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What Was/Is Your Favorite Children's Book? (And Misc)
13 years ago
General
I saw a new life come into the world crying it's first tears.
The Part You Should Read:Since I'm currently working on becoming an illustrator for children's books I thought the best way to find out what to put into a portfolio is ask what people like. Keeping in mind the images more than words, since I'm only doing the artwork, what were your favorite books as a child? Or, if you have children what do they enjoy? Subject matter, colors, backgrounds... anything you think of.
The Random Babble You Can Skip:
Tomorrow I am having another test done to see if something is wrong with my wrists and hands and if so what it is. Until I know the results I really don't feel like posing an opinion one way or the other. I have a history of getting hurt accidentally. My parents told me I had been to the ER more times than they had put together a few years ago and now it seems I have been there twice as much as they have put together. The fact is I'm just accident prone and now my body is moving on to things beyond pure injury. So, in the past month I have had tests done on my hands, a massage that took 3 days to stop hurting, a trip to the ER for an unexplained severe pain in my gut but allowed them to find an infection, a twisted ankle from jumping off a swing incorrectly, one night of no sleep due to a fever/pain and pretty much all the other nights just nightmares, unable to fall asleep or unable to stay asleep. My darling boyfriend is probably going to die at the age of 45 just from the amount of worrying he goes through. Since this particular problem will be affecting my artwork I deemed it relevant enough to speak of on this site.
My Babble About Rabbit's:
I will repeat my advice on people who are considering buying and especially adopting a rabbit. The advice is after you have the idea, thought it over and decide to do it go back to the beginning and think it over again before you actually do anything. I love rabbits. I loved my first rabbit more than any living creature that came into my life and I love my dear bunny, Odd Thomas. But, Odd is always reminding me of the rule to owning a rabbit: "You don't train them, you work with them." Unlike a dog or even a cat you won't have a lot of success getting habits out of rabbits. They can be trained to do tricks but if they have a habit and you can't redirect it then they will keep that habit.
Odd came to me with an unknown past other than it was really really bad. The pet store assistant who helped me when I found him said all she knew was he was about a year old and this was his third time in a store and had two previous owners. He was separated from the other rabbits and no one really wanted to handle him. When I had him home he was scared to death of everything, his fur was a giant tangled mat that would later have to be cut off and worst of all he bit people.
Pixel (my first bunny) liked to dig. He dug until he was beyond the staples and the wood under carpet. Turns out the plastic covers for cat nails will fix that right up. Odd however chose chewing as his habit and you can't put plastic on a rabbits teeth. In my room alone he has chewed the bed, sheets, curtains, chair, all the cords, carpet, vacuum, books, paper, computer bag, book cases, cd cases and even the door and door frame. I don't really care because I've lived with a rabbit for so long that I know if a cord gets ruined you should have had it covered, if your books gets a few pages ripped out then it should have been on a shelf and my best story is even if you put your homework in your bag on a desk if a rabbit is determined he will get on a chair, pull down the bag, open it, pull out a binder, pull out your homework, eat the homework and your professor will not be understanding of that in class the next day.
So, before buying a rabbit no matter the age be prepared for destruction. No matter how careful you are things will be destroyed and sometimes it's just from accidentally thinking it was a toy or in the way and then sometimes rabbits are just evil little fuckers. But, we love them anyway. This entire babble is actually just out of concern for the amount of rabbits that end up back at a store, or dying from neglect or any number of things that occur when people get a cute bunny and find out it's not a puppy.
Now that I have vented I think I will go doodle...
I was always fond of the "Little Critter" books when I was a kid... especially after I figured out how to read.
As for my own child; Cats and Strawberries XD She also likes more 'interactive' books; where she can find things. Tried her tentatively on Where's Waldo; but it might have been too much at once (she is only 4, after all)
As per books I'm gonna go look them up. I used to read Where's Waldo in the waiting room when my mom saw her therapist... I was probably a tiny bit older than 4. There's an "I Spy" book at my doctor's office that I find whimsical and fun.. just photos of scenes with tiny objects everywhere to try and find. I wanna make a book like that some day. If nothing else it's an excuse to collect random little toys.
I might get a lot of flak for this, but.. there comes a point with rabbits where I figure you should just eat the things.
I read a LOT when I was a kid, but one book I thought of that had some decent images, but could use better ones was "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ordinary_Princess" The Ordinary Princess.
What I liked when I was a kid was general magic. Dark (but not too dark) fairies, knights in shining armor.. But even as a little girl I didn't really like the "sissy frou frou" princesses. Wilt on your own time, wench, there's sh*t that needs to get done!
A witch cursed you to die on your sixteenth birthday? Hunt the b**ch down and slay her before it can happen! At least then you'll have DONE something with your life before you die, IF the spell hasn't fizzled 'cause the one who cast it is gone.
Haaa, that makes me think that maybe we should collab for your portfolio. I could write a short story geared for children and you could illustrate it.
Just as long as it doesn't go the way my daughter tells stories. "Once upon a time, there was a princess. She had nothing to do so she made a zombie and it ate her, the end *creepy laugh*"
^.^ I will not give flak. Rabbits.. Bunnies.. you can use different terms to pretend they're different but they're not. I don't think I could eat Odd cause too much attachment but I have had rabbit in restaurants.
I love your view on how stories should be. I think that's why even though recent Disney usually sucks the newer princess' aren't useless bitches. The best Disney princess is still Belle even though she was never a princess.
I could illustrate based off a story but it couldn't be published unless it was published by us. Publishers are allowed to say they like a story but toss the artwork and use an artist that works for them. As inspiration I think it's a wonderful idea and you would know better than me the kind of subject matter that I should be focusing on. Also, I am adding the book to my list. Thank you for the help.
As for favorite childhood books, I was quite fond of the Curious George books. I'm not sure if it was the artwork of the story itself, but I enjoyed reading them when I was younger...
I think you'll find them to be really enjoyable. Tea!