Best illustrated books all over the world
Halloween ABC (Eve Merriam, illustrations by Lane Smith) is a darkly playful alphabet book of twenty-six short poems, each keyed to a Halloween word. Published in 1987, the volume pairs Merriam’s rhythmic, often macabre verses with Smith’s moody, painterly images; the illustrations (oil on board) use shadow and a restricted […]
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, […]