Great Art in This Book for Kids, and Other Readers

 

Velocity Letters to a Young ReaderI have a soft spot for beautiful graphic art. And I plan to buy multiple copies of this children’s book — as a gift and for myself — so I can savor the illustrations as well as the words.

A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader contains short pieces by authors and other notable people describing how books have enriched their lives. Each of the 121 entries has an illustration by a different artist. (See sample below.)

Another incentive to buy the book: all proceeds benefit the New York Public Library.

Among the contributors: scientist Jane Goodall and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. TV producer Shonda Rhimes. Writers Ursula K. Le Guin, Mary Oliver, and Neil Gaiman; Anne Lamott, Tim Ferriss and Ann Patchett,

The book was co-edited by Maria Popova, who writes the brilliant Brain Pickings website I’ve been reading for years. She, her co-editor Claudia Bedrick and all the other contributors donated their time.

I developed a love of graphic illustration early in my career while working at National Geographic under its late, great art director Howard Paine. I recall one fun evening when a group of us attended a lecture by Maurice Sendak at the Smithsonian. At Howard’s doing, we all stood up wearing masks from characters in Sendak’s wildly popular children’s picture book Where the Wild Things Are.

A week ago I bought another major book-related book, Susan Orleans’ The Library Book, which I look forward to reading over the holidays.

What a nice gift package these two new books would make for book lovers.

Here’s a sample of the art from A Velocity of Being. See more examples here.

Art by Kenard Pak for a letter by Terry Teachout from A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader.

Art by Vladimir Radunsky for a letter by Ann Patchett in A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader (Source: Brain Pickings website)

 

Velocity of Being art for Woodson letterook Woodson

Art by Lara Hawthorne for a letter by Jacqueline Woodson in A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader (Source: Brain Pickings website)

 

Velocity of Letters art for Teachout selection

Art by Kenard Pak for a letter by Terry Teachout in A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader (Source: Brain Pickings website)

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