Best illustrated books all over the world
Original title: Река Elena Safonova presents the river as a symbol of human progress in her 1930 picture book. Its course carries the reader from villages and wooden bridges to steamships, railways, power stations, and apartment blocks, and finally flows into the open sea. Here, the river becomes a force […]
Original title: История старой квартиры A large-scale, bright work by artist Anya Desnitskaya and writer Alexandra Litvina, “The History of an Old Apartment,” reveals the history of everyday life in the Soviet and, to some extent, pre-revolutionary periods. The reader is presented with a panorama of events in a large […]
Original title: Белая лебёдушка 33 illustrations are made in black and white lithography, and will certainly cause another discussion about whether a book with such pictures can be considered a children’s book. The artist himself said in one of his interviews that all his fairy-tale characters are the personification of […]
This tender story follows a little girl who wants to find just the right birthday present for her mother. Unsure what to choose, she turns to Mr. Rabbit for advice, and together they imagine gifts as colorful and delightful as the world around them. Charlotte Zolotow’s lyrical text is paired […]
In this small, rhythmic book, Sendak takes the reader through all twelve months of the year, with each month linked to the cozy idea of eating chicken soup with rice. The simple rhymes are fun to read aloud, and the drawings are full of little jokes and charm. It’s a […]
Thomas Perino is a French artist and illustrator who draws in a minimalist and abstract manner. His illustrations are reminiscent of Art Deco arabesques, referring to the pure geometry of Art Nouveau.
Woody Guthrie’s song text bounces with the rhythm of hammers, saws, and nails. The words echo the clatter of tools — “bling blang, hammer with my hammer, zing-o zang-o, cutting with my saw…” — and turn the work of building into a noisy game. The lines move like a chant, […]
Discovery opens with waves crashing against shores — fish, birds, then people appear. Brodsky’s poem suggests the first discoverers of America, but it’s more than just a history lesson. There are hints that discovery is ongoing: land still holds secrets, and humans are never done exploring. Radunsky’s art, in collage […]
Maurice Sendak’s The Nutcracker offers a strikingly original vision of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic Christmas tale. Created in conjunction with Sendak’s celebrated set and costume designs for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 1983 production, this book presents the familiar story of Clara, her mysterious godfather Drosselmeier, and the enchanted journey to the […]
The Maestro Plays (1994), written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky, is a lively, rhyming picture book that follows the eccentric Maestro as he takes the stage with a parade of instruments. The language bursts with rhythm and invention: the Maestro plays reachingly, beseechingly, flowingly, glowingly – […]
Here and There is the story of Dan, the owner of a small seaside café, and Aki, a sailor who is always on the move. Two people, two different worlds: one cherishes stability, the other seeks novelty. Yet both sometimes feel lonely. When their paths cross, the world suddenly feels […]
In 10 (Ten), Radunsky follows Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo, a newly married couple who soon discover that their family will be much bigger than expected. Mrs. Armadillo gives birth not to one baby, but to ten — each simply named One through Ten. The story unfolds with playful exaggeration as […]
This book feels more like music than a story. Chris Raschka takes a few simple words — “Charlie Parker played be bop” — and mixes them with playful sounds and rhythms that bounce across the page like a saxophone solo. The text begs to be read out loud, chanted, or […]
Original title: Дюймовочка The book includes the most beautiful and romantic fairy tales of H. C. Andersen: “Thumbelina” and “Wild Swans”. Illustrations for the fairy tales were created by the modern artist Nadezhda Illarionova. She is a versatile and passionate creative person: an artist, graphic artist, illustrator and designer. A […]
Moosey Moose bursts with the voice of a little moose who suddenly decides: “I’m going to sit here!” He is loud, stubborn, and full of energy, and the rhythm of the words matches his mood perfectly — short, emphatic, almost like stomps on the page. Raschka’s brushstrokes echo that energy. […]
Original title: Волшебник Изумрудного города “The Wizard of the Emerald City” is a fairy tale story by Alexander Melentyevich Volkov, written in 1939 based on the fairy tale by the American writer Lyman Frank Baum “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” with some changes. The illustrator of the original edition of […]
“I Was a Deer” by Ahmad Akbarpur is about a deer that has been severely injured. The deer knows that it must flee from the royal hunters. Narges Mohammadi studied graphic design in Tehran and now lives there. Her works have been repeatedly selected for important international exhibitions: in Bologna, […]
In Because…, Mikhail Baryshnikov draws on his own life as a dancer to shape the story: the grandmother’s playful, unpredictable behavior is explained by her passion for dance — something Baryshnikov knows from the inside. His perspective gives the book authenticity and warmth, showing how dance can spill into everyday […]
Swiss artist Alois Carigiet was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Prize, the most prestigious award in the field, for his contribution to the development of children’s literature. The category for illustrators was introduced in 1966, ten years after the prize was founded, and Carigiet became its first laureate. In fact, […]
This is the story of Jennie, a little Sealyham terrier who feels she has everything a dog could want — but still believes “there must be more to life.” She leaves home to search for adventure and finds herself in a series of odd and sometimes puzzling encounters, all leading […]