that first story that introduced me to The Hat, you can listen to it and and see the pictures right here.
