Sorry for my lack of post yesterday, I was out sick! My allergies got the best of me and I had to surrender and go to bed early. This time of year is just the worst. Our house gets so DRY because of the heat and we all wake up feeling like a dried out sponge. Is your house this way? Ugh.
Anyhoo.
When I was putting together this post on Advent Calendars a couple weeks ago, I found that adorable illustration with the kids surrounding the Christmas tree and I just had to track down where it came from. Well, it came from "My Big Christmas Book"! I found it on Ebay and it looks like it's fairly easy to find if you're looking for a copy of your own. It's written by Hayden McAllister. From what I can tell from my limited research online, it was published in the 80's. Which kind of blows my mind. Doesn't this style look very 60's or 70's? Regardless, the illustrations completely stole my heart.
The illustrator is German artist Gisela Gottschlich. I googled her and found many children's books illustrated by her and they are just absolutely charming! I had that Collector's voice inside my head saying "I MUST FIND EVERY BOOK SHE ILLUSTRATED... NOW".. you know that one? I know any collectors out there know what I mean.
This book is actually a collection of stories and songs and even craft ideas. It's an absolute keeper. The pages I photographed today are just skimming the surface of this book. I hope to share more illustrations with you, but here's a peek. Next time I might scan them because it's so hard photographing printed pages and really capturing them well - but I hate putting stress on the binding when scanning. Hmm...
I'm so drawn to the work of Dutch illustrators from the 60's and 70's... and really anything from Scandinavia. This style reminds me so much of what I've seen coming from vintage Netherlands - I was pleasantly surprised to see that this artist was German! I can't wait to find more from this artist. Ethan and I are planning to go to the Netherlands & Belgium next year for our trip together (sans kiddos!) and I just cannot wait to hit the thrifts in the Netherlands in hopes of finding some vintage books and magazines with such charming illustrations as these.
See more *55 Days of Vintage Christmas* posts here.
