My First Nursery Book by Franciszka Themerson
January 19, 2010 by Natalie · Leave a Comment
It features four well loved stories, ‘Who Killed Cock Robin’, ‘The Gingerbread Man’, ‘Three Little Pigs’ and ‘The Three Bears’ – the latter two are the girls absolute favourites. The illustrations are by Polish1940s avant-garde artist and film maker Franciszka Thermerson who became renowned for her work whilst living as a refugee in London.
The book was originally published in 1947 and after not being available for sixty years, it was republished from the original proofs to the original specification and is full of action packed imagery in unusual colours with a consistent thread of pink and blue, but in a contemporary, edgy fashion ahead of her time, rather than going for a sugary, patronising appeal. The characters are quirky looking and the illustrations work over double page spreads which adds to the drama and excitement of the tales. We love the book that much, we ‘let’ them keep it on our bookshelf behind our bed.
Ours is from The Tate where it’s £8.99. It’s also available from Amazon for £6.36.
