We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Blogstravaganza…

… to let you know that my list of Top 10 ALL-TIME favorite picture books is posted today over at Brooklyn illustrator Sergio Ruzzier’s blog!  If you don’t already know Sergio’s work, you should definitely check out his work online or at the Drawn In Brooklyn! exhibition at the library.  Thanks, Sergio!

Making a Top 10 list was tough… and a lot of fun!  I even had to call home to make sure I didn’t miss anything on the ol’ childhood bookshelves. There were several that immediately came to mind, and a ton of others that I believe are essential to children’s literature, but didn’t ultimately make the list.  In the end, I decided to go for the ones that weren’t always the most important to the rest of the world, but gave that little extra tug at MY heartstrings.  Because isn’t that what’s REALLY important, anyway?

Drawn In Brooklyn! Exhibition at the BPL

image: Sophie Blackall – Big Red Lollipop

As is now routine, I moseyed through the park and did my weekly grocery shopping at the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket on Saturday.  This time, though, I wasn’t too loaded down with pickles and goat cheese, and actually had the energy to stop at the Central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

I’d been meaning to hit the BPL because, though I’ve always been a huge library supporter (it’s in my blood, thanks mom and dad), lately I’ve been in the bad habit of buying books instead.  But with student loans looming this November (it’s been nearly 6 months already?!), it is time to tighten the finances and catch up on my reading – for free.

I was disappointed that I didn’t find anything super fresh and exciting in the YA section… but I guess it’s good that teens are checking them all out. Next time, I’ll have to bring a bigger list. I DID get the chance to see the Drawn In Brooklyn! exhibition of children’s illustration – and that, in itself, was worth the trip.

Drawn In Brooklyn! is a 4-month long festival of 34 local artists, celebrating the borough with the largest concentration of children’s book illustrators on the planet. In close proximity to Manhattan, illustrators can network with the publishing and art worlds first-hand… but then find both community inspiration and a bit of creative peace back here.  No wonder Brooklyn is home to, well, almost everyone I admire.

image: Peter Brown – Chowder

In the vast display of work in the Grand Lobby of the BPL, there were many, many familiar names, including personal heroes (Leo and Diane Dillon, Ted and Betsy Lewin, Paul O. Zelinsky), current favorites (Sophie Blackall, Peter Brown) and former professors (Pat Cummings, Megan Montague Cash). Also, a few illustrators I’d never heard of before: both Daniel Salmieri and Sergio Ruzzier‘s whimsical, quirky characters made me smile.  Here they are below!

image: Daniel Salmieri – Those Darn Squirrels

image: Sergio Ruzzier – Amanadina

Drawn In Brooklyn! has events going on for months – so don’t miss out on meeting any of the illustrators featured – from now until January.