With so many ugly books for children, finding books of real beauty is unlikely to happen regularly without intention. Thankfully, once you know where to look, there is a bounty that awaits. The effort required in the pursuit is a struggle worth enduring for good books.
There is likely a book from childhood that utterly enthralled you, images of which you can call to mind. And there is nothing quite like seeing a young child fall into a book, not yet reading the words but piecing together maps of meaning and inner worlds through the illustrations on the page.
In sharp contrast, if the thought of another hideous publishing house hack job sends a chill down your spine, look to the dependable, everyday masterpieces of illustrated books. These are not books for children but simply books for people who love beauty. Here are five illustrators on whom you can rely:
Cicely Mary Barker
Cicely Mary Barker offers stunning books of innocent whimsy. From fairies to caring swans, Barker unveils a world of undefiled splendor. Barker, whose sister ran a school out of the family home for young children, had many charming little models for her illustrations. She is best known for her Flower Fairies, a wide-ranging series of poems featuring life-like children metamorphized into lively fairies embodying different wildflowers and garden varietals in the English countryside. Painstakingly accurate in their botanical features, Barker’s illustrations offer an inventive way of viewing the natural world. A devout Christian, Barker clarified that she drew fairies for fun, not to conjure any malevolent spirits from another dimension. And they can be taken as innocent invention, so intricate that they can inspire many different forms of imitation.
While Barker is best known for the Flower Fairies (of which there are several volumes of poems and illustrations), she also produced charming stories like The Lord of the Rushie River and The Fairy Necklaces. Your budding artist or botanist will adore Barker’s works.
Tasha Tudor
Eccentric beyond your average artist, Tasha Tudor inhabited the world of her illustrations, cultivating nineteenth century, New England farm life in the middle of the twentieth century. From what she wore to how she roasted her turkey (the old-fashioned way in a giant metal contraption next to the open fire), you’ll find it all there. The most incredible parts of her stories (an intricate fair for dolls, sophisticated marionettes manipulated by children, miniature letters delivered by sparrow post) were all real, taking place in the quasi-mythical wonderscape known as Corgi Cottage, her Vermont farm where she lived an intense lifestyle of creation and cultivation.
One of the most exquisite aspects of Tudor’s simple but lively illustrations are the details enveloping nearly every page. Borders of seasonal flowers, intricate bows and festive details line most pages in her books, giving artistic detail to the entire page. One of the other charming features of her drawings are the children sketched from life. Children caught in moments of action and delight are thoroughly believable. Wonderful fun for curious kids who enjoy exploring details.
In addition to her own books, Tudor illustrated classics like Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess, and many, many more.
Elsa Beskow
While England and New England have their share of similarities in seasons and wooded landscapes surrounding rural farms, Elsa Beskow offers a very different artistic backdrop: Sweden. A native of Sweden, Beskow invented magical realms of woodland creatures not unlike Barker’s flower fairies. Beskow, a mother of six boys, also offers a fascinating window into early twentieth-century life in smalltown Sweden with details in the background of grandmothers carding wool, aunts making extravagant preserves, and families taking boating trips to little islands.
Whether in the magic realms of acorn children and talking squirrels or in the real world of her other stories—or where worlds intersect as in Ollie’s Ski Trip—Beskowprovides cozy scenes of indoor life during long and cold winters. Whether you’re driven indoors by snow, poor air quality, or extreme heat, her images of mothers and children cultivating quiet, mundane beauty in their homes are an inspiration.
Much like Tudor’s true-to-life illustrations of young children, Beskow imbues the children in her books with remarkably life-like qualities and expressions. She also has a thorough understanding of the mischief children can get up to and offer constructive examples of children learning from their mistakes. Beskow’s are illustrations that will delight the soul and enthrall those of any age.
Jill Barklem
Jill Barklem, who devoted her artistic career to capturing the world of Brambly Hedge, brings detail to unparalleled development. Over years of careful study and imaginative development, Barklem brought to life a cohesive universe of the hedgerow where mice live in harmony celebrating the turning of the year and having adventures out into the wide world.
Barklem, whose sight gradually declined over years of intensive artistic exercise, devoted herself to meticulous research. Collecting bits of nature from the woods and only placing plants in a scene if they would be there in real life, Barklem mirrors Barker in her commitment to botanical veracity.
Barklem’s fascination with a complete and working world did not stop with the seasonal flora but extended to every mouse-made machine, recipe, and construction. Barklem made working models of the millwheel and crafted from scratch recipes that could be made with ingredients available to the mice.
Brambly Hedge is a world that one can fall in love with, brought vividly to life by Barklem’s dedication to the every detail, rendered in perfect color.
Barbara McClintock
Barbara McClintock is a self-taught illustrator whose work is reminiscent of other eras. Many of the books she has illustrated, including several with author Jim Aylesworth, take place in a bygone era, and her attention to period dress and accessories are a delight.
McClintock, like Tudor, extends her illustrations to incorporate the entire page, crafting intricate borders and fun visual details throughout.
In addition to illustrating with other authors, McClintock has authored her own books, including the amusing “I-spy” game books in the Simon and Adele series and the story about a girl and her unlikely playmate Dahlia.
Life is too short for bad books. Never settle for what is ugly when such a panoply of beautiful books await!
