Beatrice Alemagna, Again

Fine Little Day posted an interview with Beatrice Alemagna over the weekend.  

Her work is beautiful - last year around this time, I shared about a book that my students really enjoyed called My Friend.  It was linked to our sewing work, and to the children's storytelling.  I think that we can use her work again in the classroom, now that we have a growing focus on storytelling, papermaking, and bookmaking.  Looking at My Friend might inspire come children to illustrate with fabric.

They Quickly Ran from the Enormous Finger

This is on my wish list. So simple, so funny. I can see a one of my students in particular doubling over with laughter on the last page and then running to the writing table, inspired.

The Rainy Season looks amazing, too. It appears to be sold out on the website, but I just happen to be going to Paris in two weeks and will definitely be swinging by Colette...they are supposed to carry them. Each book is silkscreened by hand and a limited number are available.

I'm inspired to do some drawing myself, and I'm thinking about wordless books now!

*from andy smith via book by its cover

Beatrice Alemagna

We have a wonderful school library, and I'd like to begin sharing some of my favorite children's books.

In English this book is called My Friend; it is by author and illustrator Beatrice Alemagna. The illustrations are textiles and stitches and buttons. It has been a nice tie in to our class talks about what we can make with fabric. We can illustrate a book!

This story follows a creature that is always being mistaken for a dog or a pigeon or a lion, and the reader never finds out if this creature is a certain animal; but it finds another special creature at the end - a friend.

Ms. Alemagna has a nice website that lists her books - I have yet to see any of her other books in English. But they are worth the search, I think. And "My Friend" is incredibly cheap on amazon.com right now...