Fairytale Flashbacks

Today I had a fun time flipping through some books from my childhood. I’m so thankful that Mum passed them along to me, and although one day I might give them away, for now they are experiencing a new lease on life via the interweb.

Click for Interweb Gram link.

Anyway, what I also found fascinating are the illustrations. Although I do the drawings for the Violetta books myself, I’m not an artist by any means. Still, it occurred to me that I’ve always had a visual sense of a story. I often see it unfolding in pictures, and just like the music, the illustrations are integral to my creative process. 

So, I wondered…how about these illustrators? In the vid, another cool kind word, Narnia is the first book.

I've previously blogged on my love of all things Narnia, but I discovered Pauline Baynes the illustrator spent her early childhood in India before moving back to England. She was Tolkein’s chosen illustrator and the Guardian describes all of the many books she illustrated. Apparently she was also a fan of Handel and always had his music playing in the background while she worked. A very clever lady, like Beatrix Potter. 

Some of my favourites.

I was over the moon to discover the little books I adored as a child were illustrated by Beatrix Potter herself! I’m somewhat embarrassed not to have known ths earlier, but I was obsessed with her animal characters. I’m sure they’ve crept their way into my story-telling consciousness and on further research, I’m so glad they did. She’s quite inspirational! The Beatrix Potter Society, has a video you can watch about her life and work, and says this of her artwork. 

‘Beatrix Potter also wrote imaginatively about her pets. She and Bertram (her brother)  kept a number of much-loved and intensely observed animals in their schoolroom. In addition to rabbits, a hedgehog, some mice and bats, they had collections of insects. All were drawn with the same accuracy that would later mark Beatrix Potter as a distinguished naturalist.’

She was not only a writer and illustrator, but a scientist, farmer and preservationist. She was one of the first women to present a scientific paper, self-published Peter Rabbit before it was snapped up, and was an early entrepreneur. The first Peter Rabbit doll was made in 1903, a year after the traditionally published book and she created many items she titled ‘side-shows.’

I was so inspired, I had to watch the movie Miss Potter again. 

The cute pop-up book.

Now, the next book in the reel is the very cute pop-up version of Hansel and Gretel. A terrifying story, but you tend to forget those things when it’s so beautifully illustrated. Even so, here are just some of the things that happen in those five short pages. 

The children overhear they eat too much, so they’ll be chucked out of the house. They run away and get lost in the woods. They meet a witch who eats children. They kill her and escape with her jewels. Finally, they return home to discover their stepmother is dead and they can live happily ever after. 

Hmm…Now, what I’m about to say is slightly controversial. As an author of children’s stories, I spend much of my time in paranoia that something may be upsetting or offensive. At times it’s almost debilitating, but when I look back on these stories and how we just shrugged them off as children, I can’t help wondering if our adult sensibilities are affecting things a little too much. What do you think?

This is probably a good moment to move onto Rip Van Winkle. If you would like to hear my thoughts on the story itself, you can read this blog post, but what I’m interested in right now are the illustrations. They are beautiful. Absolutely magical and the worlds Arthur Rackham created with his paintbrush are just incredible. 

So, I couldn’t help wondering…who was he? 

Well apparently his artwork started on his pillowcase and Rip Van Winkle was the first book he illustrated in 1905. It also made him famous. You can read more about him at https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/arthur-rackham, but here are the books he illustrated. 

Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1907),A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1908), Gulliver’s Travels (1909), Undine (1909), Aesop’s Fables (1912), Mother Goose  (1913), A Christmas Carol (1915), The Romance of King Arthur (1917), Cinderella (1919), The Sleeping Beauty (1920), Comus (1921), The Tempest (1926), and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1928), Night Before Christmas (1931), Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen (1932), Goblin Market (1933), and The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book (1933) and The Wind in the Willows was Rackham’s last completed illustrated work before he died on September 6, 1939.

I also discovered some sketches from a book of pictures he wrote himself called The Man Who Was Terrified By Goblins. For someone who drew a lot of gobliny creatures, I found this slightly amusing!

So, do you have some favourite books from childhood? If you do, I’d love to hear about them!

#Narnia, #lionwitchandthewardrobe, #ripvanwinkle, #beatrixpotter, #arthurrackham, #childrensbookillustrations, #fairytales, #hanselandgretel