Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Fairy Tale Illustrator: Gyo Fujikawa

Gyo Fujikawa (1908-1998) was a Japanese-American children's book illustrator. She is known for being one of the first illustrators to feature multi-racial children in her drawings, although, apparently not for European-based fairy tales...

According to Wikipedia: "Fujikawa's books have been reprinted for mass-market and published worldwide. Her most popular books, BabiesBaby AnimalsA to Z Picture Book and Oh!, What A Busy Day!, unfailingly represent a happy, detailed version of childhood. Her joyous illustrations remain sweet and nostalgic, without ever becoming overly saccharine. "

Overall I agree; characters like Little Red Riding Hood above do look a bit on the infantile side to me, but there's nothing wrong with making fairy tales appropriate for young children, as long as it's not the only way we tell fairy tales. But her illustrations are lovely and full of detail, such as this fabulous woods scene below; many adults fondly remember these books and illustrations from their own childhood. 
From "The Three Wishes"





2 comments:

  1. Hi Kristin,

    Love your blog. I've got a question regarding a particular fairy tale book and was wondering if you could contact me via this link (rather than posting my email address here): http://ericscalesart.com/contact.php Thanks!

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  2. Lovely! And she reAlly seems to do detail well, whether it's detailed trees or a pile of mattresses in The Princess And The Pea.

    ReplyDelete