Wednesday 28 September 2016

"Just So Stories" By Rudyard Kipling, Illustrations By The Author (published by Macmillan And Co., Limited, London 1921 - first published in 1902) Part 2



Rudyard Kipling (British, born in Bombay, India 1865-1936) became a very successful and respected writer from a young age and his books are still being published today. He gained world fame by the time he was 30 with "The Jungle Book"(1894), "The Naulahka: A Story Of  West And East"(1892) and "The Second Jungle Book"(1895). The "Just So Stories" came out in memory of his eldest daughter, Josephine, who had died at the age of six with pneumonia in 1899. It's a collection of bed time stories he used to tell her. Amazingly, he created these lovely illustrations himself! Here is a good biography on the great author, poet and journalist:  http://www.biography.com/people/rudyard-kipling-9365581  There is also the wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling






Friday 16 September 2016

"Mike And The Modelmakers" By Miraslav Sasek (published by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd, UK 1970) Part 3



A book published by the manufacturers of the legendary "matchbox" toy cars - very nostalgic for those who grew up in the sixties and seventies as they were very popular and probably very collectible nowadays. Miroslav Šašek (1916-1980) was a born in Prague and studied architecture while taking lessons on drawing and painting with Czech artist Otakar Blažíček. He contributed drawings for newspapers and worked for book publishers until after WW2 when he moved to Paris to study art further. In 1948 when Communists took control over Czechoslovakia he decided to stay in France. His illustrations for the "This Is ..." series of travel books for children made him famous around the world and his style is instantly recognisable. "This Is Paris" was published in 1959, "This Is London"(1959), "This Is Rome"(1960), "This Is San Francisco"(1962) and many others. Here is another site dedicated on his life and work: http://www.sasekfoundation.eu/en