I discovered Leo Lionni when I was collecting Caldecott winners, of which he has four Honor books, and he quickly became a favorite. Lionni has a large repertoire of children's books about animals. His books are illustrated with unique pictures created of cut paper. The art was created with colored paper cut into pictures, usually very simple and bright, and he often used textured or unusual papers to add features to the illustrations. His writing style is one of the most creative I have seen in picture books, with unique plots and a tone that sometimes borders on odd. His books certainly have a "feel" that's different from most, and not at all childish.
One of the things I first noticed about Lionni, is how he didn't hesitate to use 5-star words in his books for elementary kids. Words like charlatan, venerate, make his books fun for adults and add a mysterious aspect for kids. That said, they aren't hard to follow so kids don't usually get confused by the new words. Instead, they learn their meaning through context!
Since discovering Lionni's books a few years ago, I pick them up whenever I find them. There are still quite a few I don't have, and would like to find, such as Pezzettino. Have you read this book? Let me know what you think, and if I should buy it!
Lionni was born in Holland, and received a degree in economics. He had two children of his own, and died in 1999 at the age of 89. I have written reviews of several of his books:
Coming Soon:
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