Tag: vintage children’s books

Designer Desire: André Hellé

Montage of André Hellé illustrations | H is for Home

André Hellé (1871-1945), real name d’André Laclôtre, was a French cartoonist, lithographer, author & book illustrator and toy maker.

Most of all, I love his illustrations of animals from children’s book,  Noah’s Ark (L’arche de Noé) originally published in 1911. In the same year, he also made toy figures of the ark and animals for which he won the la médaille d’or et le diplôme d’honneur from la Société d’encouragement à l’art et à l’industrie (The Society for the Encouragement of Art and Industry).

He illustrated and did the libretto for the original score of La Boîte à Joujoux, a children’s opera by Claude Debussy.

Many 1st editions and reprints of the books André Hellé wrote and illustrated are available from AbeBooks and Amazon.

Portrait of André Hellécredit

Additional image credits:

Amis de Hellé | Ma Galerie à Paris | Pinterest

Designer Desire: Maurice Sendak

Collage of Maurice Sendak book illustrations | H is for Home

Maurice Sendak (1928-2015) was a children’s book illustrator and author. Born in Brooklyn to Polish immigrant parents, Sendak insisted that his books weren’t strictly for children. In a radio interview with Terry Gross in 1989, Sendak shared:

Despite the fact that I don’t write with children in mind, I long ago discovered that they make the best audience. They certainly make the best critics. …When children love your book, it’s ‘I love your book, thank you. I want to marry you when I grow up.’ Or it’s ‘Dear Mr. Sendak: I hate your book. Hope you die soon. Cordially…’

His first book, from 1956, was entitled Kenny’s Window. However, it was for Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, that he first gained widespread recognition. The latter must have had some influence on the appearance of The Gruffalo (published in 1999).

He wrote and illustrated over 100 titles; amongst them: (The frequently censored) In the Night Kitchen, Bumble-Ardy, Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water: Two Nursery Rhymes, Nutcracker, Swine Lake and the posthumous Presto and Zesto in Limboland with long-time collaborator, Arthur Yorinks. He won numerous awards for his writing and illustrations including, in 1964, the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal.

As well as all the books he authored and illustrated, there are numerous books about the man himself and his creations. These include Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work, Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to Present: v. 1 and v. 2, Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet and Conversations with Maurice Sendak. In their Sendak obituary, The New York Times deemed him, “the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century”.

The Maurice Sendak Foundation has produced a lovely mini-documentary about the man and his work; watch it below.

Collage of Maurice Sendak book illustrations | H is for Homecredit

Additional image credits:
Pinterest | Vintage Childrens Books my Kid Loves

The Maurice Sendak Foundation from Lynn Caponera on Vimeo.

Designer Desire: Émile Probst

Émile Probst children's book illustrations | H is for Home

Émile Probst (1913-2004) was a Luxembourger artist who practised in a few distinct genres. We know him as an illustrator of children’s books – often on Christian subjects such as saints and the bible. He was also a caricaturist and publisher.

In addition, he was a very accomplished stained-glass maker. In the 1960s, he designed over 2 dozen stained-glass panel windows for Luxembourg’s Baroque, Roman Catholic Cathédrale Notre-Dame.

If you’re interested in his children’s books, which were translated into many languages, there are sometimes vintage copies available (cheaply) on Amazon (UK) & (US) and Abe’s Books.

Émile Probst designed stained glass | H is for Homecredit

Designer Desire: Edward Gorey

Collage of Edward Gorey illustrations | H is for Home

Call it nominative determinism, Edward Gorey (1925–2000) was an American illustrator and author known for his macabre, surreal, often eerie, pen & ink drawings.

He has a cult following amongst Victorian and Edwardian Gothic fans; you can see his influence on Tim Burton, especially the figures of The Gashlycrumb Tinies (see top iillustration and dactylic couplet abecedarium below it). I absolutely love the morbid humour!

Whilst a designer at Doubleday in New York, he illustrated editions of  T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, amongst others

Hugely prolific, his first book was The Unstrung Harp, published in 1953. Other popular works include The Doubtful Guest, Amphigorey and The Utter Zoo: An Alphabet. He continued releasing work up to the year before he died. In addition, he wrote several books under pseudonyms that were often anagrams of his own name – most famously Ogdred Weary.

He said of his ‘nonsense’ works:

If you’re doing nonsense it has to be rather awful, because there’d be no point. I’m trying to think if there’s sunny nonsense. Sunny, funny nonsense for children—oh, how boring, boring, boring. As Schubert said, “There is no happy music.” And that’s true, there really isn’t. And there’s probably no happy nonsense, either.

There is a documentary about Edward Gorey – funded on Kickstarter – that has been in the pipeline for aaaaaages – I’ve put together a number of video clips below that may or may not be used within the final film.

Portrait of Edward Goreycredit

Additional image credits:

Artnet | Pinterest