Simply Read Books

Where You Came From



When You Were Small

We're loving these books by Sara O'Leary/illustrated by Julie Morstad... and keep checking them out at the library. Perhaps it's time to make them part of the permanent collection.

Another book...

and perhaps sometime soon I'll actually write something. Until then, enjoy. Again, the illustrations are wonderful!

I LOVE these illustrations.

We picked this up at the library today. By we, I mean me. I couldn't help myself. The illustrations in the book Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu are incredible. I think I may just have to buy it. Take a look at her portfolio at www.tao-illustration.com. Apparently this work is her MFA thesis project from SVA. I'm thoroughly impressed.

A book... finally

Got this at the library this week... great illustrations! Oh, how I would love to write a book for my favorite little girl...

Brilliant

I picked up this book for a friend a while back and wish I would have gotten myself a copy... take a look!

Fancussingtastic.

The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox, designed by Pentagram.

Over the holidays, I had the opportunity to see Fantastic Mr. Fox—an absolutely wonderful movie! I was so incredibly impressed by everything—the characters, the story, the set, the art direction. It was truly fantastic. Of course, I am a fan of both Roald Dahl and of Wes Anderson, so I figured I couldn't go wrong shelling out the big bucks to see it in the theater. It's definitely worth seeing again!

Read+see more about it at:
NY Times
The making of... from Wired Magazine
Lots of videos from Apple (I especially like the one on the world of Roald Dahl)

gifting

Coming a little late... but there are a few days left, right? Here are a few things I find wonderful. Though I always try to make at least some of my gifts, I never seem to have as much time to devote to the projects as I would like. Luckily, there are many great ways to support artisans and small businesses directly without having to leave one's desk. Take a look!

Baggu
A great selection of reusable bags (that we gave away a few years back)... and now they have produce bags!

Foodzie
Tons of food gifts! The Maple Honey Caramel Spread above looks delicious!

papernstitch
Kind of like a mini-Etsy with a nice selection of handmade gifts. This calendar's from 1canoe2.

castcouture
Cat's a designer/seamstress from New Zealand and her clothes are fabulous—I have several pieces. Her work merits its own post (or several)... coming soon!

Powell's
I love this place. If you're ever in the Portland area, you really must visit! A few of my favorite books from this year (or so)—In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, The Outlander by Gil Adamson, and American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Rainy Days = Frequent Library Visits

Another great find from the local library—Follow The Line Through the House by Laura Ljungkvist

And... yet another book with lovely illustrations—Night's Nice by Ed and Barbara Emberley (it's over 40 years old and still great!)

The Giant Jam Sandwich

Another oldie... brings back memories and the illustrations are great :-)

Dook Bay

I have to recommend yet another Shel Silverstein book that I somehow never read—Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. This one had us in tears. The illustrations are great, but the book is just fun to read out loud. There are a few examples of some of the stories at shelsilverstein.com. Take a look!

A Giraffe and a Half

I'm not sure how I ever missed this book—I have read so many of Shel Silverstein's books since I was a wee one—and this one does not disappoint! It got several laughs from my daughter—yet another one we need to add to the permanent collection.

p.s. It's a fun one to read fast!

Tangerines and Tea

My Grandparents and Me

We actually had to take this one back to the library today... but I enjoyed it so much that I think we may have to add it to our permanent collection. It's a nice alphabet story that isn't overly obvious (no "a is for...") and the illustrations are lovely. Take a look!

Monday is still book day.

Stopped by the library today and picked up this book—Lines that Wiggle. It's a cute story, just enough to keep the attention of a just-turned-three-year-old. The illustrations are great, too! Check it out >

A book... while we're away

We're away for a short vacation in Montana (my home state!). But while we're gone, I thought I'd share one of our old favorites—Leonardo, the Terrible Monster. It's a sweet story of a monster that just isn't scary, complete with fun illustrations. It's my favorite of Mo Willems' books, who you might know from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, and Knuffle Bunny—also good books... but there's something about this one that just makes me smile.

Christmas in August

It's been a long time since my last post, but I wanted to share my latest "book" purchase—Eric Carle's Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent Calendar (I love Eric Carle's illustrations!!!!). I know, it's not anywhere close to Christmas... but I decided to take advantage of Chronicle Books' Friends and Family Sale and buy a few gifts. My daughter is finally old enough to start playing with some really cool stuff, so bring on the tiny pieces!

I hope she likes it as much as I will.

Client Spotlight

PicPocket Books


It's about time I began introducing some of my wonderful clients. While I may feel the need to prove that I do, in fact, work (a little)—the real reason for the post is to focus on some of the great ideas people are bringing to fruition, even in this dismal economy. So in this inaugural "spotlight" post, I decided to highlight one of my newest clients, PicPocket Books. Not only are they incredibly nice people, they have a great product—childrens' books that can be downloaded from iTunes. I downloaded their first book, My Friend Isabelle, and my daughter loves it. It definitely comes in handy when we're waiting in line!

I was fortunate enough to get to work on both the logo and site design for PicPocket. I love being able to take on integrated "campaigns". Not only are these projects more creatively satisfying, they usually have a better visual outcome, as having only one designer involved makes for a better process for everyone (just my opinion). On top of that, it is great to be able to help out a client from the beginning and feel the excitement for their business/organization and be able to translate that graphically.

Check 'em out at picpocketbooks.com or on iTunes.

Monday = Bookday

On a recent trip to the library, I checked out You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination. I first took a look at this book right after it was published in 2004, but wasn't able to give it the time it deserved. You don't have to be a designer or cartographer to to appreciate this collection of innovative maps. It was definitely worth a second look.

I'll be putting Katharine Harmon's new book, Maps as Art in my queue soon.

Library!!!!!

Another fruitful adventure to the library—we brought back at least a dozen books... but my favorites from this week are Sunny and Windy by Robin Mitchell and Judith Steedman. The paper dioramas/landscapes are so fantastic. And the stories are just perfect to keep my nearly three-year-old interested. I absolutely must take some time away from the computer and get back to making things—perhaps creating silly dioramas with my favorite little girl would be a great place to start!

ABCs

Our weekly trip to the library was quite fruitful, but it was the book I purchased (from a newly-discovered local independent book store) for one of my daughter's playmates that inspired this post. The book is Charlie Harper's ABCs, and it is so beautifully illustrated that I wanted to keep it for myself. A more complete gallery of his work can be seen here.

The Red Shoes

I ran across this book at the library today and had to share. The illustrations (by Sun Young Yoo) are amazing!
More images here >