Children's picture books and unconventional materials
October 26, 2015 3:31 PM

I'm looking for children's books that incorporate the unexpected (food, especially) into their illustrations.

Do you know of any picture book illustrators who specialize in unconventional materials? Has anyone has painted a strawberry out of actual fruit pulp?
posted by fromspiderhead to Grab Bag (11 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
Jeannie Baker illustrates her books with collages. Here are some examples. On this page on her website, she talks about the materials she uses:
The collages are created from a combination of natural and artificial materials. Where I can I like to use textures from the actual materials portrayed ­ such as bark, feathers, cracked paint, earth, knitted wool, tin so that their natural textures become an integral part of the work. The vegetation used is often natural. Using plants was a problem at first but I have learnt how to preserve them so they last and I add permanent colour.
posted by Redstart at 4:57 PM on October 26, 2015


Pat the bunny is a classic.
posted by JujuB at 4:59 PM on October 26, 2015


Fast Food.
posted by Bardolph at 5:04 PM on October 26, 2015


Possibly not quite what you were thinking of, but Emily Gravett used rat urine in the process of illustrating Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears.
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 5:36 PM on October 26, 2015


I don't know that it's just for kids, but Play With Your Food is always amusing.
posted by Ideefixe at 5:53 PM on October 26, 2015


There's a series of food related board books, and the illustrations look like the food is made of paper and fabric. I can't link right now but look for Yum yum dim sum, Chaat and Sweets, and Let's Nosh. Those are the titles I remember offhand. My child loves these.
posted by JenMarie at 6:16 PM on October 26, 2015


Patrick McDonnell's ( he does the Mutts strip) A Perfectly Messed Up Story.
posted by brujita at 6:40 PM on October 26, 2015


I second A Perfectly Messed Up Story. My 4 year old daughter loves it.
posted by snez at 7:43 PM on October 26, 2015


The Apple Doll is beautifully illustrated with collage art. It's not food, but it's very pretty.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:20 PM on October 26, 2015


A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat uses real blackberry juice in the illustrations. It's a wonderful book that came out this year.
posted by horses, of courses at 6:58 AM on October 27, 2015


Thank you all!
posted by fromspiderhead at 2:10 PM on November 16, 2015


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