Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Judy Drood and the Case of the Ghastly Gallery Ghouls
Noticed this when shopping at a local Creative Kidstuff over the weekend: Richard Sala has done the illustrations for a children's book called Gallery Ghost, where children are encouraged to learn about famous artists and their paintings through an investigative game. (The ghosts of famous artists come out at night and paint details of their works into other artists' paintings; children can use an included magnifying glass to search for the incongruous elements.)
Things get a little weird toward the end when all the ghosts turn into
vampires and Judy has to burn down the museum to survive.
It looked like a fun book, but I passed on it because I thought our daughter might not be ready for it yet. (It's listed for ages 7+ and she's just turning three in a couple weeks.) However, since I'm unable to find the book for a discount anywhere online, I may have to go back and snatch it up as a future gift. (I'm also curious to page through it and see if Peculia turns up at all.)
Noticed this when shopping at a local Creative Kidstuff over the weekend: Richard Sala has done the illustrations for a children's book called Gallery Ghost, where children are encouraged to learn about famous artists and their paintings through an investigative game. (The ghosts of famous artists come out at night and paint details of their works into other artists' paintings; children can use an included magnifying glass to search for the incongruous elements.)
Things get a little weird toward the end when all the ghosts turn into
vampires and Judy has to burn down the museum to survive.
It looked like a fun book, but I passed on it because I thought our daughter might not be ready for it yet. (It's listed for ages 7+ and she's just turning three in a couple weeks.) However, since I'm unable to find the book for a discount anywhere online, I may have to go back and snatch it up as a future gift. (I'm also curious to page through it and see if Peculia turns up at all.)
Labels: Children's Books, Illustration, Richard Sala
9:35 AM | |
Friday, June 29, 2007
Moonlighting Marjane
Marjane Satrapi + children's books = two of my favorite things about reading together in one delightful package! Satrapi's Monsters Are Afraid of the Moon tells the story of a young girl bullied by monsters every night, so she cuts the moon out of the sky, hanging it in her room to ward off the monsters. Of course, this causes problems elsewhere, especially for cats, who are overrun by rats taking advantage of the total darkness to loot the city. How can order be restored while still protecting the girl from her tormentors?
This really is a cute book, with plenty of kid made-up-on-the-spot-storytelling logic. And the ending has a nice fable feel to it, explaining how it was that a certain custom came to be. I look forward to reading this book to my daughter when she's a bit older.
After reading this book, I began to wonder what children's books from other comic creators would look like. Can you imagine Frank Miller's Sin City Babies? "Miho is a hooker. Miho is also a ninja. That means Miho gets to have sex with people AND kill them. Miho's work sure is interesting! Wouldn't you like to be a ninja hooker someday?"
Marjane Satrapi + children's books = two of my favorite things about reading together in one delightful package! Satrapi's Monsters Are Afraid of the Moon tells the story of a young girl bullied by monsters every night, so she cuts the moon out of the sky, hanging it in her room to ward off the monsters. Of course, this causes problems elsewhere, especially for cats, who are overrun by rats taking advantage of the total darkness to loot the city. How can order be restored while still protecting the girl from her tormentors?
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"I swear, Your Majesty, there were like a thousand rats that ganged up on us!"
This really is a cute book, with plenty of kid made-up-on-the-spot-storytelling logic. And the ending has a nice fable feel to it, explaining how it was that a certain custom came to be. I look forward to reading this book to my daughter when she's a bit older.
After reading this book, I began to wonder what children's books from other comic creators would look like. Can you imagine Frank Miller's Sin City Babies? "Miho is a hooker. Miho is also a ninja. That means Miho gets to have sex with people AND kill them. Miho's work sure is interesting! Wouldn't you like to be a ninja hooker someday?"
Labels: Children's Books, Marjane Satrapi
12:01 AM | |
