Antonio Frasconi (1919 – 2013) was an illustrator best known for his woodcut prints, especially the ones in his award-winning 1950s children’s book, The House That Jack Built, a picture book in two languages. and See and Say, a picture book in four languages. He often produced books in multiple languages; namely English, Italian, French and Spanish. A great way to learn a new language – whatever your age may be!
Frasconi was born in Argentina, grew up in Uruguay and, aged 26, moved to the USA. In addition to his work for children he produced very political works on subjects such as the Vietnam War and ‘Los Desaparecidos’ (The disappeared), the people tortured and killed during the Uruguayan Dictatorship in the 197s and 80s.
As well as his own books, he designed numerous covers and illustrations for the works of other authors and poets including:
- Dylan Thomas – Reading a Child’s Christmas in Wales | Narrating Under Milk Wood (LP records)
- Herman Melville – On the Slain Collegians
- Walt Whitman – Overhead the Sun
- Jan Wahl – The Little Blind Goat
- Ruth Krauss – The Cantilever Rainbow
- Henri Pirenne – Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade
- André Gide – Strait is the Gate | If It Die
- Glenway Wescott – 12 Fables of Aesop
- Titus Burkhardt – Alchemy
Image credits:
Invaluable | Pinterest | Moma | Amazon
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