Hidden among our weightier academic books, we often find some jewels that we don’t expect and that would be suitable for pleasure reading. Our search for books worthy of holiday gift giving this season turned up a number of illustrated storybooks suitable for children or adults. Two include the work of Walter Anderson, (1903-1965) a reclusive Southern painter, writer, and naturalist, who worked with linoleum block prints. By coincidence, another selection compiles tales from Taiso Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), a Japanese woodblock artist.
Following are some DiverseBooks discoveries for the gifting season. Other possibilities include numerous titles on music, art, cooking, folklore and history. They are all available at substantial savings over retail prices on www diversebooks.net.
The Magic Carpet and Other Tales, by Ellen Douglas, $45, (List Price: $50), University of Mississippi Press, November 1987, ISBN: 9780878053278, pp. 186 pages.
An award-winning storyteller re-envisions classic fairy tales, stories and myths in this collection first published in 1987. It includes 24 full-color illustrations adapted from linoleum block prints by Walter Anderson, hand colored by his niece Adele Anderson Lawton. The writer, Ellen Douglas, drew from many sources of world literature to provide refreshing and charming versions of such time-honored tales as The Magic Carpet, Rapunzel and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
http://diversebooks.net/robinson-the-pleasant-history-of-an-unusual-cat.html
Robinson: The Pleasant History of an Unusual Cat, by Walter Anderson, $16.20, (List price: $18), University of Mississippi Press, October 1996, ISBN: 9780878059485, pp. 72.
