Children's Books Too Cool for School

I had a great time thumbing through this, sacrificing time I really should have used to do other things, because Fleming has put together such a visually appealing book here. Chock full of photos, reproductions of images, and information.

Steve Jenkins, if you are not familiar with him, does this really great cut-paper art thing. It is generally almost photo-realistic, sometimes leaving me to wonder why a particular work is illustrated by Jenkins rather than just photo illustrated. However, what Jenkins does really works here, giving brighter images that we often only get to see murkily. Nice.

Man, this book is awesome. I read it cover to cover, turned around and read it again. In it, Raczka imagines interviews not with Vermeer himself, but with the subjects in his paintings. It's great art history, and if you are a Vermeer fan, you'll really enjoy it.

I fully admit I didn't get a chance to read any of this, but what a great cover! Despite what "they" say, it is one of my favorite ways to judge a book. Of course, a great cover would be nothing without a great subject to cover, and this looks like a good one doesn't it? I'll  have to read it eventually!