Leaving here and heading East (and back in time about 40 years), we have been entering the world so beautifully captured by Mary Azarian's woodcuts. I admit that, in general, I am more focussed on story than on image when reading books with my boys. I will forgive illustrations I don't love if the story is great, but not the other way round. So, it is notable when I love the art in a picture book as much as I love the story. Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel was one of those notable books for me -- a wonderful book that tells the story of a young immigrant who chose to bring a most practical item with her to the New World. The book tells the story of Miss Bridie's life through the various ways she uses her shovel. As I read it, I thought to myself - who made these woodcuts? why is this person not more well-known?. Well, it turns out that Mary Azarian is well known (in fact, she has won a Caldecott Medal); she just hadn't been known by me.
I quickly logged onto our library website and ordered up some more books that Azarian has illustrated. The only one that's come in yet is Snowflake Bentley, which, like Miss Bridie, impresses me both in it's story and it's artwork. The book tells the story of Wilson Bentley as he grows up in rural Vermont fascinated with snowflakes. The book, which has informative sidebars that we skipped as we read the story the first-time through and then went back to read afterwards, chronicles Bentley's attempts to capture the beauty of snowflakes, in drawings at first and then with a special camera eventually leading him to become the foremost expert on "snow crystals". A wonderful winter story.
Treat yourself and you children and discover the beauty of Mary Azarian's woodcuts, and the wonderful stories that go along with her illustrations.
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