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Chris Van Allsburg

Books

10 Great Kids’ Books That Have Never Been Made Into Movies

By Emily Temple on

Last week, we rolled our eyes at the news that Adam Mansbach’s much-buzzed-about children’s book Go the Fuck to Sleep is being adapted into a film. After all, though it seems like every kids’ book ever has been produced for the big screen, there are still many great ones that haven’t been — and that would make much better cinematic fodder than a book that is mostly the published cry of an overworked parent. After the jump, our list of ten amazing kids’ books that should definitely be made into films before Go the Fuck to Sleep (but we’d settle for after, too). … Read More

Books

The 20 Most Beautiful Children’s Books of All Time

By Emily Temple on

[Editor's note: It's Labor Day, so your devoted Flavorwire team is taking a break. To keep you entertained, we're leaving you with our most popular features of the summer months. This post originally ran July 9th.] Ever since Chris Van Allsburg’s birthday last month, we’ve been feeling a surge of appreciation for the plethora of beautiful picture books in our lives. In fact, we think some of the loveliest illustrations we’ve ever seen have been in books (or maybe that’s just the association with a great story talking), so we decided to round up a few of the most beautiful children’s books — at least according to us. Keep in mind: we’re going for beauty, not iconic status — so Tenniel’s Alice drawings and a few other iconic, innovative illustrations, while dear to us, don’t make the cut. Leaf through our picks for the most mindblowingly beautiful picture books after the jump, and since we can only draw from our own personal knowledge and tastes, and we know there are scores upon scores of gorgeous children’s books out there (thank goodness), be sure to add any other favorites of yours to our list in the comments! … Read More

Pop Culture

10 Great Artists’ Famous Calling Cards

By Emily Temple on

Here at Flavorpill, we love looking for patterns in the culture around us — and patterns there are aplenty. This week, we’ve been thinking about the trademarks that often span artists’ bodies of work. Like a stamp on an official document or a secret code rapped through a bedroom door, many artists, directors and authors have these calling cards — trademarks that they either slip into their works on purpose or that just tend to crop up time and time again in their work. Whether they’re tributes, fascinations, or just stylistic choices that the artist never tires of, we think it’s fun to look for these identifying marks. Click through to read about the calling cards of ten artists across fields, and let us know which easter eggs and trademarks we’ve missed in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 Important Life Lessons We Learned from Children’s Books

By Emily Temple on

This week, one of our favorite children’s book authors and illustrators of all time, Chris Van Allsburg, turned 63. Allsburg’s books were formative literature for us as children, so to celebrate the author’s birthday, we were inspired to think about all the life lessons we learned from children’s books — both picture books and early chapter books — that still stick with us. After all, the things you absorb at a young age can form the foundation for the person you will become, so we think it’s nice to look back and see if we can trace our morality to an evil French dentist and his dog. Click through for some of the life lessons we learned from our favorite children’s books — and let us know which morals you’ve held onto in the comments. … Read More