Illustration Books

Featuring rich color photography, The Art of Saint John's Bible: A Readers Guide to Pentateuch, Psalms, Gospels and Acts is a beautiful tour of illuminated Biblical text in the first three published volumes of "The Saint John's Bible": Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospels and Acts. The text examines specific illuminations with all the fine attention to detail, history, and context worthy of museum pieces, while the copious color pictures reveal the wondrous detail of visual elements and textual treatments. Highly recommended for church libraries as an aide to more deeply experiencing and understanding illuminated biblical text.

If you consider yourself a fan of One Piece, you're going to love this book.

As an "artbook," Color Walk 1 fulfills a very important role for the One Piece manga. During the serialization of a black-and-white comic such as this, the author will still typically draw many illustrations in full-color. These may take the form of promotional images used in ads, cover illustrations for the anthology magazine the comic appears in, and even special title- and story pages within the comic. The problem with this practice is that most nonessential art get tossed out in the production of collected volumes, and what's more, Japanese graphic novels (called "tankobon") are generally reprinted completely in black and white, so even the color illustrations that are kept are reduced to a mere grayscale shadow of their former glory. The result is that all too often, the color art for many series is seen only once, then disappears for all time. That's where artbooks like this one come to the rescue.

Color Walk 1 collects all (or very nearly all) the magnificent full-color artwork drawn by Eiichiro Oda during the serialization of the first 81 chapters of One Piece, from August 1997 to April 1999 (or January 2003 to November 2005 in America). That includes full-color title page spreads, promotional illustrations (some never-before-seen in America), cover art for both Weekly Shonen Jump *and* the graphic novels, and even panels from the manga proper. It doesn't end there, though: also included are sketches from the planning stages of the comic, illustrations from Oda's pre-One Piece days, and a fold-out map of the sea known as "East Blue". The cover illustration's an original, too.

Of course, quantity would mean nothing without quality, and Oda delivers in droves: his illustrations are imaginative, well thought-out, playful, and dramatic. Oda likes to use these images to put his characters in all sorts of situations outside of the comic, and these are where his talent really shines. Some of his artwork early on in the series tends a little toward the clichéd pirate stereotype, but luckily, this makes up only a small part of the whole. And, if all the artwork isn't enough for you, there's also an exclusive round-table interview with none other than Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, and character designer for such videogames as Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest series. It's definitely a must-read if you're a fan of either author.

For all that greatness, I do have a few nitpicks with the localization. First, though the included panels from the manga are translated to English, not all of them match what has previously been released in Viz's adaptation of the manga itself. I'm not sure why this is, but it annoys me slightly, even though the meaning isn't changed significantly. Second, the translator doesn't seem to have a good grasp of Dragon Ball in English: In the Akira Toriyama interview, "Pilaf" is twice translated with a direct romanization ("Pirafu"), Piccolo-Daimao (the Great Demon King) is called "the Lord of Darkness," and several other characters' names use non-standard spellings that are nonetheless recognizable. Luckily, these odd translations don't substantially affect my overall appreciation of the book; it may not be a perfect translation, but it's pretty close.

A few words of warning, however: If you've been reading the manga in English, you'll want to read up through volume 9 (or the chapters thereof) before you get this book. It isn't just for spoilers: having read the manga also helps you put the images into context both chronologically and in terms of the story. There's also the matter of a certain anthropomorphic reindeer being on the cover, as well, but you'll get to know him sooner or later. If you follow the version of One Piece aired on TV, you may be a little put off by the contents: yes, Sanji smokes, the crew drinks alcohol on occasion, and people bleed. Don't fault the series for this, though; that's how it was intended to be (even in the animated version), and besides, there are still plenty of images that feature pure light-hearted fantasy, without all that pesky "drama" to worry about. There's something for everyone, here.

I'm (pleasantly) surprised that Viz released this book when they did: Color Walk 1 was released in Japan when One Piece was nearing volume 20, but as of this writing, volume 9 has yet to come out in English, and the chapters it contains were only finished up in the November 2005 issue of Shonen Jump. But all the same, I'm appreciative that Viz went to the lengths it did to bring over such a high-quality version of such a wonderful little artbook. Now we'll all have to look forward to when Viz puts out Color Walk 2 in... 2008, or so.

In closing: If you like One Piece, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

This magazine was far better than I expected. I signed up to be notified of any new editions which I will be sure to buy.

Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne) was an American original of the mid-19th century. His writings featured fractured grammar and highly idiosyncratic spelling, but his humor really came from the pin pricks he poked at the pompous. The book features interviews with Brigham Young, the Prince of Wales, Abe Lincoln, and Prince Napoleon. Ward hooked up with Mark Twain and Dan De Quille out West and exerted a powerful influence on Twain's humor. Upon Ward's untimely death at the age of 33 in 1867, Twain called him America's greatest humorist.

"Artemus Ward, his book" contains a collection of some 50 short stories. His interview with `presydent eleckt' `A. Linkin' consists mainly of Ward fending off `orifce seekers'. Lincoln so enjoyed Ward's stories that he read one, `High-handed Outrage at Utica' to his cabinet by way of loosening the tension before springing the Emancipation Proclamation.

I especially enjoyed The Census that Ward conducted. It began: "Wat's your age? Whar was you born? Air you married, and if so how do you like it?"

Or there's 'The Show is Confiscated' in which during Ward's tour of the South he is confronted in 'Alabamy' by men demanding that he take down his Stars and Stripes: "We air cum, Sir", said a millingtary man in a cockt hat, "upon a hi and holy mishun. The Southern Eagle is screamin' throughout this sunny land - proudly and defiantly screamin', Sir!" "What's the matter with him", sez I, "don't his vittles set well on his stummick?"

You don't have to be a great President or a great writer to enjoy Artemus Ward. Do yourself a favor and track down a volume.

Mary Engelbreit is a favorite of mine: her artistry,her calendars with timely and appropriate quotes from many sources, and most recently her children's picture books and Mother Goose. Having this little book just with her illustrations and quotes is an often-pick-up-book!

Arthur Harry Church, scientist, painter, and teacher, left an incomparable legacy of botanical illustrations. His work, which has often been compared to that of Georgia O'Keeffe, is to this writer just as visually and emotionally compelling.

The vibrancy of Church's work may be due, in part, to his disciplines - he saw his subject with a scientist's mind and an artist's eye whether it was an abundant flower from the Oxfordshire country or a rare specimen from South Africa. His cross-sections and diagrams leave no doubt as to his teachery thought processes or his artistic vision.

This rare volume holds much previously unpublished material from the archives of London's Natural History Museum as well as 100 illustrations, each imbued with a rhythmic vitality.

Undoubtedly, "The Anatomy Of Flowers" will be appreciated by those with an interest in botanical prints and those who enjoy the striking clarity of the art nouveau.

Hamilton's 1990 work is the definitive modern biography of the great English Edwardian-era book illustrator Arthur Rackham. In addition to a splendid if somewhat hagiographic text, this oversized volume contains hundreds of examples of Rackham's best work in color and black-and-white and includes many items that have not previously been reproduced. Rackham was chiefly an illustrator of childrens' books and his unusual, indeed unique work has well stood the test of time. The soft-cover version now available is attractively priced and makes a fine, imaginative gift even for people who have never heard of Arthur Rackham.

If you want to know about the evolution of the Arthurian legends, from their basis in history to their literary evolution, this is a perfect book for you.

The book traces the history of tales through the most ancient works from Wales and Brittany, through the evolution of the stories by various authors -- Chretien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Thomas Malory, and even considers works from the nineteenth and twentieth century (Tennyson, the marvelous though largely unread works of Charles Williams, T.S. Eliot, T.H. White, and even Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

The book is an indispensable reference for keeping the legends straight in your mind, especially where there are differences of opinion (for instance, was the Grail a platter, a stone, or a chalice for the author).

The book is intended as a reference book, so it is not for someone looking to read a story or two -- it is meant to be a guide to understanding the literary development of the cycle.

As such, it is an indispensable guide to the various works out there.

I highly recommend this book. It's like eavesdropping on the conversations between the interviewer and the 11 famous comic book artists! The artists really open up and show thier human side, which include career struggles, fears, and life goals. They share what it was like as newbies to the comic book business, and how they dealt with obstacles in the work place, and in thier personal life. As an artsit myself, I quickly connected with the artists reply to questions being asked. I hung on their every word!

Not only is this book entertaining, but also educational, especially if your an aspiring comic book artist.

Read and enjoy!

These are the tests or assessments for those who are using the Home Education Curriculum put out by the samae publisher. Since the Home Education Curriculum doesn't seem to be put out, these assessments are going away. This is unfortunate.

These books are divided into a two page spread every two weeks. Each two pages covers English, math, Social Studies and/or science and a variety of other topics. They are supposed to be used as a review or test to ensure your child has maintained and learned what he or she has been taught during the week.

I have used them with my children to ensure we are staying on task and that they are learning about what they need to be each year. It helps make sure that no topic 'slips through the cracks'. And it ensures that we are about on target with public schools.

My kids love doing these books.