SOI 28

It's no secret that I love Richard Scarry. And when I was asked for a quote for the SOI Original Art Show that I was on the jury for, I gave them this.

And I had no idea that they were honoring Mr. Scarry with an Lifetime Achievement Award!

Getting to see some Original Art from "I'm a Bunny" was like seeing my own Shroud of Turin.

Amazing and delicate brush work! I just want to live inside Busytown, those characters just make me happy, they give me good memories of reading books at my Grandmother's house and also playing with Puzzletown (see pic below) at my cousin's house.

2 years ago I managed to get a couple of these sets off Ebay for Teddy and Oskar, ok I admit and for me too! So much fun but man they are pricey!

INSPIRATION

Was in South Philly yesterday and found these little gems at Molly's in the Italian Market.
I only learned about Roger Duvoisin a couple years ago, incredible illustrator! Just a beautiful line and gorgeous composition. I wish these old books had every page in color instead of every other spread.

One of my favorite Richard Scarry books of all time, Rabbit and Friends, I scored two for a $1.25 each!

Another oldie but goodie.




















And last but not least, I've never seen this one before, but its pretty much a perfect book and subtly teaches good manners.

Best Children's Book illustrator Ever

I've been working on a couple new stories, and I'm realizing that much of my inspiration for children's books and characters comes from Richard Scarry. When I was young, I spent hours upon hours looking at every square inch of his books.  I was so excited to find new things each time, as a result, his work is seared into my sub-concious. Sometimes I have thought of something clever and funny, only to find out/realize later that it was just a reworked Richard Scarry concept. I also realized I didn't know anything about him.

So I started digging around the internet. I found this photo set on Flickr that has "before and after" comparisons to Scarry's book "Best Word Book Ever". 

Apparently after the 60's and 70's he started to get a bunch of hate mail and he was forced to "update" some aspects of his books.

Take a look, pretty interesting. (Click on "Best Children's Book Illustrator Ever" above to see the photos.