One of my favorite aspects of the picture book is the way it connects word and image. Chapter books unfold in what is essentially a private place (our imagination), even when we read them aloud as a family. We may build a shared memory of having read the book together and may even pull a few favorite lines into the family lexicon, but we’ll all still picture Green Gables a little differently or hear Pa’s laugh in a slightly different way.
And that is as it should be.
But picture books draw both parent and child (and baby doll and long-suffering cat) into the same visual world, adding details from beyond the text to give our own imaginings color and structure.
Our oldest readers still enjoy a good picture book, and I’m thankful for that. But as they move more solidly into the realm of the chapter book, I find myself looking for ways to strengthen their imaginations, to give them images and beautiful artwork to nourish their own visions of the text. I sketch scenes for the younger ones while their papa reads aloud; I hand-letter favorite quotes for our walls, so that the words themselves become beautiful. And I look for lovely prints by other artists that will broaden and deepen the way they see each story.
When, in my quest for those prints, I discovered that one of this blog’s very own readers ran an Etsy shop filled with gorgeous, literary-themed art, well. A giveaway seemed in order.
Jenny Williams of Carrot Top Paper Shop opened her shop after an unfruitful search for bookish art for her daughter’s nursery compelled her to create her line of Literary Heroine prints. I fell for those immediately. Also, her hand-lettered quotes make me wish I had an extra wall in our house just to display them. (Wouldn’t that be lovely? To have a wall dedicated only to words?)
I settled for buying her print of Jo March for our Josephine, though I have a hunch that all four girls might find a print from Jenny’s shop in their stockings this year.
Because I love those prints so much and because Jenny just launched her newest literary heroine (along with a whole slew of wonderful new things—greeting cards and even this gorgeous mug!), we’re doing a giveaway! If you win—and two of you will win—you’ll receive an 8×10″ print of your choice, as well as a set of her Literary Heroine bookmarks.
But Jenny’s also offering a little something for the rest of us: until Friday, 8/26, Little Book, Big Story readers get 25% off anything in her shop! Just use the code THEASENTME at checkout.
Giveaway Details
Enter your info into the form below and complete as many of the possible options as you like: share, follow, or comment away! The giveaway closes at midnight on 8/26. Two winners will be randomly chosen and notified by email.
If you live outside the US, you are welcome to enter! But please note that you are responsible for customs or import taxes that may apply to the transport of your artwork.
Best of luck to you all!