Jennifer Michie

Tag: childrens book illustration (page 1 of 3)

May 1, 2022 / 0 Comments

HELLO, May

Hello, May! If you’re anything like your sister April, you will still usher forth chilly mornings that swiftly begin to warm up when the sun comes out. Offering us a minuscule taste of what summer shall bring, when the glow of the sun is on our backs. 

Today, you herald in May Day and the appearance of the Green Man who will parade through our village with his beribboned and festive court in attendance. We’re ready for the days to continue to gradually lengthen as we eat dinner with the windows open and a breeze blows in. We’re ready for the bounty that will begin to arrive in earnest at the green grocers and the taste of the first heirloom tomatoes and yellow squash of the season. 

We’re ready for longer beach walks and the hopes of catching a seal or two sunbathing. We’re ready for early mornings where we quietly read and sip coffee as the sky turns from purple velvet to a soft awakening pink. We’re ready to continue to appreciate the little things and we’re ready for the adventures that await us.

{An image from, Summer’s Coming In by Natalia Belting, illustrated by Adrienne Adams, 1970}

December 21, 2021 / 0 Comments

Winter Solstice

❄️ Happy Winter Solstice! ❄️

We were greeted by the sunrise over the water this morning and the sun has stayed out as the day has progressed, which has been a first for us in a little while. The air is crisp and clean. Our walk was full of woodland creatures and there is a magic in the air.

Happy Yule!

{Interior illustration from The Shortest Day, by Susan Cooper, illustration by Carson Ellis // Image taken from an article on the NPR HERE // Carson Ellis website HERE}

December 21, 2020 / 0 Comments

Winter Solstice

Today, marks the “winter solstice”. Today, also marks the “great conjunction” where Saturn and Jupiter will appear to be the closest they have been together from our vantage point since the middle ages. I think there is something auspicious in that.

Now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the rain and overcast sky blows out to sea later and we have a chance of spotting the planets tonight, aligned close enough to kiss.

There is magic in the air today, you can feel it humming.

{Interior illustration from The Shortest Day, by Susan Cooper, illustration by Carson Ellis // Image taken from an article on the Art of The Picture Book Blog // Carson Ellis website HERE}

December 1, 2020 / 0 Comments

HELLO, December

Hello, December. We’re ready for the frost that you bring and the bite in the air that chills are cheeks. We’re ready for quiet moments as evening closes in, cups of cocoa in hand while we stare at the Christmas tree lights and let our souls take a slow deep breath.

We’re ready for cold hikes through the nature reserve and the smell of fresh pine in the air. We’re ready for iced gingerbread and frosted sugar cookies cut out into holidays shapes and stored in tins at the ready to be devoured next to a hot cup of tea. We’re ready for Christmas music to be playing nonstop, working on jigsaw puzzles and for stealing kisses under the mistletoe hung above our bedroom door.

We’re ready for sparkle and glitter and the possibility of snow. But, most of all, I think we’re ready for this season to work it’s restorative magic in the quiet moments, that we find peace and a collective calm, as this has been a year that has ploughed forward almost unceasingly in a whirlwind.

Welcome, December, fill our hearts with good cheer.

{Josef Lada, from the 1953 Czech collection Detem HERE // Pinned HERE}

October 31, 2020 / 0 Comments

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I hope your evening is filled with more treats than tricks! Ours will be filled with steaming bowls of butternut squash and beef chili (one of our favourites!), topped with sour cream, homemade pickled veggies and cheese. And for dessert, a wickedly delicious chocolate and orange cake with luscious amounts of frosting. It goes without saying that we’ll be watching Hocus Pocus, which will be preceded by It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Is it even Halloween if the marvellous arrangements by Vince Guaraldi aren’t heard while the Peanuts gang go trick-or-treating?

Watch out for witches flying over this most hallowed of full moons! A full moon actually falling on Halloween only happens once every 18 to 19 years. This full moon also happens to be a rare blue moon. It will be the first time that a Halloween full moon will be visible across the entire world since 1944! That feels auspicious!

So here’s to goblins and witches and magic and candy and pumpkins and revelry under the light of the full Hunter’s moon.

I hope that this Halloween finds you all safe and well. 🎃

{“The Halloween Party” (1974), by Lonzo Anderson, illustration by Adrienne Adams found HERE // Pinned HERE}

October 30, 2018 / 0 Comments

It’s Almost Time!

Grab your broomsticks, jack-o-lanterns, owls, black cats and lanterns. The bewitching hour is almost upon us! Halloween is almost here!

{“The Halloween Party” (1974), illustration by Adrienne Adams HERE // Pinned HERE}

January 20, 2014 / 0 Comments

Winter

Mark Hearld Winter Fox

Winter is a slow, low time. Everything
is hiding from the cold; just staying alive is
enough. Days are short, but the long frosty
nights blaze with stars and spring
is just a moon or two away.

I saw the most delightful children’s book this weekend. It was illustrated by Mark Hearld. An artist whose work I truly admire.

This was one of the first pages I turned to. With my love of foxes, I was sold! It has gone on my wish list of books, at it has been so charmingly constructed.

{A First Book of Nature, by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Mark Hearld}

« Older posts