Elsa Beskow

I love looking at Elsa Beskow's illustrations. She draws teeny, tiny, little mushroom-capped people who roam and busy themselves in the forest. She includes imagery from Scandinavian folklore (depending on the book, of course) such as trolls and nymphs. There is something quite magical about her drawings...

Elsa Beskow (February 11, 1874 – June 30, 1953) was a Swedish author and illustrator of children's books.

"Born Elsa Maartman in Stockholm, she started to draw at an early age, deciding to become an artist. Especially important person for her was her grandmother, Johanna Wilhelmina, who told her fairy tales. At home her favorite writer was Zacharias Topelius. Johanna Wilhelmina died when Beskow was 13. This ended according to Beskow her "happy childhood."

In her books Beskow used her own childhood experiences as a source for ideas. Her own six children also inspired her work. Central themes were the relationships between children and adults and children's independent initiative. The pictures were large, with carefully studied details of nature and bourgeois small town life. Often Beskow combined reality with elements from the fairy tale world - ordinary children meet elves or goblins, ugly witches sulk on the street corners, and farm animals talk with people. The texts were written in verse or in prose. Sometimes Beskow satirized manners, as in the poem about the foreign Mr. Tomato, who is envied by a local cucumber, admired by Miss Parsley, and imitated by small radishes.

Much of her books emphasized the importance of honest work and showed the influence of National Romanticism - a style that inspired many Nordic artists from the 1890s. In the 1960s and 1970s Beskow's work was considered by many critics old-fashioned. Her idyllic pictures, full of good-natured children, animals, brownies, and flowers, were seen to present false ideals. Also her gender roles were seen too narrow: "the father is strong and brave, and the mother is obedient and loving" (from Tomtebobarnen). According to Gunvor H�kansson, Beskow "satisfies authoritative ideals in upbringing a children, but Astrid Lindgren represents more democratic principles."

Beskow published some twenty books. Her works have been translated in many languages."
(http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/elsabooks.htm)

My favorite book is, Children of the Forest.