My last post on childrens illustration seemed to be popular so I thought I would show you one of the very first books that I fell in love with. I was about 7 years old and my mother gave me and my sister money to walk down to the local book shop and pick something that we wanted to buy for ourselves. This is one of my first memories of buying something with my own money without one of my parents being there, and it was a big deal to me. Even at this stage I was already a book nerd, as my mother had made us members of the library from the age of 4. I was getting to that age that picture books were a bit frowned on as I should be reading things a bit more advanced, but when I found Tales of Enchantment by Eric Kincaid I completely fell in love with it. The pictures covered the entire page, every part of it full of delicious details and mini stories. As I child I read and reread to book endlessly, and in my teens I tried to copy the illustrations, teaching myself how to draw and shade. The fact the the book is in perfect condition over 20 years later is a testament to how much I loved it. It's lovely to think that such an important possession came out of the simple act of my mother handing me a fiver.
