"The Nonsense Verse Of Edward Lear" Illustrated By John Vernon Lord (published by Mandarin Paperbacks 1992, first published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1984) Part 3

The incredibly complex and intriguing work of John Vernon Lord (b.1939). This book has hundreds of illustrations for Edward Lear's limericks and each one is a marvel to look at. The detailed observations of costumes, animals, plants, insects and buildings, the compositions and the surprising humour are a huge inspiration. A must-have for illustration enthusiasts. The artist himself has been publishing quite a few from this book on his own amazing blog (together with loads of other pictures from his long career in publishing): http://johnvernonlord.blogspot.co.uk/

Here is also an extended article on his life and work, published in Sussex Living Magazine on his 75th birthday in 2014: http://sussexliving.com/december-feature-john-vernon-lord-life-illustration/#

"The Nonsense Verse Of Edward Lear" Illustrated By John Vernon Lord (published by Mandarin Paperbacks 1992, first published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1984) Part 2

                               
             http://johnvernonlord.blogspot.co.uk/

"The Nonsense Verse Of Edward Lear" Illustrated By John Vernon Lord (published by Mandarin Paperbacks 1992, first published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1984) Part 1

http://johnvernonlord.blogspot.co.uk/

"The Giant Jam Sandwich" Story & Pictures by John Vernon Lord, Verses by Janet Burroway (First published by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1972, this edition by Piper Books, Pan Books, London 1988), Part 3

 

Not only this book is a great treat for any young child but it's a perfect example of  pictures and text complementing each other. Janet Burroway's rhyming verse is so concise, while full humorous dialogues and descriptions. It sets the pace for the story, creating anticipation for what's to come in the next page, while always in line with the pictures - so effective! A complete contrast with many contemporary children's books that rely so heavily on gimmicks, but have such poor content.

 

John Vernon Lord's illustrations are a treasure to any illustrator.The characters in the book are so well observed they could each tell a story in their own right. Their clothes, postures, expressions make me laugh each time I look at the book and always remind me of characters from TV shows of that era! Here is a very interesting lecture given by the artist on this particular book (a link from Wikipedia): http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/g/gjs/g.htm

 

 

"The Giant Jam Sandwich" Story & Pictures by John Vernon Lord, Verses by Janet Burroway (First published by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1972, this edition by Piper Books, Pan Books, London 1988), Part 2

 

This is the amazing story of a small town plagued by wasps, which causes the inhabitants to come up with a very creative plan to get rid of them! They bake a giant loaf of bread in order to make a giant jam sandwich in order to attract and capture all the wasps into it! One can spend hours looking at the wonderful characters created by John Vernon Lord (born in Glossop, Derbyshire, 1939)! The amount of work, talent and imagination that's gone into this book is unbelievable. No wonder it has never been out of print since it was first published in 1972! A classic children's book.

 

Here is a link for the artist's biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vernon_Lord And here is a link for his own beautiful blog, full of his work and personal notes by the artist: http://johnvernonlord.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

 

"The Giant Jam Sandwich" Story & Pictures by John Vernon Lord, Verses by Janet Burroway (First published by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1972, this edition by Piper Books, Pan Books, London 1988), Part 1

 

One of my all-time favourite picture books!

"Adventures Of Jaboti In The Amazon", Illustrated by John Vernon Lord (1968) - part 3

Couldn't resist showing some more of Vernon Lord's intriguing and funny illustrations - the more you look at them the better they look. The top one is the back cover of the book.

And this is the record sleeve he produced that same year coincidentally for none other than Deep Purple (now that would be a nice LP to own though I imagine it would cost quite a lot). It's the band's second album - "The Book Of Taliesyn", 1968 - and they wouldn't have been so well known then, but what a masterful design. Classic 1960's craftsmanship and brilliant lettering!

"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)