Being a working mum with two pre-schoolers, my cultural references are quite limited as I spend a lot of time reading books with the children (and OK admittedly – CBeebies plays quite a big part).  I’ve always greatly enjoyed the magical and mystical world of children’s book illustrations, an interest which started in my own childhood with my addiction to Beatrix Potter books and the wonderful animal characters she brought to life from her own imagination.

Now in the 21^st century, CGI animation is a big draw to the kids, but the more realistic, the less charm in my opinion.  One of my favourite authors and illustrators is Lauren Child, creator of the Charlie and Lola series.   Her quirky style of writing and engaging imagery makes her books stand out for me as well as for my girls (including my very own ‘little sister Lola’ who is also ‘small and very funny’).

Lauren Child studied art here in Manchester, had a spell as Damien Hirst’s assistant and then started her own careers in children’s literature.  She currently works for London design agency Big Fish.

Her illustrative style is a real mix of pieces and patches of real life, cartoon, magazine cuttings, material and watercolours.  This gives her books a quirky and charming feel where every page captures your attention and imagination.

Quentin Blake collaborated on many of the famous Roald Dahl books including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Her inspirations are drawn from people like Quentin Blake, most famous for his collaboration with Roald Dahl, and it’s easy to identify this influence in the wirey figures of Charlie, Lola and Clarice Bean.  Not so obvious on first glance is the influence of American illustrator Edward Gorey although the distinct placement of the characters on the pages is very reminiscent of the awkwardness of Charlie and Lola.

Lauren Child has also developed an ongoing campaign for UNESCO through her ‘My Life is a Story’ site, which promote the ‘A Pesky Rat’ story book with profits going to the charity.  Her own website  www.milkmonitor.com is a tour of her great work with some lovely touches and is definitely worth a visit too.

Green Drops and Moonsquirters is currently touring museums and galleries across the UK, giving you the chance to see over 40 original illustrations from Lauren’s award-winning books, explore playhouses which bring her books to life, make meals from incredibly rare delicacies like green drops in Charlie and Lola’s kitchen and dress up in Charlie and Lola’s favourite outfits, including Lola’s very best alligator suit!

So if you’re not yet / will almost certainly absolutely never be (delete as appropriate) in the market for a bit of escapism with Charlie and Lola,  have a look at some of her books anyway and see just how engaging children’s lit can be.  You never know, you may even find Soren Lorenson.

Edward Gorey's work

Tags: Art, Beatrix Potter, CBeebies, Charlie and Lola, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Creative, Damien Hurst, Edward Gorey, Green Drops and Moonsquirters, Illustrations, Lauren Child, Manchester, Manchester Design Agency, Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl, Soren Lorenson

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 4:34 pm and is filed under We Like. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.