Tasha Tudor

10 Children’s Illustrators You Should Know: Tasha Tudor and Robert McCloskey

30 Jan

I am delighted to share with you this weeks two artists in our series of 10 children’s illustrators you should know: Tasha Tudor and Robert McCloskey.

The whimsy and old-world feel of Tasha Tudor’s works are what first captured my attention and eventually won my heart. Tasha Tudor’s artwork appears in over one hundred different titles published world-wide. Additionally, she both wrote and illustrated more than two dozen published texts of her own.

Born in 1915 in Boston, Massachusetts, Mrs. Tudor primarily resided in New England all of her life, working their to her last years until her death in 2008. Tasha Tudor was a gifted artist who captured special moments, called upon remembrances of days gone-by, and cultivating the hearts and imaginations of generations past, present, and yet to come. I hope you enjoy some of my favorites of her works here.

Some author illustrators hold a sentimental place in our hearts. Robert McCloskey is one of those for me. I can hardly pass up a copy of Blueberries for Sal or Make Way for Ducklings, and will not indulge you by telling you how many copies I have owned or presently own of both these books.

Robert McCloskey was born in 1914 in Hamilton, Ohio. An artist from the start, McCloskey could play many instruments, carve and sculpt figures from soap bars to tree trunks, and would later, after publishing his first two books, serve as a technical sergeant based at Fort McClellan, Alabama during World War II. During the middle of war, McCloskey published his third book, Homer Price, one which I would recommend for boys of all ages to love and laugh over. Robert McCloskey died in 2003, leaving a lasting legacy for children the world over.

McCloskey won two Caldecott Award Metals for his illustrations or Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings, and he both wrote and illustrated seven books of his own amid providing the illustrations for many other works. Here are a few of my very favorite of Mr. McCloskey’s books.

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Stepping Back in Time

24 Oct

Imagine stepping back in time. Dressing and living as the early Americans over 200 years ago. Long dresses, bonnets, and button up shirts were the norm. Store bought was a rarity and homemade the everyday. Making your meals off of the land and the animals that you raised yourself rather than gathering them from the freezer section or a drive by window. That is what Tasha Tudor chose to do with her modern-day, twentieth century life.

Our Emily loves this era often requesting, “Please call me Laura.”

In the book, The Private World of Tasha Tudor, she and Richard Brown tell her story as a farmer, author, illustrator, and reminisce about her childhood. This book isn’t only for the young at heart, but the young as well. Emily and Joshua listened intently and looked on with wide eyes at the beautiful photography in this book. It was rather surprising!

I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dish washing. Whenever I get one of those questionnaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It’s an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren’t stupid because your’re a housewife. When you’re stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare. ~ The Private World of Tasha Tudor, p. 104

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God ~Ecclesiastes 2:24

Do not romanticise Mrs. Tudor completely, she warns:

People have a rose-colored lens when they look at me. They don’t realize I’m human. They don’t see the real me. As Mark Twain said, we are like the moon, we all have our dark side that we never show to anybody. ~The Private World of Tasha Tudor, p. 101

The exquisite illustrations in all of Mrs. Tudor’s books come from the world and people around her. Thoughtful words, combined with beautiful drawings, capture the hearts and imaginations of all who chose to read the books she has published. Below are a few of our favorites.