I have so many books that have influenced myself as an illustrator, as well as influenced my mothering. I have been wanting to share them for a while, and I was SO happy when I found this favorite of mine at a used bookstore in Downtown Salt Lake City. Granfa Grig Had a Pig is a collection of mostly forgotten nursery rhymes, mixed with a few favorites, and illustrated by the amazing Wallace Tripp, who won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Picture Books for this book. And rightly so! It's full of illustration after illustration that completely take you right into the poems. My children can't take their eyes off the pictures, and it's sweet to see...because I would study this for hours as a child. I can really see how this book has influenced my art as an illustrator. It's really fun to see that now as I look back.
In addition to the illustrations being completely gorgeous, there is a lot of humor in this compilation too. Even adult humor, which I appreciate since adults are ultimately the ones reading it! The choice of nursery rhymes are just wonderful (a good 80% of them I can't say I've seen in any other compilation) and my children have loved memorizing them.
It makes for an increased vocabulary too, especially when they are so easy to memorize:
Peter White will ne'er go right
Would you like to know the reason why?
He follows his nose wherever he goes
And that stands all awry.
Memorization. Is it just me, or is that a lost art? Memorizing poetry? I think I have a blog post on just that.
My kids have shown trememdous growth in their reading and speaking skills since I've been offering them more poetry this summer. I could talk for hours on that subject...but 'tis summer and I must get outside!
If you haven't seen this book, you really need to. Ask your local library, or search through used and new listings here. It's out of print, and so far Amazon is the only online place I could find copies here.
I will be reviewing more of my favorite illustrated books (it's been a while!) and for more reviews, visit here.
{Winners from the Giveaway gave been announced and are at the bottom of the giveaway post. Thank you so much...this was so fun!}