Saturday, December 21, 2013

Shelf Candy Saturday #98: Believe: Christmas Treasury, by Mary Engelbreit





Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday,
Christmas Edition!!



This weekly feature
showcases beautiful book covers,
and provides information,
if available, on their very talented creators!

For more information
about Shelf Candy Saturday,
just click HERE.



As we approach that beautiful, sacred, and joyful day, here's my choice
for this week!



Believe: Christmas Treasury
Mary Engelbreit
Hardcover, 159 pages
Andrews McMeet Publishing
October 1, 1998
Christmas Traditions, Nonfiction


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1509846.Believe







Why do I love this cover?


Visitors to Mary Engelbreit's website see the following statement on the home page: "Nobody does Christmas like Mary Engelbreit", and it's entirely true.  To me, the Christmas season just wouldn't be complete without her beautiful, whimsical illustrations!

Mary is a highly talented artist who has created gorgeous illustrated books with several themes, such as Halloween, Christmas, Mother Goose stories, fairy tales, and many others.  She has a very unique style that really stands out for its magical, fairy-tale beauty.

The book above is a particularly gorgeous example of her art.  The detail is exquisite!  I love how she frames her scenes, including design elements that add to their appeal.  In this case, she has added lots of miniature toys, candy canes, and other goodies to the bottom of the frame, right above her name.

She uses a plain block-letter font that she somehow endows with her own special charm.  Perhaps this is due to their old-fashioned look; these are the type of letters that kids used years ago, drawing them with templates sold in any drugstore.  The banner adorning the title fits into the Christmas theme of the cover, too, with its little toy faces peeking out from behind it.

Most of all, I love the central image itself, which shows children hugging Santa Claus.  He's hugging them right back, and there's such love on his face.....  The children are very happy, and they, too, obviously love him.  This is so adorable....

In short, this cover really warms my heart, as well as giving me lots of aesthetic delight!  Thankfully, I happen to own this treasure, which is now part of my own Christmas traditions!




Online Links
What do you think of my choice
this week?
Leave me a comment and
let me know!





2 comments:

  1. This is a great cover.

    I do not know if there is a technical word for it or not, but I love the way that it seems that the characters is the middle actually form a single shape, yet they are distinct.


    Merry Christmas Maria!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Brian!

      I'm glad you like it! She has several great covers on her books, but this one is my absolute favorite!!

      I don't think there's a technical term for what you're talking about, but I see what you're saying -- the three kids and Santa do form one solid shape. Interesting observation! This type of thing is very common in Renaissance paintings. I would imagine that Engelbreit knows her art history. Aside from this, Santa and the kids all look so cute together, don't they?

      Merry Christmas to you, too!! : )

      Delete

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