maude the not-so-noticeable shrimpton + blending in portraits

9780763665159MAUDE the Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton by Lauren Child, illustrated by Trisha Krauss.

Oh this book! And oh those Shrimptons!

 

 

 

 

“The Shrimptons hated to be missed.” But in the very first glimpse we get of the family, one member is tucked behind, blending in. Maude. Maude Shrimpton.

 

 

 

 

 

Maude6LR

 

Mrs. Shrimpton had her flamboyant hats, Mr. Shrimpton his twirly mustache. Penelope was beautiful, Hector was a fabulous tap dancer. Constance was a singer, and Wardo was quite the comedian. Maude, she was not so noticeable.

 

Maude3LR

 

Which makes it so fun to try and find her on every page! (See her there, peeking out from her dress-matching curtains?)

 

pastedGraphic copy

“No matter what she wore, Maude just seemed to merge, to fade, to disappear.”

pastedGraphic copy 3

This book has such style. Even (especially?) Maude, that blender-inner. Which in a funny, quirky turn is sometimes a very good trait. (Hint: when a tiger is looking for dinner in your house.)

pastedGraphic

Here’s a little peek at the illustrator’s mood board for the project, full of fashion and flair:

moodboard-maudethenotsonoticeableshrimpton

Thanks to Trisha Krauss for the images!

/ / / / / /

There’s something cinematic about this book and might I suggest a bit Wes Andersonesque.

Maude and the Shrimptons are so perfectly stylized, like Anderson’s films (which are fairly bookish themselves). As a family, they’re so wacky and flamboyant, as Anderson’s fictional families are. Plus, the impeccably executed settings. The straight-at-you gazes of the characters. And oh the costumes, of course!

moonrisekingdomw_birds

120524_Mov_Moonrise-EX.jpg.CROP.rectangle3-large

8c41-fp-00009-r

From Moonrise Kingdom.

royal-tenenbaums-screenshot

royal-tenenbaums

From The Royal Tenenbaums.

large_fantastci_mr_fox_blu-ray01

foxfantastic-mr-fox-w1280

From Fantastic Mr. Fox.

But now let’s get to BLENDING IN. And we’ll start with the well-known wallpaper/shirt scene from Garden State.

gardenstate-wallpapershirt

Garden_State_010

From the film, Garden State.

Marie Antoinette

From the film, Marie Antoinette. That dress fabric appears to be cut from the same cloth as the wallpaper, right?

ae0c6986e7c251d46b13f122bcba4460_scale_794x794

f96d89107beeee2d63c58079c2027116_scale_794x794

229093f97f8e19009b6473cc1be22734_scale_794x794

From twenty-seven names, photographs by Guy Coombs.

The next batch are really tricky to see. Exquisite camouflage.

00016785

00016789

00016787

From artist Cecilia Parades’s painting series.

Screen Shot 2014-04-22 at 2.06.28 PM

15 Responses to maude the not-so-noticeable shrimpton + blending in portraits

  1. There was another book we had a while ago with this same concept. I…wonder what it was? Hang on. AH! It was HALIBUT JACKSON by David Lucas. Another good one about blending in and standing out, and about fabulous clothes that look like surroundings.

  2. Thanks Danielle for making Maude stand out. x Trisha

  3. Danzel says:

    Very cool! We loved this book. So did my kiddo’s second grade class!

  4. Definitely need this one!

  5. amber says:

    I have yet to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I’ve heard only good things! I love the inspiration… the board is awesome, lots of gorgeous fashion, and I ADORE the walls/people blending in together. So cool!

  6. Pingback: fine furniture in picture books - This Picture Book Life

  7. Pingback: 3 picture books: trisha krauss - This Picture Book Life

Talk to me!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.