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June 16, 2014

Illustrator Spotlight: William Bee

One of the illustrators I discovered on my little hiatus from a few months ago is William Bee. I read the book Whatever, and it was like a revelation. The perfect combination of wit and intelligence in both his text and illustrations, this book was definitely a game-changer for me. The book tells the story of a boy named Billy who is apathetic about everything his father tries to get him interested in. Until he's no longer in a position to be apathetic...

As someone who tends to struggle with digital illustration and its contribution to the world of children's illustration, I found the drawings to be engaging, colorful, and witty. Take a look at Whatever:












I won't ruin the ending for you bur it is QUITE satisfying...

After finding Whatever I immediately started searching for his other picturebooks and found And the Train Goes and Beware of the Frog. Although the story of And the Train Goes is definitely geared toward a younger audience ("Here is the station all noisy and full, and the station clock goes tick-tock, tickerty-tock"), the illustrations are still up to the same quality as Whatever and even showcase his use of color a little better:









And here's a look at Beware of the Frog. Equally beautiful, the story is more along the lines of Whatever, highlighting what happens if you overstep your boundaries. The ending doesn't disappoint, teaching everyone a lesson about what happens when you try to bully someone else. Mrs. Collywobbles lives all alone, but luckily she has a frog who eats anyone who threatens to take over her house. But what happens when she gets turned into a frog herself??











The end of this book is also extremely satisfying, and as much as it pains me to not tell you how it ends, I CAN say that it's fantastic...

Bee-ing yours forever,

Mel

1 comment:

  1. Thank your for introducing me to William Bee! His books look so retro; incredible!

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