Best illustrated books all over the world
Original title: Сказы Павла Бажова Oleg Korovin, a gifted Russian artist and illustrator, became closely associated with the legendary Ural folktales of Pavel Bazhov. In the late 1940s, he began working on illustrations for Bazhov’s stories, participating alongside other artists in the 1949 edition of The Malachite Box. Korovin gained […]
Fred forgets everything — his head is filled only with music. The flute plays, and all else just slips away. Even when he’s sent to fetch the Bitter Fruit of Satisfaction for the richest man in the world, he seems more tuned in to melody than to mission. Along the […]
Marsha Winborn has created lively, expressive artwork for numerous children’s books, known for her playful linework, warm color palettes, and a touch of humor that makes her illustrations instantly recognizable. Her work often captures the gentle whimsy of everyday life and the small adventures of childhood. Among her most charming […]
George notices a strange, crumpled brown thing pinned to the wall in his father’s studio. When he asks what it is, his dad warns him — it’s too scary to tell. Of course, that only makes George more curious. What follows is a story about a midnight visit from a […]
Original title: На реке Ангаре In Valentin Rasputin’s book, the Angara is the embodiment of untamed nature — powerful and willful, both menacing and beautiful, like an ancient goddess. For the young protagonist, the river is alive: “It stirred restlessly, heaving and sighing. At times a deep, hollow murmur rose […]
When Fritz Eichenberg (1901–1990) was commissioned to illustrate Jane Eyre for Random House in 1943, he had never read the novel or been to Britain. Working from New York during World War II, he approached Charlotte Brontë’s story through Jane’s own sharp and honest perspective. Eichenberg, a German-born artist who […]
Original title: Маленький охотник Тагикак The book The Little Hunter Tagikak brings together three Eskimo folk tales retold by G. Snegiryov and V. Glotser: The Little Sorceress, The Wooden Dish, and The Little Hunter Tagikak. The title story tells of two generations of sea hunters — a father and a […]
The main character of the picture book “Angus Lost” is a little Scottish Terrier. Artist and writer Marjorie Flack began creating picture books about Angus in 1930 — not by chance, but because she was simply drawing her own dog, her neighbors’ animals, and real events from their lives. That’s […]
French-born illustrator Edmund Dulac brought a sense of enchantment and quiet mystery to everything he touched, and this book is no exception. The collection includes some of Andersen’s most beloved fairy tales — among them The Snow Queen, The Nightingale, and The Emperor’s New Clothes — all reimagined through Dulac’s […]
Original title: Приключения барона Мюнхаузена Almost every book illustrated by Mikhail Maiofis becomes a notable event in the world of book graphics, reflecting the artist’s imagination, inventiveness, and genuine talent. His style is immediately recognizable, with a distinctive visual signature that allows readers to say at once, “This is Maiofis!” […]
“The Tale of Petya, the Fat Child, and Sima, the Thin One” was published by Moskovsky Rabochy in 1925 and became Vladimir Mayakovsky’s first children’s book. The poem tells the story of Petya, the repulsive son of a bourgeois, and Sima, the virtuous child of a proletarian blacksmith. It spans […]
A rhythmic, explosive picture book where pattern, sound, and color march together. Drummer Hoff retells an old folk rhyme about soldiers who build a grand cannon — the Sultan — and the drummer who fires it. Ed Emberley’s woodcut illustrations pulse with energy: bright blocks of red, blue, and yellow […]
Leo Lionni’s The Alphabet Tree (1968) is a visual and conceptual experiment in storytelling through letters. The book presents tiny letters clinging to a tree, threatened by a fierce wind, and shows them gaining strength by forming words—and eventually sentences—with a message of peace. The illustrations use wide white spaces […]
The letter, almost like a living character, rushes across the pages: picked up by postmen, flying in airplanes, sailing on ships, riding on horseback, even sliding on sleds. Each time it finds a new messenger hurrying to deliver it to the right place. And though the letter is always a […]
Montresor’s illustrations in Mommies at Work are immediately striking. The original 1961 edition uses deep purples with bright yellow accents, giving each page a sketchy, almost theatrical feel. At first, the images seem to show the familiar — moms cooking, washing dishes, zipping coats — but as the book unfolds, […]
Beni Montresor’s illustrations for The Birthday of the Infanta and Other Tales feel like fragments of a stage performance. Every detail — from fabrics to gestures — follows the logic of theater. The figures don’t just pose; they act. Space, movement, and silence all play their part, as if the […]
In this wild, rhythmic picture book, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers spins a mischievous, folk-like tale full of repetition, humor, and absurdity. Beni Montresor’s vivid, expressionistic illustrations heighten the sense of heat, rhythm, and madness. His bold colors and surreal compositions match the feverish energy of the text, turning this simple […]
In this striking reinterpretation of the classic tale, Beni Montresor returns to Charles Perrault’s original, preserving its dark ending and omitting the moral. Inspired by Gustave Doré’s engravings, his theatrical illustrations transform the story into a symbolic meditation on innocence, danger, and transformation. Through layers of shadow and light, Montresor […]
Original title: Аня в стране чудес In Nabokov’s free translation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the familiar story turns into something sharper and more enigmatic. Gennadiev’s illustrations follow this shift completely. His Wonderland is not whimsical but introspective — a place where dreams blur into unease. The figures seem caught […]
A timeless picture book about Max, a boy who sails to the land of the Wild Things and becomes their king. Maurice Sendak’s iconic story, blending sparse text with powerful illustrations, captures childhood imagination, mischief, and the comfort of home. Winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal, it remains one of […]