#153 of 1001 · December 31, 2020

And so we have reached the Eve of the New Year. Now is a time for reflection, looking back and taking stock of what has come before. I started this series of posts five months ago, and set a few rules for myself: each day a new illustrator (that’s over one hundred fifty!), no repeated tale type (only one version of Cinderella, only one Rumpelstiltskin, et cetera), and feature classic work (that is, at least a decade old). I decided that I would challenge myself to stick to these rules for the duration of the calendar year, and then relax them a bit. Therefore, in 2021, you may see me post further work from illustrators I’ve covered before, new versions of fairy tales I’ve already discussed, and books by more current authors. I’m excited to be branching out in this way, and I hope you enjoy what’s to come! Finally, for those of you who have been reading and responding so kindly thus far: thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am bidding farewell to 2020 with what I believe to be the ultimate achievement in the picture book form: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Max, having misbehaved and quarreled with his mother, sails off to a faraway land where he tames and befriends a tribe of monsters. Then, in need of comfort, he sails home again to find the warm welcome of unconditional love. Sendak chooses his language masterfully, with not a wasted word in his quietly poetic text. The illustrations achieve shadow and depth through effective use of cross-hatching and color, with the images starting out tightly framed on the page and gradually expanding as we journey into a marvelous world that might exist alongside our own, in Max’s imagination, or perhaps both at once. #mauricesendak #wherethewildthingsare #wild #thing #things #wildthing #wildthings #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks