Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor, the extraordinary children's book illustrator passed away this week at the age of 92. I remember her detailed work from the numerous books my grandmother gave me as a child. Ms. Tudor's illustrations were fanciful yet almost fragile, detailed and absolutely beautiful. Sometimes the drawings spoke more to me than the words on the pages. They kept a young reader engaged because there was so much to be discovered in the details of the accompanying illustrations. As I learned about the news of Ms. Tudor's death I searched online for a listing of the books she illustrated and realized I could recall at least a dozen as being favorites from my early childhood.

I also learned more about the woman behind the illustrations. Tasha Tudor was a quirky woman. No doubt about that. A woman whose eccentricities made her endearing, yet inaccessible at the same time. She was a woman who was ahead of her time even though she felt more comfortable relating to a bygone era. A woman much like my own grandmother, who also lived to the ripe age of 92.

Some of Tasha Tudor's drawings can be found on the Cellar Door Books website.