Ninja June 10th, 2008
Charley Harper ABC’s is a beautifully illustrated, colorful abecedary featuring Neutraface.
Originally conceived of as a mini companion to Charley Harper–An Illustrated Life, the ABC’s is sure to delight young and old readers alike.
via House Industries
Purchasing link
+ Preorder your copy of Charley Harper ABC’s from Ammo Books
($14.95 with free shipping)
Ninja December 3rd, 2007
Here are some beautifully illustrated children’s books that are sure to delight both the eyes and imaginations!
+ The Octonauts and The Only Lonely Monster
The Octonauts are a crew of adorable animals who roam the ocean in search of adventure, treasure, and fun! From their undersea base called “the Octopod,” the Octonauts explore a colorful world full of thrills, chills, and gills! These eight talented critters, including a brainy octopus, brave polar bear, daredevil kitten, and scientific sea otter, are always ready to embark on a new, exciting voyage.
+ Cloud Boy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Once upon a time there was a lonely little cloud who found a way to not be so lonely. Rhode Montijo creates a charming little book about belonging and sharing, one that goes to the very heart of what it means to be an artist.
+ Bembo’s Zoo: An Animal ABC Book (there are a few used copies here)
This high-concept abecedary, the picture book debut for de Vicq de Cumptich, should delight collectors of stylish picture books and aficionados of the graphic arts. Beautifully designed and executed in a limited palette of aqua, burnt orange, buttery cream, brown and black, the book’s visual premise is the exceedingly witty manipulation of letters—in Bembo, a graceful serif font—to create each of the alphabetically correlative animals.
Follow the line, indeed, as it loops, curves, and winds across cityscapes, landscapes, buildings, animals, trees, sky, and water from early-morning traffic to night. Each deep-hued page encourages a counting of images printed over a busy, endless black line as it outlines figures (and faces) in a succession of graphics imprinted with complementary color shadings. The line simply propels readers on to the next image, question, and page.
Each night, Henry asks his dad to tell him about when he was small, and his father relates how very small he really was: …we used to give you baths in the teapot…, and …we took the toy castle out of the aquarium and you were king of it. The minimal text is accompanied by delicate illustrations. Subtle coloring and ample white space add to the book’s tranquil feel.
In this imaginative ABC, acclaimed artist, designer and children’s author, Bruno Munari shows how fun letters can be. From an Ant on an Apple to a Blue Butterfly to a Cat in a Cage, Munari pairs words in whimsical ways until Fly frees itself from its page, lands on the Hat, buzzes near the Ice Cream and provides the final sound for Zzzzz.
On his doorstep, a little boy finds a penguin looking sad and lost, and he tries to help the wordless bird. When the boy discovers that penguins come from the South Pole, he takes his new friend there by rowboat, telling him stories along the way. He helps the penguin ashore and casts off. The penguin sadly watches him float away. Realizing his mistake, the boy returns for the penguin, misses him, finds him, hugs him, and takes him back in his rowboat. A sense of restraint underlies the illustrations, from the spare use of color to the isolation of the individual characters on the page. With clean lines and varied compositions, the watercolor paintings tell the story with a minimum of fuss but no lack of feeling.
* All book descriptions are from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Related postsNinja June 22nd, 2007
My friend Pei is a Senior designer over at Randomhouse. She used to work with Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and introduced me to his playful work years ago. I was immediately taken by his keen eye for design and passion for typography. Funnily enough, even before I knew who he was, I bought a book that he had designed (just because the cover was so well-designed).
Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich’s children’s book debut, Bembo’s Zoo, delights both young eyes + type nerds’ imaginations. This abecedary is illustrated using only Bembo’s letterforms and punctuation.
Background info:
Roberto was born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. In 1982, he received a painting scholarship from Pratt Institute, so he upped and moved to NY. He earned his MFA from Pratt and now works as a Senior Creative Direction/VP at Harper Collins. His client list that includes Adobe, Alfred A. Knopf, Columbia Records, and MTV.
Links:
+ check out deVicq’s website
+ words at play
+ buy Bembo’s Zoo
Limited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
