Classic children's tales illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

Snow White by The Brothers Grimm / Illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

A popular contemporary artist of fantastical, dark and twisted whimsy, Camille Rose Garcia may not have been a children's illustrator before 2009, but she sure is now! She recently illustrated two of our best-known and loved classic children's stories for HarperCollins.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll / Illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was released about one year ago (and made the New York Times best seller list). Her Snow White by The Brothers Grimm was released just a few weeks ago. Though these are now, and have always been, children's tales on the "dark" side (no grey area there), Camille's visual interpretation on the stories is like the triple olive-garnish in a martini of creepy.

Creepy, yes! Ok, so creepy most definitely has it's place in classic and contemporary art and literature, for adults and for children alike. Creepy can be, dare I say, comforting.

We can all identify in some ways with at least one character or situation in a good creepy children's story. Take The Wizard of Oz, for example. This is one very creepy story, and yet it's also one of the most beloved family-friendly stories of all time!

From Hansel and Gretel to Coraline, creepy stories (the good ones) explore important issues and situations to their audience within parameters that are safe and have definitive boundaries— a book or a movie. They can help kids identify situations that they or someone else close to them might be experiencing, and help them to not feel so alone.  That's one of the things I most appreciate about them.
 

Video: Watch/listen to Camille show and tell about the creation of her Alice In Wonderland book

And, if we are REALLY lucky, some gutsy publisher with a great eye and a trend-forward-thinking focus will hire Camille Rose Garcia to reinterpret the story through her own looking glass.

I wanted to buy one of the books first before splurging on both, so I bought Snow White first. It's a compact volume at 6 x 8.75 inches. The size makes it easy to tote in a purse or backpack but it's still large enough (with stellar quality,too!) to fully appreciate the art and the beautiful book design, layout and typography within the pages. I was especially surprised and delighted when I learned of her new children's books— her art and vision inspired by and combined with these works of two literary greats is clearly a match made in heaven.

I love the Snow White book, and now I can't wait to get Alice in Wonderland!

>See CRG's recent Snow White and the Black Lagoon gallery show