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Moira
Munro, children's book author and illustrator,
has written and illustrated children's picture
books for English and Scottish publishers.
Find
out more about my own children's books by selecting
My Books on the menu.
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I can't resist it! There are so many
books I admire so much, I've just got to share this
with you! There are many more, but I'm trying to exercise
some restraint. Clicking on the pictures takes you
to Amazon.co.uk. But remember, it's far better in
the long run to keep your local bookshop in business!
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The witch's children by Ursula Jones/Russel
Ayto (Orchard picturebooks ). The story's
fun and the illustrations are excitingly different!
I thought they might be a bit odd for a small child,
but at barely 4, my child gave them the thumbs up
(test question "are those pictures nice or
not nice?"). One of the many books she wants
again and again.
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Jack and the beanstalk by Richard Walker/Niamh
Sharkey (Barefoot paperback) . The tale is
extremely well written, and the illustrations are
absolutely gorgeous. Gasp with the pleasure of beautiful
new colours at every page. I'm not keen on child-eating
ogre stories for little ones, so keep it for yourself
until your child is cool about these things.
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Cinderella. An art deco love story by Lynn
Roberts and David Roberts (Pavillion). A
feast of beautiful, delicate and witty pictures,
full of exciting art deco detail. The slightly amended
story is skilfully told. Aparently it started off
about 10 times longer. I went to a workshop by David
Roberts and he was a delight. He's given away
to his publisher the original of the best
picture in that book!!
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I will not ever never eat a tomato by Lauren
Child, gave both myself and my then-3-year old heaps
of fun over and over again. Any of Lauren Child's
other books are equally riotous. Of course, Lauren
Child's work is now ultra-famous, but I wrote this
recommendation a while ago and don't fancy removing
it.
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These are ever so famous now as well... Julia Robertson
and Axel Scheffler are a fantastic team. Julia Robertson
is one of those rare people who write good verse,
which you can read aloud without ever wincing. Soon
your child knows it off by heart and you're off
to one of Julia's entertaining readings, disguises
and all. The Gruffalo (Macmillan)
must have the best plot ever found in a short picture
book. I'm not sure my child understood the twist
for a long time, but it's fun for the parent. I
also can't resits pointing out Room on the Broom
(Macmillan) for its fun and beautiful colours.
I did keep these books away from my child for a
while as she wasn't ready for nasty monsters, however
cute.
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Another illustrator who brings on the old "I
wish I could do that" is Rebecca Dautremer.
This luxury French book "Princesses oubliees
ou incommues" is a treasure of pictures to
lose yourself in, each more voluptious than the
other. If you can't speak French it's an advantage
as the text is utterly pretentious.
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The Anti-Colouring book and The Doodle
Book are examples of alternatives to those
creativity-draining, soul-sapping colouring-in books
children are given. Children are invited to draw
things from their imagination. I've not used these
but, while The Doodle book has the most attractive
cover, I think the Anti-Colouring book is the better
one inside. The principles are similar to those
in "Drawing for the artistically challenged",
featured below.
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- Drawing for the artistically challenged by
Quentin Blake and John Cassidy, is full of ideas to
stimulate young and old and get you relaxed about
drawing - you're supposed to draw straight onto the
lovely paper, but I can't bring myself to do that.
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- There are so many "How to draw cartoon"
books! Drawing on the funny side of the brain
by Christopher Hart is probably the best I've seen,
as it covers every aspect of cartooning. So not just
drawing characters (people, animals, eyes, hands,
attitude), but also writing jokes (pacing, number
of panels, punch lines, choice of words), layout and
design (angle shots, speech bubles), and a little
about the way to go professional. For kids and adults.
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- My hero of heroes is the French illustrator Jean-Jacques
Sempe - you may have seen his "Petit Nicolas"
books. His drawings and his humour have a light, gentle
touch. For grown-ups, Un peu de Paris is one
of the many I love, and you don't need to speak French.
It throws you into the buildings, life and people
of Paris, better than a book of photos. The link on
the picture is to French online shop www.fnac.fr
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