flowers in december: elsa beskow

every time i go home, i end up combing through the bookshelf in the room i shared with my sister. this white bookshelf has traveled from house to house over the years, and we added a new one a while back to help contain our childhood reads. (i was tempted to leave the "reads" off the end of that, since going through these books is just like being small again and looking for the book you want read to you before you fall asleep....) anyway, i always love to page through our old classics: the wartville wizard. the sweetest fig. the old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle. 

while i love the stories in these books, though, the illustrations are what i go back for. i go back to find out whether i remember them from years and years ago, and indeed there they are, same as they always were. oh my gosh... i savor them.

one such book is elsa beskow's the flowers' festival. her wonderful illustrations completely play into a little girl's daydreams of what flowers would wear if they were ladies and gentlemen. (my favorites were the lady lilac and lord bleeding heart.) and so, today i present to you elsa beskow's illustrations in all their sweet, imaginative glory. i love how she incorporates the borders into her drawings, too.

(do you see the lilacs? and the bleeding heart, in the background? aaah!)

i love the pet caterpillar in the last image. also the snail conveyance.... teehee. i thought a monday in december might be a good time for these lush, laden drawings. i hope you all have a lovely one.