18 January 2015

One More Look: Favorite Picture Book Art of 2014

This post originally appeared on Book Riot on January 9, 2015.
Amidst the flurry of end-of-year lists, I started getting to get nostalgic for all the great books that we’d be leaving behind in 2014 — then I remembered that we get to take them with us into 2015. PHEW.
That being said, before we turn our full attention to 2015 (which is already shaping up to be an incredible year for picture books), I thought it’d be fun to take at least one more look at the past year. So, without further ado, here (in alphabetical order by illustrator) is some of my favorite picture book art from the year that was.


Acrobat
Illustrator: Alborozo; The Acrobat (Child’s Play)


FoxGarden
Illustrator: Princesse Cam Cam; Fox’s Garden (Enchanted Lion)


Nana in the City
Illustrator: Lauren Castillo; Nana in the City (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)


Gravity
Illustrator: Jason Chin; Gravity (Macmillan)


Abuelo_pg32
Illustrator: Raúl Colón; Abuelo by Arthur Dorros (HarperCollins)


Little Elliot Big City
Illustrator: Mike Curato; Little Elliot, Big City (Macmillan)


storm whale
Illustrator: Benji Davies; The Storm Whale (Macmillan)


The Fox and the Crow
Illustrator: Culpeo S. Fox; The Fox and the Crow by Manasi Subramanian (Karadi Tales)


Farmer and the Clown
Illustrator: Marla Frazee; The Farmer and the Clown (Simon & Schuster)


NOISY PAINT
Illustrator: Mary GrandPré; The Noisy Paintbox: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art by Barb Rosenstock (Random House)


WorkAnOccupationalABC
Illustrator: Kellen Hatanaka; Work: An Occupational ABC (Groundwood)


ShhhIllustrator: Chris Haughton; Shh! We Have a Plan (Copyright © 2014 by Chris Haughton. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books London)


Iridescence
Illustrator: Hadley Hooper; The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan (Macmillan)


issunboshi
Illustrator: Icinori (Mayumi Otero and Raphaël Urwiller); Issun Boshi: The One-Inch Boy (copyright Gestalten 2014)


Harlem Hellfighters
Illustrator: Gary Kelley; Harlem Hellfighters by J. Patrick Lewis (Creative Editions)


MeFirst
Illustrator: Max Kornell; Me First (Penguin)


MorrisMicklewhite
Illustrator: Isabelle Malenfant; Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino (Groundwood)


MaytheStarsDripDown_catalog11
Illustrator: Nikki McClure; May the Stars Drip Down by Jeremy Chatelain (Abrams)


elsa and the night
Illustrator: Jöns Mellgren; Elsa and the Night (copyright Gestalten 2014)


Viva Frida
Illustrator: Yuyí Morales and Tim O’Meara; Viva Frida (Macmillan)


Little Melba
Illustrator: Frank Morrison; Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown (Lee & Low)


Violet and Victor
Illustrator: Bethanie Murguia; Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Bookby Alice Kuipers (Little, Brown)


Hi, Koo_MinhIllustrator: Jon J Muth; Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons (Scholastic)


Sweetest Kulu
Illustrator: Alexandria Neonakis; Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk (Inhabit Media)


Number One Sam
Illustrator: Greg Pizzoli; Number One Sam (Disney-Hyperion)


SunRa
Illustrator: Chris Raschka; The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra: The Sound of Joy Is Enlightening (Copyright © 2014 by Chris Raschka. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.)


Gus and Me crop
Illustrator: Theodora Richards; Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar by Keith Richards (Little, Brown)


Josephine
Illustrator: Christian Robinson; Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell (Chronicle)


Goodnightsongs
Illustrator: Isabel Roxas; Goodnight Songs: Illustrated by Twelve Award-Winning Picture Book Artists by Margaret Wise Brown (Sterling)


Coming Home
Illustrator: Greg Ruth; Coming Home (Macmillan)


Hannah's Night
Illustrator: Kamako Sakai; Hannah’s Night (Gecko)


Churchill
Illustrator: Anca Sandu; Churchill’s Tale of Tails (Text and illustrations © 2012 by Anca Sandu. Permission to reproduce granted by Peachtree Publishers.)


BEEKLE
Illustrator: Dan Santat; The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Little, Brown)


ThreeBears
Illustrator: David Soman; Three Bears in a Boat (Penguin)


RIGHT WORD
Illustrator: Melissa Sweet; The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant (Eerdmans)


QG_o4910_rulesofsumme_INT_45-45.pdf
Illustrator: Shaun Tan; Rules of Summer (Scholastic)


1 to 20 Animals Aplenty
Illustrator: Katie Viggers; 1 to 20, Animals Aplenty (POW!)


Peggy_interior
Illustrator: Anna Walker; Peggy: A Brave Chicken on a Big Adventure (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)


HoorayForHat
Illustrator: Brian Won; Hooray for Hat! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)


Hands Say Love
Illustrator: Taeeun Yoo; Hands Say Love by George Shannon (Little, Brown)


Nancy Knows
Illustrator: Cybèle Young (Excerpted from Nancy Knows by Cybèle Young. Copyright © 2014 by Cybèle Young.  Reprinted by permission of Tundra Books, a division of Random House of Canada, a Penguin Random House company. All rights reserved.)