Christopher Gunson

My son got out an old issue of Babybug magazine today, and one of the little poems we read was accompanied by such eye-catchingly wild and colorful illustrations that I had to get the magazine back out after I put him down for bed to goggle at them. I mean, Google them... I Googled the illustrator. Anyway, my search turned up some really cute prints of pigs, a tiger, and frogs at Art.com, which I would buy in a heartbeat for our boring walls. I don't think my husband would have quite the same appreciation for a home decorated soley in children's book art, however, which is probably the only thing holding me back.

This roly poly cat is from an Amazon poster that doesn't look to be available any longer but it sure is cute! Maybe I'll scan and post one of the images from Babybug (can I do that?) tomorrow, because the poem we read took up three pages of the issue and was all about a kitten. An even cuter kitten.

Christopher Gunson has written and illustrated two books, Over the Farm and Little Frog. I haven't read either, but I love the sheep on the cover of the farm book; they remind me of fluffy clouds. I have a soft spot in my heart for little sheep though. When I was very young my family lived on a farm, and I had a good friend in a lamb that I named Frisky. He'd go galloping across one side of his stall, then galloping back across the other side, then he'd plop down in my lap. This was even funnier because he was lame and only three of his legs worked properly, so he put on this show with something between a skip and a hobble. It was almost like he knew it was hilarious to watch and went dancing around on purpose, just to ham it up. Heaven for a young animal lover. Yeah, I know, I'm kind of weaving in and out of relevance for this post.

Booklist says this in their review of Over the Farm:

The popular "Over in the Meadow" folk rhyme gets a farm setting in this lively picture book that will draw very young children into counting the animals and joining in their actions. From the clever mother cat who stretches with her little cat one, to the kind mother pig who snuggles with her little piggies ten, the double-page, brightly colored paintings show the blissful animal families leaping, hopping, rustling, blinking, scratching, and flapping in the sun.