A swift (visual) punch to the eye

Slate is currently featuring an entertaining but much too short slide show about the evolution of children's book art from the dull "improving" stories of the mid-19th century to the weirder and more dynamic world of 20th-century children's classics. Unfortunately, such a tiny collection (only twelve images, and two of 'em are Sendak pictures) means that Slate's story covers less than one artist per decade*.

*We were sorry to see that images from author/illustrators Peter S. Newell, author of The Slant Book, and Norman Lindsay, author of The Magic Pudding, didn't make the cut.

Above image from "Goop Tales Alphabetically Told", by Gelett Burgess, 1904