Perhaps once in every generation a book will come along that becomes equally loved for its illustrations as well as its words. Many of our greatest Children’s Classics have been born in this way.
When we think of Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll 1865) we imagine John Tenniel’s illustrations of the little girl with flowing blond hair:
When we think of Beatrix Potter’s books her paintings of Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggywinkle and Jemima Puddle Duck come flowing into our minds:
We cannot think of Wind in the Willows (by Kenneth Grahame1908) without simultaneously remembering E H Shepard’s pictures of Toad
and if we think of Winnie the Pooh (by A A Milne 1926) we again think of E H Shepard’s illustrations
Peggy Fortnum cemented our image of Paddington bear (by Michael Bond 1958)
and when we think of Guess how much I Love You (by Sam MacBratney1994) we immediately conjure up Anita Jeram’s pictures of The Little Nut Brown Hare with his dad. The book is already a classic that children of the 1980s and early 90s are now sharing with their own children.
Anita Jeram’s illustrations and the text of Guess How Much I Love You are inseparable.