Happy Holidays ...

... to all of you! Thanks a lot for supporting fine fine books this year. I'm so glad to know you are visiting and liking this site. This blog is still quite young, 13 months, and I've never expected so much positive feedback in little more than a year. Thanks so much for joining me via facebook, rss feed, for commenting and emailing, for linking back to my site and sending me review copies. I wish you all a beautiful and happy Christmas and a wonderful new year! 

(Illustrations by Ilon Wikland)

(Illustration by Harald Wiberg)

All illustrations are from the book "Pelle zieht aus und andere Weihnachtsgeschichten" by Astrid Lindgren.

The Hobbit

As "The Hobbit" started last week in the cinema, I was doing a little research for "Hobbit" books and was surprised how many editions and different covers exist. I was also surprised to find out, that the cover illustration of my own copy is by J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

(J.R.R. Tolkien: Der kleine Hobbit, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1999)

It's so much fun to view all the different covers out there. Most of all I like this great black and yellow cover of the Columbian edition, which has been published this year.

(J.R.R. Tolkien: El Hobbit, Booket 2012)

The scans below are lent from Babel Hobbits. Marek presents on his site illustrated "Hobbit" book editions from all over the world. To see the inside pages head over to his site.

(Illustrations: Jan Mlodozeniec/Jiri Salamoun)

(Illustrations: Tove Jansson)

Even more Hobbits under www.hobbithunter.nl. Besides his enormous collection Dutch hobbithunter Henk provides lots of useful informations for fans, like a list of translations (the Swedish translation in 1947 was the first, the original English edition "The Hobbit or There and Back Again" was published in 1937) and a chronological bibliography of the writings of Tolkien.

(Illustrations: Cees Kelfkens/Horus Engels)

(Cover illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Tolkien's pictures and illustrations are combined in "Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien" and "J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator". All scans above by Babel Hobbits and Hobbithunter, thanks, Marek and Henk!

Jennifer Daniel: Earth unplugged

Jaja Verlag once more with a great comic (or graphic novel) by web designer/illustrator Jennifer Daniel. She tells the story of a young woman and her neighbour who sit together in their dark house, they have only candlelight, because the earth is "unplugged". It all starts with the question: What happens when suddenly the power goes out? While sitting together the young woman herself begins to tell a story about a planet very similar to the earth ...
More than half of the comic needs no words. Everything the heroine goes through on her journey is told in expressive pictures. And each spread is composed like a little story itself, while the color palette changes with every new scenery.

(Jennifer Daniel: Earth unplugged, 17 x 24 cm, 48 pages, €10.00, Jaja Verlag, ISBN 978-3-943417-16-6)

To order a copy online you have to wait until the 15th January, but then you will find it right here! For all who live in Berlin: Over there you'll see at a glance where Jaja Books are sold. 

Look how the size of the panels varies, depending of what is to be shown. It's so well done.

Planeta Tangerina 3

Recently Portuguese publishing house Planeta Tangerina sold some books with discount. So I just could not resist. Guess, I really should close my account for new books this year now.

Siga a Seta! means Follow the Arrow! in English. Unfortunately I don't understand a word of the Portuguese text by Isabel Minhós Martins (interview here). Certainly it's "a book for all those who like to travel to unexplored places and are not afraid of getting lost". And for all who appreciate the wonderful illustrations by Andrés Sandoval! Visit his website and take a look at his great portfolio. He is an illustrator/architect, graduated in Architecture from the University in Sao Paulo in 1999 and working as an illustrator since 2001. 

Isabel Minhós Martins/Andrés Sandoval: Siga a Seta! Planeta Tangerina 2010

I wanted this one for long time. It's just beautiful! 24 large-format spreads by Bernardo Carvalho - without a single word. You don't need words to get into beach mood with this book (even though it is snowing outside).

 Bernardo Carvalho: Praia-mar, Planeta Tangerina 2011

And this week their great Agenda 2013 in green, black and white arrived in our letterbox as well. Thank you so much, Isabel!

 Here it goes to their website, blog and shop.

David Blank and Florian Hägele: Das Pixel

In April I interviewed publisher Annette Köhn. Time flies. It's almost the end of the year and I'm glad Annette reminded me of some new titles of Berlin-based Jaja Verlag. Let's start with the one by David Blank and Florian Hägele (next week I'll showcase one more). It's a homage to the pixel, so the book is filled - with pixels. And it contains lots of basic and fun facts about image formats, DPI, QR Codes etc. This book is perfectly made for people, who appreciate the aesthetic quality of (consciously) pixelated images (illustrations by eBoy), for pixel fans in general and for all, who love working or playing with pixels. Get a copy here (text in German).

(David Blank/Florian Hägele: Das Pixel, 17 x 22 cm, 116 pages, €16.00, Jaja Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-943417-17-3)

Take a look at the beautiful Musen-Mag as well, the illustrated magazine of the Musenstube, where the Jaja Verlag is located.

Johanna Tagada

I first came across Johanna's work via Casual Poet Culture. Two weeks ago I decided to make myself a little pre-Christmas present and ordered this beautiful zine called Colletion #1 (I'm still thinking about the missing "c" in colletion or is it not missing?)* in her shop where you can find some more lovely things.  It is number 39 of 50 hand-numbered copies (just in case you want one as well, there are only a few left). 

Johanna Tagada is a French artist and talented textile/pattern designer, living and working in Berlin. In spring she launched her online shop Bonjour Supermarket. Take a look at her great blog Bonjour Johanna. 

Johanna Tagada: Colletion #1, 36 pages + cover, A6

*Johanna told me: The "c" is not missing. She wanted to call her zine Colletion, without the "c", because most of the persons used to our alphabet will never notice the "c" is missing (I'm a proofreader, my brain works differently - haha). About things we often do in life we feel certain (because used to it), but sometimes it might be wrong.

Julie Joliat: Calendars 2013

Calendars everywhere, hello December! I like the ones by Zurich-based graphic designer Julie Joliat. Every year she designs a diary as a self-initiated project and sells it in her shop. This year you have the choice between two different calendars:

One with the first few sentences of a famous novel every week to keep on reading  ... 

... and one with a "Connect the dots" page every week like in the agenda 2011.

Both diaries contain additional monochrome designed pages with maps, measure conversions, a monthly planner etc. 

(All images: www.joliat.net)