Picture Books

I don't feel like drawing anything, so for a change, I'll introduce some of my favorite picture books.

Tanuki
The year of the Great East Japan Earthquake, a family of tanuki appeared in Hideko Ise's garden. The connection between the wild tanuki pack and Ise's warm gaze as she watches them is touching, and the watercolor landscapes featuring the tanuki are heartbreakingly beautiful. Of all the picture books I've read (though I haven't read that many), this is my favorite. It makes me cry.

Ukiwa Neko (The Swimming Ring Cat)
A mysterious swimming ring is sent to a kitten named Ebio (the name is so cute, too) from his grandfather cat. It's a grand one-night adventure for Ebio and his grandfather. I was shocked when I saw Chiho Makino's fantastical pastel illustrations in the magazine 'Illustration,' and it inspired me to start using soft pastels myself.

Omoide de Ippai ni Nattara (When You Are Full of Memories)
A picture book by animal sculptor Mio Hashimoto. In the year of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, a cat named 'I' meets a 'god' who is a bagworm. (The idea that a bagworm is a god is pure genius.) It really makes you cry. I wish I had been born with such sensibilities. I am grateful to have been able to read it.

Machi no Inu to Inaka no Kaeru (The City Dog and the Country Frog)
A story about the interaction between a dog from the city and a frog from the country. This one also makes me cry. (I'm realizing that I really love picture books that make me cry.) The watercolor paintings depicting the four seasons by picture book author and comic artist Jon J. Muth (the watercolorist who has influenced me the most) are just too wonderful. It's simple yet emotional; I want to be able to draw pictures like this.