"Adventures Of Jaboti On The Amazon", illustrations by John Vernon Lord, 1968

John Vernon Lord is another great character in the British illustration history. Born in 1939 and still producing amazing work. Here's a link for a very good biography http://www.illustrationcupboard.com/artist_bio.aspx?aId=283&aiPage=5

The stories of Jaboti in the Amazon jungle are a witty and unpredictable - a good example of 1960's children's literature. It's great fun for adults as well because the animals are full of human qualities such as selfishness, self-delusion and other mischiefs.

"Adventures Of Jaboti On The Amazon" Lena F. Hurlong, Illustrated by John Vernon Lord (Abelard-Schuman Ltd 1968)

"A Hundred And One More Uses Of A Dead Cat" by Simon Bond (1982)

Just a few more pages of alternative uses of cats. Forgot to mention that the book sold more than two million copies at the time - cat lovers (?)

"A Hundred And One More Uses Of A Dead Cat" by Simon Bond (Published by Methuen London Ltd, 1982)

Very gruesome stuff - specially for cat-lovers - but can't help laughing every time I pick this book up. The author and cartoonist Simon Bond died last year at the age of 64. This was, I understand, the work he's most famous for but he published more than 20 other collections of drawings while working as a cartoonist for a large number of magazines. Titles include Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, National Lampoon, New Yorker, Men Only and Vole in the US as well as the Punch and Private Eye in Britain. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/simon-bond-cartoonist-and-illustrator-best-known-for-his-book-lsquo101-uses-of-a-dead-catrsquo-2325838.html

"The Animal Family", illustrations by Maurice Sendak (originally published in 1965)

Three more beautifully crafted pictures by the great Maurice Sendak. Only two years prior to this, Sendak had written and illustrated his classic children's book "Where The Wild Things Are". There are many websites with reference and links to his work along with a large catalogue of publications. Here's a comprehensive biography I found the other day: http://www.nndb.com/people/275/000023206/

"The Animal Family", Randall Jarrell, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (Puffin Books, Penguin Books Ltd, 1976)

This book is a reprint of the original 1965 title, published by Pantheon Books Ltd USA. The illustrations are reasonably reproduced in all their exquisite detail.

My new mangle...

No pictures from any book today, only photos of an old mangle that I bought last month! A lovely looking machine used originally for drying clothes back in the Victorian days. Yes, I know you can get tumble dryers nowadays, but this is to convert into a printing press. I've always dreamed of having a press of my own since my art student days for printing etchings, lino and woodcuts but printing presses can set you back thousands of pounds (specially this one, that could print up to A2 size). I reckon the conversion of the rollers and the bed shouldn't be too hard to do and even counting in the cost of the blankets it will be way cheaper. It will certainly look a lot more attractive than the machines available on the market today. I'm hoping to post photos of the (successful) result one day soon along with samples of my prints...

"The Floating Jungle" written and illustrated by John Ryan (1981) - Part 2

There isn't as much material as I thought available on John Ryan and the large number of books he wrote and illustrated. Luckily, there's the ever so reliable website of Dr Mullen with a brief biography and information on the artist together with four brilliant samples from his Pugwash books. Here's the link: http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/r/ryan/cp.htm