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Author: Judy Butler

  • Learning to Love Books

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    Judy Butler
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    The cover art for Madeline Finn and the Library Dog by Lisa Papp (2016) previews what’s inside the book. This is a gentle story about a child who struggles with reading. Madeline wants to read, but she doesn’t like to read because it’s difficult. She wants to earn stars for reading like her peers do.…

  • A Shout-out for Skillshare

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    Judy Butler
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    Skillshare is “an online learning community with thousands of classes for creative and curious people, on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more.” It’s a fun place to access art classes at any time of day. I’m amazed by the fine art and collage in some children’s picture books. Now I’m learning a little…

  • Stone Soup Served Three Ways

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    Judy Butler
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    Stone Soup by Ann McGovern (1968) has illustrations copyrighted in 1986 by Winslow Pinney Pels. (That’s a cute reversal of numbers: 68 and 86) The cover shows only a little old lady and a young adult. The younger one is barefoot. One foot is wearing a bandage. This story begins with a young man walking…

  • Leonardo’s Horse

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    Judy Butler
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    Leonardo’s Horse by Jean Fritz and Hudson Talbott (2001) is a masterpiece. Young readers will appreciate the reading level at grades 1 – 4. Middle and high schoolers can research the many references to Leonardo de Vinci, his endeavors, his contemporaries, and the setting in which he lived. This book condenses a huge amount of…

  • The House that Jack Built – Illustration Matters

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    Judy Butler
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    In The House That Jack Built  (1954, 1982), every character is smiling, except a few chickens, the rat, and the dog. I’m referring to a Little Golden Book Classic. This book is a happy-go-lucky rendition of that familiar story in the public domain. With blueprints in hand, Jack builds a small house. As he stands on a ladder to…

  • A Wire of Freedom

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    Judy Butler
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    The timeless theme of freedom meanders through Emily Arnold McCully’s trilogy about Mirette and Bellini. In the first book, Mirette on the High Wire (1993), her young protagonist feels free when walking the wire. Perhaps she’s freed from the grueling domestic work she does in her mother’s boarding house. We never see Mirette at school…

  • Let’s Support Human Creativity

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    Judy Butler
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    Rosa Bonheur wants to be an artist. Tomie dePaola wants to be an artist. Allen Say wants to be an artist. Each one embraces their aloneness and pursues a path that is different from their peers.  In The Art Lesson, Tommy wants to be an artist when he grows up, so he “drew and drew…

  • Rabbits Learn to Share

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    Judy Butler
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    If You Plant a Seed by Kadin Nelson (2015) is a beautiful book illustrated with lovely paintings. The cover is a close-up of a rabbit and a mouse that radiates light and color. It appears they’ve  collaborated to plant something. They gaze at a young seedling that’s emerging from rich brown soil. We can infer…

  • Eric Carle – the Why

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    Judy Butler
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    Herr Krauss. That’s the why. Herr Krauss secretly showed Eric Carle modern, expressionistic, abstract art. “‘Just look at the looseness, the freedom and–ah!–the beauty of these paintings. The Nazis have no idea what art is; they are charlatans!’” Eric Carle’s art teacher praised the freedom and looseness of his drawing and painting. “‘I’m only permitted…

  • Black and White Drawings

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    Judy Butler
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    Picture books with black and white drawings are rare at library book sales. I’m always glad to discover one. Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn (1965, 2005, 2012) tells of Andrew Henry Thatcher’s passion for building things. Andrew loved to piece together elaborate constructions. His mother could not tolerate the helicopter Andrew designed to hang…