Wednesday, March 9, 2016

My Favorite Picture Books: Brinton Turkle's Obadiah stories


Brinton Turkle is one of my favorite illustrators. I was reminded earlier this year of his near perfection when we were reading Anna and the Baby Buzzard. I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from PaperBackSwap.com after our library's copy was made permanently unavailable. There's one two page spread showing Anna and her brother flying through the summer woods surrounded by their menagerie. You can almost feel the summer sunshine and light breeze and glimpse a shimmer of movement.

Anna and the Baby Buzzard isn't written by Brinton Turkle, but he has a few particularly wonderful books starring an adventurous young Quaker named Obadiah. Thy Friend, Obadiah, Obadiah the Bold, and Rachel and Obadiah bring old Nantucket to life through the experiences of Obadiah and his inspiring family. They are full of perseverance, courage, and bravery, as well as children behaving just as children do.

Turkle's illustrations are delightful as always. His drawings of children have such sweetness and life in them! I could gaze at them all day long.

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