The series is thirteen books long and features lots of illustrations and design within them. Brett Helquist illustrated the books, who I have also researched before for a previous module, however he is a favourite illustrator of mine and has worked in tandem with the author in this case to produce illustrations and vignettes that flow with the text.
Another thing I always admired in the books were the patterned end pages. Not many children's books I had read at that age had had much thought put into the end pages, they are usually just blank.
Above to the right is an example of the extraordinary ways the illustrations work with the content. The first sentence refers to mirrors and reflections, and the chapter vignette is 'reflected' too. It's a unique little detail which I really love in these books- Brett takes into account the books contents when producing his illustrations and is something I would like to be able to do in future.
The full page illutrations throughout the books are highly detailed also. The illustrations look to be done in pencil, and the coloured ones painted possibly digitally or with ink. Brett also plays around with unusual perspectives and compositions in his work too, as seen in the full page illustration below.
One of my favourite examples of his work in this book is in the reflection of the above pages. The fact that he has utilized the space of the double pages to produce an effective illustration like this is impressive without looking too loud or distracting to the reader.
Again I'm noticing patterns in the illustrated books I like- lots of vignettes, little quirky details and interesting compositions. The fact that the illustrators pay great attention to the content is something I admire too, and something I would aspire to in future, as it has clearly influenced Brett's illustrations in a very positive way.
