Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010

Image property of Blexbolex.

Happy New Year!

It's 2011 and I'm just now looking at the New York Times' annual end-of-the-year review of the Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010. And I have to give SCAD props because there's something pretty great about these 10 featured illustrators; three of them gave lectures here in the past year! So, here are the books and their illustrators, in the order the NYTimes lists them.


1) Here Comes the Garbage Barge, by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Red Nose Studio (aka Chris Sickles) who turns a studio full of drawers, which are full of scrap and junk, into really incredible 3D illustrations. He came to the SCAD Collaboration Lecture Series last year.

2) Children Make Terrible Pets, by Peter Brown. Peter Brown came to speak early this November but I totally missed the talk. Arg. Luckily he was hanging around the grad room later and I got a chance to meet him and find out that he's awesome. I go weak at the knees for process work; you can see some great sketches and an interview here.

3) Seasons, by Blexbolex. I don't know anything about Blexbolex except that he's French, has been around for a while, and is rad. And this Nobrow website he's on is full of incredible illustrators. Treasure trove.

4) Shadow, by Suzy Lee. Oh, lord, I love her book Wave. She kicks out legends.

5) Busing Brewster, by Richard Michelson, illustrated by R. G. Roth. Hm, I think Mr. Roth's illustrations are only available on his agent's website, here.

6) Big Red Lollipop, by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall. I must admit I like her editorial work better than her children's book stuff, but hey, who am I?

7) Henry in Love, by Peter McCarty. Man! My mom and I saw his originals at the Art Institute of Chicago this summer and they were GORGEOUS. Oh crap I just checked and it's not up anymore. Well here's the info. Anyway my mom and I loved Jeremy Draws a Monster, especially when the monster says "Draw me a hat! I'm going out!" Go read it and then we can laugh and laugh together instead of just me laughing right now by myself.

8) A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead. Cute! I'll have to learn more about her.

9) Subway, by Christoph Niemann. Mr. Niemann also spoke at the SCAD Collaboration Lecture, and he was hilarious. His children's books are inspired by his own children. He told us that his son only like stories about policemen, firemen, clouds, and helicopters. This inspired his book "The Police Cloud," which is about a cloud (and his best friend, a helicopter) who wants to be a policeman. Spoiler: he turns out to be a fireman.

10) Bink and Gollie, by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrations by Tony Fucile. Mr. Fucile is--wow!--the animation guy behind The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, etc. Sheesh!