~Jan Brett~

Jan Brett was born om December 1, 1949
She is an author/illustrator of children's books.
Her books are known for colorful depictions of a
wide variety of animals.

 
With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett
is one of the nation's foremost author
illustrators of children's books.
Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts,
close to where she grew up.  
During the summer her family moves to a home
in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator
and spent many hours reading and drawing.

 

She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days
when I felt that I could enter the pages
of my beautiful picture books.
Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing
that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists.
The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope
others as well, that such places might be real."     
As a student at the Boston Museum School,
she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts.
"It was overwhelming to see the room-size
landscapes and towering stone sculptures,
and then moments later to refocus on delicately
embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain,"
she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when
fragments of these beautiful images come
back to me in my painting." 
Travel is also a constant inspiration.
Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a
member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Jan visits many different countries where she researches
the architecture and costumes that appear in her work.
"From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to
Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of
the many countries I visit and use them as
a starting point for my children's books." 

Some Books Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett:
-The Easter Egg (2010)
-Hedgie blasts off (2006)
-The Umbrella (2004)
-Hedgie’s Surprise (2000)
-Christmas Trolls (1992)
-The wild Christmas Reindeer (1990)
-Annie and the Wild Animals (1985)
-Fritz and the Beautiful Horses (1981)

Jan has one of the most popular author
websites in existence www.janbrett.com.
Millions of visitors come each year to access thousands
of pages of free activities for kids.
There are also videos which include "how to draw"
segments and footage from her book research trips.
Jan's work is beloved by teachers and librarians who
access her site for use in the classroom.



She was awarded the Boston Public
Library's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Her books have been chosen as "Best Children's Books
of the Year" by Newsweek, The New Yorker,
Parents magazine, and Redbook.

http://janbrettsblog.com/

~The Owl and the Pussy-Cat~

~ Illustration by Jan Brett~

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
    In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
    Wrapped up in a five pound-note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
    And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
    What a beautiful Pussy you are,
            You are,
            You are!
    What a beautiful Pussy you are.'

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl,
    How charmingly sweet you sing.
O let us be married, too long have we tarried,
    But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away for a year and a day,
    To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in the wood a Piggy-wig stood,
    With a ring in the end of his nose,
           His nose,
           His nose!
    With a ring in the end of his nose.

'Dear Pig, are you willing, to sell for one shilling
    Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day,
     By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
    Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
     They danced by the light of the moon,
             The moon,
             The moon!
    They danced by the light of the moon.

   ~Edward Lear (1812-1888)

~Captain of the Guard~

A moment in time...when two people kept apart
by circumstance and class, catch sight of
one another across an impossible gap
and cannot hide what they dream of.  

Our Knight is our Lady's champion,
and protects her honor and her virtue. 

Our Lady holds her torch alight in the window
for the weary Knight and his valiant horse,
a promise of comfort and warmth.

~Jacqeline Collen Tarrolly~

~Margaret Winifred Tarrant~

Margaret Tarrant was a prolific English illustrator
that created posters, greeting cards, calendars,
postcards and books for fifty years.
She was most popular during the 1920’s
and 1930’s for her romantic depiction of
children, fairies and animals.
.

 " You are old" said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was a steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
What made you so awfully clever?" 

~
Tarrant was born in Battersea,
a suburb of south London in 1888.
She was the only child of Percy Tarrant,
the landscape painter, and his wife, Sarah Wyatt.
Percy was a successful illustrator of magazines
as well as books and greeting cards.
His work was very influential in her life and
he her encouraged her to take up illustration.
As a child, Tarrant would set up an ‘Exhibition Tent’
with sheets, pin up her art work and invite
her parents inside for viewing.
.

"It was the White Rabbit, looking anxiously about
as if it had lost something, and muttering to itself,
'The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh, my dear Paws!
Oh, my fur and whiskers!
Where CAN I have dropped them, I wonder?”
~

Hold up his head--Brandy now--Don't choke him.
How was it, old fellow? What happened to you? Tell us all about it!" 

~
Her first training was in the art department
of Clapham High School, where she won
several awards for drawing, then moving on
to Clapham School of Art. She briefly trained
as a teacher, but turned to watercolor painting
and illustrating instead. After she had already been
established as in illustrator, in 1918, 1921 and 1923,
she studied at Heatherley’s School of Art, in London,
and in 1935 at Guildford School of Art,
where she met fellow artist Molly Brett.
.  .
“I began drawing at a very early age and
have never lost my love of it nor
my great interest in all artistic work.”
She said in an intervieuw!
. "What did they draw?", asked Alice.
"Treacle," said the Dormouse,
without considering at all this time." 
~

"She found herself at last in the beautiful garden
among the bright flower-beds and the cool fountains." 
~

 "Two began, in a low voice, " Why, the fact is, you see,
Miss, this here ought to have been a RED rose-tree,
and we put a white one in by mistake, and if the Queen was to find
it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know," 
~

 “Just about as much right, " said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly."
~
Margaret Tarrant was een populaire Engelse
illustrator. Ze creëerde posters, wenskaarten,
kalenders, ansichtkaarten en boeken.
Ze was vooral erg populair in de jaren ‘20 en ‘30.

Tarrant werd geboren in Battersea,
een voorstad ten zuiden van Londen in 1888. 
Ze was het enige kind van Percy Tarrant, 
een landschapsschilder, en zijn vrouw, Sarah Wyatt. 
Percy was een succesvol illustrator van tijdschriften
en boeken en wenskaarten. Zijn werk was zeer
invloedrijk in haar leven en hij heeft
haar aangemoedigd om te gaan illustreren.

Haar carrière als freelance kunstenaar 
duurde 50 jaar tot zij stierf in 1959.
~
 
.
Ze won verschillende prijzen,
ze heeft een opleiding aan de kunstacademie
van Clapham High School, Londen gedaan.
.

.
Enkele boeken van haar:
-The Water Babies (1908)
-The book of Authum (1910)
-The Pied Piper of Harnelin (1912)
-Goblin Market (1912)
-Fairy Tales (1915)
-Alice in Wonderland (1916)
-The Magic Lamplighter (1926)
-Johann the Woodcarver (1949)
-Wigly (1949)
.

.
Learn more:
 http://www.answers.com/topic/margaret-tarrant

~Citaat uit Roald Dahl’s boek!

Illustration by Margaret Winifred Tarrant (1888-1959)

'Fout!' riep Wolf haar nijdig toe.
'Wat heb je een grote tanden, grootmoe,
'dàt moet je zeggen, ezelskop.
'Nou ja, dan eet ik je zo maar op.'
't Kind lacht en trekt in een wipje
een revolver uit haar slipje.
Ze richt hem op het grote beest
en beng, beng... die is er geweest!
Een week of wat later, ik weet 't nog goed,
heb ik in het bos Roodkapje ontmoet.
Ik herkende haar bijna niet, dat snap je,
zo zonder cape en zonder rood kapje.
'Hallo!' riep ze vrolijk. 'Zie je wel
'mijn prachtige bontjas van WOLVEVEL!'

(Roald Dahl, Gruwelijke rijmen, Roodkapje en de wolf (fragment)

~Roald Dahl~

Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916 
and he died on 23 November 1990
He was a British novelist, short story writer
and screenwriter, born in Wales of Norwegian parents.
After service in the Royal Air Force during
the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace,
he rose to prominence in the 1940s with works
for both children and adults, and became one
of the world's bestselling authors.
His short stories are known for their unexpected endings,
and his children's books for their unsentimental,
often very dark humour. Some of his most
popular books include The Twits,
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
James and the Giant Peach, Matilda,
The Witches and The BFG.

Roald Dahl's story "The Devious Bachelor"
was illustrated by Frederick Siebel when it was
published in Collier's (September 1953).

Roald Dahl was born in 1916, to Norwegian parents,
Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl (née Hesselberg).
Dahl's father had moved from Norway and
settled in Cardiff in the 1880s,
and his mother came over to marry his father in
about 1910. Roald was named after the polar explorer
Roald Amundsen, a national hero in Norway at the time.
He spoke Norwegian at home with his parents
and sisters. Dahl and his sisters were christened
at the Norwegian Church, Cardiff,
where their parents worshipped.

Throughout his childhood and adolescent years,
Dahl spent his summer holidays with his mother's family
in their native Norway, mostly enjoying the fjords.
His childhood and first job selling kerosene
in Midsomer Norton and surrounding villages in
Somerset are the subject of his autobiographical work,
Boy: Tales of Childhood.

List of works, Children’s Stories
-The Gremlins (1943)
-James and the Giant Peach (1961)
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
-The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
-George's Marvellous Medicine (1981)
-The BFG (1982)
-The Witches (1983)
-The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
-Matilda (1988)
-The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (1991)
-The Minpins (1991)

This great little Museum in Buckinghamshire, England
has two fun and fact-packed biographical galleries and
a fantabulous Story Centre. In Boy and Solo,
visitors can learn about the events that
shaped Roald Dahl as a writer, from his illicit
motorbike outings at school to his time
as a World War Two fighter pilot.
In the Story Centre, visitors can get creative
with plot, character and language and
discover how writers from J.K. Rowling
to Benjamin Zephaniah write. Visitors can also
explore a replica of Roald Dahl's famous Writing Hut,
sit in his writing chair and get
some gloriumptious story ideas. 
 

Roald dahl is geboren op 13 september 1916
in Llandaff, Wales
en overleden op 23 november 1990

Biografie:
De ouders van Roald Dahl kwamen uit Noorwegen.
Zijn vader stierf toen Roald nog maar net
4jaar oud was. Na de kostschool wilde hij
niet verder studeren, hij wilde reizen.
Hij kreeg een baan bij Shell en kreeg werk in Afrika.
Daar nam hij na het uitbreken van de Tweede Wereldoorlog
dienst bij de Engelse luchtmacht.
Na een ernstig vliegtuigongeluk in de woestijn lag
hij zes maanden in het ziekenhuis en kon niet meer vliegen.
Hij kreeg een baan in de Verenigde Staten, waar hij
met het schrijven van verhalen begon.
In 1943 schreef hij zijn eerste kinderboek al,
maar het duurde lang voor er een volgend kinderboek kwam.
In 1953 trouwde Roald met de Hollywood
actrice Patricia Neal, ze kregen vijf kinderen,
waarvan er een al jong stierf. Door zijn kinderen
begon hij weer kinderboeken te schrijven. Later
hertrouwde hij In 1983 met Felicity ‘Liccy’ Crosland.
De laatste dertig jaar van zijn
leven woonde hij in een oud boerenhuis
in een dorp niet ver van Londen.

 
Roald Dahl is zowel populair bij kinderen
als bij volwassenen; hij schreef kinderboeken
en boeken en verhalen voor volwassenen.
Zijn kinderboeken werden zowel door de Griffeljury
als door de Kinderjury verschillende malen bekroond.
Zijn kinderboeken zijn fantastisch,
grappig en soms griezelig.

Er is een Roald Dahl museum
in Buckinghamshire England.
Het museum is een fantasierijke en
bovenal stimulerende plek voor kinderen en volwassenen,
waar je meer leert over Roald Dahl en zijn werk.
Het museum werd gebouwd in het huis waar
hij met zijn vrouw en kinderen woonde (Gipsy house),
temidden van het dorpje en de mensen
die hem bijzonder inspireerden.

 
Roald Dahl woonde het grootste deel van zijn
leven in 'Gipsy House' in Great Missenden,
vlak bij Londen.
Hij ligt begraven op een heuvel tegenover 'Gipsy House'

Bij zijn huis stond een tuinhuisje,
waarin hij zijn boeken schreef, in een hele oude
stoel met een plank op zijn knieën.

 
Do you want to know more about Roald Dahl?
Als je meer over Roald dahl wilt weten?
Click click on the links below…
www.roalddahl.com/

Roald Dahl's Museum

Take a look inside his Writing’s Shed

Nederlandse site over Roald Dahl

~Woman Seated at a Table by a Window~

 

As I sit at my kitchen table,
I gaze out upon the garden.
Peace fills my soul.
The warm breeze blows softly in my face.
The air filled with the smells
and delights of spring.
God's beauty has once again
refreshed my innermost parts.

The loveliness of the morning,
the freshness of spring,
the kindness of the warming sun,
all drawing our eyes once again
to our Creator.

~Author unknown~

~Helena Nelson-Reed~Illustrator

Helena Nelson-Reed has long been fascinated
by myth, fairy tales, legends,
and mysticism as well as history, cultures,
and spiritual paths different from her own.
Born in Seattle, Washington, she grew up
in Marin County and Napa Valley, California,
but eventually made the heartland her home,
residing in Illinois.

Helena Nelson-Reed is sinds lange tijd gefascineerd
door mythen, sprookjes, legendes en mystiek en
geschiedenis, culturen,
en spirituele paden die afwijken van haar eigen.
Geboren in Seattle, Washington, groeide ze op in
Marin County en Napa Valley, Californië,
maar uiteindelijk werd Illinois haar thuis.
  Helena volgde de American Academy of Art school,
en bestudeerde grafische kunsten. 
Ze keerde terug naar de universiteit later in het leven.
Om meer te zien van Helena’s werk 
kun je haar bezoeken op:
http://helenanelsonreed.com



In equal parts the blood of Wales, Ireland,
Sweden and the Pawnee nations flows in her veins.
Helena attended the American Academy of Art
for two years studying architectural rendering,
lettering, and life drawing.
She has no fine art training, considers herself
self taught, and has no affiliations in the art world.
Technique and subject matter emerge
from life experience, vision, dream,
and an innate love of creating.

She prefers natural surroundings and the
company of animals to that of most people,
craves the wild beauty of lonely rocky shorelines,
mountains, rivers, lush forests and wide open plains.

 

To see more of Helena’s work, visit her at
http://www.fine-art-studios.com/intro.html

Helena's werk is geïnspireerd door de traditionele
Native American en de Keltische cultuur,
spiritualiteit en mythe. Over haar beelden, zegt ze:
"Ik ben een gewoon mens. Mijn beelden communiceren
met een persoonlijke interpretatie van archetype,
droom, en levenservaring. Het vloeit voort uit het hart,
vaak creëren ze zich bijna zelf als ik ernaar kijk”

~Miss You~

A lonely fairy lass,
waiting for her love,
who is far away.

~Jacqeline Collen Tarrolly~