Two dear blogging friends (Henny Penny and Granny Marigold) recently mentioned their love of Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge books. I've noted them before, but it seems a good time to share some of her illustrations and show why I love The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge.
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| That's Barklem's real painting desk! |
Henny Penny organized her cute sewing room in the fashion of Brambly Hedge, and I realized I like that same look: a loose, flowy organization on open shelves, like this:
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| Look, Granny Marigold! Teacups! |
If forced to choose favorite pictures from this book, these would be the ones. I love the wealth of detail, the step-back cupboards, weighty beams overhead, and stone floors. It's why I chose to redo my kitchen as I did.
This book by Barklem begins with a sort of written interview with her. Sketches show how she creates her little mice.
And the world they live in:
She talks about her writing process.
I adore cross-sections of structures (especially trees) like the one below! It combines my love of order and architecture with my creativity and domesticity.
I love the idea of living inside a cozy tree.
Barklem's tree-living reminds me very much of Shirley Barber's Martha B. Rabbit stories. Martha lives in an apple tree.
One winter Martha and her friend Tabitha take in all the cold, hungry woodland inhabitants who need help - fairies, birds, deer, mice, and even an elf!
Barklem's picture of this mouse before his winter fire reminds me very much of Mole and Ratty and Badger.
The afternoon temperatures and mosquito clouds outside may not agree, but I think it's the time of year to visit Brambly Hedge and the Apple Tree House and The Riverbank, don't you?
6 comments:
Hey MK. I love this post! Of course, all your posts are special. I just knew there were others who had posted about Brambly Hedge...you and Granny Marigold, and there are probably others. I can see how you designed your kitchen cupboards like those in the little books. Oh, I would love to move into their little home in a tree. :) I have only three Brambly Hedge books; Winter, Fall, and Poppy's Babies. Hopefully, I can order Spring and Summer soon.
Hope you didn't find a lot of damage when you came home from your mom's. I sure thought about you and your place several time during the storm.
Thank you for the mention.
Yes, a good time of year for these beautiful books! My WITW is stored out in Micah's barn. I'll get to it when I move here. I love BH books. I gave one of mine to my mom when she was going through alzheimers. My stepdad said she loved to hold it and look at the pictures. They're so much fun to explore. Happy fall!
What a delightful post!! I love everything about it. I haven't heard of The Martha B. Rabbit stories but will be looking for them. And, yes, I did see the tea cups hanging from their little hooks.
Fall is the perfect season to visit and enjoy Brambly Hedge! That world has become a favorite to read and explore with my grandchildren. I think they would sit for hours with me and examine all the details again and again, and speculate about story lines extending beyond the pages we can see.
Beautiful pictures that are so fun to look long and hard at. The littles love these. I think it's fun to try to copy these pictures in art journals -- with kids. I like Tasha Tudor's illustrations for the same reasons. Will you be trying your hand at some of the art in your journals this fall?
And, of course, Albert Camus said that we could all get used to anything, even living inside a tree trunk. I'm absolutely sure that the one he envisaged was not at all like these wonderful places!
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