Celebrating Work of Children's Book Illustrator Pauline Baynes

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I always kept my favorite books from my childhood.  Including all my original paperbacks and hardcovers featuring those illustrated by Pauline Baynes.









Pauline Baynes's illustrations were just so wonderful and creative.  Her simple black and white images fired up the imagination and were the perfect counterpoint to all the great writing for children by C. S. Lewis and J. R. Tolkien.

I saved every one of her books to read to my own children who also fell under her same creative spell.

I realize that publishers have by now probably replaced most of her original work with more contemporary images, but why bother changing greatness?  

Her work was astonishingly creative and bold, considering what a prudish society we live in.  Much of her imagery should have had Puritans in a tizzy, drawing all those Druid-friendly characters whisking young girls into a wooded dell in such a beguiling, appealing way -- I'd have thought many of those images of little horned men holding hands with children would ruffle feathers, but thankfully, not.




Map of "Middle-Earth"



Pauline Baynes
(1922-2008)



She really was the Queen of Narnia, if you ask me.

Here's another link to a nice write up about her from Brian Sibley's lovely blog, aptly titled:


PAULINE BAYNES:

QUEEN OF NARNIA AND MIDDLE-EARTH


Enjoy!

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