|
A vacation in Paris inspired Miroslav Sasek to create a series of children’s travel guides to the big cities (and countries) of the world.
You can easily sense his loving eye for detail, childlike curiosity and playful sense of fun….I’ve earnestly enjoyed sharing with our three children, the 60s tour of the landmarks and streets meeting colourful characters in the world’s cities.
A vacation in Paris inspired Miroslav Sasek to create a series of children’s travel guides to the big cities (and countries) of the world.
You can easily sense his loving eye for detail, childlike curiosity and playful sense of fun….I’ve earnestly enjoyed sharing with our three children, the 60s tour of the landmarks and streets meeting colourful characters in the world’s cities.
Miroslav was born in Prague in 1916 and died in Switzerland in 1980. He worked as a painter and illustrator for most of his life, and enjoyed foraging for mushrooms in his spare moments.
This is London is the second book in the series certainly one of the most enjoyable!
Here is a useful appraisal of the book, written back in 1959-
This is a guided pictorial through London, its parks, its squares, its places, its river, a glimpse of its proper bankers and starched Nannies. This the smell of violets, the bracing warmth of four o'clock tea, the chaos of Piccadilly and the lure of the Tower. This is London, a city of history and civilization...a city of nostalgia for all those whose native language is English. M.Sasek, with his daring sense of design and his unusual use of color, conjures up the spirit of London town in a book so vivid and inviting that readers of all ages will take refreshment in this invitation to a delightful journey.
Books for young people: This is London, in Virginia Kirkus' Service, Vol. XXVII, No. 20, October 1, 1959, p.789.
and
There are not many words in Miroslav Sasek's This is London, but those few are most memorable...The colour is magnificent and uninhibited, the draughtsmanship brilliant but unobtrusive (one gradually realizes that these bold, stylized drawings are minutely accurate as well as true in general impression). The humour is characteristic and pervasive but always subordinate. The jokes are all pointed. Miroslav Sasek has drawn the visitor's London from foggy arrival to rainy departure. His book is a series of impressions, unrelated, one would think, but they add up to a remarkably complete picture of the modern city. The words and pictures are closely integrated; each has it terse style and humour.
Our capital gains, in The Times Literary Supplement, No. 3014, December 4, 1959, p.xx.
At the close of the book, you will find an update to the original text, pointing out any updates to the original descriptions and new wonders of the city.
Start an heirloom collection for your family.
|
