VLOGMAS 2020 DAY 2: Christmas picture book recommendations, winter walk in the Swiss Mountains
Hey hey! Welcome back to day two of Vlogmas! As I told you last time, there are going to be two parts, and I’m going to jump right into the first one, which is more of the illustration-based content. If you’re interested in more of the Christmas-themed content that isn’t directly related to illustration, I have marked that time below, so you can skip to that. But for everyone else, let’s get to the picture books! Today I have five tips for you for gorgeously
illustrated, beautiful Christmas- holiday-themed picture books, or children’s books. A quick disclaimer before I show you the book: These are not religious. So I know that
Christmas is a religious holiday, but these are not like illustrated bible stories or anything like that.
They focus more on the Christmas season as a holiday for the family, winter, that kind of thing. So that being said, let me show you the very first one! First tip… Look at how shiny that is! So my very first tip for you is “How Winston delivered Christmas”. It is by Alex T. Smith, and I cannot get over how adorable this tiny little character is! I will tell you
that I fell in love when I saw this back cover. There’s something about this style, these characters are so unique and the color palette is just exquisite. I mean, I… like I said: it was love at first sight when I saw this gorgeous, gorgeous back cover. So this book is a pretty cool choice. And I have to tell you that I’m talking about the look and the concept only because I have not read it yet. So, the reason is that it is an advent calendar type of book, so it’s split up by days, and there’s part of a story and an activity that you can do as a family for each day.
This illustration style is – ah – breathtaking, at least for my taste. I can’t say much about the text just yet, but if you are just as awestruck by these gorgeous illustrations, then I suggest you go check it out, and it might be a good fit for you. Alright, my second recommendation for you is this wonderful book: In German, “Mein Weihnachtswunsch (fuer Dich)”,
translated from the English version “Grandpa Christmas”. And so this is by Michael Morpurgo and Jim Field. So this book speaks to my heart. This is a book that I have indeed read. I did not pick it up only for the illustrations, although I am also completely in love with them. What is important to know about this book, it is a book with a message. And I love the message. It is a topic that is so near and dear to my heart, that to me this makes an incredible gift or incredible read, something to have at home.
I am so glad that I have it. But I’m giving it as a
disclaimer, because not everyone is quite as on board with this message. The message focuses on preserving this earth, this wonderful place that we have, for future generations. So the topic is environmental stewardship and environmental action, and to me, that is a wonderful thing to focus on. So the illustrations are an absolutely beautiful mix of these very wholesome scenes of family time together, the beautiful connection between a grandpa and his granddaughter, and with that,
you get juxtaposed these images of, well again, gorgeous nature around the world, but also some of that kind of doom that has happened, some of the issues that we are dealing with.
And seeing those illustrated in a picture book I think makes for a beautiful, complex, well-rounded book. And so let me just pick out one of the illustrations for you to have a little peek at. So this is one of those garden scenes that I just couldn’t get enough of. So yes, this is one of those books that I want to keep close to my heart, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.
Alright, so my third pick for you is “Snow Ghost” by Tony Mitton and Diana Mayo. What I think is done so well in this book is that these illustrations truly convey that icy, snowy, cold winter feeling to the T. I’m going to show you one of my very favorite spreads of this book, and then you’ll know what I’m talking about. That impactful, kind of all-encompassing color, that creates a mood – oh, it’s done perfectly. Ah, how could you not love it? How could you not love it? This is something that I find incredibly calming and heartwarming at the same time, even though it does have this very cool vibe.
So that’s another very beautiful kind of book to me that sets the tone and the mood of the season. Now, just like at the end of my other picture book video, this is one that I’m not exactly
sure what it says. It’s in Dutch! I don’t know. But pictures speak, and that is the whole point of picture books, right? It’s about visual literacy, so you can get the idea even when you don’t understand the words. Part of the story is in the text, but part of the story is in the illustrations, so I bought it anyway. Because I love this artist, I love this illustrator, I love the artwork. So here it is: The book is called, well, “Sinterklaasliedjes”. I don’t know actually. Um, here you go,
this is the book’s title, you can see it. This book is by Mark Janssen, who is also quite a big name in children’s books, so I’m sure, I’m almost certain you’ve seen some of his other works.
But if not, do look him up, he has some incredibly gorgeous things. One of my very, very favorite things about this book is the scene that it takes place in. So all these illustrated, old world kind of… cityscape of the Netherlands. If you
know a little bit about me, I’m a huge lover of architecture, especially old architecture like this. So to see it in a picture book format… As soon as I saw some of those illustrations on his page with houses, yep, I knew I knew I was gonna love this book. I will show you one of my very, very favorite spreads in this book. Just look at this! What I love about this is, again, the
architecture, and the scene.
The mood that is created is so incredible. Something that I love is when you have this warm glow in the winter from inside apartments, from a home, or a shop, illuminating the dark winter nights, the dark winter scene. I just love buildings and city scenes in picture books and real life. And I love illustrations that you can dig into and discover fun little details with. So, like this guy, I didn’t even notice him the first probably three or four times I flipped through the book. But he’s now kind of my favorite. Look at this guy! Look at this tiny little guy, oh my goodness, hilarious! Just the attitude and the movement that is caught in this tiny, tiny, tiny little detail is quite hilarious to me.
I mean, he even
has a shadow underneath him. It’s fabulous. And then something else that really kind of makes me chuckle is that this is a bookstore, and then when you look at these tiny little illustrations, those are the covers of real books that this illustrator has also done. I love that kind of matrix kind of moment, so kudos. Alright, almost at the end
of the picture book picks. I have one final one for you, and it is
another one in German. It’s “Das grosse Wunschzettel Wunder”, and it is by Julia Boehme and Stephanie Dahle. To me, this is a very classic, traditional, soft watercolor. Cozy, all-is-well-with-the-world kind of style, and why wouldn’t you want some of those moments? So, I’ll show you one little spread again. I love it! I want to cozy up. Like right there, there’s a little spot where I can go.
I mean, this is… this is my perfect winter day. Just look at the scene! It’s homey, it’s warm, it’s cuddly and cozy. I want to be in this story. I want to be in these scenes. And what I also love is this kind of extra swag that a lot of these pages… here you can see it: I love that extra metallic foil. It makes it so much more festive, so much more special, and also really adds visual interest to the eye as you’re looking at the pages where things are kind of changing. It’s a little interactive in that way, versus a fully static image, because when that light catches it – yeah, it’s just something special. I hope within these five picks you found something that you might enjoy as well. And yeah, cozy up, get under the blankets, and dive headfirst into one of these gorgeously illustrated winter worlds.
Alright, so I’m preparing my set of advent calendars, and a little bit of other illustration mail to go out as part of kind of a holiday promotion. And I thought that the perfect extra touch would be to use a little wax seal. This is the first time I’ve ever used a
wax seal, so definitely some of them were a little messier than others. But I’m still so glad I did it. I think it is a gorgeous touch. Alright, let’s get these in the mail. I was gonna take you to mail those envelopes, but then I realized that is super boring. So instead, join us on a little excursion that we took out into nature because I spend too much time at my desk. Out there, nothing can shake us… “Ohhohoho, that was terrifying!” “This is our view right now.” “And… we are in heaven. Look at this! Oh my goodness!” “Wow! Look at this coming up! WOW!” “Oh my gosh! That is incredible! We are above the fog! YES! That’s incredible! Wow, amazing!” “How beautiful is that, Boo?” “This is amazing! This is why we live here!” “Hey look! Are those baby pine cones? I think they are.
I’m a city child…” When I unpacked these, I was thrilled. I was incredibly happy, but I just wanted to make sure before I send them out I know what the inside looks like. Because of course behind each of these 24 windows, there is another image. My vision was that I would have 24 new images ready in time for the physical calendar to be printed. They would then match with a new Instagram image on those days exactly, one-to-one, and with this YouTube video. Well, spoiler alert, I was very far from having 24 new images ready by the time this had to go to the printer.
Not even remotely close. I was… I think I had five or six new images done, out of the 24, by the time I had kind of the drop-dead date with the printer. So I filled the rest of the calendar with other work from my portfolio, which unfortunately isn’t Christmas-related. And now in addition, something that I was gonna do was have a kind of little image or story that you could tell from the outside of each of the windows, that would then open up to that image. But I had to live with the done-is-better-than-perfect approach for this project, and so I sent it to the
printer. And in the rush to do that, I did not receive proof. And unfortunately, the inside… I don’t know if you can tell the difference, but every single image is slightly out of focus, the lines aren’t crisp, and the colors are a little washed out, which can easily happen with watercolor. Yeah. It’s just not…
It’s not the amazing effect that I was looking for. I would not have approved this (proof for print). But I take 100% of the blame for this because I was the one who delivered the files so late. And so, if I do another advent calendar, I would work again with the printer. I recommend them. They did amazing work. And yeah, that was… that was my bad. There’s no other way to say it other than to take full responsibility. And I should know better because whenever I rush on a creative project, I just kind of ruin the whole thing. Next year I would stick to my original plan for the timeline, which saw me starting on this in the summer and then having multiple months to finish it, versus trying to knock it all out in November, get it printed, get it sent out, everything. That was just too short a timeline. And I was almost there, but I missed that critical step. I am still incredibly proud, especially of the image at the front, but also that I completed this at all. Even though it is quite different from that original, huge vision.
And you know, there is always room for growth. And it’s my very first one, and hopefully, in my lifetime
there will be many more to come. And then, if you look at it that way, this is not a bad start.
ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇꜱᴛʀᴏʏ ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ™ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ – ᴄᴜʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴀʟʟʏ $37.⁰⁰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇꜱᴛʀᴏʏ ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ™ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴘʟᴀɴ ̶$̶7̶4̶ $37.⁰⁰ ᴄʙᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴋʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏᴏʟꜱ ̶$̶6̶7̶ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ɢᴏᴀʟ ꜱᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴡᴏʀᴋꜱʜᴏᴘ ̶$̶2̶9̶ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ-ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴛᴇʀʀᴀɴᴇᴀɴ ᴅɪᴇᴛ ̶$̶3̶7̶ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇꜱ ̶$̶1̶4̶7̶ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ɪɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ. ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʟᴇᴛ’ꜱ ɢᴇᴛ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ➫ “ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴍʏ ʟɪꜰᴇ, ɪᴛ ꜱᴀᴠᴇᴅ ᴍʏ ʟɪꜰᴇ.” “ᵈᵉᵖʳᵉˢˢᶦᵒⁿ ʰᵃᵈ ˢᵘᶜʰ ᵃ ˢᵗʳᵃⁿᵍˡᵉʰᵒˡᵈ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ᵐʸ ᵐᶦⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶦ ʷᵃˢ ᵈʳᶦᵛᵉⁿ ᵗᵒ ᵃᵗᵗᵉᵐᵖᵗ ˢᵘᶦᶜᶦᵈᵉ ᶠᵒᵘʳ ᵗᶦᵐᵉˢ. ᵈᵉˢᵗʳᵒʸ ᵈᵉᵖʳᵉˢˢᶦᵒⁿ ʰᵉˡᵖᵉᵈ ᵐᵉ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵇᵉʸᵒⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᵈᵉᵖʳᵉˢˢᶦᵒⁿ ˢʸᵐᵖᵗᵒᵐˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʷᵉʳᵉ ʰᵒˡᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ ʰᵒˢᵗᵃᵍᵉ. ᵗᵒᵈᵃʸ, ᶦ’ᵐ ᵗᵉᵃᶜʰᶦⁿᵍ ᵒⁿˡᶦⁿᵉ ʸᵒᵍᵃ ᶜˡᵃˢˢᵉˢ, ᵇᵘᶦˡᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᵃ ᵍᵃʳᵈᵉⁿ ᶦⁿ ᵐʸ ᵇᵃᶜᵏʸᵃʳᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵖᵉⁿᵈᶦⁿᵍ ᵗᶦᵐᵉ ᵃᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ˡᵃᵏᵉ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵐʸ ᵈᵒᵍ, ᵉᵈᵈᶦᵉ. ʰᵃᵛᶦⁿᵍ ᵐʸ ᵈᵉᵖʳᵉˢˢᶦᵒⁿ ˢʸᵐᵖᵗᵒᵐˢ ᵉᵛᵃᵖᵒʳᵃᵗᵉ ᵃᶠᵗᵉʳ ᵃ ˡᶦᶠᵉᵗᶦᵐᵉ ᵒᶠ ˢᵗʳᵘᵍᵍˡᵉ ʰᵃˢ ᵇᵉᵉⁿ ᵃᵐᵃᶻᶦⁿᵍ.” ᴇʟᴇɴ ʀ. ᴍɪᴄʜɪɢᴀɴ, ᴜꜱᴀ
