When I think of the book illustrators who drew the artwork for the books of my childhood, the first ones who come to mind are Garth Williams, who drew the beloved illustrations in the Little House books or John Tenniel of the Alice books.
But there were many more illustrators, and Denise Ortakales has put together a site that fills a gap in our knowledge of early children’s book illustrations: Women Children’s Book Illustrators.
She explains the purpose of her site as follows:
The world of children’s book illustration is filled with prolific and accomplished men and women. My curiosity about some of my predecessors sent me on a quest to discover the history of this noble profession and its participants. I was surprised to find in book after book that very few women were included. There was a mention here or there and a few images, but little else. The number of women’s biographies seemed disproportionately low compared to the number of women illustrators involved in the children’s book field.
Accordingly, she did some research, and her site introduces us to such illustrators as Cicely M. Barker, Bessie Gutmann, and Jessie M. King.
She sets up the site by giving us history on topics such as the following:
• history of children’s book illustration and the role women played
• women in Victorian England
• the 19th century American woman
There’s also an excellent set of links. This site is definitely worth checking out.
Via Ursi’s Blog.
Posted by Amy as Children's Literature, Illustrations at 6:45 AM EST