Letter
Untitled illustration for Jackanory (Mary Plain Goes to America) , 1972
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. In the 1970s, she made illustrations for Jackanory, a BBC television programme. During each episode, an actor read a story, while specially-commissioned illustrations were shown on screen. For the televised version of Mary Plain Goes to America, Ede created paintings on large boards. These allowed the camera to pan across her image, showing a little at a time. BBC1 had only been in colour for three years, and so Ede used bold colours painted in gouache and reflective collaged foil to make the most of the new technology. This storyboard illustration was produced by Janina Ede for Jackanory episode #1426, 'Mary Plain Goes to America: Part 1 - An invitation'. It aired on 13 November 1972.
A Child’s Alphabet, 1945
The Puffin Picture Books series was established by designer and editor Noel Carrington (1895-1989). In 1933, artist Pearl Binder (1904-1990) sent Carrington a package of Soviet children’s books. “They were produced by the million on very cheap paper, but the drawings were vigorous and the colour delightful” he later remembered. These books inspired Carrington to edit a series of affordable books that would encourage “the child’s awakening interest in its surroundings... I felt that colour was essential, and that artists could... be more successful in books of this nature than the camera”. Many artists and illustrators worked on the series, adapting their ways of working to lithographic printing and the Puffin Picture Book format. Most of the 120 books in the series were printed on one large sheet of paper: one side in colour and one in black-and-white. Each sheet was cut, folded and stapled to create a softcover book.
