Robert McCloskey, Cute, Warm, Sentimental Art. 

            Robert McCloskey is one of the great ink, and pencil artists of all time, with dynamic pictures, and beautiful compositional choices he is a bold, strong artist. What makes him most unique however is his choice of themes, from a Mom and her child picking Blueberries, to book about a family of ducks, his pictures are emotional testaments of the happiness of life.

            One of the things that sets McCloskey apart from other artists is the energy of his drawings, and energy that exists because with only a few exceptions his books are done in single color line drawings, from the Blue of Blueberries for Sal, to the Warm Earth Tone Browns of “Make Way For Ducklings” his books focus on being dynamic, rather then colorful, helping to draw you into the story he tells.

            In “One Morning in Maine” this story is about a girl who is going on an outing with her father, the pictures in this story are especially dynamic, with the poses of the people being strongly energetic, helping to pass on all the excitement of children going on an outing with a loved parent. This energy and the theme itself makes this book not only a perfect read but perfect as decoration. It can be hung on the wall or displayed openly on a bookshelf. It is easy on a bookshelf to change the pages showing, and the beauty of this book is not distracting from the environment of a room, but will still draw the child too it, allowing you to decorate with it in most any room.

            Another series of pictures that make for good child décor, are those from the book make way for ducklings. Some of the cutest pictures and a great book for children this book tells the story of a small family of ducklings that decides to make its home in a lake in Boston. The picture has some very strong compositions of the ducks flying that will engage your children. In addition there is a picture of a police man stopping traffic for the ducklings as they cross the road. This cute picture would make for a beautiful bookshelf display, as it would be both humorous and touching.

            As books of course these are stories which should be read, and with a number of Caldecott awards you will find that you love to read Robert McCloskey’s books, as much as your children love to be read too.