The last book review we wrote was for an illustrated children’s book; this one’s not a children’s book, per se, but about a children’s author – our all time favourite – Miroslav Sasek. We were really anticipating this review copy’s arrival – we couldn’t wait to delve into more depth about the man whose books we avidly collect.

It was originally published in the Czech language in 2014. This imprint – This is M. Sasek – has been published in 2018 by Universe Publishing, a division of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

There’s a foreword by Martin Salisbury, an illustrator, author and Professor of Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. The rest of the text is written by Salisbury; Olga Černá, author and librarian and Pavel Ryska, artist, performer and historian of animation.

We’re given a short account of the Sasek family and the artist’s childhood before embarking on his professional & personal history. The reader gains extraordinary insight through the inclusion of snippets from actual transcripts.

Letters from young fans obviously meant a great deal to Sasek. He kept many of them in his possession for the rest of his life and they form part of the rich family archive and artist’s estate which have been incorporated throughout this book.

Many previously unseen sketches, letters, postcards, photographs and press cuttings have been reproduced within the pages giving us insight into the man as well as the artist.

We’re highlighting, below, his books in the chronological order in which he wrote and published them. Benjamin and the Thousand Sea Creatures of Captain Barnabas was the first, published in the Czech language in 1947.

Sasek has been quoted as saying in an interview:

I originally wanted to do a series of three books – Paris, Rome, and London. I never thought it would go on and on.

However, the series did indeed go on, eventually totalling eighteen books! In addition, there’s a more recently published compilation edition entitled This is the World.

As well as writing and illustrating books, Sasek was an extremely accomplished fine art painter.

His style – and in some cases, even subject matter – are very reminiscent of one of our other favourite artists, Bernard Buffet. Compare, for example, their depictions of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris; Sasek’s below and Buffet’s here.

This book is a must for any Sasek fan, aficionado or collector.

**Many thanks to Rizzoli International for the review copy**