Todaynis the birthday of one of my favorite illustrators of children’snbooks, Mitsumasa Anno.
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nInlove his detailed illustration style, but I especially love TopsynTurvies,nAnno’s wordless picture book that was inspired by art by M.C. Escher.nI even made a model of one of this book’s illustrations, with littlenclay people walking upside down and sideways in defiance of commonnsense and gravity, for a college children’s literature class.(Yes, Inreally am that geeky.)
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nActually,nit was Anno who first turned me on to Escher—and I love Esher’snart! So I owe Anno big thanks for his wonderful books AND fornintroducing me to yet another marvelous artist!
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nMitsumasanAnno was born on this date in 1926 in Tsuwano, Japan. The world isnvery lucky that Anno didn’t die when he was drafted into the armynduring World War II! n
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nCelebratenAnno today by reading (or, rather, poring over the illustrations in)none of his many books. Whether you explore math through books likenAnno’snMysterious Multiplying Jarnor Anno’snMath Games,nhistory and cultures through puzzle-like books like Anno’snSpain ornAnno’snJourney,nor the intersection of art and reality in books like TopsynTurviesnand UpsidenDowners,nAnno has a great variety of books to explore!
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nAlsonon this date:
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Nowruz, or Persian New Year
Nowruz, or Persian New Year n
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nSnowman Burning Day
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Anniversarynof the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Anniversarynof the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin n
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nVernal Equinox
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nFirstDay of Spring
