Meet the illustrator Barroux

Image source: Painted Words

Stephane Barroux was born in Paris, where he lives now but he grew up in Morocco. He studied photography, art, sculpture, and architecture in France at the famous École Estienne and École Boule. He went on to work as an art director in Paris and Montreal. While in Montreal, Barroux began illustrating by creating linocut images, and he is now well known for his children’s book illustrations. Barroux has won many international honours, from the 2005 Prix Enfantasie to the PEN award and the Prix Médecins Sans Frontières in 2015. His sensitivity to the problem facing humanity and the natural world is reflected in many of his books, including Line of Fire with Michael Morpurgo, and Alpha with Bessora. Most recently he has illustrated Hello! A Counting Book of Kindness, by Hollis Kurman. Love Reading4Kids

Take a look at his wonderful art on Instagram. 

I don't speak or read French and this book is out of print but I would love to see this:

Here are some books I have talked about previously:

Welcome

How Many Trees?

The Red Piano

Kirkus said: Dazzling collage, pencil and paint illustrations from Barroux create a beautiful chiaroscuro of tension and release. Well-controlled expressive marks portray the young musician's isolation. 

The limited palette of black, white and red—the latter of which is used to create a sense of intensity—

is evocative of Communist China propaganda. 

Here are some other books by Barroux you might find in your local or school library. Nearly all of these are currently still available:

His book The Run has a Kirkus Star review. 

Beginning with the jacket art, Barroux expertly propels readers through this fast-paced picture book. The cover shows a group of animals crowded at the spine as a very young child runs to the right, compelling readers to open the book. ... The speaker remains offstage for several spreads, continually asking why the animals are running. Are they being chased? In a race? Pursuing a special treat? 

Yellow, Pink, Red, Green, Blue - popup board books by Aurore Petit

A rubber duckie . . . a raincoat . . . a ray of light! Infants and young readers will delight as these objects jump off the page in this unique “first colors” 

and “first words” pop-up board book.

There's a new little baby boy who has arrived to bring great happiness into the lives of the family of a friend of mine.  Yesterday I caught up with the new little man - he is now ten weeks old. I have of course given his and his mum and dad a selection of books and I was utterly thrilled to hear they are reading to him every day!!! I couldn't resist this pop-up book when I saw it in a city bookstore. The yellow raincoat page delighted the grandmother of this baby and she immediately burst into the raincoat jingle "wear a yellow raincoat when you're out in the wet" from her own childhood. 

Gecko Press bio: Aurore Petit was born in 1981 in France and currently lives in Nantes. She graduated from L’école des Arts Decoratifs in Strasbourg in 2006. She works with children’s books and illustrates for magazines and media, and has worked on books and stage design. She won the Millepages Prize in 2019 for A Mother Is a House. You can see some of her French titles here. 

Infants and young readers will delight as these objects jump off the page in this unique “first colors” and “first words” pop-up board book. These sturdy, small board books are absolutely perfect for little hands, but the clever and surprising images will appeal to all ages. Each spread is printed in black-and-white, but the six playful pop-up objects are filled in with a bold pop of color—a novel take on high-contrast books! Thames and Hudson

See Yellow and Pink in action on Instagram. I do hope we see all of this series in English Yellow and Pink arrived here in March, 2024. Pink - What is pink? A cat’s tongue . . . a sunrise . . . a lollipop!  

I see Red and Green are due here in Australia in September and they are a great price at less than AUS$15 thank goodness. [I saw a different and very appealing board book this morning on social media for over AUS$37]. Here are the French titles:

• Jaune POP
• Vert POP
• Rouge POP
• Rose POP
• Blanc POP
• Bleu POP
• Orange POP
• Noir POP

Meet some special illustrators

Image source: Christine Roussey

My friend and I decided to compile a list of our favourite illustrators. If you have ever read her blog at Kinderbookswitheverything you will know she is a Teacher-Librarian with outstanding knowledge of books and authors and illustrators and ways of sharing these with students. Her list has over 100 names so I thought for this post I would list some that were either new to me or that I knew because the book covers were familiar, but I didn't know their name! The purple links will take you to the illustrator's own web page. 

Eliza Wheeler

Her newest book will be published in November - What Rosa Brought by Jacob Sager Weinstein illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. 

A picture book about a young Jewish girl fleeing Nazi occupation with her parents. Drawing on the childhood experiences of the author’s mother, this story of family, immigration, and identity shows the boundless power of love. Vienna, Austria, is the only home Rosa knows. While her parents work at their store, she plays with her grandmother, reads her favorite books, and climbs trees. But when the Nazis arrive in 1938, everything changes. Rosa’s family is Jewish, and the Nazis’ new laws make it dangerous for Jews to live in Vienna. Rosa’s parents can no longer run their store. Soon, some Jews decide to leave the country, and Rosa wants to go, too. But where would they go? And what would Rosa be able to bring with her?

Gianno Marino

Christine Roussey

Lauren Tobia

Jason Chin

Here is an interview with Jason Chin.  I read Watercress in a public library recently. I was with my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything. She started to talk to me when I finished reading but I just had to put up my hand to stop her. I needed a minute or two to process my deep emotional reaction to this award winning book. Sadly here in Australia Watercress costs almost Aus$40 so I am unlikely to find a copy in a school library. See inside some non fiction book illustrated by Jason Chin here. 

Chih-Yuan Chen 

Read more about Chih-Yuan Chen here. 

Rafael Lopez

Little Pea's Grand Journey by Davide Cali illustrated by Sebastien Mourrain

Little Pea designs stamps. He has stamps with pictures of his friends the insects who live around his tiny home. He has stamps with pictures of tomatoes and cars and flowers but today he is out of inspiration. Little Pea decides to build a plane and take a grand journey. Unfortunately his tiny homemade plane crashes. Fortunately he did pack a parachute. Little Pea finds himself in a new place with unusual plants and unfamiliar insects but they make him welcome. Eventually he knows he must go home. Kindly his new friends make him a new plane. 

When he arrives home Little Pea has all the inspiration he needs for his new stamps.

Image Source: Thames and Hudson

Read this review for more plot details: Each page is joy-filled, with Little Pea celebrating a birthday with the insects, working on his many eclectic hobbies, and riding on a scooter made using a matchstick for a handlebar and buttons for wheels. Canadian Review of Materials

I should also mention Little Pea loves to collect bottle tops - just delightful. 

This book was first published in French with the title La grand voyage de Petit Pois. The English translation is by Sarah Khun.

I love the mission statement/philosophy of the publisher Milky Way:

Milky Way Picture Books is a new independent imprint dedicated to illustrated children’s books, located near Montréal, Canada. In our house, we believe it’s never too early to nurture the idea that books are special spaces in which to experience and share moments of beauty. By sparking a child’s interest in literature, storytelling, illustration, and art, we hope to make the act of discovering books something they’ll want to repeat.  Our mission at Milky Way Picture Books is to stimulate children’s passion for beautiful books.

One of the things I love about writing this blog is the way I make book discoveries. I now find Little Pea's Grand Journey (2017) is the second book in a series:

The tiny tale of Little Pea 2016 - "When he was born, Little Pea was tiny. Teeny-tiny." His clothes were hand sewn by his mother and his shoes were hand-me-down doll shoes. As he grew older, Little Pea enjoyed climbing tomato plants, driving around in his wind-up car and riding on the backs of grasshoppers. But then Little Pea started school. And he suddenly realised just how small he was. Too small for his chair. Too small to play the flute. Too small for gym class. What would become of wee Little Pea?

Little Pea's drawing school 2021 - Discover Little Pea's Drawing School, where everyone is about to learn an important lesson about art, even the teacher!Little Pea is now an accomplished artist-everyone knows it. One day, a friend of his encourages him to open a drawing school. What a marvellous idea! Soon, his first class is ready to attend his lessons, and everyone is working hard to improve their skills and techniques. Little Pea will learn that one does not always recognize a great artist at first glance.

Here are some other terrific books illustrated by Davide Cali

Meet the illustrator Lucie Vandevelde

I spied this colourful book in the school library I visit each week. The cover really caught my eye and I was curious about the French illustrator - Lucie Vandevelde.

Here is her book by Geraldine Elschner which explores the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser and the Hundertwasser House in Vienna which consists of fifty apartments, shared spaces and shops. The communal areas are decorated with mosaics depicting animals and plants and there is a playground with undulating floors for children.  Hundertwasser made architecture with bends and curves that resemble rivers, mounts or plants. He believe that society should live in harmony with nature and not pollute it.

Hunderwasser is the only book I could find in English illustrated by Lucie Vandevelde. 

Take a look here to see a huge collection of Lucie's illustrations, mural work and ceramics. 

I do hope Presetel can find others to translate so we can share her work with children here in Australia. Here are a couple of her French titles:

Read more about this book "In my dreams"  and the one below - The Secret Garden here 

(you'll need to us Google translate to read this in English)

From Les Trois Dragons

Lucie Vandevelde is also known for her mural work

Here is a list of all her titles in French: 

• Big Mama trombone
• Carnet d'Artiste . Au Pays des Dragons
• Claude Nougaro Enchanté
• Dans mes Rêves
• Funambule
• La Nuit des Doudous
• Le Cirque de Zoé
• Le Jardin des secrets
• Les Trois Dragons
• Poèmes à fleur de terre
• Poèmes de tiges et de rameaux
• Poèmes d'ombre et de lumière
• Poèmes sous le vent
• Poèmes sur le fil de l'eau
• Une Maison Fantastique