image: Oliver Jeffers store
My first post here shall be on Lost and Found, a picture book about a boy and a penguin by Oliver Jeffers, one of my all time favorite creators of the form.
It’s a modern classic. It’s even been made into an animated short film.
A penguin shows up at a boy’s door. The boy thinks the penguin must be lost. The boy attempts to take him home, rowing all the way to the South Pole. But by then he’s found the penguin’s home is with him. Lost and found.
It’s a book about friendship. About the bonds we make through telling stories and through listening. There is so much to love about it right down to the boy’s red and white striped shirt uniform (which is also how Jeffers dressed his “boy” characters in How to Catch a Star, The Way Back Home, and Lost and Found‘s sequel, Up and Down).
image from How to Catch a Star: Oliver Jeffers store
Oliver has this to say about why Lost and Found‘s main character wears a striped shirt (via email):
“The striped jumper is an homage to Maurice Saendak and his monster in ‘Where The Wild Things Are’, a favourite book of mine as a child, and as an adult for that matter”.
image makingmymarc via Compfight cc
That wild thing didn’t start the striped shirt trend.
French sailors wore them as uniforms starting in 1858.
Coco Chanel liked the sailor look, known as the Breton shirt. She made a navy and white nautical collection in 1917.
Other well-known people have been known to wear a Breton shirt or some variation of it: James Dean, Picasso, Audrey Hepburn, Andy Warhol, Jean Seberg, and the list goes on. Not to mention fictional characters, like good old Waldo for instance.
image via: carbonated via Compfight cc
image: Mr. Waldo via Compfight cc
Oliver Jeffers himself has been spotted wearing a striped jumper.
image: William Yan
The Breton shirt and Lost and Found: both modern classics.
NICE STRIPES FOR ALL OF US:
left to right: 1. stripes and orange print vest from The Pippa & Ike Show; 2. vintage knit pattern from GrannyTakesaTrip on etsy.
clockwise: 1. sailor stripe bonjour sweatshirt by twostringjane on etsy; 2. eco paper drinking straws from poketo; 3. PACT socks; 4. Baggu laptop case;
(Or travel the sea!)
This is already my favorite blog. Hurray!
I LOVE this post, maybe because I’m a stripes fan and am wearing one of my favorite striped long sleeved t-shirts as I type! Thanks for finding this out for us from Jeffers!
Julie and Joanna, you are both my favorites for stopping by!
Love this! I’m so excited to see your future posts and of course your books as they come out. 🙂
Thanks a million for saying so!
YAY! This is so darn fun. Stripes! Books! You!
Yay all around!
Congratulations on your first blog post, Julie! Stripes put ten pounds on me – whew! But otherwise they’re, fun! And I love picture books. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Vanessa! Picture books for everyone! 🙂
Awesome! I love finding new people to share picture book things with! 😀 Very exciting!
Yay! To our shared love of picture books!
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