Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A Little Bit About Henriette


These are two of the Favorite Books that live in the Kids' Bookcase.

Two Charming Authors, Robert Louis Stevenson and A.A. Milne
Illustrated by One of My Favorite Artists
Henriette Willebeek Le Mair.

So here are a few tidbits about Henriette:
She was born in Rotterdam, Holland in 1889.
Her family encouraged creativity. She published her first book when she was just 15 years old.
She ran a Nursery School out of her home so she had plenty of opportunities to observe children.
When she married H.P. Baron van Tuyall van Serooskerken (oh I love those Dutch names!) in 1920, they became followers of Inayat Khan and converted to Sufism. At this time she adopted the name SAIDA. I looked it up in the baby name book. It means "blessed, joyful." So you will see the full Henriette on older illustrations and Saida on the newer ones.
She stopped making art for the last 20 years of her life (she died in 1966) but she and her husband devoted their final years to helping the poor.

So here's a Joyful Sampling of Henriette/Saida from these little books.


How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I think it is the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Robert Louis Stevenson


















21 comments:

  1. Such beautiful illustrations! The illustrations kind of reminded me of The Little Prince. I haven't read the story of The Magic Hill. I must check it out. I love riding the swing with my niece. We both giggle in our delight to swing up, up, in the air!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In "The Magic Hill" a little girl named Daffodil causes flowers to sprout everywhere she walks!
      The Little Prince! Now there's a wonderful book!

      Delete
  2. These are so sweet. It reminded me of this Swedish illustrator Carl Larsson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Larsson
    I love children's books and I used to collect them when I was back in Lisbon. This kinda makes me want to collect them again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to have a collection of children's books which were sadly lost during one of my many moves..among them a Carl Larsson book! Augh!

      Delete
  3. I just checked the photo of the inside of the Travelette (that came out too blurry to be posted). It's a set with cold cream and vanishing cream (whatever that is LOL). It's a beautiful package though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love those illustrations. They are so pretty and fun!

    LA By Diana Live Magazine

    ReplyDelete
  5. Each of those illustrations is worthy of being framed and hung as independent works of art. Thanks for showing them individually like this. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The illustrations are precious and so expressive - depicting childhood to a 't'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AWWWW SO sweet post:)
    I LOVE LOVE LOVE fairy tails and I read them even as a grown up child haha:)

    I hope you will do a guest post at my place soon..would be fun:)

    LOVE Maria

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful illustrations. Thanks for sharing Connie.
    x

    ReplyDelete
  9. So charming! thanks for sharing

    Have a good weekend!

    Ariane x

    ReplyDelete
  10. So charming! They would make a perfect collection of framed prints in a child's room or library.

    Keri

    ReplyDelete
  11. And thank you so much for your encouraging words about my latest adventure. It means a lot!

    Keri

    ReplyDelete
  12. Connie thank you for stopping by my blog today. So you are sending both babies off soon...where will they be going? How are you doing with their impending departure?

    ReplyDelete
  13. adorable pictures!!!

    www.trendinginfashion.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Connie, me again. I just nominated you for a Liebster Award.

    ReplyDelete
  15. lovely pics...remind me of my childhood!

    http://navlandstyle.blogspot.ca/

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...