Children’s author and illustrator Erik P. Kraft has been doing a drawing a day and writing a haiku and posting them to his Tumblr all this year.

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James Hance’s schtick is pretty straightforward: he just mashes up various children’s films and books with other pop icons.

Anthony Browne is one of the world‘s most celebrated creators of picture books, with classics such as Voices in the Park, Willy, and Hugh and Gorilla to his name. He has won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice, and the Kurt Maschler ’Emil‘ Award three times, and in 2000, he became the first British illustrator to win the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to children’s literature, he was appointed the UK Children’s Laureate for 2009 to 2011. To celebrate both this honour and his career, the Old Cinema at the University of Westminster will present an overview of his life and work on Monday March 21 at 7pm. Tickets via their website.

Inspired by children’s books, encyclopedia’s from the ’50s and ’60s, textiles and crocheted rugs, Australian artist Kirra Jamison’s paintings are from the world of dreams. And it’s not just the colours and composition that is making me look twice. With whimsical titles like The Sea was Red, The Sky was Grey, I Wonder How Tomorrow Will Ever Follow Today and He Smelt like Apples Jamison proves that it’s all in a name.

Every weekend, the Book Thing opens its doors and people from all over Baltimore flood in to rummage through its vast and perpetually replenished selection of free books. The non-profit establishment accepts donations of unwanted books from the community and redistributes them to those that want them. Surprisingly, there is never a shortage of good stuff. I’ve found amazing children’s books, a good cross-section of classic literature, science fiction, contemporary novels, photography books, science books, and even a book on making wine at home. It’s a great public resource, especially during these tough times when many people don’t have extra cash to spend on things to read.

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I just picked up some old editions of The Territorial Imperative and The Hunting Hypothesis mainly because I found the covers to these two books to be strikingly beautiful. From the inside of the jackets I found that they had been designed by the late Joseph Low, who was a prolific children’s book illustrator whose work was regularly featured in the New Yorker for four decades. His “primitive” style is really striking and suits the topic of the aforementioned books by science writer Robert Ardrey, who’s an interesting read despite the outdated science in his books.

San Francisco-based illustrator Luke Feldman has just had his first children’s book published, Chaff n’ Skaffs: Mai and the Lost Moskivvy, a collaboration with writer Amanda Chin. The book artfully tells the story of Mai, ‘a young girl who never ventured too far from her home. When a lost mosquito interrupts Mai’s sleep, her friend Chaff suggests they escort Moskivvy back home to a faraway land. So begins a courageous girl’s voyage into a fantastic world’, all communicated beautifully through Feldman’s colorful, dynamic and considered illustrations.

I finally got my copy of Play Pen: New Children’s Book Illustration by Martin Salisbury in the mail today and was immediately taken by the gorgeous illustration on the cover. Marc Boutavant! I flipped to the pages featuring his work and I couldn’t be more smitten by his colorful, fantastically playful, and positively charming illustrations.

California-based artist Andrew Brandou draws from the children’s books, as well as the tripped-out, cult obsessed, disillusioned zeitgeist of the 70s when his early consciousness took shape. The storybook-ish quality of his works creates a sort of narrative of the tectonic shifts that have taken place in the psyche of an entire generation — anthropomorphic animals frolic in subtly Japanese-lacquer-inspired landscapes as gas-mask-wearing cops creep, grinning skulls loom, elevated freeways overwhelm the rising sun, and bloody murder scenes remain hidden just beyond the view of the paintings’ innocent subjects.

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James White is a mixed-media artist and graphic designer living in Nova Scotia, Canada. With ten years of experience, James has worked with an array of clients on professional projects as well as various art endeavors such as children’s books, comics, fine art shows and animation. He also sells prints on his site, with prices ranging from $30-$35 each.

Mother’s Day is coming up. If you’re still at a loss for what to give the person who gave birth to you, maybe Dr. Michael Salzhauer can help. Dr. Salzhauer is a plastic surgeon, you see, and this May 11th, his first children’s book is set to hit the stores. The book is about a mother who explains to her young daughter that she wants to get cosmetic surgery to make her “prettier.” The moral of the story is: why be contented with your mommy as she is when you can have a mommy with bigger boobs?