A Children's Treasury of Mark E. Smith Verse

- a rather bizarre work in progress by Erik K./Falling and Laughing:

I can read movies

.

.... found via Words and Eggs - I like these paperback 'novelisations' of popular films, created by Spacesick a few years ago:

... retro book-cover design and film nostalgia all rolled into one. Nice!

Ideal bookshelf

Illustrator Jane Mount draws 'portraits' of her clients by depicting their favourite books.

Which books would you choose for your ideal bookshelf?


(via Mostly Goodness)

Blexbolex - colour and life

On my summer break I bought a beautiful book called 'Seasons', by talented French illustrator Blexbolex.

I'm in love with the gentleness of this book - the combination of simple words and softly-coloured illustrations is a perfect prompt for creating your own stories.

Here are a few more illustrations by Blexbolex, gathered from around the Web:

Mmmmm ... nice!

Bookish delights

Are you a bibliopile?

I like not only reading books but poring over their graphic cover designs, tactile bindings, colourful illustrations, monochrome etchings, and various typefaces and printing styles.

Recently I found the Tumblr collections Bookstore Couture and Bookshelf Porn - pure eye candy for book nerds like me! Click on over there for some lovely bookish delights like the pics above.

The Bandit bares it

I bet Burt wears Mandom aftershave too.


(Disturbing library book cover found here)

Bookish linky love

Today I decided to have another bookish theme. I love beautiful books, and reading will always be a high priority in our household.

If you like all things book- and design-related too, you might be interested in some of these:

1. Popping colours on Swedish crime and adventure book covers, collected by the wonderful retro-aesthete Martin Klasch.

2. Fabulous covers featured each day on Book Worship.

3. Swoon over this lovely postcard set from Penguin books.

4. Chuckle at the ridiculousness of this site, which is somehow strangely charming.

5. Teach yourself to make some practical little notebooks or colouring books using these  tutorials, or make a booklet from a PDF using this free application.

6. Dive into the wonderful archives of Peacay at BibliOdyssey.

7. Marvel at the cheesiness of the vintage pulp covers over here at Hang Fire Books.

Let me know if you have any great bookish links!



(Image source)

Bookish inspiration

Elizabeth scanned some lovely mid-century modern book covers to her blog over here.

I love book cover and end page designs .... do you have a favourite?

Mini book exchange

 A disused phone box becomes a tiny lending library ....

... what a great idea!



(Pics from here and here)

The Book Cover Archive

... is always inspiring.

* Post script - in the comments for this post my sister has provided a link to an interesting site by cover designer David Drummond. It's worth a look!

The London Jungle Book

Found at BibliOdyssey:

"Bhajju is a brilliant artist from the Gond tribe in central India, and this book is a visual travelogue of his impressions in London. With radical innocence and great sophistication, Bhajju brings the signs of the forest to bear on the city, turning London into an exotic jungle." [back cover blurb]

"I have combined the rooster, which is the symbol for time in Gond art, and Big Ben, which is the symbol of time for London. I have turned the dial of Big Ben into the eye of the rooster, because it seemed to me that Big Ben is like a big eye, forever watching over London, reminding people of the time. Symbols are the most important thing in Gond art, and every symbol is a story, standing in for something else. So this painting was the easiest for me to do, because it had two perfect symbols coming together."

 

"The heaviest animal I have ever seen is an elephant. So that is the creature that came to mind when I painted the plane. A plane taking off is as much of a miracle as an elephant flying. I have put the trees upside down in the sky, and the clouds below, because flying turned my world upside down."

 

"Everyone was a foreigner - all kinds of skin colours and all kinds of hair. I had seen foreigners before - some of them had visited my village to look at our paintings, but now I realized that something strange had happened. My colour was different, my language was taken away from me ... I myself had become a foreigner!"

 

"Although I liked the underground very much, I still preferred to get to to work everyday by bus, because one stopped right outside my door. [...]
I have turned the Number 30 bus into a dog, because like a dog, it was a faithful and loyal friend to me. London buses look very friendly too, and fit in with the good spirit of the faithful dog."

'The London Jungle Book' © Tara Publishing 2004
(in association with The Museum of London)
Art: Bhajju Shyam
Text: Sirish Rao & Gita Wolf (from Bhajju's oral narration)
Design: Rathna Ramanathan*, Minus9 Design*

Find more delights at Tara Books ...

Be Still!

Through Jayme McGowan I discovered Terrible Yellow Eyes - a delightful collection of illustrated interpretations of Maurice Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'.

Here are some examples:










As a child I spent countless hours immersed in the worlds created by Sendak, capering in the Night Kitchen, exploring the Wild Thing island and adventuring with Little Bear, Duck, Hen and Owl. When I lived in Japan in the 90s I was fortunate to see an exhibition of Sendak's original illustrations - I thought they were just beautiful!

Some people don't seem to like Sendak's work. What's your take on it? Does it evoke any particular memories for you?