Bananas in Pyjamas... they're going on holiday!

Hi all!

Hope you're well.
Sorry about the quality of this book, my internet has been rather painful, so I couldn't upload the pictures myself!

The book I am sharing today is called Bananas in Pyjamas - Holiday Book written by Katrina Van Gendt, it was first published in 1990 and is an ABC Shop Book. The book tells the stories of the bananas and their friends the teddies (Thomas, Bianca, Takis, Bonita, Becky, Tai, Boris, Theodore, Bruno, Toola, Theresa... and Tinka) as they go camping, to the beach, to the farm and the rain forest. I, like most Aussie kids, loved the original Bananas in Pyjamas when it was on the Aussie ABC channel during the 90s. Now they have a silly CGI version; but anyway!

I loved this little book when I was little, sadly though it started to fall apart, so I had to throw it out. Then a while ago while I was browsing a book exchange (you'll soon discover how much I love book exchanges) I found it and just had to get - At $2 why not?

How cute are the little teddies! I love the one with the dummy! He's in the arms of the banana on the left page.

I've never understood why there are "Beetroots in gumboots" but I suppose the same reason their is "Bananas in Pyjamas!"

And zucchinis in bikinis!

Thank you for reading, have a great day!

Next Time: Martha B. Rabbit and Daphne the Forgetful Duck by Shirley Barber

Beverlie Manson, Johnstone Sisters & an Apology!

Hi all!

Sorry I haven't be around in a couple of weeks, university has kept me preoccupied, so to say I am sorry I am going to post a few things in bulk.

Now, I wanted to show you all The Magical of Fairies by Beverlie Manson. For many years Manson has been known for her work in children's books particularly with her drawings of mythological creates like fairies and mermaids. I recently ordered another one of her books from 1981 which I'll share another time; but its truly stunning and the pages literally glisten and shimmer! The book was published in 2003 by Armadillo Publishing.

My cousin gave it to me for Christmas one year as at the time I was bit fairy crazy! This edition covers all the different seasons and events that take place in the realm of the fairies every year. Including balls and visits from the fairy queen.

The may look like simple drawnings; but I think its the mixture of paint and colour that make it so fantasy-like!

Isn't this one stunning? How she's riding across the frozen lake on a swans back, this was my favourite when I was younger.

Don't go away just yet!!!

Since I have been absent for quite some time I am also going to share some more Johnstone Sisters illustrations! But much like last time, its more about the illustrations, so I'll try not to write too much.

The first I am going to share is Dean's Gold Medal Book of Rhymes No. 4 which was published by Dean & Son in 1974. Now, I know there are different edition of these, each containing different rhymes, which I am guessing were added to Dean's Book of Mother Goose Rhymes. But it seems rare for seller to post the illustrations featured in this one on the internet so I thought I'd share them with you.

The period costumes featured in their books are to die for!

(sorry this one is quite blurry :( )

I love this one, full of make-believe, however, I'd never seen this version of Rock-A-By Baby before.

Wynken, Blyken and Nod, how gorgeous! 

I adore the last one (above) I just think it would make a cute picture to have framed and drag out for the Christmas season. 

But wait... there's more!

I am also going to share with you Dean's Pop-Up Book of Christmas Carols, this was published by Dean & Son in 1986, I believe (?) - Sorry I don't have it with me right now! Its quite short but it features some very sweet little hymns and a few illustrations.

(These were diffcult to capture, might I add, haha!)

Anyway I hope they will suffice for tonight! I also wanted to add the list of books I have by the Johnstone Sisters, so my readers can request which ones they want to see next! I am always ordering more, so I'll note which ones are on the way. 

Books I haven't shown you yet:

 Dean's Gift Book of Fairytales

Dean's Book of Fairytales

Dean's Gift Book of Bible Stories

Dean's Gift Book of Cowboys and Indians

Dean's Gift Book of Prayers for Children

Dean's Gift Book of Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales

The Water Babies - Illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone

My Christmas Book of Stories and Carols - Illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone

Books that are in the post:

Tales of Great Adventure, written by Enid Blyton, Illustrated by the Johnstone Sisters

Peter Pan and Wendy - Illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone

Dean's Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes

Books you've seen: (Just in case theirs one you've seen here you'd like to buy)

Dean's Pop-Up Book of Carols

Dean's Gold Medal Book of Rhymes No. 4 

Stories from Hans Christian Andersen translated by Mae Broadley 

Please let me know if you find any of these titles as long as they can be shipped to Australia:

Merlin's Magic (Young World Production, 1968)

Tales from the Brother's Grimm (World Distributors, 1974)

Thank you all for reading once again and I'll shall post for you tomorrow!

Next Time: Bananas in Pajamas Holiday Book

Stories from Hans Christian Andersen - Illustrated by Anne and Janet Grahame Johnstone

Hi all!

So I promised you that I would later speak about the Johnstone sisters and in particular their illustrations.

Janet and Anne were twins, who embarked on a lifelong illustrating career together, Janet was responsible for drawing animals and Anne's specialty was period costumes. Throughout their lifetimes they illustrated hundreds and hundreds of children's books. Despite their work during the 50s, they've been most notable for their work in Dodie Smith's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, as well as their work with Dean & Son, Mae Broadley and Enid Blyton.

However, in 1979 Janet died in an accident in her home, which I've heard was a fire (?) Anne had to then learn how to draw animals and so carry on the great work they'd been doing. She went on to illustrate The Water Babies, Peter Pan, My Christmas Book of Stories and Carols and many more.

Today I am going to share with you a book, that appears to be quite rare, I've only ever seen a tiny selection of its images online, and its thought to be virtually unseen. But I managed to find it on a German site a while ago and ordered it as quickly as I could (truly hoping that it was the right one.)
 The book called Stories from Hans Christian Andersen translated by Mae Broadley and illustrated by the Johnstone sisters was published by World Distributed in 1968. Following the typical style of the sisters everything is done in intricate detail, however, it seems as though some of the colours are more faint compared to other books of theirs I own.

Just for the record I am probably not going to say much during this post. Instead, feel free to gawk, and sigh just as I do!

This one is from The Nightingale, it reminds me so much of the oriental images my mum had in our house, just gorgeous!

 I adore the little harlequin with her pretty patterns!

This one story is a little more frightening, but I love the use of shadow and in particularly the stained glass windows.This one is The Red Shoes.

Little Tuk - I love the swirly bed posts!

 Warning: You may soon realize that I am quite the fan of The Little Mermaid.

Part of me still prefers the Disney version, I know, I know, how can you? But being the person I am I love the happy ending.

This is my favourite image in the whole book. Princess Elise in The Wild Swans is illustrated so well -  she's completely stunning in my opinion. So for any would-be vintage book collectors this is one to get, but it is text heavy and in true Hans Christian Andersen-style it isn't entirely a happily ever after. But his stories have great depth and beauty. Stories I am sure could still be appreciated by children today.

Thank you for reading!

Next Time: The Magic World of  Fairies - Illustrated by Beverlie Manson

The Golden Children's Bible

 

 Hi all!

Hope you're well.

The book I am going to share with you today is called The Golden Children's Bible, written by Reverend J. Grispino, re-published in 1993 by Golden Books. I got this one as a gift from an aunt of mine and I must say I always found it magical in its own special way. 

In the first image, I loved how Grispino showed the transition of creations, such beautiful illustrations and so lifelike.

Growing up, I never really spent a long time reading it, but I loved the illustrations. I was always surprised that Pharaoh's daughter in the picture above, didn't look Egyptian, but I thought baby Moses was rather plump and cute. At least to a little girl's eye.

They truly look like murals you would see in a church, just completely breathtaking, and completely true to form.

Thank you for reading!

Next Time: Stories From Hans Christian Andersen by Mae Broadley and illustrated by the Johnstone sisters.

The Illustrations of Georgina Hargreaves

Georgina Hargreaves was born in Bolton, Lancashire, where she attended Bolton Art School. After spending several years in Canada, she returned and began working with Dean & Son, her work mainly consisted of illustrating many children's classics, including Peter Pan, Heidi and Oliver Twist.

Originally during 1979, twins Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone (I'll talk more about them later!) illustrated an edition of Enid Blyton's The Enchanted Wood; which is still highly collectable today. Sadly, Janet died that same year, so Anne did not continue working on this particular project.

Instead, Georgina Hargreaves went on to illustrate the titles of The Magic Faraway Tree Series, The Wishing Chair Series, The Little Witch Dog and The Green Elf. Her illustrations are some of the most famous to date - so I thought I'd share my big hardcover books with you.

 The editions I have are from 2004 published by Hinkler Books and they were part of a set called The Enid Blyton Classics Series. I do have The Enchanted Wood, but since its illustrated by Anne and Janet Grahame Johnstone, I shall talk about it later on.

The above image comes from The Magic Faraway Tree, Saucepan Man  has accidentally mistaken The Land of Toys for The Land of Goodies and gets himself arrested, so Silky, Moonface, Jo, Bessie and Fannie must venture up the tree to save him. 

There's something beautiful about her illustrations. Just the way the feel so detailed, and yet not to heavy. 

I absolutely adore this picture of the fairy in The Folk of the Faraway Tree.

This is from The Wishing Chair. The above image is quite iconic, as its often use for the cover for Hargreaves set. I love the way you can see the sunlight breaking through the clouds overhead and the tiny little stars twinkling over the sleepy old town.

I'll stop there. The last image I showed, I just fine absolutely gorgeous, I love her use of colour.
Don't you just love Enid Blyton?
Thank you for listening once again, feel free to comment, I can't wait to read them!

Next Time: The Golden Children's Bible

The Children's Treasury of Literature

 

Hi all! Hope you're well.

The book I am going to share with you today is called The Children's Treasury of Literature, published by Gold Bress and edited by Bryna and Louis Untermeyer, the original edition was released in 1979 (my copy is from 1983.)

The book was given to me by a neighbour when I was about five, maybe six years-old. Rather than being a typical collection of fairy tales or fables, the book includes excerpts from famous children's literature, which I love. It has everything from Snow White to Aesop's Fables; the reason I was always so fond of is because it features some gorgeous drawings from various illustrators including Eloise Wilkin (above), Richard Scarry (Not pictured) and Hilary Knight (not pictured.)

The illustrations by Gordon Laite, however, were always my favourites in the ginormous book. Snow White and Rose Red probably being my favourite of all of them. I vividly remember pouring over them as a little girl.

I always found this image (above) of Sleeping Beauty rather confronting as a child. Something about how limp she is laying their and the tiny bird in the foreground. But its beautiful all the same. Apparently a book containing images like this one were illustrated by Adrienne Segur and was originally published in 1958, during the early 1990s it was re-published, which means it is still available on Amazon if anyone is interested. The book was titled The Golden Book of Fairytales, translated by Marie Ponsot. If you do a little bit of Google searching about Adrienne Segur's illustrations, you'll notice she often had her characters bent on various angles, which is something I've never really seen before. The image itself is lovely, it so medieval as though it could be strung across a tapestry, plus I just love the courtiers in the background. 

 

The book also contains various excerpts from books that have become notable in children's literature. There's everything from Mary Poppins to The Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit.

Well, thank you for reading and I shall post against soon! 

Next time: The illustrations of Georgina Hargreaves