"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

"Mike And The Modelmakers" By Miraslav Sasek (published by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd, UK 1970) Part 2

"Mike And The Modelmakers" By Miraslav Sasek (published by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd, UK 1970) Part 1

http://www.miroslavsasek.com/index.html

"My Big Book Of Sleepy-Time Tales" - A Collection Of Stories and Pictures by Authors and Artists from Czechoslovakia (published by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1984 - Part 4

 Kornelie Nemeckova (born 1932, Vsetin)

The work of Kveta Pacovska (born 1922, Prague) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kv%C4%9Bta_Pacovsk%C3%A1

"My Big Book Of Sleepy-Time Tales" - A Collection Of Stories and Pictures by Authors and Artists from Czechoslovakia (published by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1984 - Part 3

 The very colourful work of Olga Cechova, also in this book....

"My Big Book Of Sleepy-Time Tales" - A Collection Of Stories and Pictures by Authors and Artists from Czechoslovakia (published by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1984 - Part 2

"The Obedient Goat Kids"

 The beautiful work of the Czech illustrator JIŘÍ FIXL. Brilliant colour schemes and such imaginative settings and details - they would have made lovely posters.

Sleeping Beauty"

"Hansel And Gretel"

"Bertha And The Devil"

"My Big Book Of Sleepy-Time Tales" - A Collection Of Stories and Pictures by Authors and Artists from Czechoslovakia (published by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1984

"The Cock and The Hen"

 This book is a collection of modern and traditional tales for children illustrated by a number of Czech artists (early 80's). Most of the pictures are stunning and quite distinctive but the one that really stands out for me is the work of Jiří FIXL  (b. 1950). I love the wit, the colours, the quirky characters and the way the pictures are divided into panels to suit the narrative of the story. Here is the link for the artist's website http://www.jirifixl.cz/index.html 

"The Tale Of Tom Thumb"

"The Runaway Doughnut"

"DIE ABENTEUER DES BRAVEN SOLDATEN SCHWEJK" by Jaroslav Hašek, illustrated by Josef Lada (published by KIEPENHEUER & WITSCH KOLN, Berlin 1956) Part 3

 

Three more of Lada's illustrations - such simple lines but so expressive and funny. There is an excellent collection of work in colour he produced for children's publications on the 50Watts blog: http://50watts.com/filter/czech/The-Seasons-Come-The-Seasons-Go 

There is also an interesting biography on Jaroslav Hašek(1883-1923) on this link: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hasek.htm

"DIE ABENTEUER DES BRAVEN SOLDATEN SCHWEJK" by Jaroslav Hašek, illustrated by Josef Lada (published by KIEPENHEUER & WITSCH KOLN, Berlin 1956) Part 2

 

 

It appears that Josef Lada (1887-1957) is a Czech legend, much loved for generations in his country - and rightly so. I only found out about this artist when I picked up this book and realised these weren't just any ordinary illustrations. Just taking a glimpse at this pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/mmmdancer1/love-josef-lada/ you'll get a flavour of the huge volume of his work that's been published! This book is a German translation of Jaroslav Hašek's famous book,  "The Good Soldier Švejk"  (originally published in 1923). The story is a series of farcical incidents in the life of a Czech soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War 1. Here is the link on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Soldier_%C5%A0vejk

 

 

 

Cover for a toy box - from the Czech Republic (unknown illustrator)

And while I'm on the subject of sixties flat and bold colours with hand drawn type, here's another favourite of mine. It's a cover for a toy train set (not a book!) produced in the Czech Republic sometime in the sixties (I think). Found it in this house when we moved in three years ago - no train set inside though...